BY ANDY TAYLOR
chronicle@taylornews.org

INDEPENDENCE — A group of women from the midwestern United States — each with a collective interest in pioneer lifestyles — met Wednesday afternoon at the Little House on the Prairie site to celebrate their unique sisterhood.

The Farmgirls On the Loose Tour made a visit to the Little House on the Prairie site as part of a six-state tour of Little House on the Prairie sites or former homes of Laura Ingalls Wilder, the author of the “Little House” novels.

Wende Wagner of Kansas City, Mo., was among the organizers of the heartland tour that took pioneer-loving women to the Laura Ingalls Wilder homes and Little House sites.

“We came from all varieties of backgrounds,” said Wagner, a hairdresser by profession. “We have retired postmasters, educators, housewives, farmers and more.”

Wagner said the tour was part of a movement established by Mary Jane Butters, who operates an organic farm in Moscow, Idaho. Butters, who owns and publishes MaryJaneFarm magazine, established an “apron movement” — similar to the colorful hats worn by the Red Hat Society — whereby women with an interest in simple, pioneer-style ways. One of those elements in the discovery of the pioneer was an interest in Laura Ingalls Wilder, who, Wagner said, is thought to be the most well-known of all pioneers.

“It’s all about a simpler way of life — focused on farming and family,” she said.

The “apron movement” led to the establishment of Farmgirl chapters, which now number 984 in 48 states and eight countries.

The members of the Farmgirl sisterhood that were at the Little House on the Prairie site between Caney and Independence not only enjoyed an outdoor lunch of fried chicken but also donated some of their labor in doing some gardening and yard chores at the site. Each visit to a Little House site required the Farmgirls to perform a community service project as a way to give back to the communities.

The Farmgirls On The Loose Tour included the Montgomery County on its midwestern tour, which began on June 6 in DeSmet, S.D. Other locations on the tour included Walnut Grove, Minn.; Pepin, Wis.; Burr Oak, Iowa; Kansas City, Mo.; and Mansfield, Mo.

While each site is unique in its way, they collective have a common bond, Wagner said.

“You can pick up this site in Kansas and put it in South Dakota, Wisconsin or Iowa,” said Wagner. The terrain and territory are very similar, which is what was the driving force behind the Ingalls’ family as it traveled across the Midwest.”

Laura Ingalls Wilder was a young child when her parents, Charles and Caroline Ingalls, located to Rutland Township in 1869. The family, which came to Kansas from Wisconsin, returned to Wisconsin in 1871.

Wilder used her experiences on the Kansas prairie as the basis for the “Little House” novels. A NBC television show of the same name was loosely based on the novels.

“Laura Ingalls Wilder’s stories are probably the most-read accounts of life on the pioneer than any other pioneer-era book,” said Wagner. “That’s what makes that way of life so attractive and intriguing.”

Wagner provides a daily blog of the Farmgirls On The Loose tour, which can be read at http://farmgirlsontheloose.blogspot.com.