The main characters are the members of Laura's immediate family. Charles Ingalls was apparently his daughter's favorite—and she his. In this story, Pa is rugged, hardworking, and competent.

He sets traps, shoots animals for food, plants and harvests, butchers, builds, and travels to town to sell furs. But best of all, Pa is fun to be with. Although Ma apparently takes pains to keep her little girls entertained with paper dolls and pancake men, Laura declares, "The best time of all was at night, when Pa came home." Pa roughhouses with the girls, jokes, plays his fiddle, and tells tales. He knows the girls love to be "scared" by his games and stories, even as his presence makes them feel secure. Fair and openminded, he is all for "progress," and the later books of the series reveal that he hopes for bigger...