The author's 'Little House' books drew on her family's homesteading years on the Dakota prairie. Beneath the postcard scenery runs a human history as deep and layered as the Badlands rock.

The Ingalls family settled near De Smet in the late 1870s.

What sets it apart

Several of the 'Little House' books are set in and around the town. Small as it sounds, it is exactly the sort of thing that defines the experience on the ground.

Preserved homestead buildings and a pageant keep the stories alive each summer.

Why it matters

Step back, and a larger picture comes into view: this is South Dakota in miniature, rugged and unhurried. It is a heritage still very much alive in the communities and gatherings of today's South Dakota.