History Awesome / LittleHouseOnThePrairie

* Willie Olesen's transformation from mean little spoiled kid to one of Walnut Grove's finest, most responsible young men. The change happened ever so gradually, starting in Season 8 where – in the episode "Stone Soup" – he helps organize an effort to help farmers during a drought; this comes as the outgrowth of seeing a pregnant Laura collapse while working to exhaustion in tending to Almanzo's orchard, and Caroline telling the story "Stone Soup" to inspire the kids. (Clearly, Willie got the message). This far into the series, Willie was nearing maturity and starting to realize how much of a fool he had been and that he needed to make a change in his life, and Laura supported him. Willie had shed his troublemaking ways after that, but his real crowning moment comes in Season 9's "Could I Have This Dance," where he [[CallingTheOldManOut calls out his overbearing mother]], Mrs. Olesen, after she tries to coddle him again (by sending him to college). He says he intends to oversee the restaurant/hotel named for his sister, Nellie (who had also broken off of her mother's spoiled ways a couple of seasons earlier), and plans to marry an attractive-but-poor country girl named Rachel Brown ... and stands his ground when his mother continues her attempts to intervene. When Mrs. Olesen asks Nels what had gotten into her son, he replies, "A backbone!" But even before his changeover, there were signs that Willie was not quite as bad as Nellie at her peak – her own change from spoiled brat to hard-working and responsible is quite remarkable and awesome in and of itself – as he often sticks up for himself and his friends (more than once, he stands his ground against Nellie) and by Season 7, he's showing signs he's grown tired of his mother's constant pampering. When Willie finally puts his foot down at his mother's abrasiveness, Harriet claims Rachel is the one responsible for his disobedience, when in reality, she's the reason he's completed his maturity into his own man.

* While Ma and Pa tell off Laura for disrespecting her teacher, they don't punish her. In fact, Ma even puts a quote in her autograph album.

-->'''Nels''': ''(absolutely proud of his son)'' ''Astonishing.''

* Willie Olesen's transformation from mean little spoiled kid to one of Walnut Grove's finest, most responsible young men. The change happened ever so gradually, starting in Season 8 where – in the episode "Stone Soup" – he helps organize an effort to help farmers during a drought; this comes as the outgrowth of seeing a pregnant Laura collapse while working to exhaustion in tending to Almanzo's orchard, and Caroline telling the story "Stone Soup" to inspire the kids. (Clearly, Willie got the message). This far into the series, Willie was nearing maturity and starting to realize how much of a fool he had been and that he needed to make a change in his life, and Laura supported him. Willie had shed his troublemaking ways after that, but his real crowning moment comes in Season 9's "Could I Have This Dance," where he [[CallingTheOldManOut calls out his overbearing mother]], Mrs. Olesen, after she tries to coddle him again (by sending him to college and making him marry a woman he has no interest in). He says he intends to oversee the restaurant/hotel named for his sister, Nellie (who had also broken off of her mother's spoiled ways a couple of seasons earlier), and plans to marry an attractive-but-poor country girl named Rachel Brown ... and stands his ground when his mother continues her attempts to intervene. When Mrs. Olesen asks Nels what had gotten into her son, he replies, "A backbone!" But even before his changeover, there were signs that Willie was not quite as bad as Nellie at her peak – her own change from spoiled brat to hard-working and responsible is quite remarkable and awesome in and of itself – as he often sticks up for himself and his friends (more than once, he stands his ground against Nellie) and by Season 7, he's showing signs he's grown tired of his mother's constant pampering. When Willie finally puts his foot down at his mother's abrasiveness, Harriet claims Rachel is the one responsible for his disobedience, when in reality, she's the reason he's completed his maturity into his own man.
-->'''Harriet''': You see what she's done to him!?
-->'''Nels''': ''(absolutely proud of his son)'' ''Astounding.''

* ''"Bachelor Girl"''

** What about Almanzo's own reply to Thompson's first offer: "Keep your nickel, I can't change it"? If the real nine-year-old Almanzo said that, it was a CrowningMomentOfFunny as well.

* "The Werewolf of Walnut Grove" is a CrowningMomentOfAwesome, as the kids work together and use what they learned in school projects to keep a bully from terrorizing their teacher, Ms. Eliza Jane Wilder.

** The plan itself is pretty darn awesome. The kids convince Nancy to participate in a school charity bazaar instead of the originally planned pageant, telling her she will be the star of the whole thing. She's going to be the beautiful mermaid of the Mermade [sic] Booth. What they don't tell her is [[spoiler: the Mermaid Booth is a ''dunking booth.'']] Also doubles as a CrowningMomentOfFunny.

* ''Little House On the Prairie'' had a moment where the blaze in the fireplace got out of control with Mary and Carrie sitting in front, a burning stick gets ''very'' close to Mary, who is scared stiff, Laura (her junior by two years) yanks the rocking chair carrying her sisters and slides it across the floor to safety and tossed the stick into the fireplace. Laura notes that she felt too scared to feel any pain.

* The episode where Charles and Isaiah took on a dangerous job transporting nitroglycerin to a blasting site. It has the [[AnAesop corollary Aesop]] of anti-discrimination; among the group of nitroglycerine haulers is a black man who is a veteran with the job that takes the place of someone who gets cold feet, and used to being the butt of many racist comments and takes it all in stride, to the dismay of a white man who can't stand the idea of working with a Negro, let alone a snarky one. All the workers hired for the job also have to ride on the freight car because they didn't have seats paid for by the ones who hired them. By the end of the episode, the person who was picking on him has realized the man is of splendid character and worthy of respect. Unfortunately, one of the conductors on the train ride back to the station throws him out of the coach because he's black. Thus, he goes back to sitting on the freight car... and is soon joined by Charles and Isaiah, who quietly leave the coach in silent protest and look about a half a second away from beating the stuffing out of the acidic conductor. But the one fellow who originally picked on the black man lingers behind for a while, as though he decided to stay where he was... and then emerges on the freight car with an absolutely ''glorious'' one-liner:

* The episode where Charles and Isaiah took on a dangerous job transporting nitroglycerin to a blasting site. It has the [[AnAesop corollary Aesop]] of anti-discrimination; among the group of nitroglycerine haulers is a black man who is a veteran with the job that takes the place of someone who gets cold feet, and used to being the butt of many racist comments and takes it all in stride, to the dismay of a man who can't stand the idea of working with a Negro. All the workers hired for the job also have to ride on the freight car because they didn't have seats paid for by the ones who hired them. By the end of the episode, the person who was picking on him has realized the man is of splendid character and worthy of respect. Unfortunately, one of the conductors on the train ride back to the station throws him out of the coach because he's black. Thus, he goes back to sitting on the freight car... and is soon joined by Charles and Isaiah, who quietly leave the coach in silent protest and look about a half a second away from beating the stuffing out of the acidic conductor. But the one fellow who originally picked on the black man lingers behind for a while, as though he decided to stay where he was... and then emerges on the freight car with an absolutely ''glorious'' one-liner:

* The episode where Charles and Isaiah took on a dangerous job transporting nitroglycerin to a blasting site. It has the [[AnAesop corollary Aesop]] of a black man who is used to being the butt of many racist comments and takes it all in stride, and all the workers hired for the job have to ride on the freight car because they didn't have seats paid for by the ones who hired them. By the end of the episode, the person who was picking on him has realized the man is of splendid character and worthy of respect. Unfortunately, one of the conductors on the train ride back to the station throws him out of the coach because he's black. Thus, he goes back to sitting on the freight car... and is soon joined by Charles and Isaiah, who quietly leave the coach in silent protest and look about a half a second away from beating the stuffing out of the acidic conductor. But the one fellow who originally picked on the black man lingers behind for a while, as though he decided to stay where he was... and then emerges on the freight car with an absolutely ''glorious'' one-liner:

-->Threw me out too...
-->''(takes a long pause)''
-->''(grinning from ear to ear)'' ...He found out I was '''[[FightingIrish IRISH!]]'''

* The episode where Charles and Isaiah took on a dangerous job transporting nitroglycerin to a blasting site. It has the [[AnAesop corollary Aesop]] of a black man who is used to being the butt of many racist comments and takes it all in stride, and all the workers hired for the job have to ride on the freight car because they didn't have seats paid for by the ones who hired them. By the end of the episode, the person who was picking on him has realized the man is of splendid character and worthy of respect. Unfortunately, one of the conductors on the train ride back to the station throws him out of the coach because he's black. Thus, he goes back to sitting on the freight car... and is soon joined by Charles and Isaiah, who quietly leave the coach in silent protest and look about a half a second away from beating the stuffing out of the acidic conductor. But the one fellow who originally picked on the black man lingers behind for a while, as though he decided to stay where he was... and then emerges on the freight car with an absolutely ''glorious'' one-liner.

-->''(grinning from ear to ear)'' ...He found out I was '''[[TheFightingIrish IRISH!]]'''

* Willie Olesen's transformation from mean little spoiled kid to one of Walnut Grove's finest, most responsible young men. The change happened ever so gradually, starting in Season 8 where – in the episode "Stone Soup" – he helps organize an effort to help farmers during a drought; this comes as the outgrowth of seeing a pregnant Laura collapse while working to exhaustion in tending to Almonzo's orchard, and Caroline telling the story "Stone Soup" to inspire the kids. (Clearly, Willie got the message). Willie had shed his troublemaking ways after that, but his real crowning moment comes in Season 9's "Could I Have This Dance," where he [[CallingTheOldManOut calls out his overbearing mother]], Mrs. Olesen, after she tries to coddle him again (by sending him to college and making him marry a woman he has no interest in). He says he intends to oversee the restaurant/hotel named for his sister, Nellie (who had also broken off of her mother's spoiled ways a couple of seasons earlier), and plans to marry an attractive-but-poor country girl named Rachel Brown ... and stands his ground when his mother continues her attempts to intervene. When Mrs. Olesen asks Nels what had gotten into her son, he replies, "A backbone!" But even before his changeover, there were signs that Willie was not quite as bad as Nellie at her peak – her own change from spoiled brat to hard-working and responsible is quite remarkable and awesome in and of itself – as he often sticks up for himself and his friends (more than once, he stands his ground against Nellie) and by Season 7, he's showing signs he's grown tired of his mother's constant pampering. When Willie finally puts his foot down at his mother's abrasiveness, Harriet claims Rachel is the one responsible for his disobedience, when in reality, she's the reason he's completed his maturity into his own man.

* "Bully Boys" has several, all because a trio of ne'er-do-well men have invaded their happy community and caused mayhem to ensue. The payback begins when Charles comes after the eldest Gallagher brothers for accosting his wife in public. As soon as he finds out that his Caroline been hurt, he ''immediately'' runs off to the Gallagher residence to defend the honor of his wife, engaging in a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown that he almost ''won'', had not the more able-bodied beefier brother jumped back in the fight. Then, the Reverend, who has been personally lied to by the Gallaghers with some nonsense about a sick ma (when their ma is every bit a deadbeat as they are and even ran off with a circus performer, leaving behind their love child as brother number three), invites them to church. You'd think this is simply because it's a kind gesture he's supposed to extend to anyone, but this time, it's to rope them into a town-wide intervention against their tyranny. At the Sunday service, Reverend Alden, normally the kindest and least aggressive of all the townspeople, changes gears from his usual gentle and virtuous sermons to a very fiery sermon about Hell directly aimed at the Gallaghers, and clarifies that Christians are not pushovers or punching bags who have to put up with evils that won't quit vexing them. It is not unjustified for Christians to fight back against injustice and fight, if the fight in question is the good fight. When one of them catches his drift and confronts him, ''the Reverend pins him up against the chapel wall''. Then, all of the men at church form a posse and march the Gallaghers out of town peacefully, while their wives, spared the dirty work, sing them off with a round of "Onward Christian Soldiers". This is just one of many times the ''entire'' town of Walnut Grove bands together to show that they will ''not'' be intimidated.

* "Bully Boys" has several, all because a trio of ne'er-do-well men have invaded their happy community and caused mayhem to ensue. The payback begins when Charles comes after the eldest Gallagher brothers for accosting his wife in public, engaging in a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown that he almost ''won'', had not the more able-bodied beefier brother jumped back in the fight. Then, the Reverend, who has been personally lied to by the Gallaghers with some nonsense about a sick ma (when their ma is every bit a deadbeat as they are and even ran off with a circus performer, leaving behind their love child as brother number three), invites them to church. You'd think this is simply because it's a kind gesture he's supposed to extend to anyone, but this time, it's to rope them into a town-wide intervention against their tyranny. At the Sunday service, Reverend Alden, normally the kindest and least aggressive of all the townspeople, changes gears from his usual gentle and virtuous sermons to a very fiery sermon about Hell directly aimed at the Gallaghers, and clarifies that Christians are not pushovers or punching bags who have to put up with evils that won't quit vexing them. It is not unjustified for Christians to fight back against injustice and fight, if the fight in question is the good fight. When one of them catches his drift and confronts him, ''the Reverend pins him up against the chapel wall''. Then, all of the men at church form a posse and march the Gallaghers out of town peacefully, while their wives, spared the dirty work, sing them off with a round of "Onward Christian Soldiers". This is just one of many times the ''entire'' town of Walnut Grove bands together to show that they will ''not'' be intimidated.

* Willie Olesen's transformation from mean little spoiled kid to one of Walnut Grove's finest, most responsible young men. The change happened ever so gradually, starting in Season 8 where – in the episode "Stone Soup" – he helps organize an effort to help farmers during a drought; this comes as the outgrowth of seeing a pregnant Laura collapse while working to exhaustion in tending to Almonzo's orchard, and Caroline telling the story "Stone Soup" to inspire the kids. (Clearly, Willie got the message). Willie had shed his troublemaking ways after that, but his real crowning moment comes in Season 9's "Could I Have This Dance," where he [[CallingTheOldManOut calls out his overbearing mother]], Mrs. Olesen, after she tries to coddle him again (by sending him to college and making him marry a woman he has no interest in). He says he intends to oversee the restaurant/hotel named for his sister, Nellie (who had also broken off of her mother's spoiled ways a couple of seasons earlier), and plans to marry an attractive-but-poor country girl named Rachel Brown ... and stands his ground when his mother continues her attempts to intervene. When Mrs. Olesen asks Nels what had gotten into her son, he replies, "A backbone!" But even before his changeover, there were signs that Willie was not quite as bad as Nellie at her peak – her own change from spoiled brat to hard-working and responsible is quite remarkable and awesome in and of itself – as he often sticks up for himself and his friends (more than once, he stands his ground against Nellie) and by Season 7, he's showing signs he's grown tired of his mother's constant pampering.

** ''Across the Puddingstone Dam'': [[CoolOldLady Auntie Rho]], an elderly aunt of Charlotte's friend, is asked by Charlotte if she likes being an OldMaid. [[DontYouDarePityMe Rho congratulates Charlotte for being frank and not pitying her behind her back]]. She tells Charlotte, no she doesn't regret it and is blessed with a large, loving family just like when she was young. She tells Charlotte [[EarnYourHappyEnding that one must eat what they can get and season it however they want]]. It's an amazing attitude to have given [[StayInTheKitchen how the attitudes tow]][[BabyFactory ards women]], [[OldMaid especially]] [[MaidenAunt single]] [[ChristmasCake women]], [[YouGoGirl were in the]] [[GirlsNeedRoleModels 1820s]] [[ValuesResonance (and still are)]].

** Earlier that day, Ma admitted to Laura that if he had to, Pa would butcher their cow and her calf for food. Laura is horrified, because while that would feed them now, cows are so valuable as long-term sources of food like cheese and butter-- in the next book, Laura and Mary are similarly horrified when Pa decides to sell the calf to pay for Mary's tuition, and in the book after that, Pa's wedding gift to Laura and Almanzo is a young cow named Fawn, which Almanzo is particularly grateful for-- it's the one thing his farm is really missing. When Pa comes back with the grain, he refuses to say where he got it, only that there's more if they need it, and Ma nearly cries in relief, only saying she should have known her husband would provide for them long-term as well as short-term.

** Rose delivering her stealth, pro-womens suffrage valedictorian speech in Latin. She left the misogynistic headmaster befuddled and shown that she knows more Latin than he forgot, and kept him from stifling her opinions and from withholding her diploma.

* ''"Bachelor Girl"''

** Eliza Jane giving Rose the pep and tough love talk she's been needing and then offers to let Rose live with her for a year to complete her education.

** Rose telling off Blanche's snotty city cousin for making disparaging remarks about Mansfield and it's people, she tells her that if it weren't for farmers growing crops and everything, she wouldn't be living so well in Chicago without food.

** A classmate of Rose gets his when he concocts a plan involving his family's dogs to drive out the SadisticTeacher teaching their class. He still recieved a punishment from his father but was lauded as a hero by the other towns men and classmates.