Pa decides Wisconsin is too crowded and packs the family into a covered wagon to move west to Kansas.

The family crosses the frozen Mississippi River at Pepin just before the spring ice breaks apart.

The family fords an unexpectedly deep prairie creek, and dog Jack disappears in the rushing current.

Jack reappears at the family's campsite that evening, having survived the creek crossing on his own.

Pa selects a homesite in Kansas near a creek and begins cutting logs to build a house.

Neighbor Mr. Edwards helps Pa raise the log walls of the house, finishing them in a single day.

While riding alone across the open prairie without a gun, Pa encounters a pack of fifty wolves.

The wolf pack surrounds and howls around the little house all night while Pa stands guard inside.

The entire Ingalls family falls dangerously ill with malaria and is bedridden for weeks.

A wildfire sweeps across the prairie toward the house; Pa and Ma fight it off with a controlled backfire.

War-cries from nearby Native American camps grow deafeningly loud, convincing the family that an attack is coming.

An English-speaking Osage man tells Pa that leader Soldat Du Chêne persuaded other tribes not to attack the settlers.

A long procession of Native Americans rides west past the Ingalls house for hours, then disappears over the horizon.

Pa learns that US soldiers are coming to remove all white settlers from Native American territory.

The family loads the covered wagon and drives away from their Kansas house the following morning.

Determined to claim land before other settlers, Pa moves his family from Wisconsin to Kansas in a covered wagon, crossing the frozen Mississippi River and dangerous prairie creeks along the way. After their dog Jack goes missing in a flooded creek crossing and miraculously returns, the family finds a homesite and Pa builds a house with the help of neighbor Mr. Edwards. The prairie proves dangerous, as a pack of fifty wolves threatens both Pa on the open plains and the family inside their house overnight. A summer malaria outbreak leaves the entire family bedridden, and the following spring a wildfire sweeps toward the house before Pa and Ma manage to fight it off. Tensions escalate as Native American war-cries fill the nights, until an Osage man reveals that their leader Soldat Du Chêne persuaded other tribes not to attack the settlers. When Pa learns that US soldiers are coming to evict all white settlers, he immediately packs the wagon and the family drives away from the home they built, leaving Kansas behind.

The Ingalls family's journey west, settlement on the Kansas prairie, and forced departure.

While waiting for a flooded river to drop, the family buys two strong mustang horses and names them Pet and Patty.

Pa and Ma camp on the high prairie and discuss whether to settle permanently in the area.

Pa discovers the family has a cheerful bachelor neighbor named Mr. Edwards living two miles away.

Pa discovers that Pet gave birth to a foal overnight; Laura and Mary name it Bunny for its long ears.

Pa finds a settler family sick with fever in a creek bottom and arranges for a neighbor to help them.

Pa builds a sturdy oak door with wooden pegs and leather straps for the cabin, making Laura feel much safer.

Pa builds a stone fireplace for the house, and the family eats their first meal together inside.

Pa helps Texas Longhorn cowboys guide their herd across the creek and receives a cow and calf in return.

Pa takes Laura and Mary to explore a recently deserted Native American camp in a hollow on the prairie.

Neighbor Mrs. Scott moves into the Ingalls house and nurses the whole family back to health after the fever.

Pa returns from a four-day trip to Independence with window glass, sugar, cornmeal, and nails for the family.

Mr. Edwards wades through a neck-high flooded creek on Christmas morning to deliver gifts from Santa to Laura and Mary.

Pa travels to Independence to trade his winter furs while Native Americans chant loudly near the house for days.

Pa stops his farm work and stands armed guard at the cabin window each night during the tense standoff.

The departing family passes a stranded couple on the prairie whose horses were stolen during the night.

As the Ingalls family travels to Kansas, they acquire new mustang horses and debate where to settle before Pa finds their homesite and the neighbors begin to take shape around them. Mr. Edwards proves an invaluable friend, helping with construction and stepping in whenever Pa travels to town, while practical milestones like a new door, a fireplace, and a completed roof give the family a growing sense of permanence. A passing Texas cattle drive brings the unexpected gift of a cow and calf, and a visit to a deserted Native American camp offers Laura and Mary a rare glimpse into the lives of the people whose land they occupy. The summer malaria outbreak is survived in large part because of Mrs. Scott's nursing care, and when Christmas arrives, Mr. Edwards makes an extraordinary trek through flooded waters to deliver gifts on Santa's behalf. Pa's second trip to town to trade furs coincides with unsettling chanting from Native American camps, and the tension that follows forces Pa to abandon his plowing and keep watch. The pool closes as the departing family encounters a stranded couple on the open prairie, a final reminder of the hardships awaiting those unprepared for frontier life.

Daily frontier life, helpful neighbors, and the small dramas of building a home on the prairie.

Ma tells Laura and Mary plainly that she does not like Native Americans and never will.

A log falls on Ma's ankle during house construction, spraining it badly and forcing Pa to work alone.

During the wolf siege at night, Pa lifts Laura up to the window so she can see the pack.

Pa uses nails borrowed from Mr. Edwards to build a wooden floor and roof, fully enclosing the house.

Two Native American men walk into the house while Pa is away hunting and take cornbread and tobacco.

Pa scolds Laura and Mary for nearly unchaining Jack during the Native Americans' visit, warning it would have caused conflict.

Mr. Scott nearly dies from underground gas after Pa lowers him into the well without checking for it first.

Laura and Mary discover colorful beads scattered in the soil of the abandoned Native American camp.

Ma pressures Laura to give her camp beads to baby Carrie, and Laura silently resents having to do so.

Laura staggers across the room while burning with fever to fetch a ladle of water for her sick sister Mary.

Jack leads Dr. Tan to the sick Ingalls house; the doctor gives the bedridden family life-saving medicine.

The chimney catches fire while Pa is away; Laura drags Mary and Carrie away from falling burning debris.

Mrs. Scott visits while Pa is in town and tries to tell Ma about a violent white-Native American conflict before Ma cuts her off.

A panther's scream wakes the family at night; Pa hunts it for days before a Native American signals it is dead.

Laura tearfully begs Pa to take the Native American baby from a passing rider, but Pa firmly refuses.

From the moment Ma openly admits her fear and dislike of Native Americans, the book's undercurrent of racial tension becomes explicit, shaping how the family navigates the prairie. Early turning points involve physical danger and the house taking shape — a log falls on Ma, construction is completed with borrowed nails, and the first native visitors enter uninvited while Pa is away — each event tightening the family's sense of vulnerability. The summer fever brings the story's most desperate moments: Laura forcing herself across the room while delirious to get water for Mary, and Jack dragging Dr. Tan to the house in a stroke of luck that saves everyone's lives. Autumn and winter bring a chimney fire that Laura alone has the presence of mind to fight, a suppressed warning about past violence from Mrs. Scott, and a panther that haunts the prairie nights. The pool closes with Laura's most emotionally raw moment — her tearful, futile demand that Pa take the Native American baby from the line of departing riders — a scene that captures both her impulsive empathy and the impossible distance between the two worlds sharing the prairie.

Key decisions, emotional discoveries, and critical moments that reveal who the characters truly are.