As she traveled, Laura wrote her diary in pencil in a little five-cent memorandum book. Years later, her daughter Rose edited the diary, added an introductory “setting,” and published it in 1962 under the title ON THE WAY HOME—The Diary of a Trip from South Dakota to Mansfield, Missouri, in 1894. This typed manuscript was produced as part of the publication process.

National Archives, Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum, West Branch, Iowa
© 1962, 1990 Little House Heritage Trust. Used with permission.