Cheri Pierson Yecke: Media Kit

  A reader might suppose that this is the particular story of one iconic woman, but this literary quilt has squares of history, sociology, anthropology, economics, agriculture, and ecology, held together with threads of American culture, frontier philosophy, practical religion, and family values.

This book is a cure for anyone pining for the “good old days,” as the harsh reality of pioneer life is laid bare. And if you believe that fiction has a greater capacity to move the heart and boggle the mind than does the stark truth of non-fiction, this book will surely change your mind.

Like an archeologist digging into the past, Dr. Yecke delves into the real story of Laura—and the facts that are unearthed are no less—and arguably more—evocative, powerful, and moving than the stories told by Laura herself.

The purported goal of this book is to explore the geography and history of Laura Ingalls Wilder—and it delivers on this promise, as well as so much more about this iconic woman of the American frontier.

Is the history of frontier America entirely virtuous and admirable?  Nope.  But is the real story of Laura Ingalls Wilder powerful, moving, and inspiring?  Yup.

Was Laura Ingalls Wilder and the America of the mid/late 1800s flawless?  Hardly.  But neither was she nor that nation without virtue.  Yecke reminds us that history is complicated, not pretty. Perhaps we should aspire to such a historical judgement of our character in the modern age.  Step aside, John Wayne.  Laura Ingalls Wilder instantiates true grit. 

If the devil is in the details, this is one helluva history.

Dr. Jeffrey A. Lockwood, Professor of Natural Sciences and Humanities 

at the University of Wyoming, and author of 

Locust: The Devastating Rise and Mysterious 

Disappearance of the Insect that Shaped the American Frontier

  America has come to be known as a nation of pioneers. From the earliest European settlers to those expanding the frontiers of technology and space exploration today, the American continent has served to shape the culture and values of her people. The pioneering spirit of Laura Ingalls Wilder, preserved for posterity in the form of her classic books, has received a fresh and invigorating interpretation by Dr. Yecke, award-winning educator, historian, and author. Discovering Laura: The Historical Laura Ingalls Wilder provides a well-researched and broad collection of detailed background information not found anywhere else, and places characters and events solidly within their historical context.  Designed to enrich the understanding of the times and events in Wilder’s life, Dr. Yecke has created a must-have resource for parents, homeschoolers, teachers, and anyone who is a serious Wilder scholar. 

Dr. William Bennett, former U.S. Secretary of Education, and author of The Book of Virtures, The Moral Compass, Our Sacred Honor: Words of Advice from the Founders,  and many more

  Dr. Yecke shows that Laura Ingalls Wilder, and most other nineteenth-century American children, were deliberate products of McGuffey Readers and similar textbooks.  They played a decisive role in forging our shared identity.   They transmitted a common core of knowledge to a diverse and dispersed population. In an era of mass immigration, of regional difference, and highly uneven schooling, these books functioned as instruments of cultural coherence.

Common entertainments on the frontier, such as town literaries, Mrs. Jarley’s Waxwork productions, and even simple games of charades, likewise depended upon a common base of cultural knowledge.

The canon of historical events, of moral exemplars, of civic ideals, and shared narratives enabled citizens to unify across class and region. By standardizing what children were expected to know, nineteenth-century textbooks helped Americans see themselves as both a force for democracy and as participants in an ongoing national story. Dr. Yecke brilliantly shows that a functioning constitutional republic depends on shared knowledge no less than on shared values.

Dr. E.D. Hirsch is the founder of the cultural literacy movement that began in the 1980s and continues today. He is the founder of the Core Knowledge Foundation, and author of Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know, as well as dozens of other books addressing the cultural knowledge deficit and how a base of common information can close the education gap for American children. In 2026, he is scheduled to publish his (declared) last book on the subject: Our Shared Knowledge.

  Presented in an approachable manner, this volume is rich in context and perspective, illuminating references within the Little House books that might be unfamiliar to the modern reader. Dr. Yecke has added well to Wilder scholarship by adding deeper understanding and perspective to not only the Little House books and Wilder's life, but American history as well. This enjoyable volume will be valuable to casual fans as well as researchers.

Cindy Wilson, author of 

The Beautiful Snow: The Ingalls Family, 

the Railroads, and the Hard Winter of 1880-81and 

“We Suffered Much”: Charles Wood Irish 

and the Dakota Territory Railroad Survey of 1879-1881.

  Back in the 1980s, Ursula Smith and I collected and published first-hand accounts of female pioneers and children who settled the American frontier. Part of our goal was to give voice to those individuals that history had overlooked. Dr. Yecke, in Discovering Laura, has been able to artfully place our work into the context of the life of Laura Ingalls Wilder, giving additional perspective regarding the lives and times of these settlers. It is my hope that future scholars will continue to collect and publish scholarly work regarding the importance of overlooked frontier voices, which can help us to secure a broader and more robust recollection of nineteenth-century America.

Linda Peavy, co-author of Pioneer Children and 

Pioneer Women: The Lives of Women on the Frontier

  Laura Ingalls Wilder once claimed she had written her famous Little House books to preserve stories from her father that were “much too good to be lost,” but she did a great deal more. In documenting the rugged lives of settlers on the American frontier, she preserved an (albeit sanitized) story of grit and determination for generations of young readers who would never experience a journey by covered wagon. But today, few know the woman behind the books. With the tenacity of an historian, the awe of a naturalist, the precision of a scientist, and the affection of an admiring (but clear-eyed) biographer, Dr. Cheri Pierson Yecke gives us an essential reader’s guide to the writer and her times, putting Laura Ingalls Wilder’s work in the context of American expansionism and the Great Plains literature that captured it. 

Michael Claxton, Professor of English, Harding University, author of Don't Fool Yourself: The Magical Life of  Dell O'Dell.

I  This thorough-going volume of history adds immeasurably to the growing foundation of knowledge we have about famous children’s author Laura Ingalls Wilder. Dr. Yecke gives context to the life and writing of Mrs. Wilder and sets the scene for a better understanding of her work. Her impressive book will take its place on the shelf with other important books about our beloved Laura Ingalls Wilder.

Stephen Hines, author of 

I Remember Laura, A Prairie Girl’s Faith, and Laura Ingalls Wilder, Farm Journalist