Laura Ingalls was less than three years old.
The family settled thirteen miles from Independence in southeastern Kansas. Although they were near a town, Charles Ingalls had plenty of space in which to hunt and farm. However, life was not without problems. In the summer of 1870, the entire family came down with malaria and were saved by Dr. George Tann, a physician who lived near them. Later that summer, another daughter, Caroline ("Carrie") Ingalls, was born.
A greater threat to the family's security than illness was the presence of the Osage Indians, whose territory included lands near the Verdigris River. As settlers pushed into the fertile lands, the Osage grew impatient. A treaty that had been signed several years earlier had never been put into effect, and the Indians were offered a new treaty at twice the price for their lands. But they would have to move to a new home in Indian Territory. After a final gathering in which the Indians decided to move rather than fight, the Osage gathered their belongings and began the long trek away from the settlers.
Despite the fact that the Indians had left, the Ingallses did not remain on the Kansas prairies.
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