Carrie Ingalls, born Caroline Celestia Ingalls on August 3, 1870 to Charles (“Pa”) and Caroline (“Ma”) Ingalls, is best known as the younger sister of Laura Ingalls Wilder, author of the Little House on the Prairie books. Carrie is only a baby in the first book, Little House in the Big Woods, but her presence and interactions with Laura become more prominent in the later books after Mary loses her sight.
As pioneers in the late 1800s, the Ingalls family moved around a great deal – from Montgomery County, Kansas, where Carrie was born in a small cabin Pa built, to Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, back to Minnesota, and eventually to De Smet, South Dakota, where Pa and Ma came to settle for the remainder of their years.
From the left – Carrie, Mary, and Laura Ingalls
Carrie spent her formative years in De Smet, passed her teacher’s examination, and became a schoolteacher for a short time though she found this not to be the profession she truly wanted. After teaching, she learned the printing trade when, at age 19, she became an apprentice on the Leader staff, the town’s weekly newspaper, which eventually combined with the De Smet News. She became a talented printer and journalist, skilled in all aspects of the trade, including melting lead into type, editing, writing, publishing, ad work and binding.
Her talents eventually got her a job with E.L. Senn, owner of many newspapers in South Dakota, and this work offered her great journalistic and travel opportunities – a perk, since Carrie enjoyed travel very much. In fact, before she took this position, she had traveled a great deal, briefly living in Colorado and Wyoming, between 1905-1907, in search of a climate that would give her reprieve from her sinus and respiratory problems.
Carrie found her way back to South Dakota, feeling rested and healthier, where she won the right to take a homestead claim in Indian lands near the town of Topbar, South Dakota and lived in a small tar-paper shanty. She lived on the homestead for the requisite six months each year, and with her family in De Smet the remainder of the year.
From the left – Caroline, Carrie, Laura, Charles, Grace, and Mary
E.L. Senn began acquiring newspapers in mining areas and he sent Carrie to run them. In 1911, at the age of 41, Carrie arrived in the mining town of Keystone, South Dakota, where she managed the Keystone Recorder and worked for the Hill City Star. She would spend 35 years in this town until she eventually passed away on June 12, 1946, at the age of 76.
It was in Keystone where some of the most important moments of her life took place, including meeting and marrying her husband, David Swanzey, in 1912 and raising her two stepchildren, Mary and Harold. Her sister Mary also came to live with her in Keystone after Ma Ingalls passed away. Carrie cared for her sister from 1924-1928, when Mary passed away in October as a result of pneumonia and complications from a stroke.
Keystone became well known as the site of Mount Rushmore National Memorial, which features the faces of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln carved into the massive granite face of the mountain. Carrie’s husband assisted sculptor Gutzon Borglum in scouting locations in the Black Hills and Carrie’s stepson was one of the 400 workers who transformed the mountain.
Carrie Ingalls, the lesser-known Ingalls sister, lived a rich and full life and was a strong, independent pioneer in her own right. To celebrate her life, the Keystone Historical Museum hosted an event in honor of her birthday on August 3, 2015, complete with cake, lemonade, crafts mirroring those of 1899, and a fun and festive costume contest featuring clothing worn in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
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Rebecca Friendly
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When my Language Arts teacher in 8th grade found out how much I love to read; she introduced me to TLHOTP series. A one time I owned every one of her books. Then in 1994 my mother was diagnosed with cancer and she took to reading them. So in my life I have owned everyone of her books twice, and today I don’t have one. I let them all get away from me.
Thank You, Miss Kennedy, LA Department, Arvada Jr. High School, Arvada, Co 8th grade for opening up this wonderful world. I wonder often what happened to you.
(1967-1968)
Great read. Thanks.
For me growing up in the UK, to learn about pioneering in the USA was fascinating. I have great admiration for Laura the young girl and the author she became. Just thank you to all who preserve and promote these memories in the modern day.
You mentioned a stepson? Was Charles a widower?
I believe it was Carrie’s husband David who had two kids; thus, Carrie’s stepson…
Yes, that is correct. The two children Carrie raised from their early ages as her own, where from her husband David Niven Swanzey & his 1st wife that passed. David was the widower.
I HAVE THE WHOLE SERIES OF LITTLE HOUSE BOOKS, PLUS HER GRAND PARENTS BOOKS PLUS THE WHOLE SERIES OF ROSE WIDER BOOKS, I ALSO GOT TO VISIT MANY PLACES. THEY WERE AN INSPIRATION TO ME AS A CHILD. I FIRST READ THEM IN A SCHOOL MAGAZINE. I LOVE THE BOOKS AND HAVE READ THEM MANY TIMES, AS I AM 80 YEARS OLD I STILL ENJOY GOING BACK INTO HEIR LIVES.
Where did you get all the collections at I have been trying find them forever
Late to the game here but I have all those sets also! I got them at the DeSmet SD homestead. They are in color too!
Read these so many times growing up and just decided at age 55 to read them again! Interesting perspective reading them as an adult. Still love them though!
This was one of the first read that I enjoyed as a starter
I loved the Ingalls family in “Little House on the Prairie” and the “Little House” books. I watched it on T.V. as a child. My daughters watch the DVDs. What absolutely breaks my heart is that there are no direct descendants; the family has died out. Breaks my heart. They were such a wonderful, Christian family, and I wish there were some of their offspring left.
Well there may not be a true blood line, but Carrie helped her husband raise two step-children from an early age. They very much considered each other as family!!! The daughter Mary Elezabeth Swanzey, grew up to be & raise a large good christian family of her own, with 14 children, rich in their own fascinating history. Mary Swanzey’s brother Harold was killed in a tragic car accident as a young adult before having the chance to start a family.
Love There Shows. I Watched Them On Hallmark Channels!! Today My Daughter And I Watched Probably Five Or Six Of Them!!
Loved the Little House books. I read them all as a kid. I just loved the stories. I also watched the tv show and loved it. Thanks for sharing .
Kendra Morales, not sure IF their are no descendents because Ma and Pa had brothers and sisters. Unless you meant the core family. Just a thought.
Very interesting and informative article about Carrie Ingalls! I read several of the Little House on the Prairie books when I was a kid and watched the TV show too. I was really fascinated about Mary Ingalls because of Melissa Sue Anderson’s portrayal of her as being blind. I wrote a fan letter to her and she sent me a reply letter with an 8×10 signed photo of her. I think I was around 7 or 8. It was really thrilling to me get that letter and signed photo from her. As an adult, I have rewatched the Little House episodes on Hallmark in recent years. A few weeks ago, I saw the Christmas episode where they were snowed in. It reminded me of The Long Winter book, so I decided to do some online research about the locations mentioned in the books and found this website. I am from Yankton, SD but now live in Phoenix, AZ. I always found it fascinating that the Little House books were set in South Dakota and other Midwest states. I did not know that Carrie had lived in the Keystone area as a reporter for so many years. That is really cool that she has been honored by the Keystone community and her work featured by the local museum.