Burr Oak, Iowa, is one of several communities in the Midwest which has become a part of the enduring legacy and popularity of the lady who wrote the nine &uot;Little House&uot; novels.

Because of the brutal grasshopper plague in 1876 on the Minnesota frontier, the Ingalls family left their homestead north of Walnut Grove and moved to Burr Oak to manage the Masters Hotel.

By the way, Laura’s younger sister, Grace, was born in Burr Oak.

The small hotel building in Burr Oak is the only childhood home of Laura Ingalls Wilder still existing at its original site. It’s listed as a National Historic Site.

Laura never wrote a book about her ninth and tenth year of life when her family lived in Burr Oak. This &uot;missing link&uot; in her life during 1876 and 1877 reportedly comes between &uot;Banks of Plum Creek&uot; (published in 1937) and &uot;By the Shores of Silver Lake&uot; (1939).

The small hotel building became a private residence. When the folks in Burr Oak determined in 1973 just where the Ingalls family lived in this town, the former hotel was purchased and converted into a museum by July 1976.

There’s now a Laura Ingalls Wilder Park and Museum in Burr Oak. The summer hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and on Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. There is an admission charge.

Burr Oak is located north of Decorah on U.S. Highway 52 and three miles from the Minnesota state line and the town of Prosper.

After leaving Burr Oak, the Ingalls family returned to Walnut Grove where they lived from 1877 to 1879. Then the family moved further west to De Smet, Dakota Territory, where Laura lived until at least 1890.

De Smet, S.D., is located on U.S. Highway 14 midway between Brookings and Huron. Five of the &uot;Little House&uot; books are based on this community which calls itself the &uot;Little Town on the Prairie.&uot; That’s a title also used for one of Laura’s books. There’s a museum plus several Ingalls -Wilder related sites in this locality.

After Laura married Almanzo Wilder, they and their daughter, Rose, lived during 1890-91 with his parents in Spring Valley over in Fillmore County.

The Methodist Church the Wilders attended is now a museum. Not far away is the former Wilder family barn.

This Spring Valley Museum also honors Richard W. Sears, the founder of Sears, Roebuck and Co., who grew up in this town. It’s open daily during the summer months from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays and on weekends by appointment.

Laura and Almanzo spent the rest of their lives on the Rock Ridge Farm near Mansfield, Mo. This is where all the &uot;Little House&uot; books were written.

Almanzo died in 1949, and Laura died in 1957. They are buried near Mansfield, a town located on U.S. Highway 60 about 40 miles east of Springfield in the Ozarks of Missouri. This obviously was the end of the trail for Laura Ingalls Wilder.

To conclude this column, I have information about still another Lloyd Herfindahl painting available for public viewing. And for this painting I do have some information regarding its history.

This painting of four young children was commissioned by Juel and Beatrice Nelson. It was on display in the media room at Lakeview Elementary School for 20 years or so. A few years ago it was moved to the School District 241 office at the Brookside Education Center, 211 W. Richway Drive.

Again, I want to emphasize that anyone wanting to see this particular painting should first check in with the district office at Brookside.

(Tribune feature writer Ed Shannon’s column appears Fridays in the Tribune. Contact him at ed.shannon @albertleatribune.com or 379-3434.)