The Ingallses continue in their wagon for a few hours the next day until Pa finds a good spot to build a house. They are approximately 40 miles from the town of Independence, Kansas, with the Verdigris River—a tributary to the Arkansas River that flows south from Kansas to Oklahoma—on the eastern horizon of their house site. The site is also just south of a creek, ensuring that the family will have easy access to water.

The family unpacks their wagon and disassembles it so that Pa can use the base to cut and haul logs from the creek bottom for their house. One of the first days he starts working on the house, Pa has Ma help him lift logs, and one falls on Ma’s ankle, spraining it badly. Pa builds skids to help him lift logs by himself.

One day, Pa comes back to camp saying that the family has a bachelor neighbor two miles away named Mr. Edwards. Mr. Edwards and Pa agree to help each other build houses, since Mr. Edwards needs one, too. Mr. Edwards comes and helps Pa for a day, and the two men finish building the walls of the Ingalls house.