BEYOND THE PRAIRIE, PART 2: THE TRUE STORY OF LAURA INGALLS WILDER CONTINUES (TV)
Summary
This made-for-television drama film, a sequel to the 2000 film, continues the true story of "Little House on the Prairie" author Laura Ingalls Wilder and her journey to Missouri with her family. Laura, Almanzo and Rose journey from South Dakota towards their new home, eager to find a more favorable climate, and they soon come across another settler, Mikhail, who invites them to stay in his camp. Mikhail questions Laura about her "ill fortune" and offers her some kind words, and Laura tells Rose about her own childhood travels with her adventurous father Charles. Later, Rose encounters a young boy, Charlie Magnuson, who has been bitten by a snake, and Almanzo quickly saves his life, observed by his anxious parents Beth and George. Beth explains to Laura that they have already lost several children and are also heading to Missouri, and the two families decide to travel together. They are taken aback when another traveler on the road informs them that Missouri is a dead end and the ground unsuitable for crops, but they carry on and soon make it to the Missouri River, and as they cross the water on a barge, Laura thinks fondly of her family's arrival in Kansas and her father's excitement at the prospect of building their new home.
Rose befriends a stray dog, whom she names Fido, but two leering hunters soon arrive in their camp and announce that the dog is theirs. They refuse Almanzo's offer to buy the animal from them, feeling that he has insulted them, but Laura smooths things over with her firm but respectful tone and Rose is delighted to keep her pet. Laura tells Rose about the $100 that they have saved to buy their new home, and the family soon finds a "perfect" spot of undeveloped land. As Laura and Almanzo prepare to head to the bank for a loan, they are horrified to realize that the $100 is seemingly gone, and Laura panics that their dreams, including her hopes for another baby, are now dashed. She soon finds the money, however, and she and Almanzo happily purchase their new land, though Laura briefly encounters a strange, scarred man in the rundown cabin in which they plan to live. She and Almanzo work hard to clear the land and plant their apple orchard, though Rose has trouble at school when the other students tease her for her unusual and intelligent comments.
Almanzo, still physically weakened from his diphtheria, frets that he cannot complete the necessary manual labor before the first winter freeze and wonders if they should reconsider their plan, but Laura vows not to quit and attempts to hire another worker. Beth admits that she and her family are headed to Florida before the end of autumn, having found that Missouri is every bit as challenging as South Dakota. Laura again encounters the scarred man, who introduces himself as Cornelius Loudermilk and apologizes for straying onto her land, and he agrees to help her clear her property in exchange for meals and firewood. Laura and Cornelius bond as they work together, and Cornelius soon reveals that he was burned in the same first that destroyed his home and killed his wife and daughter. Rose endures more teasing as the girls at school scorn her "covered-wagon people," though Charlie comes to her defense. Almanzo joins Laura and Cornelius, praising his wife for saving their farm with her hard work, and the trees are successfully planted before the first snow.
Laura tries to encourage Rose, pointing out that she has traveled far and accomplished much for a young person, and reveals that the Dakota newspaper published one of her letters to her grandparents, making her an official author. Laura then observes that Rose has invented a new "language" for herself out of loneliness, and she talks with Rose's teacher about her daughter's unhappiness. When she tries to tell the girl not to speak her language anymore, Rose finally vents her frustrations and declares that she hates Missouri and does not consider it to be her home. She and Fido run off into a nearby cave system and are soon lost, and Rose tries to calm her fears by telling Fido a story as her parents frantically search for them. Cornelius helps to rescue the girl just in time, though he departs for good the next day, leaving behind his daughter's favorite book as a gift for Rose. Almanzo is thrilled when the apple trees produce healthy fruit, and Laura soon picks out the spot on which the family will build their new home. Years pass and the house is completed, and the teenage Rose informs her mother that she intends to make a career of writing.
Laura then learns that her father is seriously ill, and she travels back to South Dakota and reunites with her family for the first time in many years. At Charles' request, Laura takes him out in the wagon for some fresh air, and they bond as he tells her of the pleasant memories – and unfulfilled dreams – of his life. Laura then explains that though Rose became a writer long before she herself did, they both drew on Laura's experiences, both good and bad, of her life as a settler. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: CBS
- DATE: March 17, 2002 9:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:30:08
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:83846
- GENRE: Drama
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama; Biography; Writers
- SERIES RUN: CBS - TV, 2002
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Dori Weiss … Executive Producer
- Robert Rolsky … Producer
- Stephen Harrigan … Producer, Writer
- Marcus Cole … Director
- Ernest Troost … Music by
- Meredith Monroe … Cast, Laura Ingalls Wilder
- Walton Goggins … Cast, Almanzo Wilder
- Thomas Ian Griffith … Cast, Cornelius Loudermilk
- Skye McCole Bartusiak … Cast, Rose Wilder
- Tess Harper … Cast, The Voice of Laura
- Lindsay Crouse … Cast, Caroline Ingalls
- Richard Thomas … Cast, Charles Ingalls
- Joe Stevens … Cast, George Magnuson
- Heather Kafka … Cast, Beth Magnuson
- Cody Linley … Cast, Charlie Magnuson
- Marco Perella … Cast, Grady
- Christina Stojanovich … Cast, Rose at 14
- Konstantin Selivanov … Cast, Mikhail
- Mark Voges … Cast, Backtracker
- Charles Sanders … Cast, Professor Kaye
- Chris Warner … Cast, Arthur
- Marc Menchaca … Cast, Store Assistant
- Chelsea Ricketts … Cast, Sarah
- Michelle Bevan … Cast, Young Laura
- Alexandra Smith … Cast, Young Mary