In the days of the building of the railroads and the final settlement of the West the Ingalls family moved from Minnesota, the scene of On the Banks of Plum Creek, to Dakota Territory. Pa became a railroad man for a time until he found a homestead and filed a claim. The family spent the winter in a surveyor's house sixty miles from the nearest neighbor. There was excitement when Laura and Mary took a thrilling train ride and when the attempted payroll robbery took place. That winter the family spent their happiest Christmas ever. In the Spring Pa put up the first building on the town-site near his claim, and two weeks later there was a brand-new town.