Product Description
Mary and John fall deeply in love and must make
serious decisions about their future – Laura
demonstrates tremendous courage when Charles is
critically wounded on a hunting trip – Carrie
wanders off and narrowly avoids tragedy when she is
rescued from a mine shaft – A child, initially
rejected by his grandfather because his father was
Indian, earns his Grandad’s respect – Important
lessons are learned when a young black child comes
to stay with the Ingalls – With their crops
destroyed, Charles decides to take his family to
seek their fortune in the gold mines with disturbing
results… - These and all of the other exciting
adventures from the entire Third Season are
presented in this Special Collector’s Edition!
Season 3 (1976-1977)
21 episodes
#
Airdate
Prod. Code
Title
Overview
47
September 27, 1976
3008
The Collection
When Rev. Alden falls ill while
collecting, ex-convict Caleb Hodgekiss offers to
collect the money himself. However, Hodgekiss is
actually scheming to keep the money himself, until
he sees how the money is intended to be used.
Nellie goes for a ride on Bunny,
Laura's beloved horse, and begins to mistreat it.
The horse goes wild and throws Nellie off. Nellie is
shaken up but not seriously hurt; however, Nellie
decides to pretend that she has been paralyzed in
the accident. Laura believes it and, in remorse,
decides to help Nellie. However, Mrs. Oleson decides
that the only way things can be made right is by
shooting Bunny. One day when visiting the Olesons,
Laura finds out that Nellie is just fine, and
schemes to expose the fake paralysis by pushing
Nellie headfirst into the pond! In the end Nellie
throws a tantrum.
49
October 25, 1976
3005
The Race
Picking up where the previous
episode left off, it's a race between Nellie and
Laura, and their respective horses. Laura's entry,
Bunny, is the favorite, but Mrs. Oleson – over Nels'
objections, of course – decides to buy an expensive
thoroughbred for Nellie.
Note: In production order, this episode
preceded its predecessor ("Bunny"), and on the
Lionsgate/NBC DVD set, this episode is placed before
"Bunny", reversing the story order. However, one can
see the episode separately on DVD in its proper
order so as to make the story coherent to the
viewer.
50
November 1, 1976
3007
The Monster Of Walnut Grove
A comedy of misunderstandings
results when Laura sees what she thinks is Nels
beheading his wife during an argument (Mrs. Oleson
was actually out of town, and Nels had accidentally
beheaded a mannequin). Laura reports what she had
seen to Nellie and Willie, who play along to have a
little fun at their nemesis's expense.
51
November 15, 1976
3011
Journey In The Spring (Part 1)
Charles' mother passes away after
a long illness, and he travels back to Wisconsin to
handle the funeral arrangements. His father,
Landsford Ingalls (special guest star
Arthur Hill), becomes very despondent and –
after an argument with Charles – tries to kill
himself by setting his house on fire. Charles saves
Landsford and talks him into coming to Walnut Grove
to sort out his emotions. While staying with his
son's family, Landsford begins to form a special
relationship with Laura.
52
November 15, 1976
3012
Journey In The Spring (Part 2)
Landsford's relationship with his
granddaughter, Laura, continues to grow, but falls
into jeopardy when Bunny the horse is injured.
Landsford tells Laura he will try to nurse the horse
back to health, but Charles sees the horse is too
badly hurt and must destroy it. Laura is angry when
Landsford realizes his son did the right thing and
shouldn't have made a promise he couldn't have kept.
Landsford wants to leave, causing Laura to go
all-out in staying for as long as he wants.
53
November 29, 1976
3002
Fred
Laura goes to work for a farmer
to earn some extra money, but chooses the farmer's
billy
goat instead. The goat, whose name is Fred,
quickly wreaks havoc on Walnut Grove, doing
everything from eating the Ingalls' crops to butting
Rev. Alden in the back. Charles soon makes Laura get
rid of the goat.
54
December 6, 1976
3009
The Bully Boys
The Gallinder family – two 40-ish
brothers and a teenager – come to Walnut Grove and
quickly cause trouble. Rev. Alden pleads with the
townspeople to be patient with the newcomers, but it
soon becomes clear the Gallinders want to do nothing
but cause trouble. They run up bills at the
Mercantile and Hanson's Mill (with no intention of
paying off either tab), while the boy causes trouble
at school, eventually punching both Laura and Mary.
Things get uglier when the men attempt to rape
Caroline (while she was on the way to the Mercantile
to deliver eggs); when Charles goes to confront the
Gallinders, he is beaten. Rev. Alden realizes the
Gallinders are nothing but thugs and invites them to
church ... to order them out of town.
55
December 20, 1976
3003
The Hunters (90-minute episode)
Charles is badly wounded on a
hunting trip, when Laura knocks over a gun and it
discharges. Laura desperately searches for help, and
convinces a blind man and his son to help them. When
the son leaves Charles alone in the cabin, Laura and
the blind man are forced to work together to find
their way out of the woods and get a doctor.
In the series' second Christmas
episode (actually and originally aired after
Christmas), Miss Beadle dismisses school early on
Christmas Eve, unaware that the light,
uneventful snowfall is about to quickly become a
monster
blizzard. The children become stranded halfway
home, leading the fathers of Hero Township to brave
the worsening weather conditions to find them and
lead them back to the schoolhouse. But the blizzard
claims a victim...
57
October 18, 1976
3006
Little Girl Lost
Carrie proves to be a pest when
accompanying her older sisters on a butterfly
gathering trip for school. However, Mary and Laura
soon regret being annoyed when Carrie falls down an
old mine shaft. A drunken old miner finds an
opportunity to redeem himself when he assists the
cause to rescue Carrie before the crumbling mine
collapses.
58
January 10, 1977
3010
I'll Ride The Wind
The love between Mary and John,
Jr. continues to blossom, and marriage may soon be
on the horizon. But Mary is worried that she could
be standing in the way between John and his dreams
of becoming a writer.
59
January 17, 1977
3015
Quarantine
Mr. Edwards returns from a nearby
town with a case of
mountain fever, and passes it on to Alicia.
Alicia becomes very sick and Mr. Edwards quarantines
himself as he tries desperately to help his
daughter. Laura, bringing some raspberries to the
back door and hears Alicia's cries tries to help
her. Then Mr. Edwards walks in and she must deal
with an angry Mr. Edwards. Eventually, Laura ends up
nursing both father and daughter back to health.
60
January 24, 1977
3014
Little Women
The school plans to put on a
series of plays based on books. Laura, Mary, and
their friend, Ginny, decide to do a play on "Little
Women." The Ingalls girls must deal with Nellie,
who schemes to get the lead role, and Ginny's desire
to play matchmaker for her single mother.
61
January 31, 1977
3004
Injun Kid
Laura becomes friends with Joseph
Stokes, the son of a Sioux Indian who moves to
Walnut Grove. Joseph's grandfather virtually disowns
him because he comes from a mixed marriage – his
Native American father and white mother – and is not
shy about sharing his bigotry. Things are no better
at school, as Joseph is harassed by a bully.
Eventually, Laura helps Joseph stand up to the
bully.
Mary is severely injured when a
horse kicks her in the barn. When her condition
deteriorates, it becomes clear she needs an
expensive surgery to save her life. Charles and Mr.
Edwards are forced to take dynamiting jobs for the
railroad to fund the surgery.
Mary needs more surgery,
something that weighs heavily on Charles' mind as he
feverishly works to earn enough money for his
daughter's surgery. Eventually, a fatigued Charles
causes an accident that traps him and a co-worker
inside. Mr. Edwards leads a harried but courageous
effort to save the two men's lives.
A young black boy named Solomon,
the son of former slaves, runs away to Walnut Grove,
and soon takes refuge at the Ingalls. Charles is
able to get the truth from Solomon: He is tired of
everyone treating him "different" because he is
black. Charles tells him he has much to be proud of
and convinces him to return home, but not until
after Solomon teaches the people of Walnut Grove a
few lessons of his own.
Note: This episode is seldom seen on
television today due to its racial issues (the same
issues that drove
Amos 'n' Andy off the air eleven years
previously).
65
March 14, 1977
3020
The Music Box
Laura makes friends with Anna, a
girl who
stutters and has made few friends as a result.
Later, Nellie starts a club and invites Laura to
join but not Anna. While at the Mercantile, Laura
steals a music box. Nellie catches her in the act
but decides to keep silent about the incident on the
condition that Laura break off her friendship with
Anna. Later, Nellie inducts Anna into the club, but
only to humiliate her. Laura goes along with the
teasing, but Mary soon gets Laura to confess
everything that's happened. In the end, Charles
makes Laura admit to Nels that she stole the music
box. Nels is disappointed but praises Laura for
coming clean, which is nothing compared to the
punishment Nellie is about to face. Laura also must
make amends with Anna, who is terribly hurt by what
the earlier shenanigans at the Olesons.
A three-way race for class
president ensues, with Nellie and Mary battling the
slow-witted Elmer Dobkins for the honor. Plenty of
shenanigans ensue: Elmer's nomination was just a
joke, while Mary and Nellie each host parties to try
to win votes. After Nellie plays a cruel joke on
Elmer, Miss Beadle soon puts a stop to the whole
idea of class officers, until Laura pleads with the
teacher that many lessons have been learned. In the
end, Willie – of all people – winds up casting the
deciding vote.
67
April 4, 1977
3021
Gold Country
When their crops are destroyed by
heavy rain, the Ingalls and Edwards families head
west to pan for gold. However, the temptations of
being rich soon turns everyone against each other.
Laura and Carl visit with an ex-miner who has seen
the ill effects of gold mining. In the end, Charles
and Mr. Edwards realize each of them is already rich
(because they have their families) and decide to go
home.
Note:
Originally aired as a two-hour episode. In
syndication, it is seen as a two-part
episode.
Note:
Last appearance of
Victor French until a guest shot in the
sixth season, and his full-time return late in
the eighth season.
Note:
Final appearance of
Brian Part as Carl Edwards. Carl is seen
again in "A Promise to Keep" but is
played by a different actor in that episode.
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