Hey recappers! Today, we’re going to summarize the next episode of Little House on the Prairie, “100 Mile Walk.” We start, of course, with the familiar music. Girls running, Ma and Pa looking on in delight, and Carrie falling in the grass as Carrie does.

We open with Pa standing in an immense wheat field, thanking the heavens for his bounty.

Fun Fact: In real life, despite years of trying, Pa never had a successful crop. He was not the farmer we were led to believe with TV Charles Ingalls.

Pa Ingalls Grows a Wheat Crop

Pa has the girls multiply bushels times acres so they can figure out how much money is coming in fron their crop. Oh, Pa. Don’t you know it’s bad luck to count your money before you even have it? I don’t have a good feeling about this.

The Ingalls family talks about what they’re going to buy with their riches. Also, a bad sign. Pa wants new dresses for the girls, a coat for Ma, and curtains for the windows. Ma wants Pa to get new boots. Pa puts his dirty feet on the table to reveal a boot with the sole flopping off. How he functions with that, I couldn’t tell you. Laughter all around. Pa continues to tempt fate by asking everyone to contribute to the list of things that they’ll buy when they hit the big time.

Pa brings his family into the barn and brings out new horses. What a surprise! This will help with the crops moving forward.

A storm is brewing, and Pa has his worried face on as he looks outside. He tells Ma nothing’s wrong, it’s just some much-needed rain. But we know better, don’t we?

Ma and Pa continue to act worried while pretending they’re not worried. I have to tell you, this is one worrisome storm. Hail and everything. Pa heads out into the night. Frightened, Carrie cries, and the girls come down from their loft. Pa comes in, “soaked to the skin!” and pulls the coffee pot out of the fire bare-handed. That’s some superhero-level energy, right there.

Pa acts like all is well, but Ma is on to him. He tells her the wheat is gone. Pa doesn’t look at it as a loss, just that they’re back to where they started. It’s a loss Pa. Think of everything you went through for the seed and plow.

The next day, the menfolk are talking at Hanson’s mill. We learn that families from 60 miles around have lost their crops. Unfortunately, there’s one thing Hanson can’t fix. A man asks for a loan, but Hanson tells him there’s no money. Without any wheat, he won’t have any money at all.

Charles brings the horses back to Mr.Hanson since he can’t pay for them after all.

100 Mile Walk

Next we see the family in the kitchen, packing bags for Pa, who may have to walk 100 miles to find work. Tearful hugs ensue. Pa begins his 100-mile walk by starting down the hill that Carrie tumbles down each week in the opening credits. This will also be the hill where all the wheat was damaged. It’s a very busy hill.

Mind you, Pa is doing this walking with his floppy boot soles. He stops by a tree and pulls a rock off his foot.

Cut to another family, and another father who has to walk wherever to provide for his family. I feel another one of my famous predictions coming on which tells me Pa won’t be walking alone for too long. The new dad and his son play spar as the dad tells his son to take care of his mother. More tearful goodbyes.

And is that kid a young, cute-as-a-button Lance Kerwin? It is! He was in the short-lived James at 15 with Melissa Sue Anderson.

As Pa walks, he’s joined on the road by the other dad. The new guy’s name is Jack Peters. He just happens to have a piece of rawhide in his pocket so Pa can tie up his floppy boot. Pa says that all he can give in return is thanks, but Jack Peters will accept companionship in return. Pa always meets the nicest people, doesn’t he? Back home, Ma sits in a field of ruined wheat, picking it all apart.

Party of Three

Pa and Jack get their campfire on. A man named Jacob approaches and asks if he can share their fire. Introductions all around. Pa offers him food, which he declines but then stares at them while they eat. They remark on his hunger and give him a plate. After which, they have a good smoke, and Pa takes off his boots. The newcomer tells Pa his boots are just as good as walking barefoot. And wouldn’t you know it? The new guy, whose name is Jacob, makes boots for a living. Wouldn’t you know? He just happens to have a brand new pair in his backpack. First rawhide and then an actual pair of boots! And what else do you know? They fit perfectly. Pa is like the luckiest person ever.

Jack mentions there are going to be a lot of men looking for a few jobs. As luck would have it again, if the men can “double jack” (pound railroad spikes), he knows a guy. How about he puts in a good word for Pa and Jacob.?These men are making it rain with miracles.

After commercials, we are at a dusty railroad camp. Jack introduces them to the foreman, and the men audition. Pa’s not looking like he wants to hammer Jacob’s hands. As it turns out, the guys are not too bad at double jacking for first timers and they pass the audition. Because of course they do.

Flailing and Winnowing

Back at the Little House on the Prairie, the women are gathered. Ma mentions that they all have the same problem – feeding their families. She suggests that they can all work together while their men are away. A woman speaks out that it isn’t sensible for them to try and harvest any of that wheat. Ma thinks that they can make it happen if they want it badly enough. The woman doesn’t know how they’ll even thresh that wheat, but Ma brings up Ruth and Bible quotes her. Something about flails and winnowing. That’s a Pa-worthy speech, Ma!

After the commercial, the women carry rakes down the hill. It looks like the wheat is strategically laid across the grass, like when the landscapers lay grass seed. But of course, that’s not what happened; the hail caused the wheat to lie flat like that. I’m also confused by this hill. Planting wheat at the bottom of a big hill just doesn’t seem conducive to growing a crop that doesn’t get waterlogged when it rains.

The complaining lady continues her bellyaching. Her back hurts. They’re not going to make enough flour. They’re all going crazy. If one of the women, accidentally, mind you, whacks her with a rake, I wouldn’t be disappointed. Ma tells Willa, her name is Willa, that they WILL go hungry if they all worked like she does. Snaps for Ma.

The Powder Monkey

Back at the railroad camp, Pa is in front of the office signing a book. Jack comes by and begins stuffing dynamite in his pants. He tells Charles he’s a “powder monkey” and not too many men want that kind of work. I’m thinking there might be a good reason for this. He’s a little too relaxed with those sticks of dynamite in his pockets. I’m also feeling like Jack might not be with us much longer.

Jack shows Pa and Jacob what a Powder Monkey does until their boss suggests they get busy.

Next we hear a cry of “fire in the hole,” and men duck as rocks get blown to bits. Pa and Jacob have themselves a drink of water before getting back to their double-jacking. Apparently, there is a contest for the double jackers, and the winners get to split $50! Also, it should be noted that Pa has a bandage on his hand where Jacob smashed it with the sledgehammer. If I were Pa, I wouldn’t feel too confident right about now.

Back at the bunkhouse, Pa is lying on a cot looking pensive. He’s missing his family, thinking they’re just about done with supper now, with the dishes done and three girls getting ready for bed. Jack says his wife is a scrapper, always giving him what for. When asked if he has any kids, Jacob says he doesn’t know. I was thinking things were about to get very interesting, but it’s just that he left behind a pregnant wife. So he may or may not have a kid by now, but by the time he gets home for sure. The men all look sad, and Pa turns and cries a bit. He’s so sensitive, isn’t he?

Narrating Laura tells us it’s Tuesday, and Tuesday is mail day. I guess it’s not school day because moms and kids are all lined up at the post office waiting for news. Ma opens a letter with cash in it and reads the letter to the girls. It’s a very short letter with no actual news. While I would be happymy husband is still alive, I’d expect to learn a little more about what’s going on in his life. Very disappointing.

Jack’s family also has mail. Jack’s son, Lance Kerwin, reminds his mother that his Pa is the best powder monkey on this side of the Mississippi, and I’m starting to get that bad feeling again.

I’m just going to pause right here and say that I’ve pretty much been dead on balls accurate with my predictions here, and it’s not because I watched this episode 40-some odd years ago.

We go back and forth, men vs. women, for a little while. Back at home, the women are pushing a wagon filled with sheaves of wheat, while the men all use fulcrums to move a giant boulder. Now the women are beating the wheat with brooms or something. Even Laura is beating the heck out of that wheat. Now Pa and Jacob are double jacking, a phrase I hope never to use again after today. Wait. It’s three of them. They’re triple jacking!

The women exclaim with delight at their bounty! They did it. No one’s going to starve. A disheveled-looking Ma gives a small smile of satisfaction and wipes her brow. Now, Jack throws a pretend stick of dynamite into an outhouse, and a man runs out. The women load bags of flour into a wagon bed. Mr. Hanson must have let them use the mill.

After the commercial break, we’re back at the railroad camp. The double jacking contest is about to begin. The boss yells “Go!” and the men go. Pa and Jacob are loaded for bear. They switch on and off, and Pa’s hands remain intact. This is a real nail-biter! Who’s going to win? I don’t know…it’s looking tough to call. Jack cheers them on from a distance. The Ingalls team is almost there and …they win!!! Elated, the men get back to work. Because after participating in an exhausting contest, what would you do?

Jack yells down from his perch, dynamite in hand, that the men are big winners, and they were just lucky, that’s all. Laughs all around. I know what’s going to happen next. So do you. Sure enough, Jack blows himself up. Pa screams, “JACK!” That sure put a damper on the coming in first place thing.

Pa collects his pay and Jack’s pay to give to his wife. A somber Pa and a somber Jacob pack up to begin the somber 100-mile walk home. After a time, Jacob and Pa part company and Jacob runs up the hill to where his wife and baby are waiting. Pa smiles. It’s a boy!

Back from commercial, and Pa is giving Jack’s widow his personal effects. Lance Kerwin walks away to have a moment. “Why, Pa? I thought you were the best!”

Pa tells the Lance Kerwin he will stop by now and again to see how they’re getting along. Lance Kerwin doesn’t know when that’s going to happen because he’s going to have a lot of work to do now that his Pa died. He walks away and Pa tearfully looks on.

Heading into Walnut Grove, Pa’s first stop must have been to Mr. Hanson because next we see him he s riding home on a horse with another in tow. Huge hugs all around

T