Lord is My Shepherd and Walnut Grove Humor

Normally I don’t do many posts about the Little House on the Prairie TV show, but one thing I always like to pass on about any show is where you can go to see where it was shot.  I came across a reference in a local paper to the filming of “The Lord is My Shepherd” episode. This is the one with Ernest Borgnine. In the episode Laura tries to convince God to let her change places with her dead baby brother, but he sends her angel Borgnine instead.

Prairie at McCone Sod Houses – Near Walnut Grove

According to the Modesto Bee back on Sept. 3, 1974, exteriors were shot at Donnell’s Vista overlooking Donnell’s Reservoir and near Kennedy Meadows. Here’s a link to visitor information on Tuolumne County (where both are located) today.
http://tcvb.com

Now for the humor. The article says those two locations were chosen “because both places resemble mountains near Plum Creek”! If you’ve never been to Walnut Grove, there is lots of rolling prairie near Walnut Grove, lots of hills, but not anything even close to a foothill let alone a mountain.

UPDATE 2015: Prepping for the reblog I did some minor editing, updated the link, and added a photo. I’ll also pull up a comment from below:

Erik Reynolds Says:
July 12, 2014 at 1:56 am | Reply

The exterior long shots are from Stanislaus Meadow Trailhead.

Sarah S. Uthoff is the main force behind Trundlebed Tales fighting to bring the History, Mystery, Magic and Imagination of Laura Ingalls Wilder and other greats of children’s literature and history to life for a new generation.Attend one of her programs, schedule one yourself, watch her videos, listen to her podcast, and find her on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, and Academia.edu. She is currently acting President of the Laura Ingalls Wilder Legacy and Research Association. Professionally she is a reference librarian at Kirkwood Community College and director of the Oxford (Iowa) Public Library.