Third Season (1976-1977)

45. The Collection
46. I'll Ride the Wind
47. Bunny
48. The Race
49. The Monster of Walnut Grove
50. Journey in the Spring [2 parts]
51. Fred
52. The Bully Boys
53. The Hunters [90 minutes]
54. Blizzard
55. Little Girl Lost
56. Quarantine
57. Little Women
58. Injun Kid
59. To Live With Fear [2 parts]
60. The Wisdom of Solomon
61. The Music Box
62. The Election
63. Gold Country [2 hours]

45. The Collection 09/27/76
Reverend Alden gets sick while collecting donations. Caleb Hodgekiss, an ex-convict, helps the Reverend by giving him a place to stay and volunteering to get the donations from Walnut Grove. Caleb poses as a friend of the Reverend so that he might get donations which he initially planned to keep for himself. Caleb decides to do the right thing when he sees how kind everybody is around there.


46. I'll Ride The Wind 10/04/76
Mary and John have fallen deeply in love and want to get married, but John has a problem. He must decide if he will accept a scholarship and go to college or stay with Mary. At first Mary doesn't want him to go until she and John both realize that he must take the scholarship to try to make his dreams of becoming a writer a reality.

47. Bunny 10/18/76
Nellie falls off of Bunny and pretends to be paralyzed. Mrs. Oleson blames Laura for this and wants to destroy Bunny. Laura tries to hide the horse from Harriet. One day, when Laura goes to help Nellie out, she discovers that Nellie is just fine. She pushes Nellie in a wheelchair down a hill into a small pond. When Nellie walks out of the pond, Mrs. Oleson realizes what Nellie has been doing. Mr. Oleson then gives Bunny back to Laura to punish Nellie.

48. The Race 10/04/76
Laura and her horse, Bunny, are picked to win at the horse race in town. Since Mrs. Oleson doesn't want Laura to win, she buys a great thoroughbred for Nellie. Mrs. Oleson even provides the winning trophy, a silver cup that belongs to the family. Although the race is close, Bunny wins. Laura decides to return the silver cup back to the Olesons.


49. The Monster of Walnut Grove 11/01/76
Laura's imagination runs wild on Halloween when she thinks she sees Nels cut off Mrs Oleson's head. Laura tells Nellie and Willie what she saw. Since the Oleson kids know that their mother is really out of town, they decide to scare Laura a little bit more. Everything is straightened up when Mrs. Oleson comes back.

50. Journey In The Spring [2 parts] 11/15/76, 11/22/76
Charles' father, Lansford Ingalls, doesn't want to live after his wife dies. Charles brings his father to Walnut Grove to help him out. When Laura's horse gets hurt, she blames her grandpa. Lansford leaves because he feels really bad. Once Laura realizes that her grandpa wasn't to blame for the accident, she looks for Lansford and convinces him to come back home.


51. Fred 11/29/76
Laura is tricked into taking a "one of a kind" billy goat home with her. After Fred eats some of the Ingalls' crops, Laura is forced to get rid of the billy goat. Every person that Laura wanted to give the billy goat to resulted in a funny time. Laura finally decides to set him free in the wild. This episode is guaranteed to make you laugh!

52. The Bully Boys 12/06/76
The Galinders, a new family in Walnut Grove, cause trouble for the entire town. They buy items from the mercantile and lumberyard, promising to pay up in a couple of days. The town gets angry when the Galinders don't pay their bills. On Sunday, Reverend Alden tells the Galinders that they must leave Walnut Grove.


53. The Hunters 12/20/76 [90 minutes]
Pa decides to take Laura hunting with him. When Charles and Laura are getting settled down for the night, Laura trips over her dad's gun and sets it off. Charles is badly wounded. Laura runs to get help, but the only person she can find is a blind person, Sam. Since Sam just recently became blind, he knew his way around somewhat. After getting lost a few times, Sam and Laura finally find Mr. Edwards' home. Mr. Edwards gets a doctor, who saves Mr. Ingalls. Thanks to Laura, Sam learned that just because he was blind didn't mean he had to stay at home and do nothing.


54. Blizzard 01/03/77
The day before Christmas vacation started, Miss Beadle lets the children out early when she notices that a snowstorm is beginning. The children aren't able to make it home before the storm starts. The men of Walnut Grove search for the children while Doc Baker takes care of the frostbitten children that show up at the school.


55. Little Girl Lost 01/10/77
Laura and Mary get an assignment from school that involves collecting bugs and observing them. When Laura and Mary go to collect bugs, Carrie goes along with them. Mary is furious at Carrie when she lets her bugs loose. Although Mary tells Carrie to stay put and not to do anything, Carrie chases after a beautiful butterfly and ends up falling into an old mine shaft. Mr. Laudy, an ex-miner and an alcoholic saves Carrie.


56. Quarantine 01/17/77
Mr. Edwards and Doc Baker help a nearby town with an epidemic case of mountain fever. When Mr. Edwards returns, a quarantine is placed on Walnut Grove. Alicia, Mr. Edward's adopted daughter comes down with the disease. Mr. Edwards tries to help his daughter. Laura, not knowing about the disease, goes to visit Alicia and Mr. Edwards. Laura ends up taking care of the both of them while they recover.

57. Little Women 01/24/77
The school children are allowed to put on plays in groups. Laura and Mary work with Ginny Clark, a student who has no father. Ginny wants her mother to date, but her mother, Della, doesn't believe she looks good enough. Ginny sells her long beautiful hair so she can buy her mother a new dress. Della at first accuses Ginny of stealing money until she sees that her daughter has cut her hair.

58. Injun Kid 01/31/77
Joseph Stokes is the son of a Sioux Indian who moves to Walnut Grove with his widowed mother. They stay with his grandpa, Jeremy. Jeremy doesn't like Joseph because he is embarrassed that his daughter married an Indian. At school, Joseph is being bullied. Jeremy finally accepts Joseph when he sees his grandson face the bullies


59. To Live With Fear [2 parts] 02/14/77, 02/21/77
Mary has an accident with a horse in the barn. When Mary starts to get worse, the Ingalls take her to a specialist. There they learn that Mary needs an immediate operation. Charles must leave and take on a high risk job to pay for the operation.


60. The Wisdom of Solomon 03/07/77
Solomon Henry, an eleven year old black boy, runs away from his family because he's tired of everybody treating him different. He goes to live with the Ingalls. The Ingalls learn many important things and Laura learns an important lesson : Don't take things for granted. The Ingalls convince Solomon to be proud of his heritage. Solomon goes back to his family in the end.


61. The Music Box 03/14/77
Laura becomes friends with a new girl, Anna, who has a speech problem. In the meantime, Nellie starts a club of her own. When Laura is at Nellie's, she takes a music box. Nellie catches Laura and forces Laura to follow her if she didn't want to be told on. Nellie makes Laura join her club and also wants Laura to be nasty to Anna. Nellie eventually pushes her luck, causing Laura to admit what she had done.


62. The Election 03/21/77
An election for school president is going on. Mary, Nellie, and Elmer are running. Elmer is a boy who isn't popular and is frequently picked on at school. Mary ends up dropping out of the election when she realizes that Elmer would be the best one for the position. Elmer does end up winning by one vote.


63. Gold Country 04/04/77 [2 hours]
After having their crops destroyed, the Ingalls leave Walnut Grove to try their luck at striking it rich. After being at the gold mines for a while, the Ingalls realize that greed has been poisoning their minds. They leave to go home instead of looking for more gold.