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WISCONSIN MAGAZINE ^/HISTORY Published Quarterly by the STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF WISCONSIN June 1948 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE of HISTORY CLIFFORD L. LORD, Editor LILLIAN KRUEGER, Associate Editor CONTENTS Chats ivith the Editor Clifford Lord 385 Wisconsin Centennial Address Governor Oscar Rennebohm 391 Wilderness Travelogue Doty's Loggery John F. Kienitz 397 Albert O. Barton William T. Evjue 410 Highlights of Manitowoc Ralph G. Plumb 412 Was Lucius Fair child a Demagogue? Wallace E. Davies 418 " Koshkonong, " a Misunderstood Place-Name Frederic G. Cassidy 429 The Douglas County Historical Society and Museum Vivien G. Dube 441 DOCUMENTS: A Visit to Wisconsin in 1843 Nils William Olsson 452 BOOK NOTES 461 THE SOCIETY AND THE STATE 484 The WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY is published quarterly by the STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF WISCONSIN, 816 State Street, Madison, 6. Distributed to members as part of their dues (Annual Membership, $3.00; Life, $50). Yearly subscription, $3.00; single number, 75 cents. Communications should be addressed to the editor. The Society does not assume responsibility for statements made by contributors. Entered as second-class matter at the post office at Madison, Wis- consin, under the act of August 24, 1912. Copyright 1948 by the STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF WISCONSIN. Paid for by the Maria L. and Simeon Mills Editorial Fund and by the George B. Burrows Fund. THE COVER THE EARLY-DAY HOME of Governor James D. Doty at Neenah has been restored and is one of the State's proud landmarks. The Historic American Buildings Survey lists the date of the erection of THE LoGGERY as 1847. Sturdy as the magnificent oak which shades its hospitable doorway, it has stood for more than a century on a picturesque island. Its latchstring is out; Centennial visitors will find it a place of pleasant respite away from the busy thoroughfares. " Wilderness Travelogue and Doty's Log- gery," written by Professor John F. Kienitz, appears in this issue. Photo- graph by courtesy of the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. WISCONSIN MAGAZINE of HISTORY 4@» Volume 31 June 1948 Number 4 Chats with the Editor E SURE TO ATTEND the Centennial Exposition at the State Fair Grounds, West Allis, August 7-29. This unquestion- B ably will be the finest exposition ever held in Wisconsin, and a feast for the historically minded. Be sure to visit our Society's own building, Building No. 1, right at the west gate, where we will display a colorful summary of Wisconsin history. See this to gQt the over-all view before you visit the . , . exhibits on specialized segments such as industry, the Month . , , , -n agriculture, transportation, labor, or women. Be sure to visit the 1848 model house alongside the Boston Store in Mil- waukee, remodelled in period as a joint project of the Society, the Boston Store, and the Milwaukee Power and Light Company, and open throughout the month of August. Be sure to come to the annual meeting of the Society in Milwaukee, August 19-21. More details later, but watch your August calendar. You can't afford to miss the fun. WISCONSIN IS now officially in its second century as a state, the occasion having been marked by appropriate festivities in the capital city and elsewhere on May 29. The Madison observances . , were an unqualified success. The three-hour parade Statehood „ ., ... , . , , , _ was run off without a hitch and right on schedule. The floats were on the whole excellent, and com- mercialism was notably absent. The weather was perfect for parade, track meet, and evening events. The post office and private first- 385 386 CHATS WITH THE EDITOR [June day cover operators enjoyed a land-office business. The city parks in the afternoon were the scene of many colorful nationality festi- vals, concerts, and dances. The three-hour evening program, in- cluding musical specialties, folk dances, numbers by 3,500 members of the massed school bands, a presentation of Mr. Gard's "The Thirtieth Star," and an elaborate display of fireworks, also went off as planned, actually winding up three minutes ahead of schedule. One hundred and twenty-five thousand people viewed the parade. Forty-five thousand witnessed the evening spectacle in the University stadium. The offices of the Society were crowded with staff members and their families and friends to view the twelve-mile parade, with its myriad bands and historic floats. The Museum was visited by several hundred people. Nine stores in Madison featured displays furnished by the Society, and contributions from our collections were visible on several of the floats, including that of the State Centennial Committee itself. Governor Rennebohm promptly turned the souvenir album of the new three-cent Wisconsin Cen- tennial stamp over to the Society for exhibition. Of the quite remarkable day one feature noted by the prejudiced eye of your editor was the number of members of the Society seen about town: the Governor, the Chief Justice, all but one member of the State Centennial Executive Committee, the chairmen of 23 of the Cen- tennial sub-committees, 16 members of the Legislature, the heads of several other State agencies, and literally hundreds of our other fellow members from all over the State. Full radio coverage was given the event by WKOW, the station which inaugurated our Wisconsin Cavalcade program last winter. It was a historic day— at which the STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY was well represented. THE DELAYED observance of the centennial of Swedish settlement in this region brought to Pine Lake long due recognition. Here, in 1841, under the leadership of Gustaf Unonius and with high hopes of founding in this new country a New Upsala, or , center of Swedish culture and learning, settled the first group of Swedish immigrants to colonize the Midwest. The subsequent career of Unonius, who became the first person 1948] CHATS WITH THE EDITOR 387 ordained to the ministry after training at Nashotah and filled several pastorates in Wisconsin before moving to Chicago and later returning to Sweden; the colorful von Schneidau who also moved to Chicago to become a successful daguerreotypist; the frontier experiences of the group of pioneers which proved so try- ing that only the Rudebergs and Petersons stuck it out at Pine Lake, form a fascinating chapter in the early history of Wisconsin. To the initial group of Swedes were quickly added Norwegians and Danes, many of whom have descendants living today in the vicinity. A half century later began the migration to this lovely site of wealthy people from Milwaukee. Pine Lake, or modern Chenequa, thus offers unusual opportunities for a study of the im- pact of pioneer life and the later evolution of a rather specialized type of community. The acts and the dreams of Unonius and his band of followers which initiated this development are now com- memorated by an impressive granite boulder and bronze plaque erected by the Wisconsin Swedish Pioneer Centennial Commission. This monument was dedicated June 18 before official delegations from Sweden and from the Swedish Pioneer Centennial Associ- ation in front of the town hall of Chenequa, less than a mile from the site of Unonius' log cabin. Wisconsin thus records a distinguished addition to its growing list of historic markers and centennial observances. THE CONSERVATION COMMISSION has recently taken title to the 122 acres of land on which are situated the famed Aztalan Indian Mounds. Believed to date from about 1500, these remains of a . fortified village with ceremonial earth pyramids inside Aztalan • . , , , ... _Trr. the stockade, were the only site in Wisconsin recom- mended some years ago by the National Park Service for preservation as a national monument. They mark a type of Indian civilization which shows important influence from ancient Mexican civilization not found elsewhere in Wisconsin or so far north. Their acquisition by the State is the appropriate result of an untiring crusade conducted chiefly by a group of Lake Mills residents, abetted by the interest and research devoted to the site by S. A. Barrett and W. C. McKern, respectively former and 388 CHATS WITH THE EDITOR [June present director of the Milwaukee Public Museum. It stems too from a dream long cherished by certain men in the Conservation Department and in the Wisconsin Archeological Society of a chain of historic sites such as Aztalan established throughout the State as a means of preserving certain important symbols of our heritage as Americans. It is fitting that Aztalan should be among the first tracts acquired by the State under the act of the 1947 Legislature making available for the first time in the history of the State an annual appropriation for the acquisition and preservation of such sites. It is anticipated that in the future a scientific restoration of the site may be made. In the meanwhile the mounds are safe from exploitation or further damage. LAST FALL the Society launched its school program. Six experi- mental junior chapters the preceding year had helped indicate some of its potentialities, while initial explorations with school „ T . authorities all over the State had confirmed suspicions The junior . , ., r , , . , . , that such a program would find a ready niche in the Wisconsin school curricula, at least on a modest scale. Similar programs in other states had achieved a certain degree of success. Currently Pennsylvania in its sixth year has some 200 chapters, 6,000 junior members; Texas in its ninth year, 36 active chapters, 1,300 junior members; New York, in its sixth year, 95 chapters, 3,158 junior members; Minnesota, in its third year, 21 chapters, 550 junior members. The programs in Oklahoma, Oregon, and Indiana were wartime casualties. Wisconsin closes its first year with 751 junior chapters, 14,480 junior members, 1,115 individual subscribers.