Inside Rocky Ridge Farm: Interview with Michelle Underwood

Laura Ingalls Wilder lived in Mansfield, Missouri from 1894 until her death in 1957. Today, the farmhouse she and her husband, Almanzo, built, as well as the stone cottage known as the Rock House that their daughter Rose Wilder Lane designed and had built for them, are all part of the homesite in Mansfield.

Collectively, the homesite is known by the name Laura gave it: Rocky Ridge Farm.

Visitors to Rocky Ridge can tour the farmhouse, the Rock House, and a museum that houses an impressive collection of Wilder-related artifacts, including Pa’s fiddle – the actual instrument Charles Ingalls played for his family that we all read about in the Little House books.

Mansfield native Michelle Underwood has been a docent at Rocky Ridge since 2018, shortly after she moved back to her hometown. In 2023 Michelle released LAURA INGALLS WILDER'S ROCKY RIDGE FARM, a guidebook to the homesite that details everything a tourist might see at Rocky Ridge.

In this episode, Land of Laura talks to Michelle about her book, her job, and what it’s like to be behind the scenes at Laura’s Rocky Ridge.

https://www.amazon.ca/Laura-Ingalls-Wilders-Rocky-Ridge/dp/B0CHL5FG25

https://lauraingallswilderhome.com/