Little House on the Prairie

When the Big Woods of Wisconsin becomes a difficult spot for hunting, Charles Ingalls reluctantly decides to move his family to Kansas's more open and fertile land. Leaving their beloved relatives proves to be devastating, but the resiliency of the Ingalls spirit reigns supreme as they as they head out in their covered wagon.

In Burr Oak, Iowa, Charles gets a promotion as a Purchasing Agent, and he takes Albert with him on a buying trip to Minnesota. En route, they stop at the University of Minnesota where Albert plans on pursuing his medical endeavors, then they reunite with family and old friends in Walnut Grove. Albert finds romance with a girl called Michele Pierson, and Charles encourages the local farmers to start a cooperative to enable them to compete with the big farms. However, Albert starts suffering from serious nosebleeds and exhaustion and is diagnosed with leukemia. Ultimately, he chooses to go back to Walnut Grove, where he spends his time making special memories and receives the offer of a four-year scholarship from the university he had planned on attending. Finally, Albert, Laura and Michele join Miss Plum and the local school children in their annual climb to 'the keepsake tree' at the top of Harper's Bluff, where they join hands and raise them in a celebratory salute.

During preparation for Christmas baby Rose Wilder is kidnapped by the woman who recently lost her child. Looking for her Laura, Almanzo and Mr Edwards meet lonely orphan boy, who finally stays with that woman.

The Ingalls family trades Wisconsin's woods for the wide-open plains of Kansas, where their new life brings both breathtaking beauty and genuine danger.

A neighbor steps up to help the Ingalls build their new home, but their growing bond is threatened by the shadows of his past — and Caroline's.

As the house on the prairie approaches completion, a troubling encounter makes the family reconsider their decision to settle in Independence.

Hansen's Mill closes when a major customer declares bankruptcy, leaving Lars unable to pay Charles two months' back pay.

Mary is beginning to do worse in school because she has a hard time reading the blackboard. She is excited to receive a pair of brand-new glasses, but her excitement fades when other students relentlessly tease her.

Charles and Hansen build a bank in Walnut Grove. The banker is Mr. Sprague, a cold and heartless man. Laura becomes friends with Mr. Sprague without knowing who he really was. Mr. Sprague believes that Charles sent Laura to him to try to persuade Mr. Sprague to give a loan to Mr. Ingalls.

Reverend Alden gets sick while collecting donations. Caleb Hodgekiss, an ex-convict, helps the Reverend by giving him a place to stay and volunteering to get the donations from Walnut Grove. Caleb poses as a friend of the Reverend so that he might get donations which he initially planned to keep for himself.

Nellie falls off of Bunny and pretends to be paralyzed. Mrs. Oleson blames Laura for this and wants to destroy Bunny.

Laura and her horse, Bunny, are picked to win at the horse race in town. Since Mrs. Oleson doesn't want Laura to win, she buys a great thoroughbred for Nellie to ride.

When Laura's dog, Jack, dies, her Pa gives her a new dog, Bandit, after the dog follows him home. Although the dog seems very friendly to Laura, Laura doesn't want it. When Laura later visits Aunt Kezia, a lonely women, she realizes that she really loves Bandit.

After going to Chicago for the first time, Charles and Mary are very disappointed in what life in the city is really like.

A mother is in deep denial over her daughter's death in a tragic drowning. To comfort herself, she kidnaps Laura, hoping she will take her late daughter's place.

Poor economic conditions cause the Ingalls to move closer to Mary. Mary is now teaching at the blind school. The Ingalls move to be closer to Mary, where she helps teach the younger blind students. Laura catches an orphan, Albert, stealing from their hotel. Charles becomes friends with Albert and invites him to Mary's birthday party.

Charles even sells his fiddle to buy Mary a gift. At the party, Mary gives Pa his fiddle back. Laura gives Mary a card. Mary is so proud of Laura writing the letter in braille. Almost everyone is in tears, including Mrs. Oleson, when Mary announces that she has nothing to wish for, since she has everything that she could possibly want.

A blind student feels he is useless. He is reluctant to do anything at the blind school. The student gains self-confidence when he is talked into being the center for the Winoka football team. He is able to throw Albert across the goal line during the game to score the tying touchdown for the Winoka Warriors, keeping the Warriors from losing.

The school's new teacher is Ms. Wilder. Laura falls in love with Ms. Wilder's brother Almanzo. Laura is crushed when Nellie invites Almanzo over for dinner. Laura gets even with Nellie by volunteering to cook dinner for them. Laura adds some hot spices to the chicken and since Nellie had said that she had cooked the meal, Almanzo stays away from Nellie.

When Laura and Nellie get in a fight about the graduation test, Almanzo separates them and takes Laura home with him. When Charles finds out that Almanzo took Laura home with him, Charles goes to Almanzo's place and punches Almanzo because he fears his daughter was being taken advantage of. Laura yells at the fighting pair and tells them that she is no longer a child.

Each student must trace their family tree for a school assignment. Albert is unsure how he can do the assignment. The Ingalls decide to legally adopt Albert, but run into problems when Mr. Quinn, Albert's father shows up. He wants Albert until he sees him. Albert pretends to be blind with the hope that his father wouldn't want him. The blindness does the trick. Albert is legally adopted by the Ingalls.

Almanzo purchases some land and hires Harv, a friend of his, to help him in the field. Almanzo soon learns that he was tricked into buying the land. He is unable to get any justice. This causes Almanzo to call off the wedding until he gets back on his feet. Laura gets a teaching position, but Almanzo doesn't want her to work. Laura decides to take the position anyway.

Eliza Jane falls in love with Harv, but is afraid to tell him how she feels. Eliza Jane is devastated when she finds out Harv has somebody else in his life. Since Eliza Jane doesn't want to see Almanzo and Laura break up, she decides to leave and tells Almanzo to chase after Laura to tell her that she could teach in Walnut Grove. Laura and Almanzo then get married at the blind school.

The Garveys move to Sleepy Eye to run a business. After being robbed several times, Jonathan decides to become a deputy sheriff to clean up the town of crime. When Jonathan catches a teen gang leader, Andy gets beaten up.

Percival and Nellie go to New York so that Percival can run the family business now that his father has died. Mrs. Oleson gets very depressed because of Nellie leaving. The Olesons decide to adopt a girl to take the place of Nellie. While they are in Sleepy Eye, they find a girl that looks almost exactly like Nellie when she was young.

Nancy turns out to be worse than Nellie ever was. She even locks another girl in the ice house. The students devise a plan to teach Nancy a lesson. They trick her into being the star in a dunking tank. Also during this episode, Adam and Mary move to New York so that they can earn a living and Hester Sue comes to Walnut Grove to work at the restaurant.

James is trying to be more like Albert. He even wants to shave like Albert has to. While James is shaving, he breaks Albert's razor. James steals a razor from the mercantile hoping Albert wouldn't notice the difference. When the truth is found out about the razor, James runs away. Albert takes off after him. When Albert finds James, it takes a lot of convincing before James decides to come back home with him.

The Ingalls are forced to sell their house to the Carters and leave Walnut Grove to find a more promising life. Mrs. Carter begins printing a newspaper for Walnut Grove. Etta Plum becomes the teacher in Walnut Grove when Laura decides she wants to spend more time with Rose. Almanzo's brother, Royal, comes to Walnut Grove with his daughter, Jenny.

Royal has a very bad heart and asks Laura and Almanzo to take care of his daughter since he was going to die soon. Jenny is devastated by her father's death. After talking to Reverend Alden about heaven, she tries to commit suicide by drowning so that she could be with her father again. Jeb Carter is able to save Jenny although he can't swim. Laura convinces Jenny that she should do what would make her parents proud.

Harriet finds a bearer bond from Walnut Grove. She uses this to try to get people to follow her suggestions. She tells the town council that if she doesn't get her way, she will cash in the bond which would force the town to pay Mrs. Oleson over $10,000.