Perspective

West from Home: Letters of Laura Ingalls Wilder to Almanzo Wilder, San Francisco 1915 is a series of letters from Laura Ingalls Wilder to her husband, Almanzo "Manly" Wilder as she traveled from Missouri to San Francisco in 1915 to visit their only daughter, Rose. Although Laura was born into a struggling pioneer family, she had the heart of a traveler. For Laura, the decision to leave Rocky Ridge Farm was at the same time difficult and simple. Laura wanted to see San Francisco, Rose and the Pacific Ocean as desperately as Rose wanted her to see those things. On the other hand, leaving Almanzo to tend to the farm could prove to be a tremendous strain, both physically and financially. In the end, Rose offered to pay Laura for the potential loss of income from the Wilders' chickens while she stayed in San Francisco for two months.

Laura was...