Laura Ingalls Wilder’s father was a main character in her famous series of books that documented their family life in the midwestern United States in the 1870s and 1880s. Music meant a lot to “Pa,” and his violin was among his most treasured possessions. In ranking what made him happy, Laura wrote, “I am not sure but I should have put the violin first and the family second.” She continues, “Many a time I have gone to sleep at night... [with] the music of Father’s violin lulling me to dreams. At times I hear it yet, in that land between waking and sleeping just before I fall asleep... Whatever religion, romance, and patriotism I have I owe largely to the violin and my Father playing in the twilight.”