I have to say that I have watched on TV The Little House on the Prairie series over and over, ever since I was a little girl, but it was until recently when a question crossed my mind: What happened to Laura Ingalls’ daughter, Rose Wilder, as the books written by Laura only account for her girl as a little baby.
So, of course, curious as I am, I did a little research on the internet and I was pretty pleased when I discovered that Rose Wilder did an extensive work as a journalist and as a writer.
The first book that caught my attention was Henry Ford’s own story (1917), in which Rose managed to present a lively biography in which Ford is described in a very detailed way since he was a little boy growing up in a farm near Detroit.
Wilder Lane captured the restless personality of the young Henry who found so boring the farm chores, that he started to think in different ways to “automatized” them. His several attempts guided him to his biggest invention: the Ford motor car.
However, to achieve this goal, Ford had to work really hard for many years in Detroit as for him to save enough money to built his machine. He also had to find people interested in his machine, being a dinner owner his very first investor.
After his first automobile was complete, Ford started to participate in car races to show the power of his machine and to raise more money for him to improve his own design. Both goals in which he succeeded, this situation allowed him to start his very own company. This was the beginning of the Ford Motor Company.
As for Rose Wilder Lane, the writing world took her to travel around the world and to be the author of more biographies such as The story of Art Smith and The making of Herbert Hoover. She also wrote different pieces of fiction like Diverging Roads and He was a man, and some non-fiction travel stories based on her own trips.
