Little House on the Prairie: Season 3

1976 · 21 episodes · ★ 6.4

What Season 3 of Little House on the Prairie

The season opens with the Ingalls family settled in Walnut Grove, a frontier town where money is scarce and every decision matters. Charles, a restless man who struggles to settle down, tries to build a future with Caroline and their daughters. His friendship with Nels Oleson is strained over Harriet, whose gossip fuels tensions between neighbors. Debts and the infection Mary suffers put the farm at risk, and Charles considers selling the land. Meanwhile, Nellie Oleson and the Galender brothers complicate school life for Laura and her classmates.

21episodes

Sep 27, 1976premiered

Apr 4, 1977Latest episode

18 hrtotal runtime

Season 3 Episodes

3x01 The Collection
Sep 27, 1976 · 49 min
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.
Directing: Michael Landon · Writing: Arthur Heinemann · Starring: Victor French, Queenie Smith, Kevin Hagen, Kyle Richards
3x02 Bunny
Oct 4, 1976 · 49 min
Nellie falls off of Bunny and pretends to be paralyzed. Mrs. Oleson blames Laura for this and wants to destroy Bunny.
Directing: Michael Landon · Writing: Michael Landon · Starring: Jonathan Gilbert, Alison Arngrim, Kevin Hagen, Eric Shea
3x03 The Race
Oct 11, 1976 · 48 min
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 to ride.
Directing: William F. Claxton · Writing: John V. Hanrahan · Starring: Jonathan Gilbert, Alison Arngrim, Kevin Hagen, Walter Brooke
3x04 Little Girl Lost
Oct 18, 1976 · 48 min
Carrie, having tagged along on Laura and Mary's classroom assignment, falls down a mine shaft, providing an alcoholic ex-miner a chance at redemption.
Directing: Michael Landon · Writing: Paul W. Cooper · Starring: Jonathan Gilbert, Victor French, Alison Arngrim, Kevin Hagen
3x05 The Monster of Walnut Grove
Nov 1, 1976 · 48 min
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.
Directing: William F. Claxton · Writing: John Hawkins · Starring: Jonathan Gilbert, Alison Arngrim, Milton Parsons, Ruth Foster
3x06 Journey in the Spring (1)
Nov 15, 1976 · 48 min
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.
Directing: Michael Landon · Writing: Michael Landon · Starring: Victor French, Kyle Richards, Jan Sterling, Mark Lenard
3x07 Journey in the Spring (2)
Nov 22, 1976 · 48 min
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.
Directing: Michael Landon · Writing: Michael Landon · Starring: Victor French, Kyle Richards, Jim Boles
3x08 Fred
Nov 29, 1976 · 48 min
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!
Directing: William F. Claxton · Writing: Robert Vincent Wright · Starring: Jonathan Gilbert, Victor French, Alison Arngrim, Kevin Hagen
3x09 The Bully Boys
Dec 6, 1976 · 48 min
Rev. Alden's pleas to ""turn the other cheek"" is put to the test when a family of ruffians move to Walnut Grove and cause trouble.
Directing: Victor French · Writing: B.W. Sandefur · Starring: Jonathan Gilbert, Victor French, Alison Arngrim, Kevin Hagen
3x10 The Hunters
Dec 20, 1976 · 73 min
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.
Directing: Michael Landon · Writing: Harold Swanton · Starring: Victor French, John Crawford, Paul Brinegar, Michael Rougas
3x11 Blizzard
Dec 27, 1976 · 48 min
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.
Directing: William F. Claxton · Writing: Paul W. Cooper · Starring: Katherine MacGregor, Richard Bull, Jonathan Gilbert, Victor French
3x12 I'll Ride the Wind
Jan 10, 1977 · 48 min
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.
Directing: William F. Claxton · Writing: Harold Swanton · Starring: Victor French, Kyle Richards, Radames Pera, Bonnie Bartlett
3x13 Quarantine
Jan 17, 1977 · 48 min
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.
Directing: Victor French · Writing: John Hawkins · Starring: Jonathan Gilbert, Victor French, Alison Arngrim, Kevin Hagen
3x14 Little Women
Jan 24, 1977 · 48 min
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.
Directing: William F. Claxton · Writing: Dale Eunson · Starring: Jonathan Gilbert, Victor French, Roger Bowen, Alison Arngrim
3x15 Injun Kid
Jan 31, 1977 · 48 min
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
Directing: Victor French · Writing: Arthur Heinemann · Starring: Jonathan Gilbert, Alison Arngrim, Willie Aames, George Murdock
3x16 To Live with Fear (1)
Feb 14, 1977 · 48 min
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.
Directing: William F. Claxton · Writing: B.W. Sandefur · Starring: Jonathan Gilbert, Victor French, Alison Arngrim, Kevin Hagen
3x17 To Live with Fear (2)
Feb 21, 1977 · 49 min
Caroline stays with Mary who suddenly needs another operation. Charles leave and take on a high risk job to pay for the operation for Mary and Mr. Edwards goes with him. They take a job as a couple of Powder Monkeys making a tunnel for the railroad. But safety is far at the back of Charles' mind as he takes risks, refusing to stop even when a funeral of a Chinese worker takes place. This rush inevitably causes a cave-in where Charles and Harris are buried.
Directing: William F. Claxton · Writing: John Hawkins · Starring: Victor French, James Shigeta, James B. Sikking
3x18 The Wisdom of Solomon
Mar 7, 1977 · 48 min
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.
Directing: William F. Claxton · Writing: Scott Swanton · Starring: Katherine MacGregor, Jonathan Gilbert, Alison Arngrim, Kevin Hagen
3x19 The Music Box
Mar 14, 1977 · 49 min
Laura befriends a new girl, Anna, who stutters and has a hard time making friends. A jealous Nellie starts an elite club and although she invites Laura, she leaves Anna out. While at the Olesons, Laura steals one of Nellie's music boxes.
Directing: Michael Landon · Writing: Robert Janes · Starring: Katherine MacGregor, Richard Bull, Jonathan Gilbert, Alison Arngrim
3x20 The Election
Mar 21, 1977 · 49 min
As a prank to make him look foolish, the older boys of Walnut Grove school nominate the object of their practical jokes, gentle Elmer Dobkins, to run for class president against popular Mary Ingalls and wealthy Nellie Oleson. While Mary and Nellie wage their campaigns with promises of popcorn and gum balls, Mr. Dobkins witnesses his son being teased by the older boys and, when he finds out why Elmer was nominated, angrily orders him to pull out of the election. But, when election day comes and the race seems too close to call, a cruel act and children tired of being bullied decide the outcome.
Directing: Victor French · Writing: B.W. Sandefur · Starring: Katherine MacGregor, Richard Bull, Jonathan Gilbert, Alison Arngrim
3x21 Gold Country Season Finale
Apr 4, 1977 · 92 min
A heavy rain has been falling in Walnut Grove for two months, and it shows no signs of stopping. Farmers like Charles fear that their families will go hungry, and after reading an article in the newspaper, they take a 400-mile journey with their wives and children for a temporary new life in Gold Country. Things start out pretty well when Charles and Isaiah dig up some gold, but Laura and Carl get a completely different perspective from a new friend that they meet near their camp site. Meanwhile, Caroline opens and teaches a school in a tent, right in the middle of town, but it proves to be a less-than-ideal learning environment for everyone.
Directing: Michael Landon · Writing: John Hawkins, B.W. Sandefur · Starring: Richard Bull, Jonathan Gilbert, Victor French, Kyle Richards