Mon, Jan 17, 1977
Counting on his immunity to protect him from the deadly mountain fever that killed his first wife and daughter, Isaiah Edwards takes Doc Baker to help with neighboring Elmsville's outbreak. But after contact with an infected townsman, Mr. Edwards unwittingly carries the disease back to Walnut Grove and when daughter, Alicia, develops symptoms, he must fight to save his new family while the rest of the town goes into quarantine.
Mon, Jan 24, 1977
Mrs. Oleson rewrites Alcott's "Little Women" to ensure Nellie is the star in Walnut Grove's school play based on the classic story; but shy Ginny Clark steals the show when, taking a lesson from her character, Jo, to try to get her bitter mother to come to the event, she surprises everyone by playing her part to perfection, both on and off the stage.
Mon, Jan 31, 1977
Jeremy Stokes lives in Walnut Grove. His daughter Amelia was rumored to have been kidnapped by some Indians. When her husband is killed she and her son, Spotted Eagle, come home to live with her father. Jeremy says that while in Walnut Grove, Spotted Eagle will be called Joseph Stokes. He doesn't want to claim the child as his own flesh and blood. His story is that that her daughter was kidnapped and she is just taking care of Spotted Eagle. Amelia tells Caroline that actually she fell in love with Spotted Eagle's father and that Spotted Eagle is her actual son.
Mon, Mar 14, 1977
Laura is playing with Anna when Nellie walks by and says she is starting a club and they are going to play in her room and she invites Laura but Laura wants to play with Anna so Nellie says she can come too. Laura is enjoying a music box, but Nellie is being bossy and tells everyone to pay attention to her so when Harriet directs everyone downstairs a few minutes later for refreshments, Laura steals the music box. She takes it home to play with in the loft of the barn, but when she thinks someone is coming, she gets startled and drops it and messes up the part that plays the music. Laura tries to fix the music box, but Nellie catches her. Laura says that she will be in Nellie's club and do anything she wants if she won't tell her parents. Nellie makes Laura be mean to Anna. Laura has several nightmares about how she would be punished if her parents and Nellie's parents found out that she stole the music box.
Mon, Mar 21, 1977
As a prank to make him look foolish, the older boys of Walnut Grove school nominate the object of their practical jokes, gentle Elmer Dobkins, to run for class president against popular Mary Ingalls and wealthy Nellie Oleson. While Mary and Nellie wage their campaigns with promises of popcorn and gum balls, Mr. Dobkins witnesses his son being teased by the older boys and, when he finds out why Elmer was nominated, angrily orders him to pull out of the election. But, when election day comes and the race seems too close to call, a cruel act and children tired of being bullied decide the outcome.
Mon, Apr 4, 1977
When a particularly rainy growing season in Walnut Grove destroys any hope of a harvest the Ingalls and the Edwards families set out on a 400 mile trip to the Dakota gold fields, hoping to pan enough gold to see them through the cold Minnesota winter. There they meet other families with similar hopes and dreams as well as those who will stop at nothing to acquire the wealth they desire. Can Charles and Isaiah keep their families safe and reach their goal in this wild and dangerous country? Eventually, the Ingalls and the Edwards strike gold on their Dakota claim and, as the men work at extracting the ore, Caroline and Grace start a school for the miners' children with the help of the local minister, Reverend Phillips. But even as the families try to lead a normal life, greed, the bane of the gold rush, raises its ugly head. Caroline is alarmed when even Charles is unable to define how much gold is 'enough' and when Laura's discovery of an old miner's secret results in murder and betrayal the Walnut Grove residents begin to question their motives for staying any longer in this dangerous country.
Mon, Sep 12, 1977
An eccentric old woman who has set up her "house" in the center of town and a stray dog who hitches a ride to Plum Creek from Mankato in Charles Ingalls' wagon both, in their own way, help Laura through the loss of an old friend and teach her and rest Walnut Grove lessons in love and acceptance.
Mon, Sep 19, 1977
An excited Mary Ingalls accompanies her father to the Chicago Grange Convention to surprise her true love, John Edwards, by accepting his invitation to a cotillion in person. But, surprises are in store for everyone as both Charles and Mary experience a trip very different from the one they each expected.
Mon, Sep 26, 1977
After eleven year old Ellen Taylor accidentally drowns while swimming on a hot summer day with the Ingalls girls, her grief-stricken mother, Eloise, first blames Laura for asking Ellen to go to the pond with them and then, unable to accept the reality of her little girl's death, begins to imagine that Laura is Ellen.
Mon, Oct 17, 1977
Laura and Andy find a Mama in a trap and two pups nearby. They take the "dogs" home, only to find out they are wolves. At the same time, some dogs that used to be pets but were released to the wild have gotten really wild and have been attacking some livestock in town. Charles and Caroline have gone out of town and Mary is left in charge of Laura and Carrie. She is under stress so she is a little too bossy and Laura runs to her tree house as often as possible or hangs out with Andy. They overhear that Jud Larabee (whose livestock was attacked) knows about their wolves and thinking they are responsible is going to come and kill the wolves. So, Laura and Andy move the wolves to Laura's barn. While out there, Carrie and Mary hear the dogs coming and they all go to the barn and end up trapped in the loft because the dogs burrow under the door and get in. The local farmers come to the rescue and kill the dogs and find out that the mama wolf actually saved Andy's life!
Mon, Nov 7, 1977
As Walnut Grove school begins to study the Civil War, Mary Ingalls unexpectedly learns firsthand information when she starts running errands for two mysterious newcomers who sided with the South. But Mr. Hobbs and Mr. Dankworth are hiding more than just their war affiliation and the whole town comes under siege when an overzealous posse rides in, prepared to capture them at any cost.
Mon, Nov 14, 1977
After the Garveys' grain-filled barn burns down and leaves them with no crop to sell, proud Jonathan refuses to accept help from anyone, even his wife Alice, and their marriage is put to the test when neither half of the stubborn couple will consider the other's solution to the problem.
Mon, Nov 28, 1977
The Ingalls and others from Walnut Grove go to the fair. Mary finds her friend Patrick who happens to be working for the balloon show. Since somehow a pickpocket has stolen his wallet, his coworker, Cass McCray agrees to take Mary around and buy her some goodies. Laura plays a shell game and quickly uses up her money. To make some more, she agrees to sit in the dunking booth. After she has sat there for 30 minutes, Nellie comes along to taunt her. At the same time, Laura realizes that two guys are coming that are sure to have a good arm, so she tells Nellie that the game is rigged and she just has to act scared and if she wants, she'll let Nellie work the second half of her hour. Sure enough, Nellie goes down on the first shot. Caroline is trying to get her entries registered in the canned vegetables and so Carrie has to wait with her. Charles and Nels rope and ride a wild mule and win some money. Her parents ask Laura to take Carrie to the merry-go-round. While they are in line, the balloon starts to lift off, so Laura goes to go watch it, leaving Carrie with no money for the ride. Charles gets angry and orders Laura to take Carrie on the ride. He also tells her that if she finds Bandit, to tether him to the wagon. So, they try again, but Laura sees Bandit and chases after him, again leaving Carrie with no money. She wanders off and sees a balloon basket and gets in and lies down. Patrick, jealous of the time Cass is spending with Mary cuts the balloon loose, not realizing that Carrie is sleeping inside.
Mon, Dec 5, 1977
Adam & Luke Simms move to Walnut Grove. Luke falls in love with Nellie. Nellie likes him but he doesn't like to wear shoes and he wears overalls without a shirt over his long underwear, so Harriet thinks he is beneath her and demands that Nellie stop seeing them. Luke gets Mary to help him pick out a ring for Nellie's birthday and Nellie thinks Luke was playing with her affections. Nellie cries to Miss Beadle and Miss Beadle goes to Mr. Simms to tell him that she won't have that kind of treatment in her school. Mr. Simms explains the situation and Miss Beadle starts to fall in love with Adam Simms. Luke and Nellie decide that they are going to elope. They get married and go to the hotel. That is where Harriet, Nels, Adam, and Ms. Beadle find them. They take them back to the Justice of the Peace and have him un-marry Luke and Nellie, but while they are there, Adam Simms and Eva Beadle get married.
Mon, Dec 12, 1977
An Indian chief needs help from a white man's doctor and the closest town is Walnut Grove. Most of the townspeople want to massacre the Indians because of what other Indians had done to them in the past. Charles and Dr. Baker take the chief, his adult son (acting chief) and his son's two children to Ingalls' house to stay until the chief is well enough to travel. Unfortunately, some of the townspeople find out that the chief is there and they want to come kill him, so Charles transports them to safety.