More on Pioneer Times: Daniel Mason & Laura Ingalls Wilder

North Woods by Daniel Mason

published 2023

The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder

published 1940

 

[Excerpt from North Woods] Anastasia Rossi, born Edith Simmons, sat upright, her bulk filling the chair to its arms. She was dressed in her typical costume for a séance: silk kimono trimmed with cambric, loops of jet beads cascading down her bosom, “Pocahontas” headband with its diadem and ostrich plume. To her right sat Mr. Farnsworth, a tall, bearded man with russet eyebrows, to whom she had made love that morning beneath a rearing stuffed panther, lips (the panther’s) pinned back to show her fearsome teeth. To her left, her thin fingers trembling in Anastasia’s ample palm, was Mrs. Farnsworth, a slight, hysterical woman in a neck-high blouse with bishop sleeves. It was she who had first heard the ghosts that August, and for whose relief the séance was being conducted…

“[the spirits] have not sought to make their delights known to you in the flesh.”

With the word “flesh,” Mrs. Farnsworth became so instantly still, so pale, that the possibility occurred to Anastasia that she’d just killed her, and they were just waiting for her to topple over. Hastily, she added, “I would say that this is good news, actually. For they do not seem to be malicious. Incautious, maybe…”

[The medium suggest that they question the spirits about what they want] “After all, you are their guests.”

“Ha!” said Mr. Farnsworth with a little snort. “Guests? That’s nonsense. We bought the house three years ago. The title, as they say, is free and clear.”

 

comments: This followed on nicely from recent watching and reading:  

Little House on the Prairie: Laura had me at the hat

Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke

I was quite prepared to read about more pioneers, backwoodspeople and pioneers. And that is most certainly what you get here.

I had read the same author’s The Piano Tuner many years ago, without much memory of it, so I gave it ago. And I hated the first section, really hated it – weird formatting, affected presentation, maddening use of language. The idea of the book is to tell the story of a piece of land, and then the house on it, over 400 years of history, starting in the 1760s. (I think. One of the things I disliked was that you were never told when anything was happening, you were given clever-clogs clues to work it out. Though it did seem unlikely that that awful motel had offered, and then lost, HBO by 1978: I would say HBO was fairly high-end after its national launch in 1975)

I wouldn’t say the story drew me in – it just started being told in a much more reasonable, sensible way.

The piece of land is in Western Massachusetts, and there is a lot of detail about the wildlife and natural life. The land becomes home to some exceptional apple trees. The first main character develops them and is fairly obsessed with them. He has twin daughters, Alice and Mary, who certainly cheer up the story, though life isn’t wonderful for them. And then on we go – each new chunk requiring the reader to to work out the connection with the previous section, as well as the current date.

As ever, the trees and the insects (and even the apples) rather left me cold, but then there was a séance, guaranteed to cheer me up. This chapter was very funny and deeply atmospheric, and also made you start wondering what else was going on. Like an interesting spirit, I crossed over into enjoying the book, which was full of strange scenes and items to work out. The last part of the excerpts above – where the master of the house is outraged that he would be considered a guest of the spirits – is very funny, but also indicative of the whole setup of the book. And, what has happened to the apple trees…?

 

 

I will just add another pioneer story: I was sent by readers to read the Laura Ingalls Wilder book The Long Winter (1940). This is exactly what it sounds like: terrible weather and snow and storms hit the prairie, and go on and on, beyond what everyone expects. The families in the settlement live from hand to mouth, and at times do not know where their next meal will come from. It is very compelling, but also horrifying. There is an interesting section where some of the younger men go out into the dangerous landscape to try to find someone who is supposed to have some food. They obtain some, then bring it back and want to donate it to the town, to be shared out according to need. But the storekeeper is going to charge full rate for the food, making a vast profit. An interesting philosophical point – he thinks it’s no-one’s business. The matter is resolved eventually. Capitalism vs communism.

They are endlessly waiting for the trains, laden with provisions, to come, but they are blocked by snow.

There is an awful scene where the cows are weirdly stationary, locked in a strange position.

“Their heads were frozen over with ice and snow,” Pa said. “Their breath froze over their eyes and their noses till they couldn’t see nor breathe.”

Then I came to this:

‘Pa stepped up on the whiffletrees.’

So I looked up this strange word and found that:

The main meaning of whiffletree is swingletree.

Oh.

I’m going to leave you to look this up if you want to know more, because even when I found a proper explanation, I could sort of see what it was, but it was not of interest to me.

The winter obviously encompasses a Christmas season, which I will come to in due course…

Paris fashions (LOC) | Bain News Service,, publisher. Paris … | Flickr

Three elderly people with two spirits | Creator: William Hop… | Flickr

 

Elderly couple with a young female spirit | William Hope, c.… | Flickr

View of a train between large banks of snow on the F. & P. Rwy. - NYPL Digital Collections

Pathway made through deep snow. - NYPL Digital Collections