Historical

Research Project

Youth Community Conservation

Improvement Program

This Pro.iect and Book has been funded in v/hole by Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) funds, granted by the l"'iscDnsin Balance of State prime sponsor. M~

/ MEMORIES OF FOREST COUNTY

HISTORICAL RESEARCH PROJECT

YOUTH COMMUNITY CONSERVATION

IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM \ \ ., Funded by a grant through ' -^ . • NEWCAP, Inc.

June - September 1980

ocii.tsviy-SiioO v.?i.iL-!}jaa'- .UfjoY ' ^ ^ Contents Page History of Wisconsin 5 Forest County 21 Points of Interest 28 Laona ^^ Crandon . 139 Alvin and Nelma 179 Argonne 183 Hiles '' 188 Newald 196 Potowatami Indians 205 Cavour 218 Blackwell 230 C. C. C. 239 Blackwell Job Corps 240 Padus 242 Chippewa Indians 246 Wabeno 253 People Interviewed 266 Nation's ChristmasTree 286 Veterans of Forest County 289 Glossary 303 Bibliography 308 EASTERN WHITE PINE The MacArthur Pine

Eastern white pine- "white pine" to most of us- was once the monarch of our northern forests. Great forests of white pine with many trees 200 years old or over covered much of our state when the first white men arrived. Practically all the white pine cut today comes from second growth. Eastern white pine reproduces readily. If only a few trees are left in harvest cuttings and fire is kept away, young trees gradually take place of those removed. The wood is light, soft, very easily worked and durable. The heartwood is light brown, often tinged with red. The sap- wood , which may be narrow or medium wide, is yellowish white. The bark on young white pine stems is smooth and greenish. On older trees it grows thick, deeply furrowed and grayish brown in color. You can tell the Eastern white pine by the needles which •occur in bundles of five. They are 3 to 5 inches long, bluish green on the upper surface, whitish beneath. The 3- to 5-inch cones mature in August. The straight grained lumber can be used for practically every part of a house or building. New England houses built of white pine 200 years ago still stand in excellent shape. The lumber takes paint well. Practically all white pine taken from the forest goes into lumber for a great variety of uses. The largest quantity is made into boxes, White pine does best in deep sandy loams. But it will grow on a variety of soils. It thrives in nearly pure stands or in mixtures with hardwoods, hemlock and red pine and is the most rapid growing northern forest tree. The famous MacArthur white pine stands in a grove two miles south of the Popple River not far from Newald in Forest County. It is the largest white pine on record. The giant tree stands 140 feet high, measures nearly 17 feet in circumference 4^ feet above the ground, contains an estimated 8,000 board feet. Foresters say the tree is over 400 years old. Picture on front cover LOOK FOR ME

And in the green wet blade Of the peppergrass. When the warm winds pass Over the waking rills. And the wild arbutus spills Its fragrance on the air,- Look for me then- Asleep in a ferny glen ^ Highinthehills, Deep in the dew-drenched maiden-hair; I shall be waiting, waiting there. Lew Sarett We would like to thank everyone who helped us in any way to make this historical research project a success. A special thank you is extended to the Laona Board of Edu­ cation, Howard Seeraan, Administrator; Glenn Detro, Principal; Ena Clark, Kathy Alderton, and Laurel Geske, Secretaries; Elaine Doughty and Del Phillips and the Custodial Staff for their cooperation and use of the facilities. A very special thanks is extended to the Nicolet College Staff; Roger Sebota offered his expertise with the help of Nancy Merz, Pete Nordgran, Roger Davis, and Nancy Skebba to develop and put on a special two week training period that was superb . Lloyd Listle is also to be thanked for his help in verify­ ing pictures. Also, thanks to Francis Sturzl for the loan of some of the beautiful early pictures of Laona. A special tribute to the NEWCAP Agency from Oconto that wrote this historical project which provided the means for the many young people to become researchers this summer. It was a real pleasure to interview the senior citizens and all the other people that gave of their time and shared their thoughts and memories with us. The young people that did the researching are to be commended for their professional-like attitudes and resource­ fulness . We would like to dedicate this book to Dr. Ernest Ovitz ILaona), pioneer doctor, who passed away in September, 1980. INTRODUCTION

Let us dedicate this book to the memories of the past, to the endeavors of the present, and to the future generations that will know where their "roots" were firmly planted. In the short time that this project had to be completed, it was impossible to get to all parts of Forest County. Our assignment was to do a historical research project on Laona and the surrounding area. The students doing the project came from all over the county; hence, it was decided to do all the areas we had students from. We want to apologize to the people of Popple River, Arm­ strong Creek and Pickeral for the lack of pictures from your area. We hope that all the material on the early days applies to your areas, too. This is not a real history book, nor is it intended to be, although there will be historical information in the text and the pictures. Some research has gone on before in Forest County and we are using some of this material. This book contains information gained by literature. We tried to portray a picture of the early days of the county so that we can all learn how our an­ cestors lived. If we left out an important event, please don't feel offended. It was not our intent to do so. Read our book with a "good sense of humor." We tried to make it authentic as well as humerous. Working with teenagers is a challenge in itself. The teenagers were from sixteen to nineteen years of age. Some were juniors in high school and several were college students. The greatest challenge was for these teenagers to compile historical information on the county we live in and create an informative book that will be read and enjoyed by all the citizens of the county. We were surprised to find that some students did not know the people who lived on their block. Many did not know how their town started or of any of the struggles each community and the county went through to survive and grow. We have those to thank that lived before us, for they built the foundation of Forest County. But we have ourselves to thank, also, because we are the "builders" of today, expanding on what those before us built up. In this book we attempted to "reflect" back on the early history of the county. It is not complete. As you read the book, we hope the many readings and pictures that follow will enable you to bring back beautiful memories of your town and family, and Forest County. For those of you that had no pre­ vious ties we hope that the readings and pictures paint a pic­ ture of the "Memories of Forest County."

Irene La Du Evelyn Melnecke Project Supervisors EARLY HISTORY OF WISCONSIN

In the past, some material has been written about Laona and the various towns in Forest County. The numerous authors of this book will endeavor to write the early history of each of the towns and to document the history with pictures that have been loaned to us for that purpose. The time is limited for the research and if the readers find that items have been left out, it is because of the time element and not the intent to do so. To begin a history of beautiful Forest County, one needs to be reminded that Forest County received its name from the gigantic forests that covered 'the area. It was a hundred and forty years after the discovery of America before a white man set foot upon Wisconsin soil. Through • the forests roamed the Indians, with no knowledge that some day a great state, governed by white men, would emerge. In 1604 a French man, Jean Nicolet, skirted the coast of Green Bay, visited the Indian villages, explored the Fox River, and returned to his home. Then began a long procession of explorers, traders, priests, and soldiers who laid the foundations of our Badger state. Most of these men were French; therefore, it is to France that we owe the discovery and exploration of Wisconsin, The French made their first permanent settlement at Port Royal in 1604. Four years later Samuel de Champlain founded Quebec, which soon became the starting point for French explor­ ations. All the French possessions in America were named New France, and Champlain was made governor. He was the most bril­ liant and successful of French explorers and colonizers. In 1509 he joined a party of Algonquin Indians and reached the lake that bears his name. Here he met a band of hostile Iroquois that forever were enemies of France. For 150 years the Iroquois allied themselves with the English and Dutch colonists. They also con­ trolled Lake Erie. This forced the French to travel through the region to the west which was controlled by the friendly Algon- quins. This mistake of Champlain was largely responsible for the discovery and exploration of the upper Mississippi Valley. Champlain died on Christmas Day, 1635, and all exploration ceased for twenty-five years. In July of 1634 Nicolet left Quebec in company of some Jesuit missionaries who were leaving to establish a mission in the Huron country. He went up the Ottawa River to his friends, the Algonquins. There he left the priests and went on alone, following the Mattawan River to its source. He carried his canoe and baggage over a portage to Lake Nipissing, crossed the lake and followed the French River down to Georgian Bay and Lake Huron. Nicolet was now in a land unknown to white people. He spent some time there, gaining such information about the People of the Sea and other tribes along the.lake shores. The People of the Sea referred to a tribe known as the Winnebagoes, a branch of the Dakotas, sometimes known as the Puants. The term, Puants, means bad smelling water and was thought to refer to the salt water of the oceans as contrasted with the fresh water of the inland lakes. The "sea" from which they came was undoubtedly the Mississippi River, and the "bad smelling water" is now believed to have re­ ferred to a group as sulphur springs near Lake Winnipeg. In a long, birch bark canoe, Nicolet and seven Huron Indians went slowly and cautiously along the northern shores of Lake Huron. They finally reached the place where they found the People of the Falls, now known as Sault Ste. Marie, some think that he may have ascended the St. Mary's River far enough to get a view of Lake Superior although this is unlikely. He retraced his way down the strait and entered Lake Michigan through the Mackinac passage. For the first time a white man saw the broad surface of this inland sea along whose shores are now four impor­ tant states. This lake has been called by many names, its present one being a corruption of early Indian Michigonong. Other names I have been: Lakes of the Illinois, Lake St. Joseph, Lake Dauphin, | and Algonquin Lake, Leaving Mackinac, Nicolet's canoe was paddled by his Indians along the northern shore of Lake Michigan. They traveled on to the shores of Bay de Noquet, an arm of Green Bay, and finally came to the mouth of the Menominee River. There, for the first time, a white man set foot on Wisconsin sod. The Menominees, who lived there, had much lighter complexions that that of any other Indians he had known. Before leaving Quebec, Nicolet had provided himself with a "grand robe of China damask, all strewn with flowers and birds of many colors." He knew the value of appealing to the Indians' imagination. As Nicolet entered the village, the women and children fled at the sight of a man who carried thunder in both hands. They referred to his pistols. His theatrical entrance took place in a village now known as Green Bay. Two young Canadians, Pierre Radisson and his brother-in-law, Medart des Groseilliers, are believed to have been the first white men after Nicolet to come to Wisconsin. Radisson will be remem­ bered because he opened up the Wisconsin country to the fur trade, explored the region of Lake Superior and the vast territory bor­ dering Hudson Bay. The Jesuit missionaries kept very good rec­ ords and tell of his strange adventures in their journals, Nicholas Perrot was one of the most famous of the forest rangers. The forest ranger was a picturesque character. He led a roving life, free from restraints, which appealed to the ardent French temperament. The rangers kept the friendship of the Indian tribes (except the Foxes) and could keep most of the trade from the English. Perrot's explorations were done in the Wiscon­ sin country. In 1689, he was made Commandant of the West. Although the forest rangers did much of the exploring in Wisconsin, they seldom wrote their stories, and as a result have received but little credit for their work. The Jesuit mission­ aries, members of a brotherhood of the Roman Catholic church, were assigned the missions in the Canadian country. The Indians called them the "black gowns." They were required to report in writing at regular times to their superiors in Paris. Their reports were collected and published annually from 1632 to 1672. They are known as the Jesuit Relations. These reports are almost the only sources of information concerning this period of history. The first white missionary to come to Wisconsin was Rene Menard. Menard was followed by- Father Claude Allouez, who es­ tablished the first mission on Wisconsin soil at Chequamegon on Lake Superior in 1665. For two years he was stationed near the present city of Berlin where Nicolet had once been, but in the winter of 1671-1672 he found a more favorable site near the rapids of De Pere and established a mission there. The following year, a fine church, the first permanent building in Wisconsin, named St. Francis Xavier, was built. Joliet and Marquette, in 1673, set out to discover the Missi­ ssippi and they succeeded. They followed the route that had been taken by Nicolet, Radisson, and Allouez, reaching the mission near the present city of Berlin. Pierre Charles le Sueur, a friend of Perrot, built forts at Chequamegon Bay and near the mouth of the St. Croix River. The Wisconsin fort became an important trading center for the western country. In 1597 Le Sueur obtained permission to work certain "mines of lead, copper, and blue and green earth" which had been discovered in the Mississippi and Superior regions. Some of the mines were in Galena, Illinois; Potosi, Wisconsin; and Dubuque, Iowa. One of the bloodiest struggles in the long history of Indian warfare was that in which the French tried to exterminate the Fox Indians of Wisconsin. For more than twenty-five years there was constant war between the French and the Foxes. At the end, the Indians were almost destroyed and the French had been driven into the Mississippi Valley. The long struggle between France and England for the control of the fur trade lay at the bottom of this war. The Algonquin Indians were generally In sympathy with the French, and the Iroquois with the English. One important result of this war was the establishment in 1717 of Wisconsin's first permanent fort at Green Bay. The steady resistance of the Foxes weakened. The French had called the stockade Fort St. Francis, but Captain Balfour promptly changed its name to Fort Edward Augustus. After two days Balfour left the fort in charge of Gorrell. An era of peace seemed to descend upon Wisconsin, when the Pontiac uprising in 1763 threw the entire west into turmoil. Pontiac, the principal chief of the Ottawas, had organized a confederacy among the western tribes and hoped by means of it to drive out the English. This crafty chief was a man of genius worthy to rank with King Philip, Tecumseh, and Sitting Bull. Pontiac's plan was to organize his followers so that an attack could be made on a given day and all the English posts captured at once. At Detroit the plot failed. At Mackinac the Indians wiped out the English. At Green Bay the Indians remained loyal to the English, but Gorrell decided to leave. On June 21, 1763, he sailed from Green Bay. Fort Edward Augustus fell into decay and not until 1814 did the English return. In May of 1815, the American flag took its place. The prosperity of Wisconsin then seemed to rest upon the trading of furs. All the control that was needed was exercised by the fur-traders who kept the upper hand and made their word law. The settlements were full of people who loved to meet and tell stories, smoke and enjoy whatever music was offered. Until the fur trade ceased to be the principal industry of the state, the old French life remained and French social customs were In almost exclusive use. Although the English had claimed the country, they had never made it English. Within a year or two after the departure of the English from Green Bay, the Langlade family came. They are known as being Wisconsin's first permanent white settlers. Charles Langlade is often called the first citizen of Wisconsin. He was born at Mackinac in 1729. His father, Austin Langlade, was a Frenchman and his mother was a daughter of one of the head chiefs of the Ottowa Indians. Langlade was a fierce warrior and sided with the British during the American Revolution. The Revolutionary War closed with the Treaty of Paris, Sep­ tember 3, 1783, and the new nation was in legal, but not actual, possession of Wisconsin. Finally, by Jay's Treaty of 1794, most of the points in dispute were settled but it was not until after the War of 1812 that America obtained complete possession of the territory, In the meantime, Congress was planning methods of governing the new territory. A law known as The Ordinance of 1787 was passed by Congress. Next to the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, this is the most important document in the history of the United States. Speaking of this ordinance much later, Daniel Webster said, "I doubt whether one single law of any lawgiver, ancient or modern, has produced effects of more distinct, marked and lasting character than the Ordinance of 1787." This is the law which formed the basis of the government of the Northwest Territory. Eventually the territory was carved into five states with a total area of 266,000 square miles of which one is Wisconsin. Before 1800 there were not more than 200 white persons in all Wisconsin. The first five settlements in the state were at Green Bay, Prairie du Chlen, Milwaukee, Portage, and Kaukauna. In 1816, families were mostly of French origin. The first set­ tlers built their cabins close together along rivers. When the Americans came among them and noticed that their houses resembled those of the beaver and muskrat, he called the settlers muskrat Frenchmen, The winter was a season of gaiety and merrymaking. There were parties and dances, races on the ice, and other amusements, A party always ended with a feast. Agriculture was carried on in the most primitive manner. Except for the share, the old French plow was made of wood. Harnesses were made of twisted rawhide. In place of the familiar yoke used by the Yankees, a rope was attached to the horns of the oxen. In most of the settlements, the land was not divided but there was a common field used by all for the benefit of all. The fur trade still furnished the principal means of livelihood. American soldiers occupied the Wisconsin forts after the War of 1812. Shrewd Yankee traders followed. Through the in­ fluence of John Jacob Astor, Congress passed a law excluding foreigners from the fur trade. The American Fur Company controlled the trade in furs be­ tween Lake Michigan and the Mississippi River. The Indian village became the trading post and the trading post became the city. The trails became our early roads and marked the way for the railway. With the development of lead mining in southwestern Wiscon­ sin, a new industry was developed and the fur trade declined, although for nearly two centuj^ies after the coming of Nicolet in 1634, it was the chief source of wealth. In 1822 a Kentuck- ian, Colonel James Johnson, began mining at Galena, Illinois. A few years later, a number of crude smelting places were set up in Wisconsin. In 1819, the U. S. purchased from the Indians their claims to the mining country, One of the earliest prospectors was James •W. Shu11, founder of Shullsburg in LaFayette County. The news of mining brought hordes of squatters and prospectors from Mis­ souri, Kentucky, and Tennessee into the territory. Old Indian . trails were converted into highways for coaches and lumber wagons. Men came on foot, on horseback, and by team from all sections of the country. Others came by boat up the Mississippi and even Cornish miners from England began to arrive. Mushroom towns sprang up everywhere. The lead industry flourished in Wisconsin until the discov­ ery of gold in California, copper in the Lake Superior country, and silver in the Rocky Mountains offered miners greater oppor- fctunities. By 1845, the region had reached the height of its Idevelopment and was producing 15,000 tons annually; by 1857, it fhad ceased to be an Important industry. Many of the men who had been raining turned their attention to agriculture as the fertile soil made this a more profitable occupation. From 1850 until about 1900 lead mining was for the most part carried on as a winter occupation of the farmers. While the fur trade had been responsible for the discovery and exploration of Wisconsin, the lead industry was responsible for a rapid growth in population, the organization of a state government, and the building of the first east and west rail­ roads through the region . . The French and English usually distributed presents to the Indians. When the Americans took over Wisconsin they did not do this. They made such a bad impression on the Indians that they called the American "stingy old women". This and other bad relations with the Indians led to an uprising led by Red Bird, a petty Winnebago chief. About five years later, in 1832, a Sauk uprising under Black Hawk was an all out war. The population of the lead region had increased and the occupation of the region which the Sauks and Foxes regarded as their hunting grounds was the cause of the Black Hawk War. Black Hawk was highly intelligent. He wrote his autobiography in 1834, He died in 1838. Th^ principal effect of the war was to call attention to the natural resources and great opportunities of the Wisconsin country. The settlers, coming as they did in such numbers after the Black Hawk War, made the need of a separate territorial govern­ ment imperative. By 1836, Wisconsin had been successively a part of four territories. From 1787 to 1800 it was a part of the Northwest Territory; from 1800 to 1818 of the Illinois Territory; and from 1818 to 1836, of Michigan Territory. As early as 1824, Judge James Doty tried to have a separate territory organized. He proposed to call the new territory Chippewa, and he included within its boundaries the northern peninsula of Michigan and a large section of the present states of Minnesota and Illinois. Despite the appeal of Judge Doty, it was 1836 before Con­ gress made a decision. During this time various names were pro­ posed for the new territory, among them Huron, Chippewa, and Wiskonsan. A modification of the French Ouisconsin, an Indian name that had various interpretations, was finally decided upon by the legislature of 1845. The official spelling was made Wis­ consin, The Act creating the Territory of Wisconsin was passed April 20, 1836, to take effect July 3, 1836. Andrew Jackson, who was President, appointed Henry Dodge, a Democrat, to be the first governor. Its boundaries on the north and south were fixed as they are today, On the west, the boundary was extended to include all the lands lying north of the state of Missouri and between the Mississippi on the east and the Missouri and White Earth Rivers on the west. Two years later Iowa was cut off, and eventually the boundaries were fixed as at present. Wisconsin is still as large as roost of the other western states, A census was taken and the population was 22, 218. The first session of the legislature convened on October 26, 1826, in a tow;n called Belmont in the heart of the lead-mine district. The first legislature consisted of a council of thirteen members and a house of twenty-six members. There were contests from sev­ eral cities to have the state capital located elsewhere. The places pushing for the capital were Madison, Fond du Lac, and Cassville. The influence of Judge Doty resulted in the location of the seat of government in Madison, then a forest between Lakes Mendota and Monona. Madison was named in honor of the fourth President of the United States. The village was laid out in 1836-37, but it was not until November, 1838, that the legislature met there. Wis­ consin was a territory for twelve years. By 1847, the population had grown to 210,456 a tremendous increase since the census of 1836. Churches and schools were organized with the first inrush of settlers. The first Protestant sermon was preached in 1820 at Green Bay by Reverend Jediah Morse, a Presbyterian minister, who was the father of S. F. B. Morse, the inventor of the tele­ graph. Congregationalist, Methodists, and Baptists followed. A Mormon colony at Burlington in Racine County under the leadership of James Jesse Strang, created much excitement. Strang was assassinated and the Mormons were exiled and their homes confiscated Some moved to northern counties in Wisconsin. Wisconsin was admitted to statehood, May 29, 1848, just two years after President Polk signed the bill "to enable the people of Wisconsin to form a constitution and state government and for the admission of such a state into the Union." In November of this year Wisconsin took part in its first Presidential election. In May, 1848, Nelson Dewey was elected governor. The population of the new state was less than five persons to the square mile. The region northwest of the Wisconsin River was practically undiscovered country with but a few lumber camps located by some rivers. Milwaukee had a population of 18,000; Racine, the second city, claimed 4000, and Madison had about 3000. The prin­ cipal industries of the state were mining, lumbering, and farming. In 1850, forty million pounds of lead ore were smelted and one hundred and fifty million feet of pine lumber were sawed. Four million bushels of corn were grown on farms. Thousands of pounds of maple sugar were produced. The manufacture of leather, beer, textiles, and iron had begun. Wisconsin's resources were just beginning to be realized. The twelve years between the admission of Wisconsin as a state and the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States was a period of social and political unrest. Rail­ way charters had been granted very early. In 1847, four companies were chartered by the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railway Company. This was the only one to become active. In 1857, a railroad had been built from Milwaukee to Prairie du Chien. In the meantime, other companies were entering the state. The Chicago and Northwestern built as far as Fond du Lac in 1858. Congress made two large grants of land to aid in railroad con­ struction in Wisconsin. A mad scramble for this land took place among the railroad companies. Investigations resembled the recent Watergate Investigations, Political favorites had been permitted to enrich themselves at the expense of the public. The history of the Civil War is a record of four years of bravery and endurance of this nation. The story of the ninety thousand men from the Badger State who fought in the Civil War fills many volumes. There were four states younger than Wisconsin when the war started. The population of Wisconsin consisted main­ ly of people from New York and New England together with large groups of European colonists. The foreign born and men of native birth were equally loyal when the emergency came. The hearts of the people were stirred by the impulse of pa­ triotism. War expenses were large for a new state but Wiseonsin's people met all demands promptly. With the fall of Fort Sumter, thirty-eight Wisconsin banks failed and financial depression was everywhere. The state sent 91,379 men to the front, 1263 more than the government called for. The losses by death were 10,752. See the Appendix for those that died in the Civil War from Forest County, Three of the five regiments composing the famous Iron Brigade were Wisconsin regiments. They received this title at the Battle of South Mountain in 1862. In 1854, the Republican party was organized at Ripon, Wis­ consin, The first Republican governor, Coles Bashfor, was elected in 1855. During the late l890's, a dispute in the Republican party led to the formation of the Progressive wing of the party by Robert M. La Follette. La Follette won the governorship In 1900, and served until 1905. His leadership brought an era that is associated with progressiveness and the "Wisconsin Idea". It is not our intent to continue with a lengthy history of the state; however, there are a few more points that we need to add to set the stage for Forest County. During World War I, Wisconsin became the first state to reg­ ister its quota of men for the draft. See the Appendix for the list of men from Forest County that were in World War I. Many of the famous divisions in the army that went to France had Wisconsin companies serving in their ranks. The 32nd Division, which was made up largely of members of the Wisconsin National Guard, was especially famous. Many of its members received decorations from the French commanding officers. It was known as Les Terribles, or the Terrible Ones. Highway 32 is named after this division. Another famous division was the 42nd, generally known as the Rain­ bow Division. In this division were three Wisconsin companies. The city of Fond du Lac had, in this war, the largest number of men killed and the largest number wounded of any city in Wisconsin. World War II brought fame to such military leaders from Wis­ consin as Lieutenant General Nathan F. Twining, who commanded U, 3. air operations in the Mediterranean and Pacific theaters, and Vice-Admiral Marc A. Mitscher, commander of Task Force 58 in the Pacific, See the Appendix for a list of the people in the mili­ tary in World War II. This list may not be correct. If names are missing, please inform the authors. We have not been able to get lists for the Korean or Viet Nam conflicts. The students re­ searching material for this book felt that there is a need for each community to keep an accurate list of military personnel and what happened to them. We wish to pay tribute to those who kept the peace. We are not going to dwell on the 1920's and the 1930's. Prohibition, women's rights, and many, many other developments added to the romance, Intrigue, and history of Wisconsin, Some of this will be told by the pictures in this book. The pictures pri­ marily are of the places and people of Forest County; however, they tell the story of Wisconsin, too, .We need to take a moment and note that the citizens of Wis­ consin were very concerned about education, Southport (now Kenosha) established Wisconsin's first free public school in 1845. Michael Frank, a newspaper editor, led the movement for free schools. The state constitution of 1848 provided for a school fund to be raised for free schooling of all children between the ages of four and twenty. Mrs. Carl Schurz opened the nation's first kindergarten at Watertown in 1855. A 1911 law required all cities and towns with populations of 5000 or more to establish vocational schools, Wisconsin has twenty-two accredited four-year universities and colleges, fourteen non-accredited four-year- colleges, and twenty-six junior colleges,

12 Wisconsin has more than 3000 public libraries and about ten ! bookmobiles that serve rural areas. The Milwaukee Public Museum and Library owns a large collection of prehistoric Indian arti­ facts. The Institute of Paper Chemistry Museum in Appleton has the Dard Hunter Collection, which traces papermaking from its beginning in A. D. 105, The state's famous citizens include Frank Lloyd Wright, architect, many painters, actors, actresses, as well as many professional and non-professional people. We hope that we have given you a brief bird's eye view of our "roots". It isn't possible to tell all about the many inter­ esting places to visit In Wisconsin so we are going to tell you about Forest County. The assignment given to us was to write the history of Laona and the .surrounding area. Since our student researchers came from most parts of the county, we decided to try to write the history of the entire county. However, this history may seem to dwell more on the Laona area than the other towns. If this is so, don't feel offended. It wasn't our Intent to leave any one or important historical item out. We just ran out of time. Many of the students did not have cars to go very far, Some material was borrowed from Mr, Steel, Forest Repub­ lican, who had a group researching Forest County two years ago. Whatever materials we use of theirs we will give specific credit to them. Otherwise, our summer students (see Appendix) have researched the written material and interviewed over 100 people to date. (See Appendix).

Very little time was devoted from the 1940's to the present. Bringing each area's history up-to-date is a challenge that some other group might like to try. Some Important items were inadvertantly left out. Among these items were the stories of Doctor Tenley from Wabeno. He was a pioneer who brought the medical profession to Wabeno and who practiced over fifty years. Doctor Ison and Doctor Rathert were leaders in medicine at Crandon. Dr. Rathert in still practicing. Also practicing is Dr. Moffet, the Schieck and Bump Clinics have been added to provide medical services to the area. We hope that this book will provide an Insight into the past happeninr^s in''our town'*and Forest County.

13 This article was taken from a story written by Len Sargent, wholivedinLaonaintheearlyl900's. It must have been in the spring of 1905 or about then, that my father, Len Sargent, told me to file a homestead in Florence County. I ddid file such a claim and Bill Smith, an old time cruiser, went with me up there to build a cabin according to law. We went by train from Laona to Laona Junction via the L & N Railroad, then via the Soo Railroad to Armstrong Creek. From there we went by foot carrying bags of food, blankets, an ax, a small cross cut saw, and a compass. I believe that we walked about fifteen miles to the home­ stead. I remember that we walked through mostly cut over land owned by the Murphy Lumber Company of Green Bay. They had cut down only big pine trees. Because the snow was very deep when they did the logging, the trees were cut down so that the stumpage was about six feet tall and whenever a tree was found to be shakey, it was left where it fell. The waste of beautiful timber was terrible. When we got to where we thought our place was, Bill set up his compass and surveyed out a spot for my cabin. There were not too many level spots as the entire area was hilly and stoney. We cut down the trees where they were not too big, and managed to get them piled together in the shape of a house about eight feet by eight feet and eight feet high. We left an opening for a door and laid some poles across the structure for rafters. We then cut limbs and covered the rafters for a roof. We did no cleaning or anything else to make the place livable. It was something in the shape of a house and that is all you can say for it. Some years later, I was told that we did not build the cabin on my land at all but on adjoining property.• However, we slept on the ground, in the cabin overnight (according to law) and then went back to Laona. I would have to go back up there and sleep in it again in about three months, according to law. Late in the fall, Jerry.Hughes, a cousin of mine, about my age and a woodsman, went with me up to the home­ stead to live according to law. Jerry took his rifle with him and we planned on staying a few days so he could get in some hunting. We found the cottage in about the condition that 1 had left it in the spring, except that the roof had caved in. It did not take long to fix that. Just as we retired for the night, snow started to fall and when we got up in the morning, there was about a foot of it on the ground and it was still snowing. There was nothing for us to do but pull out for home. We had only gone about five miles, when I played out and just felt that I could go no further and sat down on a big log. I probably would have frozen to death if Jerry did not drag out a flask of whiskey and made me drink some, I never cared for drinking, but that sure saved my life. We then managed to struggle on for a few miles more till at night fall we got to a Murphy Lumber Company camp that was closed up, with a hasp and padlock. Jerry pulled the staples and we 14 entered. It was one of the nicest logging camps that I ever saw. It was clean, bunks with blankets all made up, wood by the stove, everything ready for living in. We found kerosene in the lamps, coffee, flour, and other food. After I got home, 1 wrote to the owners telling of us breaking in and offered to pay whatever they asked. They replied that they had left the camp in that condition, just for such emergencies that we had experienced, and that I owed them nothing. The next day we went back to Armstrong Creek and caught the train to Laona Junction, only we did not get there as that train only stopped at Cavour on Sundays. We spent the night at the hotel that was right next to the Soo tracks. About 2 a.m. I landed up near the ceiling, I thought that the place had blown up. I had hardly got settled back in bed when another blast occured. It was the Soo's Cannon Ball trains No, 7 & 8 going past. They were two of the fastest and nicest trains in America at that time. We caught the morning train back to Laona Junction and then back home. I spent a good share of my time as an engineer on the L & N but was not working at the time. When I got to talking to the crew, I learned the shocking news that ray Dad's big three story hotel (in Laona) had burned to the ground during my absence. It happened in the morning after everybody was up, so nobody was hurt, but everybody lost their belongings. It was a complete loss to everybody. When it cooled off enough, we dug Dad's little safe up and removed the insurance policies. Dad had the hotel fully covered with paid up insurance. I went with him to Milwaukee where we filed our Inventory and claim with the insurance adjusters and Dad was fully repaid. He immediately started to build a new two story Sargent House. Shortly after, I went to Wausau and visited the U. S. Land Office. I claimed that I had lived on the homestead according to law, but I could not stay there as it was no good for farming, only good for timber. I stone and timber claimed it,and then sold it to a lumber firm for $800. •i: j^cuXi.-iji FOREST COUNTY

Forest County has an area of about 1050 square miles. It has a favorable climate and productive soil. There are two main types of soil in Forest County, both of which are highly produc­ tive. They are: Kennan Silt Loam, and the Vilas Sandy Loam. There are also lands which are too low or stoney to be considered for agricultural purposes. The Kennan Silt Loam soil varies from a gently rolling to a rolling hilly surface. According to a 1924 Forest County publication, about 75% of the soil in the county is Kennan Silt Loam, The Vilas Sandy Loam is next In im­ portance and is of a lighter nature. The length of Forest County's growing season ranges from 100 to 110 days. This season is sufficient for grain forage, root, and fruit crops adapted to northern Wisconsin, The distribution of the rainfall Is uniform over the county and averaged thirty inches per year. The climate is healthful and bracing; the atmosphere dry. The summers are warm with plen­ ty of sunshine for the growing season. The summer temperature ranges near sixty-five to seventy-five degrees, with only a few days going over ninety degrees. The winter months are cold. Temperatures go down to thirty or thirty-five degrees below zero for a few days in January and February, but due to the clear, dry atmosphere the cold is not as penetrating as that found near large bodies of water. The Forest County Board of Supervisors published interesting booklets. The booklets dated 1924 tell about the roads in the county. In 1924 the county had 21 miles of Federal trunk roads, 108 miles of State trunk, and 116 miles of County trunk highway completed . The county employed an expert County Highway Commissioner, as well as a County Highway Engineer, According to the booklets, the county has had an Agricultural Agent since igi4 to help in changing the cut-over land into productive farms. There was also the Forest County Development Association that promoted agricul­ ture and other industries in the county. A booklet published in 1912 by the County Board of Supervi­ sors said that there were a number of organizations that one could contact for information about the county. These Included; Wabeno Commercial Club, Crandon Commercial Club, Crandon Rod and Gun Club, Organized Sportsmen of Wabeno, and Forest County Agricultural Society. One of the articles in the magazine states: OPPORTUNITIES FOR MANUFACTURERS "No section of the country offers better opportunities of manufactures of wood products than Forest County, which is in the very heart of the great hardwood forest. In clearing his land, the settler had timber of all kinds to market, which could be bought at a reasonable figure. Excellent shipping facilities, mentioned elsewhere, must not be forgotten. Besides this, local organizations and land companies offer assistance in securing advantageous sites for the newcomer. If you are looking for a. ' factory location, try Forest County." !

' ir • -- ' The booklet went on to say that a crop of potatoes will pay for a farm in one year. The County Board's advertising must have been successful because in the period from 1900-1910 it had an increase in population of 385.8% or 7^ times the growth of any other county in the state. From 1910-1920 it showed an increase of 43,2% and was surpassed only by Kenosha and Rusk Counties, with an increase of 55.7 and 47% respectively. In this 1924 booklet, it states that there are lath mills, a broom handle factory, excelsior mill, a last and a woodware factory. At Crandon, there is located the largest shoe last factory in the world. All the other towns had one or more sawmills employing a large number of men and assuring the settler steady employment during the winter months. One of the most important factors to be considered in decid­ ing upon a country's fitness for agriculture is climate. The class of crops which can be grown successfully is determined by the length of the growing season, and the amount and distribution of rainfall. The length of the growing season in Forest County ranges from 100 to 110 days. This growing season will lengthen as more land is opened up for cultivation. The distribution of the rainfall is uniform over the county and averages about thirty inches per year. The distribution of rainfall is well adapted to agriculture. The climate is healthful and bracing; the atmosphere dry. Forest County had good soil and as soon as land was cleared crops were planted. Forest County was spared during the Peshtigo fire of 1871. The virgin timber was left to be harvested. After the trees were cut down, the branches trimmed off and the trees cut into logs and hauled to the saw mill, the real work started,. Branches and brush were piled up and burned. The stumps were pulled out when possible. As soon as fires were out, plowing started. Plowing was tough because of the large roots protruding from the big pine stumps. The plow used for breaking the ground was known as a shovel plow and it was considered a wonderful invention for new farmers. It consisted of a pole that was attached to the neck-yoke between horses, the other end to a vertical member with a shovel fastened to the bottom. There were two plow handles attached which per­ mitted the plow to be steered and lifted over roots. One person drove the horses and one handled the plow. The person on the plow had to lift the-plow over the roots and had to steer it, At harvest time, hay was cut with a scythe and grain with a cradle. The cradle was a cumbersome thing with a scythe to cut the grain and a series of fingers to keep thv grain stalks together. Following the cutting, someone had to pick up the grain, taking a few stalks, twisting them together and tying the sheaves. The grain was laid on the barn floor and then the family would pound the grain with flails until the grain fel] off the stocks. It was then sifted through screens, all this was done by hand. Later on the threshing machine came. Usually one farmer would buy the machine and go from farm to farm in the fall of the I year. All the neighboring farmers would help each other on threshing day. Threshing was always a b ig day. The women made the meals. The power for the thresher was furn ished by horse power, a machine consisting of a big gear, layin, horizontal contacting a smaller gear from which tumbling rods re ched to the thresher, There was a platform over the big gear nd the horse driver could sit on the platform, turning round and r ound with the horses, Everyone had a garden and raised po tatoes, turnips, carrots, onions and cabbage. In the fall it was dug up and put in a root house . Most people had pigs that were butc hered in the winter, hams smoked, head cheese made, feet and shank s were pickled and the rest went into a brine barrel and was ca lied sow-belly. Fish and venison were added to the diet. In the spring people picked dandelion greens, cow slips, and leeks f rom the meadows and woods. People gathered wild plums, goos eberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, butternuts d hazelnuts. Families made their own butter. '• The Nicolet National Forest was mostly settled in small logging camps. The camps soon became permanent settlements with the coming of mills to the towns. Some of these towns were: Lakewood, Wabeno, Laona> Hiles, Phelps, Cavour, and Tlpler. Lakewood is located in the southern portion of the Nicolet Nation­ al Forest. Originally organized as Wheeler, in 1890, the name was changed to Lakewood in 1930. Lakewood is where some of the first pine logs were cut out of the Nicolet Forest. In 1880, a tornado swept across northern Wisconsin causing timber to blow down in a strip that measured one half to one mile wide. This area was called "Waubeno" or "The Coming of the Winds". This is how the present day Wabeno got its name. The turn of the century marked the founding of Laona, but it wasn't until the 1900 that the great logging operations began. This is the time that the railroad moved into the town. Hiles began as a trading post in the 186C's and later became a logging community, and resort area. Phelps began only as a post-office erected in 1903. The town was known as Hackley, until 1910, when the name changed to Phelps, after the owner of the local sawmill. The Forest County community of Cavour has a citizentry today of about 90, compared to its early population of about 600. After the lumbering activities died it left the town empty. Arthur J. Tipler started the town of Tipler when he brought his crew of sawmill hands to siding 83. All these towns are still striving in the Nicolet National Forest although they are not all living off the forest anymore.

Blackwell about 1907 20 '-'% -i- FOR;:3T COUIJTY

*-Of IVSi*

Iliies Uavin

l'\ ivTonne |Popple Kiver

irmstrong Ireek

l_ Crandon Lincoln^—f

^_J 1 /Fitholic Church, LyouH Lutheran 3hu:-cri, Crandon 'iethodi."t Church, Craiidon-l'-"; ?-Lrebyterian Ohur'.;h, Laona /istholic Chux'ch, Crandon I rebytei-ian Church, Orandoi; FOREST COUNTY

Organized by Act of Legislature 1885. From Oconto, Shawano, Langlade Counties.

Boundary changes in 1893, I897, 1905.

IRANSCRIBERS:

lasi- R.G. Webb ALVIN 1911 (Caswell & North Crandon) 1333- M.M. Ross ARGONNE 1921 (Was North Crandon)

::3-j- M.M. Ross ARMSTRONG CREEK 1922 (Caswell, called LaFollett July-Nov.)

BEGISTER OF DEEDS: BLACKWELL 1922 (Laona 8. Wabeno)

1885- Henry Poppy CASWELL 1901 (Cavour)

1887- Henry Graef CAVOUR 1897 (Crandon)

1889- P. Shay CRANDON, City 1898 (Town of Crandon)

1891-93 R.G. Webb CRANDON, Town 1885 (Change 1897)

1895-H.D, Dutcher FREEDOM 1921 (Wabeno) rj 1897- Frank Steiner GAGEN 1886 (Change 1897)

1899-01 W.W. Waite HILES 1903 (Crandon) 1903- M.J. Dickinson INDIAN RESERVATIONS .... 191'i (Lincoln Area) 1914 (Wabeno Area) 1905- H.L. Andrews 1936 (Mole Lake Area)

• 1907- M.J. Dickinson LAONA 1903 (Cavour)

1909-13 Andrew LINCOLN 1923 (Crandon) Oettinger NASHVILLE 1909 (Crandon) 1915- A.A. Blandin NEWALD 191A (Cavour, changed 1926) 1917-2'( E.O. Wood­ bury NORTH CRANDON 1901 (Gagen)

_1925- A.B. Oettinger PELICAN 1887 (Changed 1897)

1927-42 E.O. POPPLE RIVER 1926 (Caswell was Newald Hoodbury 1914-26) 1943- Paul W. ROSS 1925 (Newald) Woodbury WABENO 1901 (Pelican) REGISTER OF DEEDS 1945-52 W. G. Lombard 1952- Hazel Lombard 1953-Anna Peterson 1955- Anna Peterson 1957- Anna Peterson

TOWNS; CRANDON- changed in 1897 boundary change GAGEN- changed to Crandon in 1897, part to Cavour PELICAN- changed to Crandon in 1897, part to Cavour CAVOUR- created from Gagen, Crandon, Pelican 1897 ALVIN- organized from parts of Caswell and North Crandon in 1911 ARGONNE- North Crandon from parts of Cavour and Crandon in igOl Name changed to Argonne in 1921 ARMSTRONG CREEK- organized from Caswell in 1922 known as LaFollett from July-November 1922 BLACKWELL- organized from parts of Laona and Wabeno in 1922 CASWELL- Cavour from parts of Gagen, Crandon, Pelican in 1897 name changed to Caswell in 1901 CRANDON-CITY- organized from unincorporated village in town of Crandon January 28, 1909 CRANDON-TOWN- part of Gagen 1885 to 1897, became part of town of Crandon in boundary change of 1897 FREEDOM- organized from Wabeno in 1921 HILES- Gagen and Crandon till 1897, organized from the town of North Crandon in 1903 LAONA- Crandon and Pelican till 1897, organized from the town of Caswell and Wabeno in 1903 LINCOLN- organized from the town of Crandon in 1923 NASHVILLE- Gagen and Pelican till 1897, organized from town of Crandon in 1909 POPPLE RIVER- Crandon till 1897, Cavour till 1901, Caswell till 1914, Newald till 1925, organized from town of Ross in- 1926 ROSS- Crandon till 1897, Cavour till 1901, Caswell till 1914, organized from Newald in 1925 WABENO- Pelican till 1897, Crandon or Cavour until organized 1907

24 Gc.hools-Ci-aiidon Hifh, North Cr-Mndon Hi^h, Cr^uidon, Harwl, waseno Hirh, Crandon, .-.ural, ziural Laona 1912 RECREATION IN FOREST COUNTY

Forest County's lakes and streams invite the angler to make vacation dreams come true. One hundred twenty lakes, eight hundred fifty miles of swift trout streams well stocked by Federal Forest Service, by Department of Natural Resources and untiring efforts of local sportsmen combine to make an ideal fisherman's paradise. Visit this secluded wilderness where both large and small mouth bass, where wall-eye and Northern pike, panflsh and mighty muskie, too, all vie to be the center of attention. In dense forest, swift spring fed streams provide trout fishing to test the skill of Andy Andel. Enjoy the thrill of the arching rod and tight line in the clear coldwaters of the Pine, Popple, Peshtigo, Brule, Oconto, Elvoy, Wolf, and small streams. You will find friendly sportsmen and licensed guides who are ready to direct you to the best lakes and streams in this play­ ground of the north. Peshtigo Lake at Crandon, Wisconsin is the headwater of the racing, roaring Peshtigo River running east and south to Green Bay. Trump Lake near Wabeno, Wisconsin is a popular residential and vacation spot. Northerns weigh in above average. Trump's enthusiasts range from present day kids back to three generations ago. Little Long Lake with clear water and timbered shores is a growing resort lake with excellent fishing. There are several nearby lakes to fish also. Otter Lake, once an important trailpost, is a small body of water. It has otter and a variety of wildlife, and for some reason beyond human understanding has played host to seagulls and commorats-feathered foreigners to this Inland water. Rangeline Lake was a milepost in Indian History. Its attraction to "the wild Waubezee" a weird goose, made it number one lake for Indian hunters. It has a varied fish population. • Silver Lake is the fisherman's water first, and a popular year around residential area near Laona, Wisconsin. For years it has produced a wealth of northerns, and today satisfies a heavy fishing pressure from both locals and visitors. Scattered Rice Lake at Laona, Wisconsin is a mill pond. Its ice fishing is famous, and its northerns fate well up on the scale. Because of its origin as a mill pond, it has a special wealth of stubs, floating islands and brush mattings that breed a special kind of fish-wily big tough. Roberts Lake with its superior aquatic plant life supports a heavy and varied fish population. Tests show it to have one of the state's heaviest fish counts. Historical Robert's has many modern recreational facilities and a growing summer population. Windfall Lake is muskie water and a required study for the sportsmen who wants his master's degree in this outdoor education. The muskies here are glamour boys and the northerns and panflsh are active. Windfall is an easy to reach lake. The famous Lake Metonga is a vacation spot at the edge of Crandon, Wisconsin, The endless parade of vacationists amazes the natives with its catches of game fish. It has facilities for amphibious and land aircraft. 26 The Armstrong Creek area specializes in bass fishing and its lakes get heavy play from vacationists on the eastern side of Forest County and also from Marinette County. U. S. 8 is one of the Important east-west highways and Armstrong Creek is in it. Lake Lucerne near Crandon has lake trout white fish and splake, and its timbered shoreline makes it one of the north's most beautiful lakes. History lingered here, and summer folks are proud of their lake. Colonies of long-time Lake Lucerne people welcome newcomers. The Pickerel, Crane, Arbutus, Rolling Stone area is a big and popular vacation area. This waterway has exceptional fishing. Pickerel perch and walleyes, and contlnus to produce heavy fish harvest. Wabikon (rat) Lake is one of the most widely known. Its shallow and plant heavy waters are ideal for duck feeding and its fame for muskies is growing. With its two connected Riley Lakes it lies just below the highest point in Wisconsin. The Butternut - Franklin area with its pickeral, bass and panfish annually sees many thousands of fishermen. Here in the far northwest of the county are two of the big time resort areas of the north woods and to the famous national forest camping ground Is an attraction with a national reputation. Pinelake at Hiles is home to a host of vacationists, and its excellent fishing and hunting have made it in big league recreation. The outlet of Pine Lake is the mighty world, as important a river to the destines of generations of Indians and Whites as any single river in the land.

FRAIL BEAUTY

0 MOLTEN dewdrop, trembling in the light Of dswn - ->nd clinging to the brookmint- b1ad e— A pendent opal on a breast of jade— n^jw came your splendor, so limpid and so bright? How your clear symmetry? And what weird sleight Of art suffused you with each rainbow-shade, Captured your evanescent hour, and made A quivering soul from fire and mist and night?

Fleeting your span! Yet I shall be content To let the Cosmic Power that built in you Such frail wet beauty, such luster opulent, And such Immortal life as lies in dew, Fashion the fragile moment on my soul In what frail shape It deems a perfect whole.

--Lew Sarett Points of Interest in Forest County

Lumberjack Special Lumberjack Special and Camp Five Farm Tour. Travel through the largest hardwood operation in the Lake States on a I9OO Steam Engine. Blacksmith shop, logging museum, ecology walk. Green Treasure Forest. Tour by surrey and pontoon boat ride on the Rat River. Scenic Drive Many miles of scenic driving throughout the county. Winter Sports For winter time activity there are many miles of federal, state, and county lands available for snowmobilers. Skiing is available at Shelter Valley. There are many lakes for ice fishing. Cross country skiing Is also available. State Scientific Areas In the northwest corner of the county there are three officially designated scientific areas: Bose Lake Hemlock-Hardwood Stand, Scott Shelp Lake, and the giant White Pine Grove. McCaslin Mountain In the extreme southeast corner of the county is an outcrop of pre-glacial bedrock. Take County Highway C east from Wabeno to McCaslin Tower Road. About three miles south there will be a forked road to some trees. There are some Interesting rock for­ mations in the woods from the road. The left fork, which you have to walk, takes you to the top, where a fire tower formerly stood. The Headwaters There are six rivers located in this area, they are: Wolf River, Pine River, Popple River, Oconto River, Rat River, and Peshtigo River. The Laona School Forest On Highway 32, south of Laona. Dedicated in 1928, it is the old­ est school forest in the United States. Sugar Bush Hill . • • Forest County has the highest natural point of elevation in the state. Sugar Bush Hill, five miles east of Crandon, is 1950 feet above sea level. A climb to the top of the fire tower here pro­ vides a breathtaking, panoramic view of lush timber lands studded with sparkling lakes.

28 Points of Interest in^ Forest County

Golf Course

There is an excellent 18-hole golf course, with many natural hazards,Igmlleswestof Laona. Logging Museum

Relics and records preserved in a replica of an old logging camp-;, in Wabeno present a nostalgic picture of the most colorful era ; in Forest County history. Wabeno also had a smalJ^ boat works and trout rearing pond. The library is housed in a log cabin built in I897 as a bunk house for early railroad workers.

Old Military Road -:, A historical marker at Mole Lake indicates the route the Old Military Road followed through Forest County history. This old q wagon road was originally blazed to facilitate troop movements, :j connecting Fort Howard in Green Bay to Fort Wilkins In Upper •;,•; Michigan . -.o

Horld ' s Largest Hardwood Mill '-i

Interesting tours can be made through the mills operated by the Connor Forest Industries in Laona. Besides hardwood flooring and juvenile furniture, this mill turns out a modern line of cup­ boards .

largest White Pine in the World '

The MacArthur Pine, located near Newald, is the largest white pine in the world. This mighty monarch of the forest towers 140 feet into the sky and has a circumference of I7 feet.

Camping Facilities

Forest County Veterans Memorial Park, located on the south end of Lake Metonga, has 60 campsites, pit type toilets, water, a swim­ ming beach, picnic area, and boat landing. There are many federal and private campgrounds located in Forest County. Locations can be found on county brochures.

The Peshtigo Auto Tour

This is a self-guided tour of some of the county's best scenery. It begins on Forest Road 2131. LAONA "ALL ABOARD!" "ALL ABOARD!"

This is the call heard six days a week when the Laona and Northern Railway's "Lumberjack Special" takes off for the famous Camp Five Farm Tour. Action begins in the heart of Forest County's scenic Northwoods when visitors board old-time day coaches or scramble for coveted cupola seats in ancient cabooses of the Lumberjack Special. This short line railroad has been operating since 1902. The train starts at the vintage Synder's Landing depot, one of the Soo Line's oldest, which was moved from Dunbar to Laona in 1955. Visitors will enjoy a look at the old telegraph keys, railroad clock, rolltop desk, barrel stove, baggage carts, ancient typewriter, and rare old elm bows used by passing train conductors to catch dispatches from depot agents. The train clanks its three miles of rail to the Camp Five farm complex and logging museum, past the mills, lakes with floating island, ponds and wild rice banks. Camp Five is an authentic lumber company farm, where beef produce and pork were once raised to feed its logging camps hungry lumberjacks. Horses and cattle still graze there, but wild and domestic animals for children to see and hold are housed in an animal barn and corral. Gay yellow surreys take visitors on guided Green Treasure Forest Tours. Camp Five and the Laona Northern Railways Lumberjack Special operate Monday through Saturday from June 14, to August 30. Groiip discounts for thirty or more are offered to students, youth groups and senior citizens. Reservations can be made by calling Connor Forest Industries at Laona or Wausau. Train departures operate nearly hourly schedules, beginning at 10 a.m. The last train leaves Laona at 4:20 p.m. Several hours are recommended to complete the tour. forest 1^epuU.c&« - Apnl-S?, /?.?.?.

which pri.*>-s Ih'- f«<-t (iriWHjIti con- X" h niKil by Uip wtiti^l Ih^ Indian but creek is m.t fed hy •princ holw. and LMtRequ««t ^lipre w s Wg sjirinK hole nparby but !*» refers it Eifuneeta with Kitcy te a diflBrent uraMe t« iwwtt the creek. The ntuaii'ai la this, a ipriiiK r kiwed h#r. ».ew««, hoi* tun an outl^but noinUit. What beirt ^chrtljls. pliurfhtK, e^«d Imlian crt^k jq>rimr ^(^ Uj brarj' and road* in tbr cuuiiij. t ne»er wint W am fed ^p a en«lt a half mile wig. Th»; One at inir lict^ard (fujdcs hi.-s . • wrtter ix laformcd ^al WiHen he chilEtd. "Yoti ar«' ceiyod a lelier fruma luumt »h. OiWBiA wHl not aanctoi* proaecu- httBie ur in Tuttodooaa, Alabama, M * UMU r«rS«hi»«)n Indian cre^ ^rs- . not ItfiDii' yott." JriK luf in forma litw aa to camx «iu->j, I •ftw. The OtUB' credt spring hoks. ' )>•• >Kr««d m>dd)'. elc,. ami arounK uther guestiimB WHH Ko ma; I b^ Mi« tast „„ Kjley lake «» menafeRcd DtHM the water at Luke W^i-! I •IIBII newer mt yaw above BBd th« Jobiwon spHwTt^" koB sprinir pi>«e»B the wime the sphnu (by Uwaeare real i^nit hdea Mt&p^t- Indian Letteod} on theC^Kcn farm, eaurbt ftrfilfiK t*i^ wlf! be i«o- the uld Military road, at the nurth t tMimi^lHJH Xtt" I. A v^Iwit- watch la W» fee MMI of fine lake?" Cwi anyone an- \ idMiHiiK luok In htaj k*[rte these pkcea from mim the queaU«>? I^B writer >A ^: "IMHiiNt. brfow Twa mfta were <»«i liM* «» thi» lt«m WB« told the iegeod by th<> u)iiMM t«h« jrour aunt ^e Ottm- »erii «»riw» hot' late Daft Qtam, the saniB UM waiden bn dartroyed UMBO. I^e tiiBt the Soo Railway track acroni the outlet at Uie «mth end of MlMrUwyw •hoiNi i. writw* at UM reqiMtt of Wbot^ing Cough Guiclea Uineatt. Ji^i»wR. I^ae take but, aa few of the rr Hik« ha4 ii^««d ITiiH Ifii«[mrh wid ^ttuni. Mr. Hloeau i« timert" who luiew about the wide ttw pri«ll«» to crMw- particularly J chil'. ntadiliU c^d>rlty of ^ia well km " t btoinl imiridMU of the L.OM Rod w>d Gtm of aiE^__. _bu t (wteKorto. spring «• now livinK. it misbt nut deine or other opiwte in aiven. i^ interim anyone to r^te it in these i E^Mt Wynn m^ tmm «"> m«k- ly cured by ycvxaa Chimiberli iN>li»nM. The qneatluner tas* that' CoUBhKemeoy. .Mo«t pooi^e b.-i iiw arrwvmeMa W mow b«* ft trraiHlfaUMnr drove a herd of cattle that it moM run ita coume. not ki tiMir farm in the Town of LMWM. from Dorlhem Indiana to lAi* copper _ that the lime in vpry much »t ened. and that there IH little du Fr»Mi LDI^ »nd tea^y we pre- vt^nXxf on U-.e old trail juat before irtair te HKn^ OBto th^ fiHm Bitii- from the di«ea»!e wh«n thin r,-r> ^e Military K»ad wa« built. ThiR It haa been used in n atadteTowB^UMH near P»dwt M in the 'm'%. of whooping couKh. ia II«nnM li* 1^. rooMb. GM. FTNWW b^M 1^ Ut^Ua (Mte in use at Koeheeier. ed waa 8 miiD. ttPM^VMW tetwn^ 1%a Hra-| UX\. Geo. Guntber of Kack- Then, travelinv with frim^ < ••^t !»»• »W "**"«i^«^ »P«*" widl 90t niaety c«r«tBr miiar exi^eairif^M of manee at a haebeioi maidtm wouldn't atay aiBgie. "W«nl« ISSOS" Tlie (^eeti ^ t^ Tow^B of Lamm Huaband" Rtarring tUIUe Burkt- attd BbK4w«^) wwf ta Maidoa iwato Princ^B mx\ W«dm«day. t«i«:^pfeW- T** pro«WMa«i«dein- dtaMea^t|MAi» thK'im* i^««>tMi. ts -&£ia ia a rtonmatbrn of the « i^M st the tMek> It e^aea on > i&4»»dl]rR»tfM«MiiA «lUb# et(K^d. hmmm* Ja». Smt and J. A„W««lfe, tt^^ intuit* ^^1. V.S Go to W. lM«iq>*« «»d haw Lh b Sdve on CBndw INs *y«n

;»^M^^Unii»ent In ^ h. a ^WW aMdiod wmi bM!k, PROHIBITION

This Is a true story told the researchers, Some years ago, during prohibition days, a small community in Forest County was the center of the illegal manufacture of bootleg alcohol. An alcohol still was considerably larger than a moonshine still. It required a building 36 feet by at least 75 feet, with a tower ^0 feet high. It required two columns 30 feet high erected in the 8 by 8 foot tower with a separator installed at the very top. One column was used for the first run, which made 1^0 proof alcohol. The second column was known as the rectifier column with a large cooker at the base in which the 140 proof was placed in one-gallon tins and was ready for sale to the customer. Six fermenting vats, 6 feet high and 12 feet in diameter, with a capacity of 2500 gallons each, were usually installed in one portion of the building. A batch of mash required sixty 100 pound bags of sugar dissolved in water to which 150 pounds of yeast was added to make the sugar ferment. It took approxi­ mately three days of fermenting before the mash was ready to run through the first run still. Two upright high pressure steam boilers were Installed to provide heat for the distillation and steam to run the steam pumps that furnish the water necessary for cooling the vapors and setting the mash. It took five men to cut the tamarack wood necessary to fire the boilers. Two trucks and drivers were needed to haul sugar, wood, yeast, and cans to the still and the finished product away from the still. Two men ran the still {one fired the boiler and the other took care of the still). Some women would package cartons containing six one-gal­ lon tins for shipment by rail to the Dakotas, where a lot of alcohol was sold in large quantities. The first still was north of Argonne on Wisconsin Highway 55. The second was located off Forest County "0" near the Con­ solidated Farm. This still was raided by the Federal agents after it had been operating for about 8 months. Two men were arrested and arraigned in Shawano County Court. They were re­ leased on bail and for some reason they never did come up for trial. A third still was located off County "0". This still did not produce too well because of the Inadequate water supply. It had to be dismantled and moved to another location because of the threat of being raided by Federal agents. The fourth still was located on County "G" some distance east of Highway 8. This still was unproductive and was also dismantled and moved to ano­ ther location. The fifth still was situated north of Highway 8 one mile east of Cavour, near Bills Creek. This still operated over one year, with a very good production. During this period Federal agents were quite active in the area and on occasion, when they were known to be in the immediate vicinity during the winter months, the entrance to the still road off Highway 8 was plowed shut by a county grader and evergreens were temporarily planted to conceal the road from the highway. Federal agents drove by

32 during this time but failed to discover the entrance to the road. About five months later, during a period of repair due to a sticking check valve on the top of the still and a fire in the tower, the Federal agents did locate the still, destroyed the equipment, and burned the building. This caused a brush fire, which had to be put out by local fire fighters, some of which in­ cluded some of the men working at the still. No one was caught in the still because a watchman warned the workers of the approaching Federal agents, A sixth still was built near Soo Line Spur 258, three miles east of Cavour, This still operated quite successfully, until one night when some highjackers tried to stop a truck of alcohol when it was approach­ ing Highway 8. A few shots were fired at the truck, but no one was injured and the truck got away, It then became necessary to move to a new location. The seventh still was situated south of the Soo Line tracks on Brown's Road on the edge of a large swamp. This still was interrupted one night by some prowlers, either some highjackers or Federal agents, and had to be moved. The eighth location was several miles further south on Brown's Road, and after a few runs, highjackers moved in and took a load of alcohol. A week later, the Federal agents came and destroyed the still, again •) starting a brush fire. Five men were captured at that raid, in­ cluding the watchman. The agents came on a Sunday night, held them at the still overnight, and arrested three more when they arrived in the morn­ ing. They were all taken to Green Bay, released on bail, but were never brought to trial. It was hard to hide a building with a tower 40 feet high, so a 12 foot column was designee and built. It was set up south of Cavour on the schoolhouse road, but before it could be made productive, the Federal agents moved in and des­ troyed the still. They caught two men; one other escaped by leaving his car, a 1930 Plymouth Coupe, which the agents confis­ cated . The 12 foot column was cut up with an axe, but was given to a tinsmith to be rebuilt. At this time, it was discovered that the reason it hadn't worked properly was because the returns were obstructed. This was still number 10. It was then decided that since the highjackers and Federal agents were causing so much trouble, that a first run still would be built at one location and a rectifier would be built at another site. Still number 11 was located north of Buck Mountain, north of old Wisconsin 139. This was to be the first run low proof still and the 140 proof was put in barrels and transported by truck to the rectifier still. This was located back of the ceme­ tery in Cavour and was still number 12. This operation proved to work quite well, until one night when the first run still was highjacked of a truckload of barrels of first run alcohol. That same night prowlers were seen around the second run still, so both stills were dismantled and moved immediately. Still number 13 was located near Pearson, off County "A", on Pickerel Creek. This was a large still, but it only operated for a few months before the owner of the property was shot in the leg during an argument with one of the men working in the still. Naturally, the still had to be moved immediately.

33 still number 14 was put J mile south of Cavour on old Highway 8 on Eddie's Creek. Both first and second,run stills were combined. This still produced the best alcohol of any of the stills in Cavour. Highjackers and Federal agents were spending a great deal of time around Cavour by now, so the still operations were discontinued due to the continued demand for bootleg alcohol. Still number 13 was established on a canal in Houghton, Michigan. This still was operated until prohi­ bition was repealed, with the last run made on Christmas Eve. Many interesting and sometimes humorous stories and incidents occurred during the five year period, from 1928 to 1933. These were the bootleg alcohol days around Cavour, Wisconsin. They can best be told by the men that worked in these stills to make a living for themselves and their families because work was hard to find at that time. Even though the stills are gone, Leonard Hess is trying to brew his own alcohol. He made his own still out of copper that stands 4 feet by 2 feet. On the end of the still is a condenser that takes the alcohol out of steam. The copper works better in the stills because you can bend it. The still right now is in experimental use because he is trying to get mash out of sawdust and grain, instead of sugar like they used to do. Leonard says, "Sugar is just too damn high now to make the mash with." He hopes someday that every farmer will be able to make his own gas and then reuse the corn to feed his cows . The biggest difference between the stills of yesterday and today are the size and shape. The stills 50 years ago were 40 feet at the highest point and usually round so the pressure would be distributed equally. To get the 190 proof alcohol you had to run the mash through twice. The first batch was about 140 proof, after stilling it again it would run around 190 proof, The alcohol in the thirties was sold for 3 to 4 dollars a gallon. The alcohol was mostly sold in the Minneapolis area, since Chicago was Al Capone's territory and not too many people fooled around down there. A lot of alcohol went to Baraboo be­ cause that's where everyone sent their shipments to be delivered. The stills that were around were pretty safe until Federal agents and airplanes started investigating the area. Now Leonard is not worried too much about selling his alcohol so much for drinking as he is for burning. One of the old timers in the area had an interesting story about running moonshine. He owned a souped-up Buick and would take the back seat out so the milkcans full of moonshine would fit. He never met the man who supplied the moonshine; he just knew when and where to go. Once he received the shipment, he just drove as fast as the car would go to Chicago. When he ar­ rived at Chicago, he would go to an abandoned garage and blow his horn twice. He would then leave his car and go to the boarding house for the night. In the morning he would go back to the garage and pick up his car. After he got a few miles out of town, he would stop and check for his money in his secret spot. Once he had his money it was a straight trip back to Laona.

34 When he made his run, he would take twelve milkcans and return with twelve hundred dollars. He said when he made his second trip of the week they had to show him which car to take because it was usually painted. This went on for quite awhile.

TOWN SUPERVISORS TOWN AND CITY CLERKS

Town of Al V in TOWN NAME Wa]ter I ngrani Alvin Gerald Gaspardo Howard 1 ngram Argonne Virginia Brass Town of Ar gonne Armstrong Creek Casmier Wozniak Will lam Kalata Blackwell Lavenia Novak Lloyd Mr Corkle Caswell Roxanne Brewer Town of Ar m;-;trong Creek Crandon Ronald Cole -lohn Lej a Freedom Bernice Schreiber ,''• t. a n ]. e y Ch Ltko Hiles Marilyn Pfeiffer Town of Bl ackwell Laona Gail Lemerande Kenneth Johnson Lincoln Sandra Carter Ronald li enkel Nashville Carol Marquardt Town of Ca swel 1 Popple River Joyce Perenick Fred Ga.s t Ross Ray Bonesteel Joseph K oblbeck Wabeno Marrette J. Tucker Town of Cr andon City of Crandon Adeline DeNoble Mike Bai ley jioiiier Ro sa Town of Fr eedom Richards Connors M.irviri H.arte r Town of Hi les A r- V i n W iIde r TOWN AND CITY ASSESSORS Roman Ta uer Town of La ona TOWN NAME Henry Ka zmlerczak Alvin Winfield Gaspardo Donald L ane Argonne Robert Jacobson Town of Li ncoln Armstrong Creek George Perenick liarry Gr.a ins Blackwell Erhard Huettl Frank Ta ylor Caswell Erhard Huettl Town of Na,shvi1 J e Crandon Mike Childers Theodore A . Torgerson Freedom Erhard Huettl Alvia H. .Sc ha fer Hiles John Tauer Town of Po pple River Laona Louis Fournin Edward F'e1] i on Lincoln Earl C. Mueller Ernest K rueger Nashville Robert Jacobson 'J'owii of Ro 3S Popple River George Perenick Peter Br unette Ross George Perenick F'ranc is Bey Wabeno Phillip Michlig Town of Wa beno City of Crandon Mike Childers Clyde Tu.cke r Doug la;-. Piontek LIFE IN THE EARLY LOGGING DAYS

The lumber industry of Wisconsin had a swift development and an equally swift decline. First came the pioneer lumbermen who established their small mills where water power could be easily utilized. They did not own the land on which they cut because there was no need to buy land when timber could be cut on public domain for nothing. When a meddlesome commissioner of the General Land Office appointed a number of timber agents to prevent cutting on the public lands, the lumbermen united in a common protest to their Washington representatives which promptly led to the dismissal of the commissioner and the special agents whom he had appointed. Henceforth, timber stealing from the public lands could be carried on with impunity, and the basis of many Wisconsin fortunes was laid by cheating Uncle Sam. Transporting logs by water started in Maine- the birthplace of the logging industry in America- and is still done in that state to quite an extent. By the time log driving reached Wis­ consin, with the many drivable rivers of that state, much had been learned about this phase of logging transportation. Log driving on rivers and streams fell into two types: on waterways that had many rapids and deep water and those on shal­ low water. If a mill or hoist was situated along the river, piling would be driven into the river and sorting pockets were set up to catch the logs to be sawed or hoisted there, and a by-pass was made to let the other logs go by, Dams on the main streams were usually eight to ten feet high, with a spillway to shoot logs through. When the gates were open­ ed, the logs would then go downstream to the next dam, where the water would be caught and again sent through this dam to the next. Drivers were a special breed of lumberjack men who liked excitement. The driving crews consisted of three parts, the watering crew that got the logs started, the bends and rapids crew that kept the logs going, and the rear crew that cleaned up the river and brought all the logs that had been hung up into their start downstream. The rear crew had hard work. It sometimes took 3 or 4 men to moved a stranded log. The men stayed in shacks on the river called floating wanigans. Drivers sometimes had to watch a bend for 16 hours straight. Cold water didn't bother them .but the warm water made their feet -eore. If this happened, they put about l pound of lard in their boots so their feet wouldn't hurt. To persons not familiar with the logging industry, the large loads of logs hauled over ice roads by four well-matched horses always rate high attention. The work of the great top loaders, canthook men, road monkeys, and many others was not as glamorous, but just as necessary. Consider the lowly ox, who gets very little credit for his part in the great logging industry. During the early logging days in Wisconsin, the ox was used extensively. The ox was used in the Laona area, too, in the early 1900's. Oxen were much slower than horses and were not considered

36 good on sleigh hauls, although they were used on short sleigh hauls- mostly on snow roads and very little on ice roads. The problem of shoeing oxen was the main reason they were not used on ice roads. You can't pick up an ox's foot and put on a shoe as you can do on a horse, If you pick up an ox's foot, he will fall down or lie down. So a special "shoeing rack" had to be built, in which an ox was helped up by ropes or bands and a clamp held each foot as shoes were put on. Since the ox has a split hoof, he had to have a separate shoe on each half of the foot. These shoes came off easily while working on the icy roads, making shoeing quite a problem. Oxen were better on soft ground than horses. They were less excitable, but very often stubborn. They were easier to keep and would work and stay in better shape than horses. The lumberjacks would cut hay from the meadows along the creeks in the summer and put it in stacks for feed for the oxen during the winter. Owners of oxen tried to have the teams well mated in gait, size, and col­ or. Oxen never worked singly, but always in pairs, and quite often four would be used in skidding large logs. Oxen skinners, as they were known, were different men than the teamsters who drove horses. Most horse teamsters would not have anything to do with an ox, as handling horses was a completely different job than skinning oxen. No lines or harnesses were used with oxen- only a yoke with a ring in it. The skinner controlled and dir­ ected the ox team by word of mouth and the use of a "goad stick". The handling of four oxen by a good skinner was a sight to see. Ox yokes were made of hardwood, and when dried would last a long time. In the late years, they did away with the yoke and put a regular horse harness on oxen. The collar and hames were reversed, with the narrow end of the collar at the bottom, fitting the ox's neck quite well, A bridle and bit were also used in the ox's mouth and the teams were driven somewhat as horses. In the old days, there were many tales about oxen as to their size and their ability to haul a large log. Most bunkhouse stor­ ies were exaggerated, These animals, however, were powerful and strong and easy to maintain. They played a large part in the early logging of Wisconsin. Here's a Paul Bunyan story: Paul Bunyan's father gave him two oxen calves; like every­ thing else they grew fast. Every time you looked at the animals they were three feet higher. Paul called them Babe and Benny. They were taken care of by a retired old camp pensioner and bro­ ken by Crazy Jim, the bull wacker. Paul and Jim developed their speed by tying an orange colored sash around their middles and driving through the Irish settlement on St. Patrick's Day. The most accurate description of Babe is that he came to the pineries of Wisconsin measuring 60 hands high and weighing 10,000 pounds. This was not Babe's full power or maximum height yet. He measured 7 axehandles with a plug of star chewing tobacco bet­ ween the eyes. The Blue Ox was so big it took a crow 40 days and 40 nights to fly from one end of him to the other. When Paul wanted to peel a big log, he tied Babe to the bark and he held on to the log and the bark came off slick as a whistle. Sometimes Babe got into a little trouble; he would sneak be­ hind the men and drink the river dry, leaving the logs on the river bottom. Quite a few of the lakes in northern Wisconsin are

37 holes which Babe kicked with his feet. Big Hawk, one of the Potawatomi Chiefs, said, "My father say he see big blue buck drink water from lake, then kick up much mud for mile till no see urn sun no more." Babe ate a lot, about ten to twelve bales daily. He ate the hay wires and all, so they took the time of a swamper to take a magnet and keep the ox's teeth clean of wire. Babe got his name in a curious way. The original color of his hide was white. One winter blue snow fell for seven days and nine nights throughout the northwoods. That was the memorable year that the Great Lakes froze from the bottom up and the snow became blue from the reflec­ tion of the water. In the logging industry today, as soon as a piece of equip­ ment breaks down, someone jumps into a pickup truck and heads for the parts dealer to get a new part or have the old one repaired. He is back on the job in a few hours. This wasn't the case in the old logging camp days. Repairs had to be made right in the woods with the materials on hand. Here is where the camp black­ smith, doing all the work on equipment, became the most impor­ tant man in the camp. There was no gas or electlc welding equipment, and all weld­ ing had to be done by heating the iron to a welding heat and pounding it together with a heavy hammer. The next most Important person to the blacksmith was the "Wood Butcher". He did all of the wood work in the construction and maintenance of the logging equipment. There was one such man in each camp and the sleigh haul camps had several. When the blacksmith made up all the iron, the wood butcher would mount the iron on the equipment. The wood butcher started when the camp opened to put the skidding equipment into shape. Wood butchers were experts with a broad axe which they used for the jobs. They went right into the woods and selected the wood they wanted- white ash for whiffle-trees, straight spruce for jammer leads, and white pine for watering troughs. New leads were replaced on most jammers each year because the wood butchers were careful that all equipment that worked above the lumberjacks' heads was in good shape. If they needed new runners, the whole works would be made new. They also had to replace the irons on the runners and other parts of the sleigh when wood parts were being replaced. Another job for the wood butcher was to make water troughs for the horses before the horses were brought into camp. The wood butcher always had daily jobs such as replacing broken stakes, axe and cant hook handles, and dray runners. Good wood butcher services were always in demand. They got paid the same as a blacksmith, and in some cases more because some of these men specialized in constructing a certain type of equip­ ment . Wood butchers made anything, from the meat block to the pan drying rack above the stove to the bread rolling board for the cook. It was said that a wood butcher could build a whole set of camps without a single nail- everything was held together with wooden pegs. In the very early days the wood butcher made yokes for the 38 oxen. Also, some small wooden logging dams were found on our rivers. These were also made by the wood butchers. Each camp had its wood butcher or handy man. All were true lumberjacks and played a great part in keeping the logs coming. No industry produced as many self-made men as logging. The foreman had to have respect for his crew. Most foremen weighed at least I75 pounds. They had to mark the time they worked. They usually marked the day they started and the day they ended. Some foremen had special buildings in which to put their wives. The foreman was the first man up in the morning, checking the weather and the water tanks. In the sleigh haul camps there was no more important man than the barn boss. It was his job to make sure that the horses and oxen were in the best shape for work that day. A boy would bring the teams from pasture to the barn while the skinners would take care of the feeding of the horses and their oxen. The barn boss had to be a man who understood horses and their care. And he had to like horses. He was in the barn at 4 in the morning until about nine. He would ask the teamster how the horses were acting that day. His biggest job was to feed the horses. A horse could pull a shoe and be lame even when the new shoe was put on. Most camps had two or three extra horses in case this happened. If the teamsters neglected the horses, the barn boss would report it. On Sundays the horses were put in the barn to eat and they got special meals like bran. The barn boss watered the horses night and day. Also, he had to keep the barn clean. The average barn held 24 horses. All barns had ventilation so the dampness of the horses could get out. The same barn boss was usually at a camp from year to year. A swamper's job was to get the logs out of the woods. Very few men wanted to be hired as a swamper. They usually tried to be hired as a canthook man or a four-horse teamster. A man usual­ ly had to,start out as a swamper until another job opened. The job was often given to older men who had slowed down but who knew how to handle and plan a good swamping job. Swamping meant two things- the cutting off of the limbs from the sawed logs and the making of skidding trails into the logs for the horses and oxens. While the skidding team was moving the first log to the skid- way, the swamper was clearing the way so the team could get to the next log. They did this until they got to the top where the logs were too small to be held by the skidding tongs. Then the swamp­ ers put 2 or sometimes 3 logs chained together and pulled out to the skidway . The swampers main tool was a double-bitted axe for limbing the logs and clearing the trails. He used a cant hook to roll the logs; but more often a handmade hardwood "hand spike". If they got a log that was too heavy for one skidding team, it was rolled into a one-bank dray, with the back end dragging on the ground so it was easier to skid out. Then the swamper help­ ed roll the log onto the dray. There was a foreman that walked around to see if the swamper knew his stuff. They were at the bottom of the pay scale, since the foreman started most new men here to see if they would make good lumber- 39 jacks. There was one man who wanted to be a swamper because he could figure out a trail in an hour, so he would have more time to smoke his pipe. Another one liked it because he kept busy, kept warm, ^nd time went by fast. Some oT the equipment used in logging in the 1900*s was the water tank sleigh that iced down the roads so that they would be smooth enough to have sleighs hauling logs slide down them. They would fill the barrels on the sleds by taking chopped ice from the rivers and melting it and pouring it on the roads to freeze. Men doing that job had to wear bearskin coats and horse- hide mitts to keep themselves warm. The lumberjacks used horses to pull the logs out of the woods. After the horses pulled the logs to the tracks, lumber­ jacks put the logs on the train cars by pulling and pushing the logs up and on the cars. The trains were the fastest way to get the logs to the mills. Another way to get logs to the mills was by way of the rivers. The current brought the logs down the river. Some lumberjacks would ride the logs down the river to insure that a jam wouldn't occur. Scattered Rice Lake in Laona {also known as Beaver Lake and the Mill Pond) was once the Rat River until the lumberjacks dammed it up to form a lake where the company could store the logs until they were needed. The lumberjacks used an ax to cut down the trees until the 1880's when the two man cross cut saw was put to use. This saw was mostly used to cut down the big white pine. The axe was used on other trees. Fellers would cut down the trees, sawyers would cut the logs into the log lengths, and markers would measure the length of a log. Every morning a sawyer would usually get a new saw and a bottle of kerosene. The kerosene was sprinkled on the saw to keep it from getting stuck in the pine pitch. Large camps had a saw filer to take care of the filing of the saws. This saved time and money because a lumbarjack could be cutting logs while the filer took care of his saw. Also, a saw filer could usually do a better job of filing. It was very important for camp roads to have a smooth bed of ice so the teams of horses could successfully haul a load of logs. During the winter, the lumberjacks took special care of the roads. A road usually needed a bed of ice at least 1 foot thick to be done by December. Then the icy roads were maintained for the rest of the winter. To get the bed of ice done, loggers would start with a road that was free of snow. If the firs.t snow had already fallen, the snow would be cleared off the road. Special water tanks were used to put the water on the road. These big tanks would be filled {some took as long as two hours to fill) and then water would be poured on the road. The water tanks had holes in their bottoms to let the water go through. By using a pole to plug up the hole, a man could stand by the water tank and let just enough water go through to make a smooth road. The road would usually take six weeks to finish. After a bed of ice was formed, a "rut cutter" would be sent out. Blades on the rut cutter would cut parallel ruts about four inches deep. 40 A man known as a "road monkey" took care of the maintenance of the road. He would keep the horse manure off and make minor repairs to the ruts. To get supplies to a logging camp, the camps would hire a tote team. The team would bring necessary supplies to camp two or three times a week. The team would bring such items as lumber, tarpaper, and nails when the camp was being built. Later, food supplies and tobacco and snuff were brought to the camps. The supplies were brought by train to the nearest junction. The tote team would pick the supplies up from the junction and haul them to the camp. A normal haul was from 6 to 12 miles long, but some teams might have to run as far as 75 miles. The men were not allowed to ride on the tote team. They could put their packsacks on the wagon, but they had to ride or walk behind. In the old days, loading logs was an art. The men that loaded logs were the best paid men in the lumber camps and were considered to be the aristocrats of the crew. Prior to 1900, most of the logs were loaded on sleighs and railroad cars. It took much experience to cut the log so it would roll to the top of the load and land in the right place. Sleighs and railroad cars at the time did not have stakes and the logs had to placed in the right spot and held by a chain with wrapper chains and top chains across the load. Soon after the turn of the century, the "jammer" came into existance and along with it the staked sleigh and the railroad cars. With a jammer, logs were hoisted from the ground skids and then lowered onto the load. Horses again were used to power the hoist in all sleigh haul logging. Steam jammers were used for railroad car loading. About 1912, a single-boom jammer with a swinging boom was invented. It was called the "Forest Loader". This had a clutch and lever operated by the loader; and while horses still were used for power, they could work both ways in the cross-haul and could load several logs in one round. Also, the logs could be lowered to the loads by using the clutch as a break. In some cases, horses were trained to work on these without a driver. Steam jammers had been used since IS70 for loading railroad cars where railroad spurs were built into the woods and for hoisting logs from rivers and lakes. Jammers were moveable and could be used to load logs from skidways or decked logs along a spur. With the Clyde jammers, the hoisting engine was set up high; and the railroad cars would run under the jammer to be loaded. Also, Clyde jammers could move along the rails on their own power from skidway to skidway. With the slider type of jammers, that slid along the bunks of the railroad cars used, a locomotive had to be used to move the cars, but they were fast and more cars of logs could be loaded with these than with the Clyde. From five to eight railroad cars could be loaded in a day with a horse jammer, while the steam jammers could load up to 20 cars dally. * ^ - - . During the first World's Fair in Chicago, the timber indus­ tries of Minnesota, Michigan, and Wisconsin put on a log-loading demonstration daily. A number of the larger operations sent their best loading crews along with some picked logs to be loaded. Bark would come off the logs from being loaded after a few days, so new logs and new crews were sent down weekly. No lumberjack would work in a camp unless there was good food. So it was very important for the camp to have a good cook. Some of the cooks earned reputations equal to that of a master chef today. Camp food included pea soup, sowbelly (pickled salt pork), beans, prunes, baking powder biscuits, dried apples, other dried fruit, and fresh fruits and vegetables when they were available. By the late 1800's, canned food came into being. One- gallon cans were brought into camp with such things as milk, apples, tomatoes, and corned beef in them. If a camp stayed in the same location for several years, pigs might be raised at the camp and butchered as needed. Raisins and currants were plentiful fare and were added to rice and puddings. In a darkened dining room, flies might be mistaken for currants and eaten as well. Fresh bread was usually made every day. Pies, doughnuts, drop cakes, and light cakes were also made. It was usually necessary for a cook to be a good pastry maker. If a camp had over a 100 men, there might be as many as ten different cooks in the camp. Cooks were known to have tempers and to be big whiskey drinkers. Lumberjacks usually avoided getting into fights with a cook. While the lumberjacks were working outdoors, they needed a good hot lunch. If a man needed a good hot meal brought to him, the cooks would bring it out. All the men working in a certain area would go to one loca­ tion to get their meals. The meal was brought by sleigh. The sleigh {called a swing-dingle) kept the food hot by keeping it in a padded box. Main dishes were kept in kettles and pastries were put on shelves in the sleigh. As soon as the food was done, it was brought to the men. The food often arrived steaming hot and the lumberjacks could enjoy a good hot lunch. During the log drives was the only time that the loggers took their lunches with them. They were put into a canvas bag calleda"nosebag". In later years, many lumberjacks brought their own meals, ; but in the older days, a hot meal was always provided. Prior to 1919, a first aid kit was never found in a lumber camp. If a man got a scratch or cut, he would apply balsam pitch or a chew of Peerless tobacco to it, and it would heal in a few days. The only medicines sold in the camp commissary were Hinkley's bone liniment, Davies Vegetable pain killer, castor oil, Vasoline, Jamaica Ginger, Cascara pills, carbolic salve, and in later years, aspirin tablets. Most camps had more medi­ cine on hand for the horses than they had for the men. Companies took very good care of their young and older lumberjacks. Men who worked for many years as lumberjacks were 42 kept on the payroll long after they were able to work. It wasn't uncommon to see ill, old or disabled lumberjacks working around camp piling, splitting wood, or doing other minor chores . Many old jacks were kept as watchmen or took care of horses to keep their pay coming. Very few old lumberjacks went to the poorhouse or became dependent on public care. Sometimes the companies even paid for hospital bills or took in other old jacks even if they weren't hiring. In earlier days the average camps had from seventy-five to one hundred men, and this was considered large. It had the fol­ lowing buildings; a kitchen, with a root cellar, one or two bunkhouses, one barn, one blacksmith shop, one filer shack, and maybe an office for the foreman. All the buildings were of logs, usually tree length white pine. Bunkhouses were about five logs high. The logs were held together with plaster mixed with mud or calked with moss to make them watertight. Rafters and beams were also of logs, but the roofs were usually of boards covered with tarpaper. Bunkhouses had a front and back door, with a worn out path to the outhouse. There were usually two rows of bunks, one on each side of the house. At one side of the bunkhouse, near the front door, was a sink made of boards for the men to wash. There were several wash basins and a couple of roller towelsandalookingglassabovethesink. Kitchens were longer than bunkhouses with a lot of windows' in the end where the cook worked. It was made of logs with pole rafters and board roofs. A root cellar usually was attached to one side of the kitchen with a door entering from the work area. A dish-up table usually separated the eating area from the cook area. Dining tables ran the length of the eating area with benches for the men. Barns were of tree length logs with a shed type open area between barns for keeping hay and oats. The stalls and mangers in the barns were made from small poles. The floor was made from larger balsam poles flattened on one side with an axe. Blacksmith shops were also made of logs and'the floors were similar to the barn floors. As transportation became better, the camps started getting larger, as many as two hundred men. By 1920 spring bunks and mattresses came to camps and by 1922 they had electricity. The old lumberjacks were a mighty breed who felled trees the hard way, with the endless whacks of a heavy ax, building not only the midwest, but furnishing lumber for America's west­ ward expansion.

>' Connors Store Connors mill Laona High School Laona State Banl' Hospital Laona Grade School Lumberjack Special Fire Department Rescue Squad Park Lemerande's Store Laundromat Connor Building Supply Taken from The Forest Republican,, May 29, 1971. Written by Odeal Col11ns Krumpos about the people of Laona

LAONA Years ago, a man from Canada As the town grew, its planning Walked in this way Became quite a riddle He looked around, and For the Rat River flowed Decided to stay. Right down through the middle ile saw lakes and timber And game that was fat There was uptown and Soon a town would grow up Downtown, they all did their best On the banks along the Rat. Then Ptgsville werit up Just to the West. What to name this town Set their minds in a whirl Houses went up, across When they heard the cry Of their first baby girl. The track;; to the east. Places were made A mill was to be built For both men, and their beast. In itself, quite a feat A school and a church Through depression and war On its main street. This town has stood fast It was started by people That are now in the pa.st. Houses went up, there Was a dozen or more Now the people of this town Then a big log building To name, just a few For the first Company .Store The brothers, whio dug graves Their name was McHugh. Men came, who had Sturdy arms, and strong back.s So buildings went up There was Old Doc Ovitz To house all these Jacks. To ease all the pain Me was called out in the sun TFie snow and the rain. A hospital was built It wa;; pointed to with pride. Some storie;; were told Here generations were borii That none could forget And some of them died. They were told by a man His name was Tony Kokot. People came some from A far foreign land There wa."-; C.L. Robinson But In building this town He was over the school They all had a hand. He helped many a kid And spanked many a fool. There was Old Otto Olson And the Calhouns He kept law and order Some are still around He gave up his life Both past and present Down by the South Border They are part of this town

If a man wanted land They were Brittians and Bradles But found he was broke The Grumans and Starks He went to the bank In forming this town To Frank Aschenbrenner spoke. They've all left their marks.

Of the Collins' there was This town is located in the Old Stub and Lew Heart of Connor Country The clan that they started And it was all started by Well, they numbered quite a few. Old W.D.

-! COUNTY OFFICIALS - Z'^^O- Highway Commissioner Richard Pitts Patrol Superintendent David Campbell Highway Clerk Jack Samz Highway Bookkeeper Dorothy J. Elter Director Charlyn Hurst Staff Nurse Linda Vargo Home Health Care Judith Hitchcock Outreach Worker Shirley Penasa Accounting Clerk Connie Marti Clerk-Stenographer Claire Kratky Home Health Care Aide Pauline Quade Home Health Care Staff Nurse Sylvia Bowles Coroner Ronald Meyers Area Home Agent Joan LeFebvre Veterans Service Officer Luthur M. McMillion Clerk-Stenographer Marjorie Durant Sheriff Edgar Wilson Chief Ceputy Aaron Huettl Deputy Michael J. Mentz Deputy Norbert Chappy Deputy Gerald Gibson Deputy Dennis Osgood Deputy Anthony Jakubiec Deputy CarlN. Gretzinger Deputy Norman Knoll Deputy Alfred Reynolds Deputy Louis Spaude Steno-Clerk Arthea Lamond Juvenile Officer Wm. G. Glasgow

1 46 OVERHEAD OP LAQKA TAKES IK 191? PKOM

1, School - Then Town Hall, 1914 moved over to S,E, corner of Mill and Spruce Street, Used as pest house (Destroyed in late 1920's.) 2, Connors meat market, before WWII used to print Laona news paper, moved out to Company Farm and is still standing. 3, Connors Store, burned 1915. 4, Band Stand, 5, W. D. Connor Jr.'s home still standing. 6, Mill Street. 7, Catholic Church burned January, 1936. 8, Laona Post Office.

47 THE TOP OF THE OLD GRADE SCHOOL

g. Ruins of Sargent Hotel, burned November, 1911. 10. Jacobson House, burned May, 1931. 11. Sargent Opera House, Mallow Theater, burned May, 1931. 12. Park. 13. Alderton's building, Labelle was the tenant when burned in 1918. 14. Two story out house (See on next page.) 15- Houses on Flea Street. 16. Photographers Tent. LOOK FOR riE When the sinking sun Goes down to the sea, And the last day is done, Oh, look for me Beneath no shimmering monument, Nor tablet eloquent With stiff decorous eulogy; Nor yet in the gloom Of a chipped and chiseled tomb.

But when the pregnant bud shall burst With April's sun, and bloom Upon the bough- Look for me now, In the sap of the first Puccoon whose fragile root, Bruised by the rain, Has left a crimson stain Upon the cedar-glade.

Oh, look for me then, For I shall come again, In the leopard-lily's shoot.

Lew Sarett

49 HISTORY OF LAONA

In our area, the first people were Indians. They traveled on trails which later became our first roads. There is an old Indian grave located near Silver Lake, giving evidence of the first settlers in Laona. A custom which the Indians had took place near Laona. Most of the porcupines in the area would be killed and their meat put in large pots. A large sapling frame covered with canvas was built with the pots of meat placed inside over a fire. Eating and drinking would start and last until all the food was gone. Later, dancing would take place. A lumber company from southern Wisconsin bought much of the land in this area. The Spencer Lumber Company did some logging around here. This pine was cut and hauled to Roberts Lake by wagon and in the winter, sled. Mr. Langor cruised the lumber in this area for Connors. Land was purchased and Laona was chosen as the site for the new mill. A roadbed was laid for the railroad since transportation would be needed. Barney McKinley headed this project which took three years. The new section of railroad went from Wabeno to the present site of Connor's Store. A year later it was extended to a junction with the Soo Line. When the railroad was completed, a party was held at a cabin on SilverLake. It was on the location of Sandy Beach and the building was supposedly the first building in Laona. Barney Mc- Klnkey was given the honor of naming the site at the railroad's end. The location was named after Leona Johnson, the first white child in the vicinity and the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Norman Johnson. The first store in the area was owned by Mr. Delameter and was also Laona's first post office. The first school was a log cabin built by Mr. Delameter and located behind what is now Klover's Market. It was also used as a church. This school burned and another one was built two lots east. A frame building on a corner near the old Delbert Bowling home was built. Since this building was unsuitable, a brick building was constructed near the high school. It was built in 1904, added on to in 1906, and it burned down in 1950. Laona's first doctor was Dr. Lockner and he was later joined by Dr. Elliot, A hospital was built on the site of the Dr. Car­ roll residence. It burned in 1918 and the Ovitz Hospital (out of use since 1968) was built. Some other early buildings included the old Community Build­ ing and buildings in Lower Town. On the corner west of the new bank was Sargent's Saloon. It burned twice and was rebuilt both times. On the site of the new bank was the Robert Antis home and the Show House. Mrs. Antis was supposedly the first white woman in the vicinity. The Joe Ratty home was east of the Show House and the home of the Ted Jacobson's was north of the Antis home. The LaBelle Grocery Store, Alderton's Tavern, and the Cooper Res­ taurant were across the street from the Antis home. Roseman's Tavern was also located there. These buildings all burned at one

50 time or another. A dam was built on the southeast end of Scattered Rice Lake in 1901. It was built to stop the river that made its course from Wabikon Lake through the mill pond and southward toward town. It was named the Rat River, The pond was made so logs could be floated on it. Bogs would form on the river and the dam would be opened so the bogs could move down the river. A small mill was built first, but it burned down. It was rebuilt and has gained prominence as the largest hardwood mill in the world. Mr, Harris was the first timber cruiser working for Connors. The first logging was done in I899 in Laona and the first sawing was done in April, 1901. Connor's first saw­ mill was a two band with one resaw mill. It was moved here by rail from Little Black, Wisconsin. A cyclone came through this area in 1902 and knocked down some valuable timber. A sawmill was moved to this area and Camps 9 and 10 originated. These camps were located between Birch Lake and Blackwell. Camp 1 was near some boarding houses, Camp 2 was near Padus, Camp 3 was by the cemetery, Camp 4 in the Grumann settlement. Camp 5 near Connor's farm, and Camp 8 on Connor's railroad. Connor's first store was built around 1902, but burned in 191'^t. The present building was built in I9I6. The old Gordon Hotel (was torn down in I98O) was built in I9I6, replacing a wooden building, Connor's smokestack was built in 1927-28. The base is 18 feet in diameter and tapers up to the height of 207 feet. The farm boarding house and dwelling at Connor's farm was built in 1918. The high school replaced a white frame building on the site of the library. The first principals of the high school were A. A, Trojan, Paul Brown, and C. Boult. C, L. Robinson became principal in 1921. The Club House was built about 1917-20 and was on the site of the LaBelle Grocery Store, Alderton's Tavern, and the Cooper Restaurant. In 1904, the Presbyterian church was built. Many of the rocks for the basement were brought from Laona junction. They were hauled from there by train. There was no parsonage at first. Reverend C. F. Giger was the first minister. The telephone office (the green house across the street from Connor's Lumber Yard) was built in 1907. Mr. Johnson had intro­ duced the first telephone and he was put in charge of the office. The Grandon-Laona road followed the same route as Highway 8 many years ago, but it was very crooked. From Crandon to Wabikon Lake {often called Rat Lake) the road was only a wagon trail and from Wabikon Lake to Laona it was only an Indian trail. This road was often used to search for ginseng. The cemetery was originally located on the site of the Luth­ eran church. The first people buried there were Andrew Larson and Lindy Kirkpatrick. The cemetery was moved to its present location in 1905 or ig06. An election was held in 1904 and the town of Wabeno was split into three townships, Wabeno, the town of Blackwell, and the town

51 of Laona. Bill Trainer was Laona's first town chairman. The McHugh family was probably the oldest family in town. Members of that family included Morg and Jim, Cecelia (Mrs. Leon Webb), and Hattie (Mrs. Eggebrecht).

''illing the Water Tank for icing roads

.'atcr Tank Sleigh and Barrel ALLERTCS i^ FCRISf MVEHti

Dptown area-Laona, Wisconsin about 1908. Connor's first store burned 1915. Sargent's Hotel burned in 1906. Rebuilt 1907. llie second Sargent's Hotel burned in 1911, Alderton's Saloon and that whole block (UBeele's store and I.J, Pickett Co.) burned in 1918, •lll'W UOliA" ABOUT Jm 1910

The street is D.S. H wy 8. located behind the store was Van Open's crinting office. The weekly paper was called the Forest County Tribune, WiaffiH GRADE SCHOOL (AS SII IH GROUP SCHOOL nmm mmmutmkm mu mt Hom > WHS m m AS A low HALL m mm w i CALLED "I'm 1 m mm nn mm • m CAUIB'SM HOI

Early Laona-Fjrest fire in town east of ii.K. Ccrnor resice.nce-i'iay ]'/ 1914. Si.'. LOIR TOl. uoBA

EAliARINGER ffiOIUKG HGII CASIER'Kli JOl FIERCE STORE BARBES AND HOUSE

^^im^^ "-^.--•.fc^if.,.;^*:^^,: laona, fisconsin street scere-BeeCh Street, U.S. Highway 3 about year 1915. Uptown Laona about 1910-1914. The burned foundation at the left is the remains of the Sargent Hotel. The opera house is on the other side of Jacobson's house. The road in front is the road to Birch Lake. Note Alderton's Saloon and Resturant. Continue toward Birch Lake R.M. Connors house is in the middle of the picture. Continue on to a Bud Sturzl Blacksmith Shop. Note the Virgin timber standing in the background. On the far right is Dr. Elliot's hospital. It was located on the comer where Dr. Castaldo lives. In the foreground is the roof of the railroad depot. Note the two story outhouse in back of Alderton's Saloon. Zahrinj*er Hotel-1905-From left to rip.ht: 1 FT;, Barnes, 2 Rer.ina Kapps , 3 Myrt Irish, A Chct Irish. ') Brildv Lauren-'-e, 6 Mamie Zahrinper, 7 Joe Zahringer, 8 Kffie '!ahrinp-er, 9 Mat Zahrin^'.er. 10 Joe Kolbeck, 11 Jess Manifoe. 12 i:d Laurence, 16 tllmer Manifee

^teani Hauler next to Ice Cutter-igj8 Hotel Zahringer (built 1898, burned 1917) south end of Linden Street.

Saloon Zahringer Hotel between 1910-1915 with Matt Zahringer pictured on the left of Londo. "^tUi.WONSALCQti" BJ r.^IAURANI ...-S TKESiTHREi BUlLMtlGS BUSf.l iiOUT xm 191?

'IE Of M. coil )mOUSE HEIDEHCE

-J'

U.S. Highway 8. On this corner the Beaver Motor Coipa^y was built in 1919. Later called "The Club House". lote the board sidewalks and about 100 empty beer cases by the saloon. Laona, WI in 1911. Comer of Linden and Elm Street. Phil Zahringer had a store in the far right building. The old part of Mineau's store. The building on the far left Is Zahringerfe Hotel - burned in 1917.

In 1925 Boone Duff was fined $155.00 for selling moon­ shine from the Northwestern Hotel. Forest Republican, Jan­ uary 8, 1925.

A man by the name of Charles Fisher was poisoned by some bad moonshine. He was taken to Wabeno where he was given medical aid, and then to Laona Hospital, death fol-" lowed the next morning. He was an employee of the Men- omenee Bay Shore Lumber Company. Forest Republican Jan­ uary 8, 1925. The Sargent House built 1907 Located on corner of Mill and Beech Street

Silver Lake Bar built by Mr. Lueders In 1925. Sargent House (built in igCX), burned in 1906)

Hotel Sargent (built in 1907, burned in 191X) on comer of Mill and Beech Gts Kokot's house east of Laona on the road to Blackwell.

'^^IMll

Sargent House Ruins *|5 Inairi _ —-^-

WIISON , »ttf«

Cld Movie iiniVjonrd.i fou.nd in the Gorden hotel aa ,-Ofrtising rjhows for the f'r.cra House, dafinR back to the early 1900's. Len Sargent owned the first moving; rdcture machine in i^orest County called an Optigraph. He som.etimes showed movies in the l->argent C.r^era Pouso. Charles Sargent rig, sold to Phil Zahringer in 1912.

Alderton's Saloon at right. Bowling Alley next to Saloon. Alderton's Cafe next to Bowling Alley. II ii 11 I

flfWl!^^

^ d-<^^

Connor's General Merchandise Store (about 1907) Laona 1907 (Connor's Store, Catholic Church, nessers' Home) feimrtmettt at fkt Interior,

WniD STAT8S UND OFFICE, .M!^au,lis._ , 18m0

Sir; rour hOMitMd mtry So Jlj/::^/-, Sec J.i , f...J.i R. . // , la. vAtJMi^^ ' l-?^.-^ Mil tkt tiva ;sars during thlch riiidence ind onlttfttlon nre requlrtd by Ui eiplrtd.. Umi^XiL-, WO/ Iht In providsi that patent ihail litae aptin thi prtisnta- tion of proper proof of reiideMa and eriUl?ation tUhin TIO yean after the expiration of the flte yeart referred to. If thle final proof 1> not preeentei itthln the tiie pre­ scribed, this office fill be larranted in treating the entry ai voluntarily abandoned on yoor part.

John.W,Mi!!cr, ,„gi,t„,

H.G.McCros8en, ,Re.eiw.

tllfm^C? A HOESIlAfl DCCUfSS Hi 1907 fo llMiLlUL.. d-u^mj, %.. WHliam Guell. One of the first settlers between 1907-1915.

L.P. Marsh-early settler of Laona Farm owned by Fred Clark Pamily-now owned by lea Clark The French were natural born loggers and log drivers too. They were good workers and efficient. A story was told how one of the drivers, jumped up on the Wannagan and said to the boss; "The man she drown." The boss answered "she drown bad?" "Yes, she drown bad." Then for heavens sake save the pike pole. On every log drive there was always a rough and tough individual who especially, when drunk, made life miserable for many of the weaker and more timid men. This guy was known as "The Bully of the drive."

In 1913, the Connor Luunber and Land Company placed an ad in the Forest -"epublican that read: WANTED AT OKCE 150 men for work in lumber yard mills, ect. V/ill pay the best of wages and then give you steady employment. We also want at once 100 good canthookmen, sawyers, and general woodsman. 1552 Connor Horkers celebrating their Golden Anniversary of the Connor Lumber and Land Company. 1st row front: John Sturzl, Hrs. J. Sturzl, Mrs. Uebb, Anna Kokot, John Hutsel, Mrs, Gruman, Fred Grunan, Frank Kuburg, Norii Johnson, Hinnie Johnson, 2nd row; Delia Oettinger, Celilia Hebb, Mrs. Morris Hanson, Mr, and Mrs, Henning Hansen, Hr, and Mrs, Ted Jacobson, Henderson Bowling, Marcel Kaznierczak, Otto Medenwaldt, John Russell, Morris Hansen, 3rd row; Maurie Schiesl, Leon Webb, Ed Bradle, Minnie Biever, Hrs, Kirkpatrick, Hike Biever, Anna Batty, Mack Lewis, Chet Irish, Harry Chapman, John Lily, Matt Ouella«

ic ^^^fV $f*iW

Lobby ,.f Hotel Gordon, corner uf t^ill and Linden i3treets Laona, Wisconsin built 191^-razed 1979 73 t

'^'W.%t Gordon Hotel on left with water tower behind the hotel. Connor Store on right (just being built) and land where the park is todav in front of the store.

Corner of Mill and Linden Streets, Laona Wisconsin. Left to right Laona High School, Laona Library in northeast corner of high school, Laona State Bank, Gordon Hotel-water tower is northwest of hotel, Connor's Big Department Store, foreground Laona Park started by Laona Womens Club along the R.R, tracks. 7A Connor Lumber Company Tokens- "Good for merchandise at regular prices at the Company Store." Coins under $5 were brass which became dull and brown with use. 1904.

Connor'n Denartment Gtore with Post Office on the left and Gas Pumps in the front. The Automobiles are from around 1921, 75 W.D. Connor Sr. leading the white oxen in the Fourth of July parade in 1941.

W.D. loved the parade and took an active part in the action. Laona Street scene after 191?

Shoe department in Southwest comer of Connor's big department store.

77 First Power Plant at Laona, Connor's Mill. (1) Jinmy Kitchen (2) John Sturzl (3) unknown (4) Loul Doner. Wise Timber Use Payoff at Laona Mill Milwaukee Journal, August 19, 1951 The 75-year-old Connor Lumber and Land Company conducts wise woodland management and uses nearly all wood cut. Bei ng the area'a largest producer of hardwood lumber, the mill operates around 100,000 acres of forest in Northern Wisconsin and Upper Mi chigan. A permanent supply of timber is assured because no rnore wooi is cut than is added each year in growth. Whe. a stand of trees is cut, no clearcut scars are left because a second growth of trees have grown up around that stand. The pro- duction schedule of the mills is integrated to use every stick of hardwood The law in the mill is to use the log right dt)wn to the last sliver if possible. "It can go on forever as long as the land grows trees" says President Connor. Thi company, using a mechanical planter, is putting in 50,000 seedling.s this year and practicing selective cutting to give natural grovi Jh booming start.

Connor Mill: Hot Pond and Power House around 190?. 79 •HJB a. n m 0) u m (U ^ -S 9 i '»II>^ r-l 0) '.' •»— «£jr . tu

rt A u » H TJ 1 C « « M 4-1 T-) .H 0) ^ to E: (U j3 •O 4J S -

faj-i.--; *» .1" Elementary School, Laona, Wisconsin in 1916. Before the present Hiph School was built.

LUMBER YA5D L.^.ONA CCNNCR GOfTPANY 81

One of the two Connors boarding houses in Laona, they were owned by the Connor Company.

Connor Lumber and Land Company Mill yard Laona,WI. Tram for horse drawn carts to carry lumber out to the piles In the mill yard. 1917. A load of logs before they get to the mill note: one log contains 900 board feet. The log landing at a camp (about I907)

; 1926 Model T Ford owned by Chet Irish. It made hauling logs alot -asier. 85 THE HISTORY OF THE LAONA & NORTHERN RAILROAD

On May 28, 1 902 five men associate d with the lumber and railroad business met at Marshfield, Wi sconsin for the forma- tion of a corpor. tion for the purpose f building and operating a line of railro. d in Forest County, By early Jul y of 1902, constructio n had started. Orders were placed for a 11 rails, spikes, angl e bars, switches, and labor. Employmen t requirements were 10 0 men at $30 per month and board for goo d shovelers, $35 per m onth for good axemen, and $50 a month including board, for ooks. Help was re- cruited from agen cies in Minneapolis, t. Paul, Duluth, Super- ior, Milwaukee, a nd Rockford, Trackage was extended five miles t o the southwest by the summer of 190A . It was identified as t he Silver Lake Branch Line. This event ually extended to a le ngth of nine miles be- fore being remove d in 1942. By 1906, onnections were completed with the Chicago and Northwestern Railr^oa d at Laona Junction by the Soo Line.

Clark Dawson-foreman, Mr. Reeves-Employee, Mr, Josle- Employee. Connor Company Camp getting logs ready for the mill (L. Herman, Foreman).

Connor Company Lumber Yard, Laona, in 1915. LOGGING DAYS Leonard Hess was the boss of most of the logging camps. His brother brought In the lumber and Leonard took care of the work. There were 50-100 men in the can^ and each one was paid around four dollars a day. " They worked from October to the beginning of May with a break at Christmas and Easter". The men were happy to get six months of work In because work was hard to come by. A man was expected to cut sixty or more logs in a day. "If the man didn't do his job, he went down to the road and soQie- one else filled his spot. The Model T truck was a real time saver when It came to haul­ ing logs. These were a great advancement because they could haul more on bad roads because of the tires. Once the logs reached rail they were loaded by crane on a flatbed car and shipped to Oconto. They were getting $26.00 a thousand, now It's about $170.00 for a thousand.' Another big advancement was the International Six Special This was helpful because it had dual wheels and alot more power. Then Ford and Chevolet invented the dual wheels and alot more power.to their trailers , this made hauling two thousand feet of lumber no problem at all. Most of the men who workedat the camps stayed there the whole season, unless they had a car to go home in on weekends, "Vfy car in 1914 cost me $700.00 and I could get by on $2.00 a week for gas.

MARCHING PINES

Up the drifted foothills. Like phantoms in a row. The ragged lines of somber pines Filed across the snow. Down the gloomy coulees The burdened troopers went. Snowy packs upon their backs- Bowed of head and bent. Up the cloudy mountains, A mournful singing band. Marching aimless to some nameless, Undiscovered land. Lew Sarett ?op: 'v^.H, Hofrers landing in Nashville, Wise. Bottom: Load­ ing logs in camps. Wisconsin woodland management and maximum utilization of all tree s cut- almoS t down to the last sliver- is the basic business doct rine of Con nor Forest Industries. As one of the area's largest producers of hardwood lumber, the mill operat es around 100,000 acres of forests in northern Wise onsin and u pper Michigan. The headquarters are in this For­ est County vill age and Connorvllle, Michigan. The law the mill is to use the log right down to the last er, if poss ible. Here's what happens. First, the prized long and straight pieces of lumber are sawe d. The sho rter pieces are sawed for flooring, or for lamina- tion in table t ops and chair seats. The leftover edgings become tabl e or chair spokes or legs. The chips and best of the sawdust go to make a composition mate rial for sh eathing, roofing, and subflooring. What is left of t he scrap an d sawdust are ground into a flour to be used for maki ng plastics and even as cattle feed. The rest- anything left over- goes into the furnace for steam power to run the mach ines which produce the lumber- an endless chain.

ma '3-' -1* •a«lt;

The Flooring department at Connor's mill.

I Frank Lonier' s home in Laona that burned in l'^?4, Mrs. Lonit (AUUL (Irace) was a twin sis ter to Fred Aldertons Grandniother ,

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!i-ij .street Laona-lookinp toward the mill. Coimor Boarding- ;iou3fcs are on the right. Often called the "Prune House". Chicago and Northwestern depot built in 1902. .^^ Laona depot replacement early 1970's. -MI IT ;~1- Si^'H '"'^ *--' "'^^11 :^ •i

Linden Street looking north-Gorden Hotel and Connor Dept. Store.

Corner of Linden Street and Mill Street, late 50's or early 60" 93 Nina Alderton and her dog camping at Silver Lake, Laona about 1901.

Sandy Beach, Silver Lake, Laona, at the turn of the Century. INDIAN LOVE SONG Cold sky and frozen star That look upon me from afar Know my echoed grief. Hollow night and black butte Hear my melancholy flute- Oh, sound of falling leaf. Homeless wind and waterfall Hold a sadness in their call, A sorrow I have known. Shivering wolf and lonely loon Cry my sorrow to the moon- 0 heavy heart. . . 0 stone I --Lew Sarett

Silver Lake Beach at the turn of the century.

Sunday afternoon launch ride on Silver Lake, Laona. Silver Lake Pavilion, a dance hall built by Mr. Lueders in 1925 on the north shore of Silver Lake, Laona.

OCTOBER SNOW

Swiftly the blizzard stretched a frozen arm From out the hollow night- Stripping the world of all her scarlet pomp. And muffling her in white. Dead white the hills; dead "white the soundless plain; Dead white the blizzard's breath- Heavy with hoar that touched each woodland thing With a white and silent death. In inky stupor, along the drifted snow, The sluggish river rolled- A numb black snake caught lingering in the sun By autumn's sudden cold. Lew Sarett

96 Scene in park at Laona,

An old log located ir. the park at Laona. The Ovitz Hospital-Built in 1920- Dr.Castaldo's Office-1980

Hiverside Hospital, Linden Street Laona, WI. Dr. Hod Elliot 1902, was razed Jvme 196*. DOCTOR OVITZ

The year was 1915- A terrible blizzard was sweeping through northern Wisconsin, piling snowdrifts six feet deep on the ribbon that cut through the virgin timber of Forest County. By midnight the temperature had dropped to forty below and the frozen pines cracked like rifles in the raw, moaning wind. Through this dark wilderness treaked a solitary figure, the distant howling of a wolf pack prompting the urgent swing of his snowshoes. With a confinement pack strapped to his back, Dr. Ernest Ovitz of Laona was carrying the benefits of medical science to aid a difficult delivery in a frontier settlement nine miles distant. "There were times when it was so bitterly cold that my legs were numb from the thighs down," Dr. Ovitz, now in his eighties recalls. And after a punishing trip like that the tears would literally come to my eyes when 1 got within sight of the lights of the town. That is why he sometimes reverted to snowshoes, for the exertion kept you warmer. After successfully assisting the tardy stork. Dr. Ovitz still had to retrace his steps through the snowbound forest and return to his regular practice as company physician for the Connor Lumber and Land Company plus the daily rounds in Dr. Elliot's hospital. Such cross country calls were routine in those early days.The Flanner Lumber Company, which maintained a mill and three logging camps in the vicinity of Blackwell, five miles from Laona, also held a contract with Dr. Ovitz. With lumberjacks often falling sick or hurt, he was often called upon for emergencies. Those Blackwell calls were the bane of my existence, Dr. Ovitz declares today. With no plows to clear roads after snow­ fall, people simply stored their autos over winter. So when I was notified that some woodsworker was ill in Blackwell during the winter I had to saddle up my Indian pony or ride down the railroad tracks on a hand pumped section pede. The irregularity of frost heaved rails would often make the velocipede jump the tracks, and on one ocassion I landed in a snowbank with the infernal machine on top of me. Hired by the government to treat Indians living in the woods. Dr. Ovitz was often guided into the snowy woodlands by Henry Richie, a Potawatomi interpreter. They traveled over the wilderness trails by horses drawn bobsled. Several times while they were racing a woman to the hospital the stork beat them and they had to deliver the baby on the bobsled. When the Indian was too ill to be moved, the doctor had to care for them under the most primitive conditions. He delivered several paposses as their mothers lay on balsam boughs. There were lighter moments for the country doctor, too. One day Chief Shawn Shabodack dropped into his office to ask for a quart of the castor oil. A week later the chief returned with the same request. "I was puzzled that a quart hadn't been sufficient," Ovitz said, so I told him "I'd better give him an examination." Aghast at the suggestion the proud chief declared "medicine not for me; for wagon wheels," Shawn had one of the last large herds 99 of Indian ponies in northern Wisconsin and hard pressed for cash one year he went to the bank to ask for a loan. A banker In Crandon asked him what tupe of collateral he could put up as security. He told the banker he had a herd of horses to put up as collateral. Six months later he went back to pay the loan with a large roll of bills that the banker asked him if he wanted to put the money in the bank. Looking at the banker, the chief replied, "How many horses do you have?" Life in the sawmill town had its good moments, and bad moments, too. Husky lumberjacks came to celebrate every Saturday night and the saloons saw plenty of action. Several times the doctor was called to a saloon "snake room" where drunks dried out, to perform surgery by lamplight on a wounded lumber­ jack. Laona battled typhoid, smallpox, and flu epidemics in those days. Some so bad that the doctor had to go house to house to treat patients. This is a summary of an article found in the Wisconsin Sportsman, December 1973. From an interview with Dr. Ovitz we asked him about the doctors in Laona and where they were located. Dr. Ovitz played college baseball while attending Northwestern College in Illinois, After college he played baseball for the Chicago Cubs in the major leagues. He played baseball for three years with the Cubs until he was given a phone call from W, D. Connor Sr. He offered Dr. Ovitz a job as doctor In Laona because Dr. Elliott went into the service. W. D. Connor, Sr. arranged it so that Dr. Ovitz could buy the Elliott hospital. Dr. Ovitz then moved to Laona in 191^. Dr. Ovitz said that Dr. Lackner was the first doctor to set up a station in Laona. Dr. Dawley put an ad in the newspaper for a wife and a week later she arrived and they were married. Dr, Dawley used to live in the house that Paul Evans lives today. There was not a hospital there but he might of had an office in the house. The next hospital was the Riverside Hospital which was located next to Collin's Bar. The next hospital was the Elliott Hospital and it was located where Dr. Castaldo's house Is today. Later Dr. Ovitz bought this hospital from Dr. Elliott. This hospital burnt down in 1919. The next hospital was built by Connor's (1921) and is located on the corner of Mill and Harris Streets. W. D. Connor named this hospital after Dr. Ovitz and was named the Ovitz Hospital. Dr. Ovitz still lives in Laona today, and his home is located on the east side of Silver Lake, He still does things even at his remarkable age. The first laona hospital was the Elliot Hospital. It burned in 1918. It was located where Dr. Castaldo's home is now.

The Checota Triplets The Checota fanily had all multiple births in their family, The triplets are; Joseph Jr., Killiaii, and Boderick. This is one of the t»o sets ever born in Forest County, J^ 456 NOT TRANSFERABLE HOSFITAL CERTiriCATE.

Ufoa P«ya.at ol ^_ BaWtoa »*« IW .

U Mnllcta., auMcd AttaXaK, u«l llMr4 M the I=2.iTr©rsica.e ^^losiDitetl LAOzua., wi«O9zx0ixi, "Whenever disabled by sickness or accident at any time between the Date ol This Ticket and - .ISO All contagious intectlona and Chronic MUMM, Insanity and diseases at the Eya and Far not treated on ttils C«rtifloat*. Patianta admittad to Uaa Hoapltal are kept until pronounced well by the attending Physician. The Riverside Hespital, UM*. vit.

BOSPITAL CERTIFICATE J^^ 456 BOSPITAL CERTIFICATE «^ 450

VII.TM 1 Whdi'B Uaueil '•"'*"' Cliiii1>H<> !•« ]>itli' 100.... Nunii! \KB Nlltl..ll

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Type of Insurance-Riverside Hospital-I.aona-1902. Wickiup; Home of Potawatoil and Chippewa Indians in the area. Dr. Ovitz and his nurse delivered babies in this shelter, The priiative living conditions, accent­ uated by lack of water, make simple cleanliness a major problem and thus an invitation to sickness and disease. DR. FRANK CASTALDO

Dr. Frank Castaldo started his career in 1933 in Chicago. He opened an office, but no one could pay, so he joined the army. In 1933 he was supposed to go to Michigan, but the train went to Reedstown. Then he went to Jefferson Barracks for six months. Next, he practiced in Wausau for three years. After that he went to the CCC camps to work. In the early thirties each CCC camp had a doctor that was at the camp all the time. Dr. Castaldo was In charge of all doctors in the camps in the sub-district. He would see one of the camps each day and then would return to the hospital to take care of the patients. The Blackwell camp was the headquarters of the sub-district. Dr. Castaldo was the "boss" of all the doctors there. The Ovitz Hospital was the base hospital of this district. He was the surgeon for this area. The Ovitz Hospital was finished in 1921 and was built by Connor Company at a cost of $80,000. In the years between 19^6-1968, there were 3,584 babies born in the hospital. In October, 1958, the hospital was closed as a hospital. Dr. Castaldo has his office in the hospital building now. Then, the draft came (World War II) and all doctors that were discharged had to be called back because of the need for doctors. At this time, he went to Custer, a training hospital which had 250 men. Two months later, 200 more men came. Later, another group of 200 men came. Dr. Castaldo was put in charge of all these men. * Next, he went to Indianapolis and then went overseas on a ship. The crew consisted of eighty officers and 120 nurses. While going overseas, the engine quit and the ship was In the submarine zone. After a short while they got the ship moving again. When they landed, a hospital with 1500 beds was set up. The hospital was built out of a clay-like substance which would harden when the air hit It. After staying there for one year, he moved to Naples, Italy. Two years later they went to Rome, bringing the 3000 bed hospital by truck and railroad. The Army took control of Leghorn, a beach resort area. In March of 1946 he came back on a ship. He was put in charge of the 3000 men. It took only five days to get back to the states. After the war, Dr. Castaldo and Dr. G. E. Carroll came back to Laona and took over Dr. E. G. Ovltz's practice at the Ovitz Hospital in Laona, Wisconsin. In the early fifties. Dr., Carroll left to practice in Mobile, Alabama, and Dr. Castaldo remained here. L. Robinson

Mr. Robinson came to Laona schools in 1921 and was connected with the schools as instructor, superintendent and administrator for 38 years. He had taught nin e years before he came to Laona. He had received his bachelor's d egree from the University of Wisconsin. Mr. Robinson had als 0 served one year in the army during World War I and spent mos t of the time overseas in France, After coming to Laona Mr. Robins on earned hs master's degree from the University of Chicago, Mr. Robinson was honored for his sincerity, his patience, his honesty, his fairness, his ability in teaching and directin g young people, and his fine traits of character. The elemen tary school was named the Carl L. Robinson School in his honor State Superintendent of Schools, G. E. Watson, was at hi s special Robinson Day program to commend on his practicability , his ability to mix with people, his sympathy and his sense of hu:mor , and the good school he ran. He had vision to see the eed for the first school forest, the Young Rangers, and the needs in keeping with the tasks of the day. Mr. Robinson led a ful 1 retirement life in Laona un~ til he passed away in 1969. LAONA HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES

Class of 1914 Clifford LaBelle Ada Chapman Floyd Martin Claude Carson Marguerite Halgh Frank Ratty Helen Guenther Fern Thompson Class of 1918 Irene Clavette Irene Casterton Carol McDonald Valeria Jacobson Blanche Beecher Terrence Douglas Gertrude Mentz Class of 1924 Henry Kazmierczak Class of 1919 Myron McDonald Victor Kazmierczak Ray Alderton Mrs. Harold LaBelle Irene Medenwaldt Holland Frappy Marvel Oettinger Gladys Tipton Class of 1920 Mary Aschenbrenner Irene Kessner Mary Schuette Nina Russell Ivy Rymer Felix Alderton John McDonald Class of 1925 Charles Baltus Fred Felsch Monica Guenther LaMar Kasson Anna Kuepper Opal Schuster Florence (Mrs. Bartach) Marie Oertel Cora Kimball Class of 1921 Florence McDonald Viola Kessner Mary Lilly George Baltus Herb McDonald Class of 1926 Alice Sturzl Orville Peterson Esther Hoffman Glenn Glassett lone White Eldo Bunge Clara Bradle Joseph Aschenbrenner Lester Kokot Clayton Kirkpatrick Alvin Martin Class of 1922 Lawrence Mallow Norman Johnson Donald Kolstad Theo Kazmierczak Arthur Grumann Helen Hoffman Harry Clough Cornelia Kessner Perils Harris Gladys Trottier Rose Biever Hulda Hess Evelyn 0'Connor Ethel Cook Adella McDonald Dorothy Thompson Class of 1923 Lillian Beaudin William Bradle Leonard Bradle G. Kent Peterson Leonard Guenther Andy Beaudin Francis Lonier Earl Cournoyer Percy Rasmussen Irop Left-A remarkable teacher who taught typing, shorthand and all business education in Laona High School. Died in 1957 from measles.

Raleigh Calhoun Long time resident who was custodian of the schools.

Ena Clark-Secretary Daughter of Fred and Flora Clark, graduated from Laona High School in 1935 and Started as the High School secretary in 1937. No one ha heard as many excuses for being absent as Ena Clark in these 42 years. The following was taken from the journal called SAW-DUST: (By Len F. Sargent) Laona Junction When Laona and Northern Railroad connected up to the Soo Line In about 1902, the Soo Line built a depot, and it was the only building for some miles around and outside of the siding was smack in the woods. In order to keep an agent there, the depot had living quarters built In one end. It was a lone­ some place for a year or two. The first agent had a pede and pijmped it either to Cavour, four miles away, or to Laona, eight miles, in order to break the monotony. He stayed about a year. The depot agent had to be a telegraph operator and those days, operators were In big demand. Consequently, It was hard to keep an agent at the junction, due to its lonllness. However there were telegraph operators known as boomers, they came and went. The main line (The Soo Railroad) would not pick up car loads or way freight, without proper billing made out by an authorized agent and consequently, our side track would be filled to caplclty for weeks at a time, while we were without an agent. Once, when we were without an agent for some time and the siding was loaded with cars we ( The Laona & Northwestern Crew) got word that a new agent would arrive at the Junction on the morning local passenger Soo Line train. We were all standing on the depot platform when the train pulled In. Sure enough a rather tall stranger stepped off the train. He looked first one way and then another and told the conductor that he wanted him to go Into the depot with him to make sure everything was O.K. he produced a bunch of keys. Inserted one In the depot door and went in, and all of us followed him. He looked the depot over and carefully and found everything satisfactory. He then went to the telegraph instrument and said to the con­ ductor, " You can pull out now, I am going with you, I just wired in my resignation". We were Informed that we were going to get an agent that would be with us for some time, because he was about to be mar­ ried and would move his bride into the living quarters of the depot. He took charge of the depot about two weeks before the wedding and he surely made some radical changes around the depot. He scrubbed It up from one end to the other and put up fancy curtains on the windows. The change that took the cake though was the Improvement to the Chick Sales Two holer. He cut a hole In one side of the building for a stove pipe and Installed a sheet metal stove, so as to keep the place comfortable for his bride. When she arrived he built a fire In the stove, but he got tired of that in a couple of weeks . We were hoping that he would keep It up as it surely was a pleasure for us railroad men to visit there. 108 Our newly married man did not stay very long after all. It was reported that the poor girl started to loose her mind due to the lonllness. When Laona Junction was about two years old a nice little hotel and saloon was built there by a Mr. Dagle, and as long as I lived In Laona, the Junction never got any bigger. The hotel was named the "Meteorite Inn" due to a rare dis­ covery. One spring morning our train was flagged down by a lumber-jack about a mile from the Junction. He told us that smack in the middle of a logging road was a large rock that looked as though it fell from the sky. All of our train crew walked up the road for about a half of a mile and there was a ^> rock that surely was a Meteorite. It was yellowlsh-whlte, '^ about three feet square and full of holes of all sizes. It looked something like a giant coal clinker. There were several small pieces of It on the ground. I picked up some of these pieces and presented them to n^ wife and she still has them today. When Mr. Dagle passed away, Mrs. Dagle made me a present of the meteorite and I In turn presented it to the Wausau High School, at Wausau Wisconsin. m

109

^ Laona Elementary School (Bullt-1903, Addltlon-1906. Burned- 1950).

Ruins of the Elementary School which burned in 1950. (fire esc-p". tube). 110 Laona, WI.-2n

Lew Sarett made his home in Laona & Forest County in 1928 to 1932. He lived on East Mill Street now known as N, MacRae house. Before he came to Laona he had published three volumes of poetry. They were: Many, Many Moons 1920- a book of wilderness poems which endeavor to capture the influence of the Indians; the volumn "The Box of Gold", 1922 a collection of poems that expresses the wood sounds and scenes familar to the Indians; a third volumn; "Slow Smoke"- 1925 revealed an increase in technique and wider outlook upon life. He was described'by Carl Sandburg as one of the Natlon's most perceptive poets. He considered Forest County as the best fishing and hunting territory In the mid west with the best standing timber. Mr. Sarett spent part of his year at Northwestern Universtly for lecturing. He was a United States Forest Ranger and spent some of his time going through the woods with the Chippewa Indians into which tribe he was adapted. The Indians knew Sarett as "Lone Caribou," Mr, Sarett was considered one of the nation's authorities in the field of speech until his death in August of 1954. He has been placed in a class with Carl Sandburg.

WIND IN THE PINE

Oh, I can hear you, God, above the cry Of the tossing trees- Rolling your windy tides across the sky, And splashing your silver seas Over the pine, To the water-line Of the moon. Oh, I can hear you, God, Above the wail of the lonely loon- When the pine-tops pitch and nod- Chanting your melodies Of ghostly waterfalls and avalanches. Swashing your wind among the branches To make them pure and white.

Wash over me, God, with your piney breeze, And your moon's wet-silver pool; Wash over me, God, with your wind and night, And leave me clean and cool. Lew Sarett

EDITH EVANS PUBLIC LIBRARY

The Laona Library was sixty-four years old in March, 1980. W. D. Connor Sr,, of the Connor Lumber and Land Company, was remembered as an early promoter of a library for Laona. After a number of years of constant urging by him, the citizens voted at the town meeting in April, 1915, to appropriate money for the project. Dr. R. S. Elliott, twon chairman, appointed a library board at the November meeting. The members were J. D. Kissinger, President; J. G. Kopf, Vice-president; the Rev. B. H. Freye, Secretary; Mrs. George Malthy, the Rev. Buytaert and William Gruman. The board set about its task with the aid of the Wisconsin Library Commission to establish a library for Laona. Two suites of rooms were set aside above the,Connor Store for library purposes. The rooms were completely furnished in steel-braced mission furniture. The children's section was especially attrac­ tive, Laona residents recall. Books for the library were all new and selected with the advice of the Library Commission. , The following February, the library began to take form. Mrs. A. F. Evan, then Miss Edith Birdsall, arrived to undertake the work of shelf listing and preparing the books for circulatlori Miss Birdsall came from a prominent Algoma family. Opening ceremonies for the library in the Connor Store building were held March 31, I916. The library moved to its present quarters; in Laona High School in 1918. Mrs. Evans attended the graduate library training class at Scoville Institute, Oak Park, Illinois and the Wisconsin Library School at Madison, now the University of Wisconsin library depart ment, and received her certificate to teach library science methods from the former Milwaukee State Teachers College. Mrs. Spencer was the Laona public librarian for ten years, (1953-52). She received her training and certification from the University Extension Division. She was a 19A6 graduate of Elcho High School and attended the Milwaukee Business Institute. Mrs. Evans retired as librarian in 1953. Her husband died in 1952, and she was persuaded to return in 1963 to work in the school reference department. In the early years of the library, Mrs. Evans recalled, she frequently rode the old gasoline pede along the railroad tracks delivering books to the logging camps. She remarked that the lumberjacks generally may not have been bookworms, but they were generous with contributions to the Red Cross and other charitable organizations. When the library opened in 1916 the first visitors were Mr. and Mrs. John Russell. Jerry Godin was one of the first book borrowers. Through the years, the Laona Public Library has been the hub of a wheel. It is a source of information, inspiration, and recreation. It also has served the community as a meeting place for women's clubs, the Red Cross and civic committees on numerous projects. 114 The library was named the Edith Evan Public Library in 1973. Edith Evans died in October 1972. The present library board is: John Irish, Mavis Weidner, Melvin Sonnentag, and Howard Seeman. Bette Mason has been the public librarian since 1965.

Public Officials 1980 UNITED STATES SENATORS William Proxmire Rt. 4, Madison Gaylord Nelson Madison

MEMBER OF CONGRESS Toby Roth Appleton

STATE OFFICERS I'Governor Lee S . Dreyfus kLieutenant Governor Russell A. Olson I Secretary of State Vel Phillips State Treasurer Charles P. Smith Attorney General Bronson LaFoIIette

LEGISLATORS ' Clifford W. Krueger-State Senator Merrill Lloyd Kincaid-Assemblyman Crandon

FAMILY COURT COMMISSIONER Robert A. Kennedy Crandon

COURT COMMISSIONER Woodard W. Kerr III Crandon Robert A. Kennedy - Crandon

115 Laona Public Library on February 18, 1916, Miss Edith Birdsall was offeret] the position as the first Laona librarian. The library was first started above Connor's and in 1917 the library was moved to the north east corneri of the new High School.

C.L. Robinson Elementary School-Built in 1952. 116 TEACHER'S CONTRACT

MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT made and entered into tiuB-_^^h day of__ll«I , 93.f, by and between the u3ideniiKi.od Board of Education or School Board of^i^?*??®.* h0b«r_X , of Laona, Wisconsin, party of the flret part. *id-?T^^J?*A9ar?-* i[...lnpM&»-lCLi4L._-, party of tlie second part. Said party of the second part being^ duly qusllifled md licensed to teach public schools in rr.id County and State, hereby contracts with said party of the first »rL 10 Leach in said schools as A- tftaCilMir- in said district for the term of—-S__—months, com- nenciiiK on the--4^ day of.JlopJt* , 193Jfc; in consideration of the salary of--. Dollars per tUQiith, pa/able in Instailments uX liuL to exceed twenty per cent of the ealary in school orders un- ii(iied by the treasurer, and not less than eighty per cent ih cash, less deductions for teacher's Stat* EetiKment Fuod Di^osit, said cash pajrments to be made when first party has cash available ifor the pay- Mta, it beinf understood and arr«ed that said first party shall hkve the right to revise or lower the shry of second party upon givfng thiT+y days written notice. It Is further understood and iicrccd thiA: this contract shall remain it) force, ani said employment entinue so long as said party of the second part shall comply with the following conditions: That the said party of the second part shall during said entire achool year reside wlUiin the village kita of the village of Laona and not n^o e than one-half mile from the school buildings. That said party of the second r»rt f*a^l not be absent from the village during weekenfls without the tnsent of the local principal and superintendent of schools, except during vacation periods in said year. That said secopd party shall not stay, during her said employment, at any rooming or b(»pding place mm the same shall be approved by the party of th«) first part. It is further agreed that in the event thkt the party of the sedond part does not prove qualified in the department for which she h hired, and the achool board shi:ll so determine upon due investigaticHi 10(1 hearing, during which tnveetigatiiMi the State Superintendent of Schools shall be consulted and noac- \m takf^n without hia consent, but Lftct obtaining 0ai,i constant this contract shall be subject to can- rsllfliion iiy the first party without liability for furthei* compensation. It is further algreed that this contr^gt may be terminated by either party upon thirty daya notice. Dated this--_f?_- daiy of ™^ , 193 Jj^.l^MoM^.

Teacher. IT IS FURTHER u»d«»tood th^tU. »__ _„^ fcto >ubJKt to the provision, of the WiKoB. .. SUle Retirement I^w" for tMchert u4 the blank qiMe. below MK filled for thel purpoM of enablin, iltRttminent Board onciab to certainly idMitlfir then^rte and pi>rnenti nude in behidf of any teacher ™»"t »ithm the praraiona of the atatut*.

Ninie of Teacher (in full)

Boiw Addreaa of Teacher School AddnH of Teacher.thia year.

keof Birth of Teacher ^^^ School Addreea of Teacher laat year. •

^

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On Friday morning, April 27, 1928 at 10 o'clock the .^Laona School Forest was dedicated. For fifty years it Vhas been rededicated annually. The Laona School Forest ^is the first to be continued for fifty years. At the first dedication there were several important rj)eople that attended. W. E. Switzer, the County Super- flntendent, W. McNeel, State Forestry Club Leader, J. :Callahan, State Superintendent, Dean H. L. Russell, Uni- /versity of Wisconsinj Madison, and Laona's principal, C. L. Robinson. -119 The Laona School Forest c onsis ts of eighty acres, one mile south of Laona on Highway 32, This land was owned by the State of Wisconsin until 1896. The tract changed hands three times before it was purchased by Ant on Ko kot of Laona, who logged it off in 1921-22. At the annual town meeting in 1927, the elec- tors voted to appropriate the neces sary money to purchase a school forest. The Town Board pure based the land from Mr. Kokot for $1100, and presented it t o the School Board. This tract was dedicated as a schoo 1 fores t on April 27, 1928. The first commercial log, ing f a school forest in Wiseon- sin was done by George Brewer of Ca vour. This was done in the Laona School Forest. Mr, Brewer helped pla nt the trees at Laona plantation while attending'the Laona High S^choo l in 1935-36. About 30 years later, he was there to log the pine and popple. He cut the pine into lumber to build a new house. The pulp was loaded onto the C. & N. W. railroad cars a t Laona and shipped to Mosinee to a paper mill. The 50th anniversary of the Laona School Forest, April 27, 1978, was marked with a ce remony at the site. The event was made special by the dedica tion of the official historical • school forest marker which costed $450. Several of the studen ts who attended the first school forest attended the 50 yea celebration.

The Laona Ranger Station. Built 1971.

120 Fire tower on Sugarbush Hill, highest point in v;isconsin, near Laona. 50th anniversary and dedication of the Laona School Forest Historical Marker. W \

50th anniversary and dedication of the Laona School Forest Historical Marker. Representatives of the Laona High School Class of 1928 and 1929 at the Laona School Forest Historical Marker dedication.

50th anniversary and dedication of the Laona School Forest Historical Marker- 123 ly-

The Laona School Forest dedication of the new State Historical Marker, Among those present were: John Magnarich, Robert Mentz, Kenneth Liesch, Laura (Eggelbrecht) Faivre, Helen (Lilly) CoiiiUard, and Mavis (Liesch) Wiedner. These students helped plant the first trees at the site. The Lutheran Church In 1914 a Lutheran Church was built in Laona. Before this time, the services were held in the Presbyterian Church. St. John Lutheran Church was built in 1958, The Parsonge was built in 1959. In 1978, they burnt the Mortgage of the Church and Parsonge. The first pastor of the church was Pastor Raetz. He re­ ceived $45.00 a month and it cost $5-00 a month to run the church. Connor Company furnished the electricity. Herman and Alice Lange were the first persons married in the Lutheran Church. The present pastor is Keith Brutlag. Presbyterian Church, Linden Street, Laona, Wi, built 1904. FIRST UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH In June 1899 the first sermon at Laona was given by Mr. S.A. Martin, By May 31, 1901 there were regular services once a week at Laona. Also a Bible School was organized. February 12, 1902 Reverend J.R, Macartnez, Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Oconto held a service and received the following nine persons: Mr, S. Kirkpatrick, Mrs. S. Kirk­ patrick, Mr. and Mrs. Eluhu Snow, Mr. and Mrs. George Vemters, and Mr. and Mrs. Levi Starks. Also several were baptised on this date but here are no records of the names. First recorded baptlzmals were on July 10, 1904 when Reverend Wilson baptized Charles Vernters, Verlin Snowden, Fay Lutz and Ida Lewis. In May 1903 F.C. Boiler was to be reverend for four months, then he left but came back to serve from 1904-1908. At this time the decision of building a church was make. Where the church Is now was decided upon and raising money began. The land purchased from the N.W.R.R. and the Ladles Aid had $200. w

Presbyterian Church and Manse completed in 1906. Elementary School (built in 1903, addition on front in 1906, burned in March, 1950).

The Church is one of the older buildings in Laona. Having been built in 1904 with all volunteer labor. The dedication was two years later on August 12, 1906. The basement were hauled by train from Laona junction. The first recorded death was Elsie Davis at age six on Sept. 4, 1920. The first marriage in the Presbyterian church was on Sept. 4, 1920 when Reverend Garland united R. Clifford Helsey and Janet Ritter. Then on February 12, 1921 Reverend Garland united Dr. Ovitz and Anna Belle Brooks. On August 26, 1979 the First United Presbyterian Church celebrated their 75th anniversary. The pastor of the Presbyterian Church were: Rev. Fred C. Boiler (1904-1908), Rev. Shull Burris (1913-1914). Rev. Frank Harris (1927-1937), Rev Clifford E. Haskins (1938-1954). Rev. Edgar T. Gharis (1966-to date).

127 ^ ST. LEONARD'S CATHOLIC CHURCH

In the year 1903 the first Catholic church services were held in Sargent's dining room by Father John A. Bourgemeyer who was pastor of St. Anthony's congregation of Oconto Falls. This is based on the fact that Father Alois Bastian supplied the ceremonies of baptism to three children who had been baptized privately by Father John Bourgemeyer. They were: Joseph Dennee son of Alfred Dennee and Catherine Clark, born March 20, 1903, Margaret and Catherine Harkins, twins of William Harkins and Anna Clark, born July 13, 1903. On June 14, 1902, lots 15, 16, 17 of block B of the Connor Lumber and Land Company were purchased for a consideration of $1.00 with the stipulation a church must be erected on this property within three years from the date thereof or revert to the Connor Lumber and Land Company. Leonard Sargent was the head of the project, so in order to get the church built, he held a dance and set up a keg of beer. With the help of the lumberjacks and Connors, the frame for the church and steeple and everything were up by night fall. On the following Sunday the building was boarded up. In about a month the shell of the church was complete, the chimney, doors and windows. The year 1903 saw the first Catholic Church of Laona finished. Since Leonard Sargent was the instigator of this project, the church was called St. Leonard's. Father Alois Bastian, January 190A - November 8, 190A, who resided in Clintonville came once a month to Laona to offer mass and care for the spiritual needs of the lumberjacks and their families. Father J. J. Looze, then pastor of Oconto Falls, was appointed by the Bishop to care for this new mission. His assignment was short November 8, 1904 - January 1905. Father John J. Loerke, a newly ordained, was assigned to St. Anthony's as an assistant to Father Julius Looze and took over the missionary work at Laona from January to July A, 1905. Bishop Joseph J. Fox then appointed him as the first resident pastor of St. Leonard's with missions of Gillette, Suring, Townsend and Wabeno. The parish was incorporated August 29, 1905. During his five years as father, he baptized 292 and assisted at 52 weedings. He added a sacristy to the church and purchased a bell which cost $100.00, which at that time was a lot of money. The money for the bell was raised in a very unique way. Ribbons were attached to it and those who pulled the ribbons thereby ringing the bell paid for the privilege. The amount collected was $393.00. Father A. Buytaert, December 6, 1910 - May 8, 1916, followed Father Loerke. During Father Buytaert's the rectory (I91I) was built at a cost o' $2500.00. He baptized 392 and had 91 weddings. Then came Father Halinde who stayed only one year, 19I6- 1917. On February 6, 1917 Father Joseph P. Glueckstein was appointed priest ten years at St. Leonard's. In 1924 a winter chapel was added to the church at a cost of $2000. 128 St. Leonard's Catholic Church and Parsonage on Maple Street, Laona. The church was built in 1902 and burned in 1936. The parsonage is still standing.

Father G. 0'Connell followed, spending onl y a few months here. Father J. C. Short succeeded him, 1927 ~ 1934. During his time another mission was added, namely Tipl'er . On January 31, 1934, Bishop Paul P. Rhode assigned Father Francis Francart to St. Leonard's. He stayed o nly one year. Then on February 16, 1935, Father Samuel Engl w as appointed as priest. During his priesthood the mission at B lackwell was discontinued. In the month of January 1936 the church burnt 10 the ground. A new $24,000.00 church was soo n completed and within a short time the mortgage was paid off. In September 1945, Father S. A. Stern was appointed by Bishop Bona. It was during his priesthood that the church was repaired at a cost of $9,00.00 and a modern kit'Che n in both the hall and rectory were installed. Also, the mis sion of Long Lake was given to St. Mary's at Florence in ord er that mass could be celebrated every Sunday at the mission at Newald. In 1975, Father John Cerkas came to Laona and is our present priest.

129 Sept 3, 1925. 1925 Confirmation class at St. Leonards Catholic Chur ch, Laona, WI, Boys-top back row, left to right: 1 Dick Schiesel, 2 Joe Alderton, 3 John Irish, 4 unknown, 5 Sam Thompson Two boys-2nd from top row-left to right: 6 unknown, 7 Alex Rymkus Boys-3rd row from top-left to right: 8 Sidney Chavette, 9 iMknown, 10 Betker, 11 Roy Benzinger, Boys-4th row from top-left to right: 12 unknown, 13 Elfors, 14 Debert Clavette, Boys-2nd from bottom row-left to right: 15 unknown, 16 Felix Gruman, 17 Dick Medenwaldt, 18 Dick Gruman, 19 Edward Schiesel, Boys-Bottom row-left to right: 20 Pat Belland, 21 Clarense Ammerman, 22 Mike Belland, Father Gluckstein Girls-2nd from front row-left to right: 22 Elsie Polts, 23 Marion Listle, 24 Wilkelmina Gruman, 25 Margaret Listle, 26 Mardell Fillion, 27 Irene Alderton, 28 Ursula Jacobson, 29 Clara Bradle, 30 Veriol Harris, Girls-front row-left to right: 31 Webb, 32 Loyola Ottinger, 33 Alfers, 34 Lila Burders, 35 Margaret Britten, 36 unknown, 37 Gilligan, 38 Ina Aschenbrenner, 39 Ruth Schmidt St. Leonards church bumed in 1935. Rebuilt in 1936. (Named for Leonard Sarpent) Laona Bank History The first bank in Laona was built in 1913 by a man named Peter Hoffman. It was located across from the new High School. The men that signed the charter for the first bank were: R.S, Elloitt, John D, Kissinger, Robert Quade, F.E* Alderton, J.L. Castleton, and C. Dirrier. Mr, John S, Kissinger was the first president and cashier. Later R,J. Johnston became cashier, Kissinger and Johnston ran the bank until 1920, when W.D. Connor Jr. became president. In 1924 Frank Aschenbrenner became cashier. In 1949 Eddie Sturzl started working at the bank. In 1957 he became cashier, Frank Aschenbrenner was still president. Ed and Frank ran the bank that was for 13 years. In 1970 Melvin became assistence cashier. In 1971 Melvin became cashier and in 1977 Eddie Sturzl was elected president. During all its years of serving the people of Laona, the Laona State Bank has provided the people very well. In June 1946, the bank became a million dollar bank; meaning one million total assets. In December 1973 its total assets were 5 million and December 1978 19 million total assets, Even during the depression the Bank of Laona remained open. It had its hardships but was sound enough to hold its own and survive. The new bank is located across from the Club House and was buHi 1977-1978. They moved into the new bank June 1978 and has been in operation for two years now. In the early days of the bank, 1924, Mr. Henry Pushnier started! as insurance company along with the bank. It was called Pushnier Insurance and Real Estate Inc. Later the name was charged to Laona Insurance Company inc./with Bank, There were several people as bank officers, they were C.L. Daniels, Henry F. Pushnier, William Stennerson, and Clara Bradle. She started at the bank in 1926, In 1927, she was elected cashier. She held that title after Frank Aschenbrenner until 1957 when Eddie Struzle took it. She worked for the bank until 1969, over 40 years of service she gave to the people of Laona. She was definitely a credit to the bank. LAONA BANK ROBBERY

It was Friday morning on October 19» 1951 when four hooded bandits came into the Laona Bank and robbed it of $11,000. Three men entered the bank while another one waited outside in the car. It took the robbers about two minutes to clean out the bank. They couldn't get into the safe, but they did manage to get bills in $100 and $500 denominations. After the robbery the bank employees described the thieves as "nervous amateurs". It was believed the men were familiar with the bank because they knew it was the lumber mill's pay day. They also must have known the locations of the buttons for the alarm system because they warned the employees to stay away from them. Other employees were told to lie on the floor during the robbery. The robbery was a federal case, so the F. B. I. were called in. They were looking for a gray and brown Oldsmobile with the license number 86111. Planes were called to help out with the case. The men were believed to be holed up in a deserted cabin south of Laona, Due to the heavily wooded area, along with so many cabins, it was impossible to find them. On October 23 there was a break in the case. A 41-year- old Green Bay mother, her 14-year-old daughter, and her 24- year-old son were charged with the holdup. Those arrested were: Mrs. Esther Amelia Whiting, Patsy Whiting, and Charles French, Jr. The money was recovered in a tin box buried behind the Whiting's garage. Also under arrest was Albert Curtis Small, a friend of French's, F. B. I, agents said that the biggest clue came when they found a car purchased by French a few days before the robbery. This car closely resembled the getaway car. Second Bank Robbery Laona- A flashy dark-complexioned gunman and a striking wortlan companion in tight orange slacks herded seven employees and three customers of the Laona State Bank into the vault today at 9:20 a.m. and fled with an estimated $50,000, The money was on hand to meet factory payroll. Sheriff Paul Aschinger said bank employees decribed the man as having dark hair and a dark complexion, about 5-foot-9 and weighing up to 200 lbs, and the woman as attractive, about 26 and about 5'6", 130 pounds. There was no immediate clue on how the two, both of whom car­ ried pistols, made their escape. However, officers questioned townspeople about cars leaving the area and about 11 a.m. broadcast an alarm for what described as a large, dark car or possibly a station wagon bearing Minne­ sota license plates. The vehicle was reported heading north on Highway 139 at high speed. 133 Sheriff's officers established road blocks on the few main highways leading out of the area, and began searching back roads and fire trails. "We were only in the vault about 15 minutes, " bank president Frank Aschenbrenner said. "We could open it from the inside." But when we got out, they were gone, out and around a corner and we never got another glimpse of them." he said. Aschembrenner said that the hold-up came at bank opening time. "I threw up the shades, turned around, and there was this dark man with a mustache, holding a gun and the woman right behind him. She had a gun too," he said. "They made us lie down on the floor while they filled a heavy white canvas bag with money from the cages." "They missed one, but he was a smart cookie-at least a semi- pro. There were some bundles of $50 and $100 bills lying right there in the open, and he left them there," Ed Sturzl) cashier at the bank, gave this description of the robbery: The man entered the bank and went to the last of three windows to the right of the entrance door. He displayed a revolver that appeared to be a 32 caliber. Behind him was the woman and she held a semi- auto-ma tic pistol. "I didn't hear what the man said and at first I thought they were kidding. But then I remembered the bank robbery in 1951 and I realized this was the real thing," Sturzl said. The man told the seven employees in the bank to go into a back room, which was the bookkeeping room, and made them lie on the floor. Wilfred Stamper on Laona, was the first customer of the day and he also was herded into the back room. Two other customers from Crandon came and they too were forced in the back room. There were now ten people so the crooks told them to go to the vault instead. They had it timed just right, Sturzl said. We had just opened the safe and were putting currancy into the cash drawers when they came in. It was pay day at Connor Lumber and Land Company and we had considerable small currency on hand. Immediately after the group got out of the vault they ran outside but the couple was not in sight, Sturzl said the group was in the vault about one minute and that the man and woman accomplished the robbery in about 5 minutes, "They entered the bank at 9:20 and were out by 9:25 Sturzl said. Description of the pair by most employees; They all were exactly alike or very close. Man Dark complexion about 5'8" and about 170 lbs. small mustache | "odd" voice light straw (cowboy stlye) hat and brown sweade shoes, I dark work pants. Carried a revolver in right hand, and sunglasses on. Woman About 5'6" 130 lbs good deal of make-up on. Yellow hat. Sun­ glasses on. Laona State Bank, corner of Mill Street and Beech Street. It was built in 1979.

Crandon State Bank, corner of Lake Street and Polk Street, It was built in 1980. 135 William Gruman's store and Charles Listle's home, this block bumed on January 22, 1931.

Laona Depot 1902

136 The Chester Starks family moved to Laona in 1899. Levi, Chet, John, Effie, Martha, Lucinda May

Friday August 1, 1923, Charles Carter raided a still of Al Bowman of Wabeno. In the pieocess several gallons of moonshine were found and destroyed. He was let go on a $500 bond. Also Charles Carter raided a still that was even larger in Cavour He destroyed eleven vats of mash and also demolished the still. Forest Republican Jan 8, 1925.

On Friday September 7, 1923, Charles Carter confiscated a fifty gallon still near Mole Lake. He caught Joe Am- burgery from Kentucky in the raid. He confiscated 1500 gallons of mash and 7 gallons of boose. Forest Republican January 8, 1925.

137 The Connor Story

In 1872, Robert Connor established the Connor Company in Auburn- dale Wiscons n. His brothers, John and James, had come before him and t he three of them together planned and built the village of Au- burnd ale. Th e village included a store, a post office, a school, and a sawmill William D. Connor, Robert's oldest son, became president of the compa ny in th e late 1880's. He them built his first band saw mill at Strat ford, Wi sconsin. The offi ces of the company were moved to Marshfield in 1896. The C onnors b ecame residents of that town. During the year, W.D. Conno r trekke d along the proposed railroad line in Forest County and bough t some o f the available mill and town sites. Decidin that the Laona site was the best one, W.D. Connor sold the o ther sit es and began construction of the mill. Instea of laying a town on the site of Silver Lake, he saved that for a re.sor t area and laid out plans to have the town and mill locat ed on th e Rat River. The mill was built in the 1900's and it is still running, Anoth'e r mill was built in 1934 at Connorvllle, near Wakefield, Mich- lean. W.D. Connor died in 1944 and his sons took over the management he business.

FjDina Barnes (Grandma), Ethel Barnes, Ivy and infant. Adoloh Barnes (Grandpa), Rollie and Rodney Orr, Starks Settlement. The following is a brief sketch of the significant events that have helped Connor Forest Industries become a leader in the forest products industry.

1872 Robert Connor founded R, Connor Company at Auburndale» Wisconsin. 1892 W.D. Connor founded significant lumber and timber purchases, 1894 Another mill was built at Stratford, Wisconsin. 1896 Large land purchases were made in Forest County in northern Wisconsin. 1900 The hub of Connor operations was moved to Laona. 1937 Connorvllle mill was built north of Wakefield, Michigan. 1951 Underwood Veneer Company's plant at Wausau, Wisconsin was purchased. 1953 Several thousand acres of Roddis Company land was acquired. 1957 Cadilac-Soo Lumber Company and Atlas Plywood timber lands were acquired. 1961 Underwood Veneer Plant at Wausau converted to a kitchen cabinet plant. 1966 Corporate name changed to Connor Forest Industries and corporate offices moved to Wausau. 1966 Fifty thousand acres of Ford Motor Company lands near L ' Anse, Michigan were bought, 1967 Sifo Toy Company, a Minneapolis manufacturer of wooden pre-school toys, was acquired. 1970 Sifo Toy renamed Connor Toy and facilities at Minnea­ polis moved to Wausau. 1971 The Marquette Timber Company was acquired. —^ The family owned company had grown from a small sawmill opera- f tion to a large vertically integrated manufacturer of institutional I and consumer products which include kitchen cabinets, vanity [ cabinets, gymnasium and industrial flooring, lumber by-products, I and pre-school wooden toys, and furniture-nursery and juvenile. Land holdings involve ownership of over 250,000 acres. Connor products will always proudly carry the Co'nnor name. I "Any Connor product must be a quality product" will always remain [as a basic corporate objective. "Connor Lumber and Land Company", after 95 years, changed to "Connor Forest Industries" by the board of directors in June of IK il967- Officially, July 7, 1967-

138 b Crandon is the county seat for Forest County. It is sur­ rounded by beautiful lakes and gentle wooded hills. Crandon was referred to as "Little Kentucky". The high ridges are moraines deposited by the glaciers which once spread across the state. The area is generally stony, sandy soil which makes it better tree growing land than crop growing land. As a result of its geography, the Crandon area was one of the last to be settled in Wisconsin, Samuel Shaw founded Crandon in 1885. An attorney and cap­ italist of Crandon, and one of the earliest and best known residents of Forest County, Samuel tells in an early history how Crandon was created. It was made by taking part of Oconto and Langlade counties, in the spring of 1885. It is part of Section 29, Town 36, Range 13 east. Forest County was part of Oconto and Langlade counties. At that time it was a forest of heavy hardwood. With the creation of Forest County, many strangers came from different parts of the country in great numbers to look over the new county. The new village was christened Crandon, in honor of Major Frank P. Crandon, tax commissioner of Chicago and Northwestern Railroad Company, after the original plat was staked out and made into lots. Crandon helped create the new county. The people around Lake Metonga built a post office called Ayr. The name was chosen to honor the birthplace of poet Robert Burns of Scotland. The mail route was from Pelican to Fryden- lund. It was 22 miles from Ayr to Pelican. The city was created before almost anyone lived there. Although in 1906 Crandon had already been the county seat for about 23 years. The Chicago and Northwestern Railroad was completed in September, 1901. The Wisconsin and Northern Railroad was com­ pleted in 1907. The railroad came to Crandon from Pelican Lake. They haul­ ed the mail in on the train in marked bags. At one time, the only railroad was the Milwaukee, Shore Lake and Western. The stations were located at Pelican, Monico, Gagen,and ThreeLakes. The real center of the county prior to 1901 was North Cran­ don (now Argonne), which got a railroad first. It was the Canadian Pacific. Way back in 1900, North Crandon had seven saloons, a beer warehouse, two or three hotels, two doctors, a music store, and a drygoods store. The Crandon Telephone Company established a telephone sy­ stem in the fall of 1905- They had eighty telephones in use that year. In 1906 they made connections to North Crandon, Laona, Hiles, and Pelican Lake. The first county board meeting was in a little log school house at Lake Avenue, near the shore of Lake Metonga. The board failed to build a courthouse. The city of Crandon was incorporated in I9O8. The bonding of Forest County was marked the same year at $55,000 to build a 139 courthouse. It was completed in 1909- Then, in the same year of 1909, the county bonded again for a new jail and sheriff's department. Many of those who came to Crandon in the igOO's came from the hills of Kentucky. It was said there was no work there and that many were fugitives. One old lady said that they came here because this was so far back in the woods no one could find you. In the late 1890's Crandon had a population of about 250. A decade later it had mills galore and more than 2000 people. In 1970 there were 1,582. It now has over 1,700. The Kentuckians were probably encouraged to come here by Page and Landeck, a lumber company. They had five camps supply­ ing a mill in Crandon in the early 1900's. The Crandon lots were sold quite quickly for a small amount. One was sold to Louise W. Shaw for $15. Then, within a year, she resold it for $150. The lot is now worth $2000, without the building. Three Lakes, at that time, was the largest and most prosper­ ous village in the county. The people put up a fight for the county seat. Monico also_ tried to get the county seat but failed because the Crandon people stuck it out. When the trains came in the early days, Crandon's spirit was large and the county was booming. Solid growth made the village famous. Jean Kellam was the first white child born in Crandon. She told us that she lived in town and on a farm. Her father drove stagecoach to Pelican Lake. The family always had cow, chickens, and a garden. She thought Crandon was a good place to live. There were many Indians in town at that time. For recreation she went ice skating and dancing. There were three dance halls, one of them was the Woodman Hall. Her brother hunted. Jean worked in stores from the time she was old enough. George McMillion came to Crandon in 1910. He was born in Illinois. When he first moved to Crandon his family lived back on what is now called the Chaney road. They used to drive their horses across the Wolf River where there were rocks because there weren't any bridges. The first camps he can remember are the Gus Fasdick camps. They cut pulp and hardwood logs. Retters also had a camp. You can • still see where the building had been banked up around it ana where the old root cellar was. The Old Military road came from Fort Howard and' went *to Ash­ land. Supplies were hauled back and forth on it. It ran in from S off Highway 8 between John McMlllion's and Bocek Lane. He went to the Old Siding 2 School. There was only one kid in the 7th grade and 8th grade when he was in those grades. It was a one-room school, heated by wood. It was located north off Highway 8 on S about one mile. In those days neighbors visited back and forth quite regular­ ly. People went home early and were in bed by 9 o'clock so they could get up at daylight. Everyone worked a long day. Before the Volstead Act of 1918 George's father had a saloon. It was located at the site of the Forest Hills Supper Club, The name of it was the Lame Duck. Whiskey peddlers came around with samples and you ordered from them. It was delivered on the train. The old Princess Theater had silent movies back then.

140 The first bank was where the mason's building is now. The 18th amendment, or Volstead Act, in 1917 dried up the U, S. What it did was to drive long standing habits underground. A new illegal operation for distillers was opened. There were only about 2000 agents to police the whole country. This was nothing compared to the number of moonshiners and sellers. Al Capone was a big seller in Chicago at that time. There were many stills in this area. They used corn, potatoes, prunes, raisins, and sugar, depending on the kind they made. Louie Bocek built the foundation for McMillions's house. He was the best mason in the county. He stayed at the place and Mr. McMillion took him home once a week. The house is still there. Matt Ross was one of the first settlers and the first under­ taker . Marcella Waite lives on Rice Lake, She came to Crandon in 1920 and married Rolland Waite the same year, Mr. Waite was born in Crandon in 1899- He' served in World War I in the 1st division of the 28th infantry, Mrs", Waite was able to give the following information: The downtown area had grocery stores run by Lynn Paul, Sparks, Schaefers, Karlburgs, and the A & P, Blantons had the feedmill, Mr. Lambie was the blacksmith. There were three bar­ ber shops: Pooler's, Dan DeHart^s, and Fay Marsh's. The Citizen's State Bank was built in 1921 where the Forest Republi­ can is now located. The first school was where the Lakeland Motel is and it was called South School. The post office was next to Rexall Drugs. Walter Waite run the Park Hotel on the corner east of the Arcade where apartments are now. Walice Waite was the Register of Deeds. A hub mill was in the vicinity of Clear Lake. Rolland worked in 1921 for Underwoood who had a logging camp by Loon Lake. He cut and skidded logs. There weren't any other jobs to be had. He also worked for Cliff Day in his logging camp. It was located off Highway S on the Old Military road. He worked ten to twelve hours a day and was paid $35 a month. He worked six days a week. Food and lodging was also provided. The food was very good. They had potatoes, vegetables, home baked bread, pies, and dried fruit. There were no churches or schools at the camps. The wives stayed at home with the chil­ dren . Mrs. Waite said the Depression was "harder than heck". A man did whatever he could to provide for his family. Mr. Waite trapped, farmed, and worked for the W. P. A. Mrs. Waite cooked at the school for 500 per day. She said they raised their own pigs. In the winter you bought your fIqur, sugar, and lard to last all winter as the roads were impassable and you would have to walk long distances because there were no snow plows. There were plenty of deer, timber wolves, coyotes, beaver, muskrat, otter, mink, fox, and bobcats. Mr. Waite trapped most of these. A working man got $40 per month back then, A woman did all the sewing for her family, except for stockings and underclothing. They used the cotton print sacks that flour came in. There were two doctors in Crandon, Dr. Decker and Dr. Ison. According to an interview with Mrs. Lydia Bock, she gave a description of main street Crandon in the 1920's. Starting on the North East end of Lake Avenue going south - (Elm Street), Himes Lumber Company was where Himes Engman Lumber is now. South was a pop factory where the ranger station is now. Next was a grocery store owned by William F. Mueller. The building was moved to the corner of Glenn St. and Lake it was destroyed by fire. Mr. Mueller rebuilt the store and it was completely fireproof at the same location. Part of the building was declared a bomb shelter during the atomic bomb scare. Glen Street - Lake Avenue A bakery was where the Fashion Fair is, Down the street was Mr. McKinnley's butcher shop where Yocum Realty is now. There was a tailor shop owned by William Landergott on the corner where McMillion's Hotel is now. Washington Street - Lake Avenue On the corner was a house Dr. Murphy had his office there. There was a bakery where the Heart of Lakes Savings is now. Next Friemuth had a garage. Then was the Keith and Hiles building. This housed a grocery, hardware and drygoods store. Louis Chaimson bought the dry goods stock and he ran the dry goods store. Elm Street - Lake Avenue Across from the pop factory was Arthur Bastar's blacksmith shop. Then came several houses. On the corner of Glenn and Lake was a shoe store owned by J. A. McMillion, Glen Street - Lake Avenue A hotel operated by W. H. Ferguson was across the street from McMillion's shoe store. It was destroyed by fire. Next was a grocery store built by Julius Breakstone. It was later bought by Lynn Paul. Peter Thompson had a photography shop next to Break­ stone's grocery store. A blacksmith shop run by Tom Lambie was where Schultz service station is now. Grant Street - Lake Avenue There was a home owned by a Mr. Fickel where Ducks Bar is now. Farther down was Brectmon's dry goods store he had mostly mens clothing, it was where Sparks store is now. Washington Street - Lake Avenue On the corner was Louie Parise's candy store. Adjoining was the Opera House it was a beautiful building. They had plays, shows, ; and local talent performed. Next was Frank Hillstrons barber 'shop. \ Then was F. H. Roads variety and gift store. On the corner was EEmde drug store where the Rexall Pharmacy is now. There was a Iterrible fire some buildings were destroyed and others badly damaged. Madison Street - Lake Avenue On the corner G. A. Gifford had a grocery store. Years later 'the Forest County State Bank was built on that sight. Then was the electric company. Going south was a hardware store ran by William jVine. Next to the hardware store was Blanch Carter Variety Store. ! This building was also at one time a shoe store run by William [Bassett. On the corner was the first bank in Crandon (The Crandon 'State Bank). It later housed the Rolinson Insurance Agency. The Masonic Tempel is there now. Mr. Edwin Palmer was the first cashier.

142 Going East at the corner of Lake Avenue and Madison was where Keith and Hiles Hardware Store was. It later became the Crandon Theater run by Fred Ziehm. Going East from the theater was M. M. Ross furniture and the funeral home. The next building was the original post office. It later housed Pooler's barber shop. Then came Herb Patterson's shop where he sold candy, cigars, and the men gathered there and played cards. Walter Carter bought the building and put on an addition and called it the Arcade. On the corner was

the Park Hotel. Going West on the corner of Lake Avenue and Madison was M. D. Drug where Rexall Pharmacy is now. Next building was Lynn Paul and Walter Netzels mens clothing store. Going west next was Karlbergs grocery store where the Happiness Emporium is now. Karlbergs Store also was the post office for quite a few years, until it moved to its present location. It was also C. A. Moe's jewler store. Later the Forest Republican moved into the block.

"NWM.V/IS -a».Y4rH.>'to1

July 4th, 1907. Old "Dollie Crandon. St. Paul Ev. Lutheran Church, Crandon Christ Ev. Lutheran Church, Hiles St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church, Crandon, was organized in 1902 under the first resident pastor, the Rev. C. Luedtke. However, Crandon Lutherans were served as early as December 3, 1890, by Rev. J. Dejung, Sr., the "Circuit Rider" pastor of the Lake Shore-Rhlnelander Mission Field. On October 19, 1900, Rev. G.H. Voss was installed at Enter- prose as pastor for the newly formed Enterprise-Crandon Field. in 1905, the Enterprise-Crandon Field was divided into the Eagle River Field and the Crandon Field, with the Crandon Pastor retaining the stations at'Crandon, North Crandon (Argonne), Laona, and Wabeno. Christ Chtirch, Hiles, began to be served sometime during Rev. W. Weber's tenure of office (1904-1910). By 1918, the Crandon pastor served only three congregations, namely, Christ Church of Hiles, St. Paul's of Crandon, and Peace Church of Argonne. In 1959 Peace Church, Argonne, closed its doors and sold its property, amalgamating with Christ Church of Hiles and St. Paul's of Crandon. The parish has consisted of the Latter two since. St. Paul's Church building was built In 1902, when Rev. G. Luedtke became the first resident pastor. It has served the congregation since, and is located at W. Glen St. and N. Park Ave., over a period of a few years around 1950, replacing a church building In another Hiles location destroyed by fire.

ST. JOSEPH'S CATHOLIC CHURCH-CRANDON Apparently in the 1880's there was a Catholic (Hiurch that was so badly damaged by a windstorm that it was sold and torn down. A new parish was formed In 1894. Father Julian came to officiate from Rhinelander. Father Geopfort and Toplak of Eagle River cared for the church from 1894 to 1904. Father Michael Gonnerlng was Crandon's first resident priest. Through the effort of Mrs. Peters In 1906 a white frame church was built. The rectory was built later. The Catholic Ladles Society held meetings in 191S at the Park Hotel. On February 11, 1939 the church bumed. It was 28 degrees below and the fire truck wouldn't start. In the same year the red brick church was built. The first mass was celebrated by Father George Kelter. HLFUjLiUiJ nnoirii'

z:-{ir;-J5l*pT(i/i

ISif3—,!, im'isi • ! J "

nmnnnn roannD CmcU. HIV Crandon-1912 Per Ola Club Rooms 37. W.A. Landergott Taylor Shop Hooper & Hooper, Lawyers 38, Foster's Pool Room CA. Moe Jeweler 39. Mrs. H.A. Kamm Millinery Shop Dr. J.F. Robertson AO. J. Breakstone, Groceries Forest County Abstract Co. 41. J.A. McMillion Shoe Shop W.A. Westcott, Att'y A2. Julius Netzel General Store W.J. Slater 43, Ira Deschane Barber Shop Post Office 44. A.E. Himley, City Mayor's Office A.E. Karlberg, Groceries 45. Red Cross Headquarters Netzel Pharmacy 45a. Presbyterian Church Site for new Town Hall • 46. Wm. Erickson, City Bakery Per Ola Land Company 47. Fred J. Rogers, Garage Keith & Hiles Lumber Co. 48. Chicago & North Western Depot G.W. Dawson, District Att'y 48a. Western Union Page Mercantile Company 49. H.A. Kamm, Potato Warehouses J.A. Walsh, Att'y 50. Crandon Flour and Feed Company S.A. Corning, Att'y 51. Potato Warehouses M.M. Ross Furniture Store 52. Howard Pooler, Barber Shop 53. Laird & Wilson Mfg. Company H.H. Patterson Cigar Store 54, Public Park H.L. Andrew Pool Room 55. Fred Franks Broom Handle Fey. Park Hotel 56. Shaw Hub Factory Crandon Hardware Store 57. Keith & Hiles Saw Mill Hrs. W, Carter Notion Store 58. Keith & Hiles Lumber Yard Citizens State Bank 59. Todd's Planing Mill Frank Hamann Milk Depot 60. Crandon Creamery First National Bank 61. North School Masonic Lodge 62. G.W. Weldon, Supt. of Schools Eastern Star 63. Fred Ziehm's Livery Crandon Motor Car Company 64. Woodmen Hall Methodist Church 65. Minton's Livery South School 66. Francis Shoemakers's Cabinet Sh. Ice Plant 67. Lutheran Church City of Crandon Power House 68. Catholic Church Vulcan Last Mfg. Co. 69. Court House Wisconsin & Northern Depot 69a. S.J. Conway, City Clerk Standard Oil Company 70. Dr. G.W. Ison County Fair Grounds 7I, C.F. Marden's Harness Shop High School 72. Palmer's Butcher Shop James Paul Insurance 73. County Jail Carpenter's Custom Mill 73a. Martin Georgeson, Sheriff's Office F. Davis Cottages & Boat Livery 74. Asinigkagemag Summer Resort Princess Theater 74a. Otto Tischer .Christian Science Church 75. Glenn Park Forest County Republican 76. Crandon Telephone Company McGinley & Peters Style Shop 77. Central Telephone Station r 78. Keith & Hiles Warehouses

trn >'/3 THE NORTH GRADE SCHOOL

Land was purchased in 1903 and the North School was built. The high school classes were held in the same building at that time. The graduating class of 1903 was Gertrude Anderson, Joe Terry, Edwin Anderson, and Ray Walroth. The school was struck by lightening in 1925 and burned down, it was rebuilt in 1926. The south addition was built in 1938, The north addition was built in 1950 and the gym built in 1970,

roqsC -Ttf?t89W THE CRANDON GUN CLUB

The Gun Club was located in 1900 where the Crandon Aire Restaurant now is. It was a large building and all the town people gathered there for picnics and functions. Joe Klass bought the building and operated a tavern there for some years, it later burned down.

CRANDON HIGH SCHOOL

The first high school was located next to the North School andf was the first high school organized in this county. The first graduating class from that school was in 1903 which was Gertrude Anderson, Edwin Anderson, Joe Terry, and Ray Walroth. The present high school was built in 1906 and the first graduating class from that school was held in the same year with the graduation exercises held at the Opera House. The class consisted of Alonzo L. Riggs, Eugenia E. Webb, Susie M. Woodruff, and Marie Christensen. The first gym was built in 1938. In 1958 the kitchen, lunch room, science room, shop area, band room and the new typing rooms were added. Then in 1967 more class rooms were added, lockers, offices, and a new gymnasium. In May 1978 the gymnasium was dedicated in honor of Fred. W. . Maniey and named the Fred W. Manley Gymnasium. " In 1980 there were 483 students enrolled in grades seven through twelve and 341 in grades nine through twelve. There were seventy-five students in the graduating class. I The school house in the Coming Settlement in the ninteen hundreds. In Crandon. Left to right. Miss Jeanette Ritter-teacher 1) Vemey 2) Fred Peterson 3) Bema Corning 4) Warner McCauley 5) Mildred Lambu 6) Carlson Ratliff 7) ^fyrtle McCauley 8) Ray Demars 9) Pearl Ratliff XO) Harold Peterson 11) Ethel Ratleff 12) Millard McCauley 13) Glen Rice Back row: 14) Laynette Rice 15) Eleanor Lundt 16) Ida Ratliff 17) Anna Peterson 18) Goodlow Ratliff 19) Omer Lundt 20) Lyle Rice

Clyde Sundberg worked for the State as a Game Warden in Cran­ don. He is known for his wood carving, which he learned by watching the lumberjacks. They got water by digging down and driving a pipe by hand. Tt ir, a lot easier now, but it was a lot cheaper then. The school bus was a truck with a building built on the back with a wood stove for heat. It had benches on each, side to sit on. This was in 1905. Waites had the first cement silo in Forest County. Elec­ tricity came out to their area in 1948.

Page & Landeck, Ross Furniture store, and the barber shop, on Madison Street in Crandon.

Brietman's cloth­ ing store. About 1920, tne lady on the left is Frances Schu­ macher. The building across •the street was the McKinnley's building, it was a meat market. Notice the board­ walks in the foreground. It is now Sparks Food Store. Cornelia and Robert Webb. Bom in England in 1818. They are the parents of Jean Webb Kellam. Jean waa the first white baby born in Crandon in 1886. They lived on the East Shore of Lake Metonga.

Eugenie Webb Kellam in 1958. The first white baby born in Crandon in 1886. She is 9* years old now.

I'lg Sam and Louise Shaw. Grand­ father of Sam Ross. They came to Crandon in 18S3.

The lady on the left is Louise Shaw, the man on the far right is Sam Shaw. Little boy in the forground is Sam Ross' grandson of Sam and Louise. PicnlcinR in 1913 in Crandon with friends. 150 Mrs. Sam Shaw of Crandon out for a ride In 1910.

Rolland Waite Home J.lst home) 1920.

151 Wedding picture of Matilda Peterson and John Gretzinger in 1911. Top row: Maggie Peterson, Matilda Peterson, Cella Peterson Front row: Henry Hanson, John Gretzinger Sr., Bill Gretzinger They settled In Crandon In 1911 after their marriage.

Town and City Treasurers

Town 1980 Addres;'

Alvin Beulah B. Huff Argonne Donna Glesse- Armstrong Creek Cecelia Moddii Blackwell Jenny Henkel Caswell ' Ursula Barber Crandon Donald Fritcher "reedom Carmen Piontek Hiles Christine Anderson _,aona Noah Medenwaldt ^incoln Omer T. Lundt,Sr. Nashville Theresa Howarc Popple River Marion Soch Ross Win ford Aschin^^er Wabeno Carol Eer' City of Crandon Blanche T. '• Matthew Ross' Furniture Store Crandon, WI 1901 Matthew Ross was bom in Belfast, Ireland. He re­ mained in the mother country, until 21 years of ape. Mr. Ross first located at Appleton, a year later he came to Crandon. In 1901, he oper­ ated the first funeral parlor in Crandon. It was located in the basement of his furniture store. The build­ ing has since bumed down. It was located west of the Crandon Arcade, -"^-iii

The West hill going Into Crandon, earlier called the Teachworth Hill. Card was written to Jean Webb first white baby bom In Crandon. Oct. 1908.

The post office was located East of Ross' furniture store and funeral parlor in 1903. The lady Is Bessie Vanzlle. William Vanzile was postmaster in 1897.

154 INDIAN WAR VETERAN A/long time resident of Crandon, Hugh McGuiness W^as born on April 11, 1870 and died March, 1965. Me entered service September 16, 1890, as a pvt, /in the 7th Cavalry, Troop K. (General Custer's ( outfit massacred fourteen years before). Fought in the battle of Wounded Knee, South Dakota against Sioux Indians and whites. He was wounded in the thigh and right arm. Discharged November, 1891 because of wounds. Mr, Hugh McGuiness was a resident of Crandon at the time of his death.

155 Henry Geske, 1907. An early logger of Crandon.

Mrs. Patsy Shay, one of the first settlers in Crandon before 1906.

156 Crews Movinp" Lo<^s Down the Wolf River

Clara Pierce

Clara Pierce is the old­ est resident in Forest County receiving The Centenarian Award from the Wisconsin Associat­ ion of Nursing Homes on her 100 birthday. She is a resident of the Crandon Nursing Home. Pictured are Robert Kennedy, grandson of Clara Perrce, Clara Pierce and Che nurse is Betty Resch.

157 Jack and Laurel Kronschnable began operating the Forest Republican in 1935, after Jack's father Herman was elected to the assembly of Hr. Herman Kronschnable was bom in Germany the First Progressive Party. After Jack's 1879. He bought the Forest Republican from death in 1965 Laurel continued operating it the Brady's in 1925 of which he was editor and was editor and publishepuoiisner untiunuili 1961507/ whewuwni - 1 ' •"^.„' He was known as she sold it. The picture was taken in front and publisher untu i^-J^j of the Newspaper office. the fighting editor of »U The first school In Crandon, called the south school.

1920 Graduatlnti; Claaa of Crandoiy 159' ' " Men were hurrying to catch the Chicago Northwestern to go to war July 21, 1917.

First fire truck in Crandon On the fire truck: 1) Frank Davis 2) Albert Miller 5) Lee Gyrus 5) Ratliff 6) Abner Carpenter 7) Henry Hauser 8) Al Kalkofen 9) Lulu Shaw On the ground: 1) Fred Frank 2) Greijntzel J) Garlord 4-) Driver 160 Opera House fire in Crandon about 1910. It was located next to Louie Parise's candy store on main street.

CRANDON CREAMERY

The creamery was incorporated in 1912 by John Whlsnant, Frank Blandin, Herrmann Kamm, Russell Corning and Joe Sheldon. It was built in 1913. J. L. Hail owned a lot of stock and it was deeded to him on October 11, 1920. The deed was signed by John Whlsnant, Presi­ dent, and Lester Grandine. Secretary. Aubol and Hed bought it in 1926 and operated it until 1965 then it closed . The reasons for the closing was that the Kraft Company started picking up milk in the Crandon area and the government got such strict regulations that small businesses couldn't survive. When the creamery was first started the milk was picked up by a single horse and wagon. •

161 This is the cook house in one of the early lumber camps. One of the very important parts of a lumber camp is the cook. When men are scarce a food cook can attract msiny men. The cooks are experts and supplies plentiful. Theyounp man on the right is the bull cook. F.F. Frank built the Broom Handle Factory in 1911. It was located near the over head on Highway 55 between Clear Lake and Mud Lake. On the left is Fred F. Frank the third man is John Gretzinger.

Anderson's Camp located in the Coming Settlement in Crandon. The property was purchased by Alois Bocek after the camp was closed. Alois and Mary settled there in 1919. 163 Harrington Plant that waa located by the Soo Tracks in Crandon in the late 1920's to the early 1930's.

Loading logs for Keith and Hiles Lumber Company Crandon, WI. The man with the cane is Henry Mundth he ran the steam mach­ ine to load the logs. These were the last logs after the mill bumed down in 1918. One of the early trains driven by Henry Mundt. Mr. Mundt was born in 1886 and still resides in Crandon. .-,!:.t-v ;oui de:-^-.'":: nee, 191'"

Forest County Court House, Jail and Sheriff's Residence, before 1909

166 October of 1909. The old Forest County Court House In Crandon.

Bert Haney's old house built in 1920. Still standing 1980. Bert sill drives his car and tends a b£g garden. Building is called Modern Woodman Hall in 1908, Crandon. All public activities such as dances, home talents, plays, and sporting events were held there.

Frank and Francis Shoemaker's Shop which manufactured window and door frames. Later owned by Sharon and Walentowski.

16£ The Crandon Post Office beside the CA. Moe Jeweler Store In 190?. Bessie Vanzile is in front of the Post Office and Mr. Moe is in front of his store. This Is located in the block of the Forest Republican Office.

A street scene in Crandon in 1919 on the first Veterans Day i 169 U 4J •u *j U U F: Xi Oi <0 (0 rt c a> u 9)u 9}u Ua CO .C 0) •->sx4 ^: .tck oU Trt> u -Mj : u 01 W .V Piq pL.- m 0 CO • J3 0 3: n VI U-ol > 4oJ (3 0 6 m O Ph V4 -< V cd 0) nH -H >,4J 41 .O a.r-1 u (U H rt « 0) •H U V< ja u 0 H rs UP CwO Et § ta -uH .Q>- . bo0 ) 0 0 C mjz C Vi >. O g-p 4J 4J -O OQ 3 U ca 0) C ^ )-< O ca •rl r-l rt £ M-i n r-l U (U 4^ o >sa> 0) h 0) M u p: CO j3 o o q ^ 4-t < BS ^ <0 v> • U fi m m •< rt rt •rl •H 0) • • X M M M O U pLi tK< rt iJ (t) r-l (U (U S CO n-l rH C rH 0) H 4J 0) •H >, ^ bO •0 •0 0) 0 -u 0 3 -"§§ DO w rtX 0O 0) 0 C C M 'O >,J3 •HO iJ £ *J 4J -a 0 cn (£) 0 ?!ighway 14 & 52 between Laona and Crandon (Highway 8 today)

A.n old Snowmobile

171 Cutting wood for heating Crandon Ranger Station from left to right: E.E. Davison, C. Ashbeck on Cat, and V.F. DeMars in 1959.

Miss Pattl Campbell daughter of Mr. & Mrs. Art Campbell showing "Charlie" owner Mr. Page of Chicago. Patti took first place in the Hunter Show. 172 f\ Small Beginning Often Leads to Great Success

Some people look down upon small heginin^s. They have an idea that a few dollars will not suffice in startinj.; a bank account. One dollar will open a savings account at our bank, and vou can develop a substantial account from this be^ininj; if you have a determination to j^et ahead. We lik'o these small hetrinings—thev show the tru in;^ spirit. Three per cent interest paid on savinjjfs.

The FIRST NATIONAL Bank of CRANDON

THE PRINCESS THEATRE REMEMBER-- HAR(».D B. BRADY, Mp-. I have at all times a wide assortment of all pure wool fabrics and unusual pat­ terns and woavoa rpady for High Class Motion Pictures your inspection and choice. and Illustrated Song:s

W. A. Landergott, Open Every Wednesdayf Satur­ day and Sunday. THE TAILOR Upstairs in Shaw Block.

Admission 5 and JOc

Taken Trom The Metonga Journal, May, 1912

173 I George W. Jackson LAKESIDE Prop, of FIRST CLASS LIVERY LIVERY Good Rigs at Reasonable Prices. Phone 1S4. Crandon, Wis. Hack and Ba$i$age Line Breakstone's Bargain Meet All Trains. Best ol Ac­ Store comodations. Prices Reasoniible. Not the largest store, but the lowent in price. Phone 142. G. E. BAILEY Phone 81.

For an Up-to-date Francis Shoemaker

PHOTOGRAPH ,CARPENTER ~Gu to- Shop Work, Window Frames THOMPSON'S and Screens.

THE DUFFRIN HOUSE J. A. Diamond WM. DUFFRIN, Prop. PHYSICIAN and SURGEON

First Class Meals and Rooms Office St Reeidenoe. Crandon. Wis.

F. J. SMITH J. W. Crawford DENTIST Painting and Paper Hanging Ofllre at residence 1 block west of Crandon, Wis. postoffice. Telephone 91.

Taken from The Metonga Joiimal, Jlay, 1912

174 County Board

Supervisory District

Dst. Name Town 1 William Bonack, Jr. Hiles, WI 2 George W. Ison Argonne, WI 3 Ronald Brooks Cavour, WI A George M. Hornecker Armstrong Creek, WI 5 Alfred Wilson Crandon, WI 6 Neil Schallock Crandon, WI 7 Herbert Cundiff Crandon, WI 8 Donald Dehart Crandon, WI 9 Gary Cyrus Crandon, WI 10 Marshall Keith Crandon, WI 11 Peter J. Davison Crandon, WI 12 Millard Newton Wabeno, WI 13 DeLloydTorkel.son Wabeno, WI Ih Raymond P. Ehlinger Wabeno, WI 1^ Erhard Huettl Wabeno, WI 16 Lester T. Ludeman Laona, WI 17 Verna M. Bowling Laona, WI 18 Louis Yourchak Laona, WI 19 Ronald Henkel Laona, WI

City of Crandon Officials

Office Name Mayor Gwinn Johnson Clerk Adeline DeNoble Treasurer Blanche T. Rogers Assessor Michael Childers Attorney Woodard W. Kerr, I Supervisor-Alderman Donald Dehart Alderman Douglas Kincaid Supervisor-AIderman Herbert Cundiff Alderman Ken Aubol Supervisor-Alderman Gary Cyrus Ald'erman William Glasgow Supervisor-Alderman Marshall Keith Alderman John Rogers Water Superintendent Frank Sturzl, Jr. Water Commision Robert Jackson Ralph Slagowski Eugene Champine

175

Crandon-1980 Side Streets

1. City Hall 2. Fire Dept. 1?. St. Joseph's Catholic 5. Happiness Emporiuin Church 4. Forest Re^blican 16. Veterans of Foreign $. Llpman Gifts Inc. Wars Building 6. Dr. Hathard's Office 17. Theathre 7. MoKee Barber Shop 18. Crandon Arcade 8. Agriculture Stabitization 19. McMillion Hotel and Conservation 20. Forest Abstract Co. 9. Tyler's Drive In. 21. Crandon High School 10. SuperAmeriCB Discount Station 22. Ed's Bait Shop 11. Bump Clinic 23. A. & w. 12. Crandon Grade School 2^4^. Conway's True Value IJ. County Shop 25. Schaefer's Food Mart If. Fair Grounds 26. Bill's Service 27. Bemis Mfg. Co. 28. Crandon Telephone Co.

177 J I <«•«>/ Muscles Bar Himes Engman Lumber Co. Ranger Station Creative Gifts Headatart School

Empty gas station 1 Engine Experts Gas Station Apartments Jean's Beauty Studio Lot I Mobil Station Schultz Grant Norther Auto Parts Whitts Bar Ducks Bar Yocum Realty Co. Parking Lot Crandon Electric Co. Sparka Clothing S Sherry's Beauty Salon Sparka G ocery S ore Crandon Ins. Co. Aa_ Maahington Street Washington Street Gamble Store Augustine Drug Heart of Lakes Savin gs Poat Office Ben Franklin Parking Lot & Shoes Forest TV & App. Freimuth Auto Sales W. Rexall Drug Michael Galles D.D.S .C Game Room

IWaidelich Maly Ins. 2Crandon Library Courthouse and County Jail 3fiadio Shack ABrush J Stroke Senior Snoop Shop 5L. Predeth Real Estate 5Crandon Gas Tourist Information Center TCrandon Lodge 287

Crandon Mtrs. Chevy 4 Olds. Crandon Natl. Bank ^

Polk Street Polk Street •St. Lu kes Unl ted Methodist Church Vacant Lyons ^obile Station and Bepait-

Lot

Lot Consolidated Gaa Station Plumme rs Liqu or Stor Parking Lot Log Cabin Cafe Quick Food Mart & Gas

HwY. 55 W Pioneer Strt

Nursing Home Parking Lot

Hwy. 8 & 32 E S 4 E fluto Water Pump Station (2v^t/>vLy> - lf9/> n Schick Clinic 178 ALVIN AND NELMA

Alvin Spencer was born on May 8, I8A9. His wife, Ashash Jane Fonder, was born on March 19, 1853. They had fifteen children: John Ponder (June 10, 1869), Sead (January 19, 1871), Martha Elander (December 12, 1872), Elizabeth (October 2A, 1874), Columbus (April 17, 1878), Nimrod (June 5, 1884), Claud Mae (February 15, 1886), Jacob Lee (September 22, 1887), Patric Henry (August 19, 1889), James Herbert (March 11, 1891), Louclnda Farebell (February 19, 1892), Ora Etta (December 30, 1893), and Strawther Clayton (April 21, 1896), Sylvania Adelln (October 29, 1874), and Zander (June 15, 1880). When Alvin left Powell County, Kentucky, in 1907 he went to Bryant, Wisconsin, which is near Antlgo. He lived there for one year, then boarded a train for Iron River, Michigan, since that was the closest place to what could be called Alvin. The .Alvin Spencer family left Kentucky because of Jane's asthma. When they came here It went away, it only bothered her when she visited Kentucky. Alvin became a new town in December of I91I. Arberry Brooks was the first mall carrier. It has been said that he carried mail fifteen miles a day twice a week. Sylvanis Adeline (Vannie) was married to Arberry. One of her children was Nelma. A new town was started north of Alvin because the people wanted a post office. They needed a name for the town. It was named after Nelma Brooks. Alvin Spencer was the first Reverend of the primitive Baptist Church. He supplied the people of the surrounding area with their spiritual needs. In 1920 the Elvoy Grade School was started and In 1924 the Elvoy High School was started there, too. The high school and grade school were in the same building. Nelma Brooks graduated in 1929. Around 1912 the green school was started. Vernon L. Mc In- tosh, a resident of Nelma. lives in the reconditioned school. The first school was located by the Carry Dam. When Alvin and his family moved from Kentucky in 1907 to Wisconsin, they lived in Antigo for a year. In 1908 they boarded a train for Iron River, Michigan, the closest stop to Alvin, Nelma, and north Crandon. In May of 1909, Emily Spencer (her maiden name was Houle) came up to Alvin and lived with her son, Alvin. She was born on June 28, 1828. She died at the age of eighty-one on September 14, 1909. In 1909 the Spencers had a sugarbush, a place to make maple syrup. It was about 200 or 300 feet of the intersection of High­ ways 10 and 55. That year they made 125 gallons of syrup.' In the spring of 1908, the Spencers had their first log drive Ion the Brule River, which is part of the boundary between Wiscon- j sin and Michigan. They would build a funnel of pine logs to keep I the wood from scattering on the back of the lake when going over [ the dam. It took them five years to get enough wood to have another I log drive down the same river. When it came time to build a house they had to make it by taking the sides and cutting them opposite to each other. After doing this, they would make chalk lines on the top and bottom. Then they dug a pit for a man to stand in and hold the handles of the bottom of a saw. A man would stand on top and saw the lines. They also made shingles for the house. The only things they bought were the nails and the windows. One time when one of Alvin's sons was hunting deer he found bear cubs. One ran away, but he caught the other one and chained it outside. It became sort of a pet. John Shopodock would come over for handouts at Spencers. John didn't know about the bear. The bear came to the end of the chain, but John kept running because he didn't know that the bear was chained. Strawther told a story of the pet catfish that they had brought with them from Kentucky. They dug a hole and a trench to the river so the hole would stay full of wa'ter. During the summer, when the river started to dry up, they had to carry water from the well, but the hole would still dry up. Catfish could live out of water for a while. Well, this catfish sort of lived out of water all the time. In time it came to be like a puppy dog. It followed you around, flopping all over. Finally, rain came. Since they didn't have bridges, they walked across the river on logs. The fish was following Dad across the river when it slipped off and drowned. Hobert Spencer remembers a place in 1920 called a Blind Pig. It was a place where you could get moonshine. The sale of liquor was against the law at that time. In 1922 the Iron River Telephone Service put in the first tele­ phones. In 1924 the first radio was brought in. In those days, a radio was something great. Electricity came to Iron River in 1926, It was only used for lighting since people didn't have the money for fine things like electric irons, washing machines, or fans. All the clothes were hand made and they bought the materials in Iron River. The clothes were sewn on a treadle sewing machine. The first newspaper. The Grit, came to Alvin and Nelma in 19-^6. In the winter men worked in the woods. In the summer they used their time planting gardens. Roads were plowed by wooden plows which were pulled by horses. The first treasurer was Zander Spencer, a woodsman and a cruiser. In the 1940 census the population was 429. In 1950 the population went to 323. This was due to World War II and the fact that people went to the cities to find jobs. s^W. 'V**^'

.Taken in 1900, in Kentucky, The last time the family was completely together.

Alvin Spencer, Jane Ponder, 1 Ponder, 2 Seub, 3 Elender, 4 Lizzie Powell, 5 Vannie Brooks, 6 Columbus, 7 Zander, 8 Cindy Mcintosh, 9 Nimrod, 10 Claud, 11 Jake, 12 Pat, 13 Herb, U Etta Buchanan, 15 Strawther

TOWN Town Chairman NAME Alvin Winfield Gaspardo Argonne Joseph Gryczkowski Armstrong Creek Walter Janczy Blackwell Raymond L. Simonis Caswell Ronald Brooks Crandon Alfred Wilson Freedom John Harter Hiles William Dixon Laona James Baltus Lincoln Robert Netzel Nashville John Schallock .Popple River Eugene Lemerande Ross Donald Sheldon Wabeno Harvey Kopecky Alvin with his two brothers and his brother' wife and kids. Alvin-top right. The town of Argonne was first started as Vanzile. In 1886 a man by the name of Abraham Vanzile plotted all of the land in the area. In 1887 the Soo Line Railroad came through the town, the railroad moved to Argonne because of the flat terraine. The town was started with a sawmill which was owned by Gail Bailey. The first grocery store was owned by John Mausbaum. A few years later the town's name was changed to North Crandon. The business in North Crandon included a newspaper called Forest Leaves which was owned by William Neu, Mausbaums grocery store, the^Farmers and Merchants State Bank which was established in 1916, and a post office, Other businesses were two grocery stores, owned by Fillions who also owned a bai^ber shop. The other grocery store changed owners three times, it was first owned by J.. N. Cook then by Palmers and then by Sparks. Fred Tucker owned a car garage which sold Red Crown gasoline and Mobil oil. There was a two story ' hotel which was owned by H, L. Roe. This hotel burned in 1926. The school district was consolidated in 1907- This was the first in Wisconsin. In 1942 Argonne's students started to go to Crandon for schooling. There was no doctor in Argonne. When people needed medical attention they got a message to the doctor in Crandon, and then the doctor would come to their home. In 1921 North Crandon had its name changed to Argonne. It was named Argonne after a soldier that was killed in the Argonne Forest in France. In the 1920's the town consisted of about 1000 people. Some of the families who lived in Argonne around that time included Petersons, Deatons, Houses, Schultz, Crums, Samz, and Roberts. Even though Argonne first started out with logging it soon was found to be one of the best potato growing country around. - There were about forty to fifty potato farms in the area. Most of them started out small and cleared more land each year. Some of the farmers in the area were Frank Thorpe, John Samz, Charlie Samz, Tip Stark, and C. J, Rasmussen. There were three potato warehouses in Argonne. The.farmers would deliver the. potatoes in one of the warehouse and on the other side the potatoes were loaded on the train. One story that was told by Russell Samz was that in the winter they would have to keep a fire going on the train to keep the potatoes from freezing. He said when he made a trip sometimes the train would take off before he could get out of the potato car, so he would have to ride with the potatoes. Argonne during the prohibition years was well known for its moonshine stills. This was the reason for the nickname Whiskey Northern which was given to the Chicago North Western Train. Around the 1930's the potato farming business started to move farther south. Towns like Antigo started bigger potato fields. Family farms kept going through the early 50's when the number of them fell to only a few. Some of the farm owners now ape Huettl's, Keepers, and McKeagues. The farm lands that were left to sit soon grew into tree land. This led to what now is

183 the major way of life in Argonne. Most people in Argonne are lumberjacks Russell Samz said, Russell Samz's son now owns the only grocery store in the town. There are now two taverns in Argonne. The Poor House owned by Dave Houle and Kings owned by Kings.

AN INTERESTING INTERVIEW WITH JERRY GODIN

Mr. Jerry Godin, formerly of Stevens Point, came to Laona in 1913, He worked for $1 a day, for ten hours, in the basement of the hotel. He then worked for Connor's where he continued to work for forty-eight years. His starting pay was $1.30 a day. Because of his long association with the town, Mr. Godin was able to tell us quite a few interesting facts about Laona. There were eight to ten houses located near the water tower. Twelve to fifteen houses were in a section of town near the mill called Piggsville, Near the Lutheran Church were two rows of two-room houses called the Chicken Coop. Alderton's Bar was located where the Cafe is now. Farther down was Roseman's Restaurant and W. D. Connor's house. A hospital was situated where Doctor Castaldo's house is now. After it burned down, the hospital was put at its present location. Connor's train would run through to the junction two times a week. The cost of the ride was 250. The Edith Evans Library was built in 1917. Mr. Godin was the first person to check a book out of the library. Almost everyone in town used a stove - with wood as the fuel - to heat their homes. The only person (as far as Mr. Godin knew) with a furnace was Mr. Joe Denee. Today, the bank employs quite a few people. Years ago, the bank had only one employee. At Connor's Company Farm, the building where the store is located is supposedly the town's oldest building. Though it's been renovated, many years ago it held first a meat market and then was the printing office for the newspaper. The old Community Building (replaced by the new bank) was once a CC Camp building. It was moved here for the town's use. A home called the Tin House sat behind Connor's Store. The building was torn down during the ig30's. Our talk with Mr. Godin was very interesting. We learned much about Laona.

ai KOi! j£;itw ocf b^l £,raT .bn&t 99T:' O :av wii'^tg,- ficoe ' xt-. -^-J 3 184 Left; Town nail, School, Right: Church-North Crandon (Argonne) North Crandon, about 1900 Main Street Looking north from railroad crossing.

Fred Tucker & Russell Samz in 1925.

street site: Showing the Mil­ waukee house in North Crandon. li Ivfi^' ^*LJ^- ^ W«rMNtaOPBUV

NoriH cmsim POTATO cwwaSA

Fair Project: Displaying potatoes from North Crandon farm land. ywyl . ^^^^B^^t ^^^^^^•fl

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Jl^v^^il^ k^ RHHr t Argonne Parade, July 4, 1928 L 187 The town of Hiles was just, a trading post in the year 1860. Dan Gagan established a Trading Post and Inn on the banks of Pine Lake. This log cabin was the only place that provided lodging for the many trappers and traders. It was located on the old military road which served as a mail route as far north as Superior. This place was sold to J. B. Thompson of Wausau in 1863. H. B. Fessender of Argonne moved to the post and was the only actual settler. He became the owner in 1895, holding it until 1902, when he sold the property to Franklin P. Hiles of Milwaukee, Mr. Hiles not only bought the trading post, but also the village site and created the village of Hiles. He was instrumen­ tal in getting a branch railroad built from the main Chicago Northwestern line and in creating a sawmill, store, and hotel. The town of Hiles was organized in 1903 with the following town officers; E. Tarbox, Chairman; Paul Rayfield, Treasurer; Jack Nolan, Assessor; C. Walaken, Clerk. At this time land was taken from the town of Crandon and North Crandon, organizing the town of Hiles. In 1906, two townships were taken from this and added to Vilas County. A few years later, Mr. Hiles sold his holding, both real estate and personal, to the Foster Mueller .Lumber Company of Milwaukee. This firm made considerable improvement, building more homes for their employees. In 1919, Mr. C. W. Fish of Elcho bought the entire property and had Mr. 0. A. Miller manage the lumber mill. More care had been taken in the appearance of the streets, sidewalks were laid and trees planted. In the summer of 1924 a new Union Church and a very modern day school building were erected and a fountain added to the village park to beautify it. All the old street lights had been replaced by a white way. All these improvements were making Hiles a real little city. C. W. Fish owned twenty-six houses, a company store, a company office, a boarding house, and an ice cream parlor. The ice cream parlor and the boarding house were on the south side of the park. On the north side of the park stood the store and the company office. The company office was connected directly to the store and is where they paid employees. The mill was about J of a mile to the east of the store and office. To the west of the store directly across highway 32 stood a company house where the doctors would stay, and to the north there were seven more company houses. On the west side of the doctors house is the house that C. W. Fish would stay in when he lived there. After that came another company house then there was a Catholic church and another company house then there was a big dip and then the Presbyterian church, and two more company houses. The families that made up the village of Hiles in about 1924 included about eighty of them. Some of these included; Bells, James, Carpenters, Colburns, Shaws, Fishes, and Votis. Around the year 1930 the C.W, Fish Lumber Company was losing money and decided to sell all his holdings in the town of Hiles. The Forest County Lumber Company bought him out and then tore down the mill because the big trees were gone and so was the big money. The Forest County Lumber Company later sold the company houses to a man named Gardner who then sold the houses to individual people. The next mill that was in Hiles was Hansen's mill which ran only a few years. The next means of employment was a Flshbate Factory in the early 1950'3. It was owned by Bud Granrath. The bate factory only ran for three months, Ralph Roberts then ran a small sawmill in Hiles, but only em­ ployed his sons. Then around the year 1970 Ted Roberts opened a sawmill which is still rinning today.

County Officials J no

Office Name Chairman of County Board Erhard Huettl 1st Vice Chairman Louis Yourchak 2nd Vice Chairman Marshall Keith County Clerk Kenneth Conway Deputy County Clerk Dora James Clerk-Bookkeeper Sallie Deer County Treasurer Marie Palmer Deputy County Treasurer Grace Tauer Register of Deeds Eugene St?itezny Deputy Register of Deeds Sharon Mueller District Attorney Kevin J. Kelley Clerk-Stenographer Donna Statezny Clerk of Circuit Court Karen Miller Deputy Clerk of Court Cynthia Briggs Circuit Judge Frederick H. Fowle Register in Probate Cynthia Gretzinger Court Reporter Carol DuValle Veterans Service Committee Justin Mallow Veterans Service Committee Jack May Veterans Service Committee Ed Penasa Courthouse Custodian Virgil Howard Courthouse Custodian Donald Kulaf Resource Agent Kathleen Hovland Clerk-Stenographer Ann Loduna Child Suport Co-ordinator Marybeth Reynolds Child Support Attorney Robert Kennedy Emergency Government Director Arthur Badtke

189 Protestant church located on Hwy. 52 in Hiles. It bum­ ed in December ig'^?.

Catholic church and Parsonage, Located on Hwy. 52 right across from the Pro­ testant church in Hiles. This church also burned in Dec­ ember 19^5.

Town of Hiles in 1926 looking , down Hwy. 32 towards Pine Lake.

190 h Left: Company store owned Ij C.W. Fish in Hiles, WI. This store sold nearly all the necessities needed by the people

I^ , Below; Inside of the coipany store in 1518. Bottoi right; Everett Buck H ' FroB the left to right is Fred Tucker, E.W. Buck neat larket inside of the Jiiny Steels. Company Store around 1926.

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1 P-4,P". »^\r^ A building in Hiles containing a Billard Hall and Ice Cream Parlor on the 1st floor and a Post Office on the 2nd floor.

1 i i m^ The first Post Office at Hiles inside C.W. Fish company store.

A wood butcher from Hiles, picture from Mary Colhum. 'Mi.':-: '•iS Top left: Hiles mill purchased by Charles Top right: One of the first snowplows Fish in 1919. plowing on Hwy. 52 North of Hiles. BottoB left; A Jammer in the old logging Bottom right: Haying on the cummings camps. farm in Hiles. Above: A picture of the Hiles School house In 1926. This school house was built in 1924 and it contained six large rooms, a library, an office, a lavatory, and two large hall­ ways on the main floor, and three recitation rooms, domes­ tic science room, and a large g3niinasuim downstairs.

Left: A picture of the water fountain In the Hiles town park. Around the year 1924.

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9^1 1»-BnarfHng Hnii'p. 2-Johnsf)i;i Ji£. 'V ^YgtlS 31 20-nomnnnv .,t.nT-» I ''-v°tls /•i 33L 21-noctor'., finii°° /3- '•'aids 22-nQinpanv >in.|.jf LSTStsehr ?^-r^mr.o,.y firiinr /» 74-r—p.)„y ).,^,, p-RgJ^Tti J m gS-rnmnnnv •^nilfir -.'icDonfllfl. Zfi-nninnanv ho.,.=. hQ-Rit^.11 ? 27-CQiiinanY hoii..i. tl-Gravfi 33 26-CQBnHnv hon.. M.-Mglncchf.. .23-Flah.. b-RalBh Rnh..r.tn 30-Comnanv hn|,,.,p A-Prptefltnnt rhnrJh Jl-ghurch.. 15-Vgtla 32-Coninanv hf,^|nB l&:Oi.£o_And£caQn. ?3-Tovn hall 17-P05t Offtr. ,jA-Park_ Pool room F I,/ 2S-Mill 195- Newald was a part of Cavour until 1926. It was mainly a logging town because that's all there was to do. The average worker in Newald got around 270 an hour. Some of the equipment that was used was a big ten ton cat which pulled three sleigh loads of logs at one time. It was also used to plow the roads. There were no powersaws, they used swede saws at first and then hand crosscut saws came into use. CC camps were very plentiful, around Newald most young men from eighteen years old would go right into the CC camps for work. The men stayed in the camps all year round. This was around 1936 and 1937. Some of the first people in town were th^ Newalds and the Mettens. Long ago there was a- different store in Newald. This store was called Lanegans store. It burned down and was replaced by the store that Bob Nelson now runs. The school was built in 1919- This school closed down in the late fifties and the Newald children had to start going to the Laona school. There used to be a regular post office in Newald but now it is just a desk in the store. The mail was not delivered you had to go pick it up at the post office. There was also a barber in town. You could go down town and get a haircut for a quarter. There was no doctor in town. If someone got hurt or sick they had to take them to Laona to Ovitz Hospital. They still have the same Catholic Church. There was a lot of farming. Everyone in Newald had a garden if they were farming or not because the gardens supplied a lot of food that a job couldn't provide for. The houses people lived in were usually log houses. You could buy land and put a house on it for $40.00 an acre. Most of the loggers in the area brought lunches to the camps and the sandwiches were made from bacon grease. In the homes some of the people would make a little treat of their own. It was called lick dob which was made from bacon grease and flour mixed together and then browned. There were four trains which were also going through Newald. Sometimes a man would come on these trains selling Insurance, You could give him a dollar and you would be insured for a month. There was a blacksmith shop in Newald which was turned into the church. Also there was a garage owned by Laurence Jergenson. Newald also had a theater called Iroquois Theater. There was always a couple of guys in town who would make more money then most by picking up whiskey bottles off the streets and selling them to the bootleggers. All of the people went to Tipler to do all of their major shopping since they didn't have a good store. At one time for about three years Newald had an airport. Although only three airplanes used it.

196 Water was sprayed on the skidding trails so the logs would slide out of the woods more easily. One of the cooks in the camps was Wilt Miron, who lives in Laona today. The food in the camps was good, the cooks worked hard to make the best meal they could. You used to be able to buy a big mug of beer for 5^- Everyone baked their own bread. According to Jack Lafferty you could buy bacon in those days for 8^ a pound. He cut and peeled pulp for 30 a stick. He said there were seventeen of camps surrounding Newald. Some of these were: Cleereman Jokee camp, two Connor's camps, the Bayshore camp, and the Consolidated camp. Highway 139 was still a dirt road and some of these Newald men used it to get to work at Connor's Mill. There was one bad corner on Highway 8, the bend just past the Underpass. There were about eight wrecks a week there because the road was so slippery. Garnet Tinsman said the winters were much tougher fifty years ago then now. Many times you couldn't even get out of your house for three days. Kids at school had to remain there for six days during one snow storm. According to Kenneth Bey, he had to walk four miles to school, Kenneth also said the snows were more severe then now. Often it would snow for a week at a time. He also told that the gangsters would come up from Chicago to make beer in the hotel in Newald. According to Red I. Cunningham, he came here from Wasaukee in 1918 and worked in logging camps and mills. He worked at a camp in Newald. They used the Peshtigo River to transport logs to Hess's camp and loaded the logs onto flat cars. The average was about 100 an hour. Red lives in one of the two oldest houses in Newald. He said he remembers when Otto Olsen was shot while trying to stop a train robbery.

COUNTY OFFICIALS •/^gO- OFFICE NAME Zoning Administrator Robert Jacobson Clerk-Typist Amos Webb Civil Defense Director Arthur Badtke Director Social Services Mary E. Barge Social Worker 1 Patricia O'Brien Social Worker I E. JoAnne Pruitt Social Worker I Marianne Schaaf Homemaker II Shirley Shampo AA I Judy Wolff Clerk II Donna Hansen IM Worker (Lead) Fern Tyler IM Worker Mary Chaney IM Assistant Mary Peters Clerk III Ronda Votis

197 VJATER SLED USED TO V.'.--TER D'Wf RCADE BUTLER LUMBER CO., NEWALD, WI .

WAT-R SLED USED TO WATER DOWK ROADS WHITE STAR LUMBER CO. , KEVW.LD, WI

198 Old fibeginK Truck at Hewald"" Cleereman & Jacquet Lumber Co

Club Nicolet at Newald

199 Tinsman Sugar Camp at Newald

Tinsman Sugar Camp at Newald 200.

HISTORIC TRIBAL LOCATIONS 1960

Missouri MAP OF ORIGINAL HABITATS OF THE IMPORTANT INDIAN TRIBES OF THE UNITED STATES

NIPISSING OTTAWA i

INDIANS OF THE UNITED STATES BY CLARK WISSLER PUBLISHED BY DOUBLEDAY & COMPANY, INC. Group of Indians coming Into town on Birch Lake Road with John Mann on far left. HISTORY OF POTAWATOMI

Potawatomi communities were found throughout the Middle West during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In 1836 the United States army moved a major portion of them to Kansas and Oklahoma. Some of the families, however, refused to go west and fled northward into Michigan where they lived in scattered settlements along Lake Michigan. By the early 1900's the major community of the Potawatomi was located in Forest County, in and around the town of Wabeno and Crandon. The distress and starvation prevalent among them was recognized in 1913 when Congress appropriated $150,000 for the purchase of land and $100,000 for the building of houses. Since it was cutover land abtained from the lumber companies, it was not particularly valuable. The land was purchased in staggered sections with the purpose of spreading the Indians among the whites, on the theory that adaption to the white"man's ways would thus proceed at a faster pace. Eighty acres of this government land, held in trust on a tribal basis, were parcelled to each family. The Potawatomies were migrants from the Great Lakes region when the Potawatomies came to settle down they settled at a lake by the name of Silver Lake, formerly known as Crystal Lake. The Potawatomies came to settle in the early 1900's. There were three tribes in one group of Indians that settled here, one was the Potawatomies whose name means "Keeper of the Fire," Another was the Chippewa whose name means "Keeper of the House." The third was the Ottowa whose name means "Keeper of the Woods." Out of all these tribes the one tribe that was the friendliest was the Potawatomies. They were friendly to the white; however, the Indians did not want their men and women intermarrying with whites or different tribes of a different culture, The Potawatomi lands originally consisted of 14,439 acres. As Qf December 1965, there still remained 11,786 acres of trust land of which the greater part is tribally controlled. Only 640 acres is alloted land. The resident Indian population on trust land is 195. Unlike most of the other Indians, the Potawatomi do not live together in small communities or villages. Their lands are scat­ tered on heavily forested hills between Crandon, Laona, Wabeno, and Townsend, distance of about 20 miles. Some of the homes are not accessible by road and could be reached only by path or trail. Back in the 1900*3 the Potawatomi and migrants from Great Lakes settled at Star Lake. After they settled there, the government gave thm materials for houses. The Potawatomi began to scatter to build a house with the material the government supplied them with. There were three main families which are known now as the Thunders, Daniels, and the. Johnsons. These people lived in tents during the summer and in a log ^house during the winter. The tents

205 were used because of the hot days of summer, the bark or deer skin would not absorb the heat in the hot summer season. In 1917 the government issued horses to the Indians who needed them, so they could pull the hay mower and plows. The Indians were also issued seeds to get their gardens started, Thej planted mostly potatoes, corn, beans, cabbage, and squash. The Indians then saved seeds for their gardens for next year. There were no schools for the children in 1917 and it wasn't until 1920 the recruiting of Indians into schools began. The main recruiting began at a place now known as Lac du Flambeau. When -" the young children went away to scl^ool some could speak littl English and some couldn't speak English at all. When the children went away they would get used to the English language and forget their own language, so when they would return home they would have to be taught their language all over by their parents. During the 1920's there was a war between the Sioux and the brother tribes which were the Chippewa, Potawatomi, and the Ottowa The war was to move the Sioux: out of the place now known as Mole Lake. The weapons these Indians used were bow and arrows, guns, tomahawks, and war clubs. After the war there were few in popula­ tion because of the deaths in the war. One of the warriors of loni ago, Yellow Thunder, fought with Black Hawk, There was mostly Indian religion in the Potawatomies because they were close to nature than to the missionaries gods. The following is true today: "The way a young person was to receive his or her name was from a greatgrand father or a grandfather. The grandfather builds a small fire and offers a gift of tobacco to the great spirit. The elderly person says a prayer. After the prayer he concentrates on the individual child until he comes up with a name that will suit the child. When he names all the children he throws the tobacco into the fire and sings a song of thanks. After the fire dies down the children are told what their name is. The housing of the Potawatomi was bad. There were only 25 houses with two or three homes on Potawatomi land, the rest were on government land. There were only four with electricity. All homes were in need of repair very badly. The main source of water for families living in Carter was eight miles to the nearest well. Today the tribal council is very concerned about the Potawatomi housing, making sure utilities are fit, the housing units are livable, and also that the health of the people is good and that they are well taken cared of. When the settlers wanted the land the Indians had they would make a trade with land that was of no use to them and gave it to the Indians. Now that the Potawatomi want what was promised to them by the treaties that were made up by the white people and government, it takes a long time before those promises are filled. 206 The negotiator for the 1833 treaty o f Chicago was George B. Pooter, Thomas J.V. Owen, and William Weatherford. In this treaty the three tribes received five mil lion acres west of the Mississippi, 16,000 is spices, 12,000 in goods, 15 barrels of salt, and a blacksmith's establishment, Also $115,000 in goods and provisions, $208,000 paid in annultie;s at the rate of $14,000 a year for twenty years; $115,000 for erectio n of mills, farm houses, Indian houses and blacksmith shop ., agriculture improve- ments, purchase of agriculture implements and stock support of physicians, millers, farmers, blacksmiths and other mechanics. The President set aside $17,000 for educa tion and domestic art.

A LEGEND An Indian man that was very old told me of an experience that he had when he was a little boy no older then twelve. This exper­ ience was very scary for him and he is still scared. When he was to do a chore for his parents he could later join them, at a friends house about a quarter mile away from his home. He finished his chore given by his parents, he wanted to go to the house of the friend so bad, but when he finished his chore it was dark. He started running to the house but he was scared of walking in the dark by himself, he turned around and went back to the house to get a blanket to cover his head to keep him from looking around, He started down the hill with the blanket over his head, he had gotten to the bottom of the hill when a strange feeling came over him, it was getting stronger and stronger like something was weighing him down. He stopped and stood still for a long time. He was getting so scared that he had gotten down on his hands and knees and started to crawl toward his Mother and Dad. The strange feeling that he was feeling was so strong that he couldn't move anymore it was as if something was holding him in one place, it also was making him want to turn around, he couldn't help but to turn a- round and find out what was making him feel this way, so he turned around, when he turned around he saw a man in a suit. He over came this feeling of not being able to move by thinking of his parents so he was able to start crawling. He started to crawl faster and faster, the faster he crawled the closer the man in the suit came to him. He crawled a little way farther and turned a- round. This time he saw the face and hands of the figure. This figure wasn't a man it was a skeleton, with red glowing eyes. He stood up and dropped the blanket and started running toward his Mother and Father as fast as he could go. When he reached the house his parents and friends were sitting outside around a campfire talking about the good old times. His parents knew something had scared their son because he wouldn't let go of his Father's arm. After he settled down he told his parents and friends what had happened to him. That night he and his parents didn't go home because they knew how scared he was and they too were also scared. The next morning his parents told him that he had seen the demon of death. This demon had failed to get this little boy so it was not able to try again, because the demon of death can only strike once. I

207 LEGEND-MANDOZHA According to this Indian legend there is a ghost called a Mandozha, this ghost is said to be able to change its form to anything. This Indian man told me once that he was walking on an old dirt road and suddenly another man joined him, the Indian man didn't know where he came from, he just popped out of no where and started walking with him. The old man tried talking to the stranger, but the man wouldn't talk back. While walking with this stranger he was getting cold on the side that the stranger was standing on, the stranger stood on the other side of him and that side was getting cold also. This coldness was starting to come over this man and he knew then that this-man was evil, and that he didn't want to find out what kind of evil powers this man had. Just about when the Indian was coming to the road he had to turn off on, he turned to get a good look at the stranger, he was there, he look straight ahead, then turned to look at the stranger again, this time he wasn't there! When the Indian turned off onto the road he wag to take he saw a sheet like thing floating and glow­ ing in the air. He then realized then that the man walking with him was a Mandozha, suddenly the Indian was afraid for whoever saw a Mandozha would die within ten days. Before ten days were up for the Indian he told his story to other people. On the ten­ th day after he saw the Mandozha, he died mysteriously

LEGEND of a BEAR-WALKER This is a ghost or demon someone told me about and it is called a bear-walker. This bear-walker is a thing that walks upright like a human, it has the shape of a human,- but the head and skin of a bear. A bear-walker is more intelligent and not harmful. Its intellegence to that of a Mandozha is that a bear- walker can speak and can't be noticed until they change their shape, where as a Mandozha can't speak and can be noticed with­ out changing their shape. A bear-walker can walk, talk, sit and eat with a person and it won't harm them, so a bear-walker is friendly and not mean. Even though a bear-walker may be friendly they are scary after finding out what you're with. A Mandozha can't walk, talk, sit or eat with a person because they only stick around a few minutes and it only needs a few to put a curse of death on a person, so a Mandozha is very harmful to man. It only takes a person once to see a Mandozha and they'll die. A bear- walker and a person can see more than once and nothing will happen to the person.

ANOTHER LEGEND An old Indian said when he was about eighteen or nineteen, one winter, he saw an old house that hadn't been lived in for quite sometime, it was located in the middle of a field. One night he saw a light in a window, he walked over to the house to see if anybody had moved in. When he reached the house he found no tracks going to or from the house. He went closer to the house and looked into a window but stayed 20 feet away from the house, he saw shadows of people walking and dancing around in the room. In the nsef^ning he went over to the old 208 house to see if there were traces of any people in the build­ ing, but when he went into the house there were layers of mold on thefloor, and the boards were too weak to support any people, even a baby would fall through, but he still believes that he saw people in the house dancing around the room. This had puzzl­ ed the old man until his death. LEGEND THE MEN (LITTLE MEN) Not too long ago I heard about these miniture people run­ ning around in the woods by our house, There's this little boy that had contact with these people. There were all sorts of names they used to call these people. One name that was best known was "the little men." This one little boy was very strange because someone taught him to speak Indian and nobody we knew of had taught him. The little men only talked in Indian and because this little boy was the only one that associated with the little men he had to have learned from them. At night the little boy would come home late because he told his parents that he had to go to a funeral for one of the little men. Also at night he could hear the little men playing their drums. This little boy" could play outside in the winter in 30* below 0 weather without a coat or shoes and not get cold. One time in the winter this boy went back in the woods late at night to visit the little men and when he came back his mother asked where he was and he said that he was back in the woods visiting the little men and he didn't come home because he was picking berries. His mother told him that there were no berries in the winter and he said, "yes, there is," and showed her a handful of berries. One night when the little boy's aunt was walking home, the little men ran out and picked her up and threw her in a ditch and sat on her. While she was laying there in the ditch one little man was sitting on her and talking to her in Indian, while the others stood and watched. Finally,they picked her up and let her go. A while after her incident, a man met one in his house. This man's nephew got up to get a drink of water and one of the little men came in the house and the man thought that the little man was his nephew and was going to pick him up, but when he got two feet away from the little man he got a shock and the little man said something in Indian to the man and the man understood the language the little man spoke. He told the man that in ten days he would die and in ten days the man died. These little men won't harm you if they touch you, but if you try to touch them it will mean harm to you. The little boy was strange because no harm came to him when he touched them. Another time this one guy saw one of the little men, he got very scared and took out his gun and tried to shoot it. He wasn't more than 20 feet away from the little man when he shot, but as soon as the noise from the gun came out, the little man moved out of the path of the bullet. When my parents used to have a riding stable, every morning when we'd catch the horses, there would be funny braids

209 in their manes. The braids were like braids on top of braids. The little boy said that the little men put those braids in the horses' manes, and that it would be bad luck to take them apart. There was another time my uncle met up with the little men outside his house. When he was standing outside looking at the stars he looked down and saw one of the little men standing beside him. He was going to touch him, but then remembered what happened to the other fellow who touched one. He ran into his house and locked all the doors and windows and kept his family in one room.

V The description of the little men is that they are about three feet tall, with a face that looks pushed in. A person -could just as well say that they were miniature Indians, but without a pushed-in face.

Lumberjacks in the Bunkhouse

210 JOHN SHOPODOCK

John Shopodock, a very honest and generous man, was a chief of the Potawatomi tribe. Many people can still remem­ ber John's favorite words, "Golly, Golly." John had plenty of friends and seemed to make it to their houses in time for a meal. There were many stories about what he ate, and it was always plenty. He liked to go to the Spencer place. He would say, "White squaw good cook; Indian big eat, no pay, me like that." Though he always offered to pay for his meals, no one would take the money. One incident involved his having gone to a house where they were having bean soup. He put the soup kettle on his lap, found a big spoon, and ate the whole kettle. The next time he got hungry, he went to a home where they were having a big dinner. There was a bowl of gravy on the table. John said, "Indian like soup," and ate the whole bowl. John raised horses and sold ponies for fifteen to fifty dollars. In the winter, when the snow was deep, John stomp­ ed a trail to the haystack so that the ponies could feed. The state bought land and built a house for John. But John wouldn't live in it; "White man's house too cold," he said. Some of John's relatives still own the land that the government gave to him. He lived in a log cabin with a dirt floor. It contained a bed and a stove. He never worried about overstaying his welcome. He would just go out and shoot a deer to help with the food sup­ ply. John Shopodock supposedly died in the winter of 1940 at the age of 85. His body was taken to the Indian cemetery at Wabeno. Shopodock Creek (near Blackwell) bears his name. Much wasn't heard about his wife, but evidence shows that he did have one. She is buried near Windsor Dam, on the Pine River. There is a roof shelter over her grave, an old Indian custom. AN INTERVIEW WITH LAURA FAIVRE

Laura Faivre was born in Laona in 19IO. She was delivered in her parents house by Dr. Dawley. Her grandparents, Patrick and Laura McHugh, came to Laona in 1900 on the old Military Road with their belongings on a wagon pulled by horses. Laura's father worked in logging camps all over the state as a blacksmith. There's a picture of him and his team of oxen in the Logging Museum in Rhinelander, Wisconsin. He would move around alot looking for the best paying job. Laura went to Laona schools and graduated in 1928. Laura said her class were the ones to start the first school forest in the United States located.in Laona, Wisconsin. She said Mr. Robinson thought it would be a good thing to teach the children how to take care of a forest so most of the older students carried trees to the designated spot and planted them. For entertainment as a young girl she loved playing the piano. She would play at the school house and for her first job without pay she played piano for the silent movies at the Mallow Theater. Laura said that the first time she rode in a car was during the 4th of July parade and it was, "snowing like pitch forks and ax handles." Laura worked for the phone company in Laona, Wisconsin located on Highway 8 in the green house next to the Presbyterian Church. The house used to belong to John Majnarich. She started there in 1933 and worked as chief operator for ten years. She started at 190 an hour and moved up to 290 an hour for eight hours a day. This was very good pay for the depression era. Laura said there were girls working there but all had different shifts so each girl had to handle it on her own. She said it got hectic when there was a fire and they would have to ring the bell until someone would answer, also she had to run the switch board at the same time. After working for the telephone company, Laura and her husband moved to Indiana and lived there until 1951. She worked for Ball Brothers making jars in Indiana then she moved back to Laona. Laura showed us a letter from her father when he was in Florence at a camp. In his letter he said he just bought ^a pair of shoes and a shirt for $2,00, this was on September 3, 1937. I

The Indian on the right was one the Chippewa Indians of Hole Lake. He was a rather large fellow of nearly seven feet tall. Notice the handiwork of the other two Indians the basket or Hokuka and the replicas of the birch bark canoes, The home was called a wickiup,

L^._ Jim Mexico, one of Chief Tokwadises Council- men that went to Washington with him. sijlm nai-K .^igTvam made by the Potawatomi

215 (Standing Left) Councilman Jim Mexico (Standing Right) Chief Tokwadise (Standing Left) Frank Thunder, (Standing Right) Jim Mexico, (Sitting) Simon Tok­ wadise. Here the Chief and Councilmen are getting ready to go to Washington. Cavour had bee n named after an old logger or timekeeper that worked on the Soo Line Railroad. At that ti me , Cavour was a pretty large town because of all of the lumberja cks that were around. There were a couple of logging camps n ear Cavour. A lot of lumberjacks stayed right in Cavour. Hess" Salo.o n was a popular place for the lumberjacks, It had a room c alle d the snakeroom, which was used for men who got too drunk t o home . There was a ho tel in Cavour. It burned down in I9II. A man smoKing in bed caused the fire. A new hotel was built. It housed about fi fty men on weekends. More men would stay there in the winter b ecau.s e of the snowbound roads. The only trans- portation then was the train, and it didn't run very often, Albert Hes s ow ned most of the businesses in town. They consisted of a stor a sawmill, a hotel, and a saloon. There is no store in Cavo ur today. There are two taverns, a supper club, and two s awmi lis. There is also a post office. The popul. tion is now around seventy; nothing compared to what it was. CONSOLIDATED FARM

The Consolidated Water and Paper Company purchased its first land in Forest County in 1932 and started planting trees in 1934. In 1936, the farm was purchased and set up as a headquarters for forestry and logging program, with the timber for the future plan in mind. The farm was the result of a need for fire protection and it was an ideal set up because the men could work on the farm and at the same time be available for fire protection. Garlock stated that his company has planted 3,558,000 trees on 5,500 acres of land, and a total of 35,000 acres is under timber management. When the farm first began the first manager was Orie (Curly) fieed. He managed the farm until 1941 when Del Phillips was hired. Del was testing milk for other farms when the Consolidated Company heard about him and hired him. For about one to one in a half years Del worked as a herdman and then started as manager in 1943. Besides raising milk cattle, the Phillip's raised vegetables during the war for the lumber camps. There were two camps they supplied, one near Goodman, the other called "Camp Six" near old G. They also raised pigs and would send the men smoked hams, pork, and bacon. In 1968 Consolidated sold out all its live stock and just kept the farm. During that time up until 1971, Del worked as a fores­ try survey for Consolidated. Then in 1971 Consolidated sold out the rest of the farm, buildings and all. Del retired and he and his family moved in town. All that Consolidated owns now is the land they use for tree harvest and logging. Here is a brief summary of the milking process: The cows entered the milking parlor, passed through a washing stall and then one of the three milking stalls where milking machines pick up the milk. After the milk from each cow was weighed in a large glass jar, it is pumped to the cold wall tank in the milking room for storage. This grade A milk was sold to the Alderton Dairy of Laona for bottling. Mrs. Phillips said that for as long as she could remember the farm always had modern machinery. She and Del were married in 1942 and even during that time they had milking machines which made milking go much faster. However, they never had their own trucks for delivery. Peiabine Train Wreck in 1952.

Interview with Forest Tipton Forest came to La ona with his parents in July 16, 1907- Forest was only 5 years old. They came from Kentucky because the only thir.. to do in that state wa s to farm. Forests' father sold his farm and headed for Wisconsin. Laona was where they found good land and work, •because Laona was just being settled at this time, They used the tra in for transporation and hauling wood and log:, At one time there was as many as 15 locomotives tied up in Laona. Forest was a foreman i n Connors mill for 46 years, working in main- tainance, and as a woo ds foreman. The foreman worked up to 14 hours and the regular men wo rked a ten hour day, 6 days a week. The regu- lar worker got paid $1 .40 per day a-nd the foreman got 17-50 per hour or over $1,75 per day. Connors had their own form of money or script. It was good all over the county and co uld be used in taverns, stores and gas stations. The younger worke rs had to get a work permit and were put to : work at the company far m hoeing potatoes, making hay, and taking care ''of horses and other imals. Forest hooked chains to stumps and hoor;- ed them to a team of h orses and pulled them to the center of the fie:: and used a primative h'ois t to bring them to the top of the pile.

220 A very bad accident of two trains at Pemblne In 1952, in which one engineer was killed. The two trains were to meet and con­ nect, hut one of the engineers forgot and they hit head on, Above, Schoolhouse In Cavour and below Hess Saloon in Cavour Filing a cross cut saw in the woods by Sawyer a't Al>>er+^ HRSS famp at Cavour Logs landing in Cavour by l-eshtigo Hiver

Loading logs on flat cars from landing at Cavour. Jammer is special, large, and anchored on deck side. Albert Hess laadinfr at Cavour, Wisconsin

Albert Hess's logging caoip at Cavour (between 1322 to 19?*) Loading logs on flat cars from landing at Cavour. Team in on cross hall. Jammer is special, large and anchored on deck side and logs were sWTing between.

Landing on the Peshtigo River. Pictured from Left to right are: Joe Vrarner.Jim Douglas, l.^..'" '^atty. Jack Culli.f's.r^Eddle Hess- Takenj.

On the left is the Hess Hotel, in the middle is the Hess Store.and on the the right is the Loretta Hess Home.

Hess's Saloon, pictured from left to right: Joseph Hess, Leo Hess, ? , Frank Hess Sr. Earnest Saul, Albert Hess, ?. 227 The first Cat ovmed in Cavour. /.Ibert H ess's.

Albert Hess's Logs

Frank Hess on top of Haystack Jes OsKood and Leo Hess 228 i Park Hotel Crandon

^

Crandon Memorial Park

?.29 The Story of Blackwell When you look at Blackwell now, all that you can see are ruins of a huge dry kiln, a grade school, once a prosperous and busy town, blackened timbers of a mill that made some of the finest hardwood flooring in the world. The grade school was razed one fall, however, the high school still stands and the voices of children fill its walls with many memories, This is mentioned because, at one time to teach at Blackwell was the aim of all local teachers. They paid the highest salaries, their school was one of the finest and living conditions were excellent. At one time there were at least 800-1000 people living in Blackwell in the 1920*s. There are few of the' original inhab­ itants living there now, for most moved to Laona when Planner's sold out. The ones that do remain bought houses from the com­ pany. It is suprising but every home has the conveniences of a city home, which is more than most small towns have today. The company wanted their workers content and it has been said, they lived in one of the finest little towns in the United States. History of The^ Flanner Family Blackwell was named after a man who established a small mill on the Rat River not far from the present site of the town. This was in 1904. No one knows the exact date that Mr. Flanner arrived, but to be between 1904-1909. The company was first called, The Fuller, Flanner and Stager Lumber Company, the later The Flanner Company, Mr. Flanner married a girl whose maiden name was Fellows, she came from around the Wausau area. They spent their winters in Florida, and returned in the spring by private railroad car. It was the only passenger train that came into Blackwell. They had five children, Frank, Katherine, Jack, Phil, and Maude. Mr. Flanner died on January 3, 1923 and his wife died on April 23, 1928. Jack Flanner was a music student studying in France, he got tuberculosis and died June 3. 1935. Phil.died April 17, 1940. The Flanner Home The home was one of the finest in Northern Wisconsin. At one time it was heated by the steam from the mill. The interior of the house was beautiful. A living room and dining room was paneled in walnut; with floor length windows, beautiful birdseye flooring. It had rich furnishings and seven large fieIdstone fireplaces. You can imagine what this room must have loqked like in the Flanner's time. All the nine rooms are immense, and there is a large room upstairs plus another fireplace. The grounds still maintain some of their former beauty. There were additions made to the house and now is known as the NuRoc Home, owned by Millard Newton, a peaceful, ideal situation for senior citizens THE PEOPLE AND THE TOWN During the 1920's as mentioned previously, there was a population of 800-1000 in Blackwell. This included seventy-six families and about 300 lumberjacks and millworkers in the boarding house. The people were of Polish, Swedish, German and Russian nationalities. These men came to Blackwell directly from Europe. A lot of these same men worked at Connor's after Flanner sold out. Church was held in the schools and in early times, the ministers walked in from Laona and Wabeno. The Catholic Church was built on the corner across from the old post office. The mail came into Blackwell on a pede along with whatever passengers came to town. Mrs. Henkel, one of the oldest residents, came to America from Germany in 1913 to join her husband, August, "Lord God," she said, "I wondered what kind of country I had gotten into. After Germany, with its well cared for forests, I thought I was in a jungle. Nothing but trees and brush. People in Germany thought I was crazy to come here. Now, I wonder, whom they think is crazy." THE BEGINNING OF THE END In the early 1930's the Flanner Company went bankrupt. The Flanner boys were not business men like their father. On November 16, 1931 they told their men they had better find work elsewhere. They turned off the steam October 5, 1932. Closed their store on November 1, 1933. Most men were out of work, for .this was the height of the depression. Connor's mill was limping along, and it wasn't until the CCC camps started that they began to revive. On January 15, 1934 Connor Company began to operate the Flanner Mill and did so until 1937. At the outbreak of World War II Connor's were operating at top level, and most of the Blackwell men began to work for Connor's at Laona. A street in Blackwell in the winter about 1915. The Blackwell School, There were five teachers and grades one through eight. Planner's Mill in Blackwell ahout 1915. The following is an interview with Emma Goodchild, from Blaclcwell: Emma Goodchild came here in 1917. She lived on Flanner St. just about at the end of twenty-six years now, since 19*5. Then they moved up the street where they live now. She had seven children which now live ia West Virginia, Arizona, Dunbar, Sussex and three live in Kilwauikee. She has twenty grandchildren and seventeen great grandchildren. She was married in 1919 in Upper Michigan. Her husband died of cancer in 1951. For transportation they used a.'pede. Alot of people owned pedes. They came out with a moter pede and in 1917, two people owned cars, Henry Millers and Howard Bymers. If they wanted to go any place they took the pede to Blackwell Jun!ctlon. Only the Mill, the store, and the boarding house had elec­ tricity. Everyone else used kerosene lamps. They used wood to heat their houses. They had a hand pximp outside. She also used her own icebox. In the winter the men would go to the Rat River and cut ice and packed it in sawdust so it wouldn't melt as fast. They put the ice that they cut in an ice house, so they had an ice box for the cold food storage. They had a drain for when the ice melted which channeled it outside. They canned all of their own food. They raised their own pigs and chickens. For a couple of years they also had a cow. They made their own ice cream. They used cream, milk, eggs and some kind of flavoring such as bananas, strawberries, ect., crushed ice, and salt. You would turn it until it would get thick. They picked alot of strawberries. It would take about one-half hour to make the ice cream. Kids made up their own games like cops and robbers. In winter they skied,and ice skated. She said her kids have never said they were bored. They had a small school at first, then they moved it to a bigf er building which still stands today. Now they go to Wabeno. That same building at one time was the New Hook in 1952. It was owned by Newton and Lew Rock. Then they split apart and built one in Crandon, which was Lew Rock' s and Newton took the one in Blackwell in 1965. The New Hook was made out of the old Flanner home. She worked at the old one in 1952 iintil 1955, then moving to the new one for thirteen years. Just about everything was Flanner and Stager until they divided; it then becme Juat Flanner in 193V. They didn't finish all of the logging so Connors came in for awhile to finish up what they had left there. They were in the logging camp by the Rat River which was owned by Holtz. Flanners had a boarding house for the men who worked in the mill. They also iad a store next to the boarding house. Her husbands mother vtorksd, in the pastry part of the boarding house. Emma worked in the Laona Boarding House until she was married. After the mill in Blackwell went to Laona she and her husband Frank worked there also. They both were making sixty- five cents an hour. In 19^5 she worked in the Laona Flooring Mill for seven years. They had no benefits whatsoever. They had a dance hall down by the store and mill. It cost about twenty-five cents for the dance and to get into the movie house. They would take the pede to go to the dances in Laona. They didn't have any radio or television. They worked all day and then went toted. The first radio cgme here about forty years ago in 19^. i She has a dining table which she paid one himdred dollars for. A clock she paid twelve abllars and ninty-five cents for which is being repaired in West Virginia, costing sixJty-five dollars for repair, was purchased in 19^- They have a store across from the old school which is closed down, but still standing. They purchased about six or seven miles from Blackwell. It used to be an Indian house. Now Ramond Simonis owns it.

INDIAN SUMMER

When I went down the butte to drink at dawn, I saw a frozen lily by the spring, A ragged stream-line rank of whistling swan, And the swift flash of a willet's wing. And now comes a hint of winter in the air: Among the pensive valleys drifts a haze Of dusty blue, and the quakihg-asp lies bare To the chill breath of hoary days. Farewell, my mountain-ash and goldenrod, For summer swoons in autumn's arms, and dies, As the languid rivers drowse and the asters nod Beneath the gray wind's lullabies. Farewell, my fleet-foot antelope and doe; Farewell, my wild comp^/iions of the hills- Soon, in your winter-slumber you will go To a far land of singing rills. Soon by the fire I'll sit wlt^h quiet dreams; In the sinuous smoke, silver against the blue. That floats above the dusky vales and streams, My eyes will see the ghosts of you.

Lew Sarett

236 No. 1 Guage Train from Blackwell, with Pede alongside. 1

Planner's Mill-Dry Kiln, at Blackwell.

A gas pede which ran between Laona and Blackwell In the early 1900'a until 1924. CIVILIAN CONSERVATION CORPS

There was a program established on March 31, 1933 by Franklin D. Rossevelt that benefitted four million men. It was in existenc e for eight years and called the Civilian Conservation Corps. In the Nicolet National Forest Peak there were twenty-two camps. The ar my took care of ev erything. This included clothing, food and wa es. According to ill Wolf the biggest part of the army's Infl uence was in the d epartment of discipline. "They didn't put up with any fool in, around or mossiness. If you got caught doin anything wrong, you had to sp-end your weekend at the woodpil instead of in to'wn, " said Bill, When he camps first sta rted the men came from the cities, such as Chi cago and Detroit, Once the depression struck, men had to leave th e cities in pursui t of work. There were 200 men in each camp, which were very si milar to army camps. Camp members received $3 0.00 a month, $25. 00 of it had to be sent home for family memb ers . In ord er to get into the camp there were some rules to be followed First of all they couldn't be married and had to be between the ages of eighteen nd twenty-five. Once they signed up they wer'e obligated to wor k for six months. If they left without a j ust cause they wou Id receive a dishonorable discharge. The roe n were up at 5:30 A.M., finished eating breakfast by 7:30 and on the job. Some of the job's included planting, road constrxjct io , installation of telephone lines, fire control and fish and wi Id life improvement of habitat. The ca mps were set up in general to teach the men to be self-suppor ting and to build self-respect; it taught them to be men. "The CCC will always be close to the hearts of those helped by t," replied Bill. During the time of the C CC days the Camps included in this area were a t Blackwell, Cavou r, Trump Lake, Loon Lake, Newald, Himley Lake , and Lakewood BLACKWELL JOB CORPS CENTER

For more than a decade, Job Corps has served America's disadvantaged youth through intensive program of education, vocational training, work experience, residential living, and counseling. Since the first year of operation in 1965, Job Corps has enrolled more than half a million Corpsmembers, representing all fifty states. The Blackwell Job Corps Conservation Center is located in the Nicolet National Forest 180 miles northwest of Milwaukee. The forest consist of 642,000 acres of National forest land. The Center's purpose is to assist disadvantaged young men and women to become more responsible, employable, and productive citizens. The youths enrolled are volunteers, between the ages of sixteen and twenty-one years, who -are out of school and out of work. Once inside the center you will usually find about 200 members. They are housed in four dormitories. Each- dormitory will hold fifty men and it is divided into eight sections with bath­ room facilities and a lounge. Group living experience helps the Corpsmember to achieve three objectives: (1) Develop a self- concept which is acceptable to him and to others: (2) Respect the needs of others by adopting behavior within the range acceptable to society; and (3) Recognize his responsibilities as a Corpsmember and as a citizen. Another important feature of the center is its recreation program. This gives the Corpsmen some exercise during the day. The program includes intra-mural as well as competition with other teams. The recreation program gives the men a good break from the routine of the day and lets them have some freedom. Well balanced meals served cafeteria style makes up a big part of the center. Not only do they receive good food, but they can get experience working in the kitchen if they want. The centers most important role though isn't the recreation program or the food service, but it is the educational and vocational training. The education system is divided into two- phases. The first one is in the basic academic areas of arith­ metic, reading, world of work, and writing. In this phase of the program the men progress at their own rate of capability. The second phase involves the vocational training that will give the corpsmen an opportunity to learn basic skill in carpentry, welding heavy equipment, painting, masonry, and cooking. Once enrolled the program takes about a year to complete. After about a year and a half the men are usually making anywhere from six to twelve dollars an hour. The Blackwell center has four objectives: (1) To secure and hold meaningful employment; (2) To participate successfully in regular school work; (3) To qualify for other training programs; or (4) To satisfy Armed Forces requirements. While at the center we visited with a couple corpsmen and asked them what they liked about the center. Ralph Johnson of Gary, Indiana, said, "I enjoy working in the kitchen and I can eat all I want." Larry Blanton from Chicago, Illinois said, "I can get my carpentry trade and education without paying for it.'

240 Job Corps is accomplishing its mission. The average enrollee enters an approximate fifth grade reading level and one grade level is increased in six months. More than 90% of Job Corps enrollees successful in attaining on the Job Corps' placement objectives.

1920 Halt Tractor

Lumbering Crew with Tools Padus Padus had two saw mills, a hotel- which had a store, saloon, and a dance hall. Also, two blacksmiths shops, one owned by Hammes Lumber Mill and the other owned by Padus Lumber Mill. Also, the Round Lake Bar. For entertainment, the people would go swimming in Ham Lake. They also had dances and box socials. For other entertainment, the children would put a tire in the road with a string attached to it, when the cars would come by and stop to move it, they would pull the string and hide in the woods. To get around they would have to ride a train, or use a horse and buggy. In the winter, the train was the only means of trans­ portation because they were hard and the snow usually closed the INTERVIEW WITH JOE DURANT

Joe Durant, Laona's previous resident plumber, came here in 1946. According to him, plumbing facilities were rather primi­ tive . Outhouses were common. Baths were taken in galvanized steel tubs. If there was any running water in the house, it was only cold. Range boilers- tanks which held water on a stove- were used to heat bathwater. As more people remodeled their homes, they would gradually put in plumbing, A toilet was usually the first facility, fol­ lowed by a kitchen sink. A bathtub and bathroom sink were added next. Tarred, cast iron pipes and galvanized steel pipes were used for the plumbing. Today, plastic and copper pipes are used. Houses were heated by wood-burning furnaces which sent hot air through vents. Some homes used coal; hard coal if there was a large furnace upstairs, soft coal if the furnace was in the house. Having logged around the Cavour area after World War I, Mr. Durant also told about the logging camps. The buildings were log chinked with moss if there were any cracks. The roofs were tarpaper, or boards covered with tar­ paper, to make them watertight. There was an office, a cookhouse, a bunkhouse, and a barn. Food was brought as far as possible by railroad and a sleigh or wagon (depending upon the seasons) would pick it up. Camp fare consisted of salt pork, smoked meat, pickled "Dologna, preseryeQ Irults anO ^fegex,a"DXe5- usually Xjcaria or prunes. Margarine was used instead of butter. Coffee was the beverage. In the bunkhouse, the men slept two to a bed in bunks. The bunks were made of steel and were called Tiger bunks. Winter clothing was made up of woolen underwear, woolen pants, shirts, and socks, leather-topped rubbers, stocking caps, suspenders, and wool mackinaws. Logging usually lasted only until April since logs weren't easily skidded out of the woods in the summer. The men were paid $1 a day and board. Top loaders were paid $5 more a month. Teamsters were also paid more. 242 The Padus Mill-1910-From left to right 1) Schilling *) Bert Goodchild 5) Ralph Knutson 6) Ed Forrest 7) George Johnson 9) Martin Enutson 10) Jess Forrest 11) Ellen Fosdick 17) Phil Stiten 20) Bob Forrest

Annie Hammes, Padus postmistress, August 8, igig

2A3 Hammes Mill in Padus

4th of July Celebration at Padus about 1915 Hamries Mill and Old School in Padus around 1912

Downtown Padus about 1911 Chief Willard LeRoy Ackley: born December 25, 1889 in Mole Lake, WI, shown with his sister, Alice Randall, who was born August 20, 1899 near Lake Metonga, Crandon, WI.

MOLE LAKE - THE .SOKAOGAN" BAND OF CHIPPEWAS

Legend 1ha s it that the Chippewa, Ottowa, and Potawatomi W^Te once on(e large tribe and after arriving at the area, di- V i. K-d up 1n11o three separate tribes in an area that today is ( all od Kewamee , meaning "lost". The Chi|ppewa , originally pronounced "Ojlbway", apparently live ci in eas'ter n Canada, between Hudson Bay and Labrador. "Oji bway" wa:s denoted as "to roast 'til puckered up", refer- r i n p to tl-ieiir moccasin seam, although the Chippewa preferred "tho w r i t i n [^ people" due to their picture sketching on birch- bark . The CIhippew a were believed to be one of the largest 246 •-r'lbes of the Eastern Algonquian. Arming themselves with bows and arrows, knives, wooden clubs, and war shield, they were divided into several groups, being distinguished by the number of blue or black lines tattooed on their cheeks, foreheads, and jaws. They had broad faces with dark complexions and straight black hair. An expert in Indian ethnology, Henry Schoolcraft claimed that over half of the Chippewa men were six feet tall or over. The women were more pleasant than the men; wearing long hair, usually greased with bear grease and tastefully braided. From their Canadian woodlands, the Chippewa brought their culture, their only sustenance being the land, to the Great Lakes area. They made dyes from plant and mineral material, weaved baskets from basswood and white ash, and fashioned their : dishes from hardwood. The general procedure in dyeing was to use a vegetable substance to secure the desired color which was produced by boiling certain elements. Both plants and trees were used for making dyes, trees were most beneficial as they could be used all year. The Chippewa's favorite and most used mode of travel, due to Wisconsin's abundant waterways, was the birchbark canoe or "ewe-quass-che-mon". The canoe's hull was made from choice pieces of unflawed birchbark molded around a cedar strip frame sewn together and sealed with a sealant, usually hot spruce or balsam fir pitch mixed with a fat and charcoal combination. The resulting vessel was a craft large enough to carry several hundred pounds of cargo in shallow waters. On land, the canoe could be easily maneuvered by two or three Indian men. The only drawback to the otherwise totally efficient boat was that it was easily cracked; the Indians compensated for this by carrying an ample supply of pitch and a piece of dry pine root. Essential to the production of the canoe was the harvest of the wild rice, what the French called avoine folle, "crazy oats". The wild rice, one of the Indians' most important crops, was a rich grain that they did not have to cultivate at all, and yet it was of greatest importance to the Indian lifestyle. Wild rice, incidentally, is not rice at all. The English explorers gave it that name because the grain is more or less rice-shaped and, like rice, it grows in water. The rice was harvested in the autumn in an annual procedure that the Indians enjoy. First, the rice is beaten into the bottom of the rice boats by cedar sticks and when the bottom of the boat is covered and full, it is taken back to shore where it is heated until the husks partially pop open. Next, a small pit is dug and lined with buckskin and then the rice is poured in. After the rice is treaded, a process in which someone stomps on the rice, it is put into winnowing trays where the women "fan" the rice by throwing it in the air and catching it- thus allowing the loosened husks to fly away in the breeze. An important ingredient to the Chippewas diet, as it took the place of salt, was maple sugar, which the Indians harvest­ ed in March. The Indians collected the sap in hollowed bass- wood trunks and placed heated rocks in until the sap turned brown and was textured like molasses. Another processing 247 Sam Strudevant dancing the wild rice Alice Ackley Randall fanning the wild in Mole Lake WI. rice in Mole Lake. procedure was to freeze the sap until it crystallized and was placed in mokuks (birchbark containers) that were used for storing. The Chippewa lived in good trapping country and mastered one of the oldest occupations in America to perfection. The furs that the Chippewa traded were at first traded through th^ Hurons to the French and later on through the Iroquois to the British. From their trading they received superior muskets and trade goods, which enabled them to keep their rich, for­ ested woodland from being invaded by the Sioux. Because the Chippewa were nomadic, their lifestyle changed from season to season. In the summer months, the bands settled together in camps and villages. Their homes were basically cone or dome shaped. One Indian woman describes a home she once lived in, "I do not know how large it was, but 1 can remember it was built like a frame house with poles tied with raw deerhide strings. The side walls were about eight feet high with a roof covered with tamarack or cedar bark, or just any kind of bark that could be peeled from the trees. The only opening was the door and a hole at the middle of the roof for the smoke from the bonfire to escape. Starting from the door on one side a platform was made of poles tied with raw deerhide strings about 18 to 20 inches high and six or eight feet wide. It was tied to side walls all the way around or rather from one side of the door through the other side of the door. The part from the door to one side of the wall was used as a table for preparing food and storage. The other side was used to hold water pails, dishes, and other utensils to cook with. The other three sides were used to sit and sleep on (the bedding was rolled to the side walls). We sat and ate our meals on the edge of the platform and cooked on the bon­ fire. Our people knew just which kind of wood to use that did not throw sparks at night because the fire had to be kept burn­ ing all night. The platform was 18 to 20 inches off the dirt floor, so we never got cold." In spite of the fact that the Chippewa had a long alliance with the French, which allowed contact with Jesuit missionaries, the Chippewa believed in many good and evil spirits called "Mun-e-doo". According to Sister M. Carolissa Levi in "Chippewa Indians of Yesterday and Today": For the Chippewa, the skies were filled with the deities whom they worshipped, and the tenants of the forest were awak­ ened by the whispers of the gods. Each mountain and valley, each lake and stream sheltered some deity. However, the favor­ ite resorts of the gods were the peaks of rocky cliffs or the clefts of craggy mountains. Waterfalls were the scene of their sporting activities. The chief god of the sky sometimes amused himself by hurling stars from their positions and thereby bringing perplexity and harm to the inhabitants of the earth. This god of the skies could also be heard in the gentle breeze or in the howl of the tempest. Constellations were the council gatherings of the gods. The brightest stars were the ruling spirits appointed by the Great Spirit as guardians of the lesser 249 ones. Clusters of stars were the populous cities ui the celes­ tial inhabitants. Each star was associated with some strange event, The Chippewa believed in one god who was supreme to all others. If the sun was shining on an important Indian event, the god was smiling on them, if it was cloudy, he was in dis­ pleasure. To address this Great Spirit (Ke-che-mun-e-do), a sacrifice must be made which consisted of something precious to the Chippewa, usually tobacco or some other article. The Chippewa Indians lived and loved the land that they flourished on. Wisconsin Indians went through great changes upon the coming of the white man. The Indians that seasonally settled near the Mole Lake and Rice Lake area had mainly two villages, one located on Pickerel Lake, the other near a dam, appropriately named Pick­ erel Dam. The Indians were mostly a logging bunch who survived by moving from one nearby area to another until the logs were exhausted, the logs being sent downstream to an awaiting mill. On August 13, 1795, at Greenville, Ohio, a treaty was signed by the Chippewa Indians and the President of the United States to end many years of warfare. Chief Willard LeRoy Ackley stated: "The President of the U. S. told our chiefs that he was going to bring his people here and they would build homes and would plow the land to raise food for their families and our chiefs told the President that they could come here and plow and have anything that was as deep as the plow, but everything else was theirs (meaning gold, sliver, oil, and other miner­ als). The President agreed to pay annuities of $50,000 per tribe and $100,000 per warrior each year. But they never lived up to their agreement," By the 1830's the northern Wisconsin tribes were particu­ larly vulnerable to "persuasion". Their trading of furs had them caught in the vicious circle of increased dependence, dependence on the goods they traded for. Without food, guns, and ammunition the Indians could not even hunt- practically facing starvation. Crow Indian, Gus Big Man, stated bitterly, "Once we had the buffalo. The buffalo gave us our food, our clothing, our houses, our tools, our fuel. Then the white man came and killed our buffalo. Now the white man is our buffalo." In 1917, Chief Edward Ackley stated, "I came home sometime in 1917 to find my people, the Sokaogan Chippewas, in a state of bewilderment, like sheep without a leader. They had nowhere to live, some were sick from hunger, and some were freezing from lack of wood for their wigwams and tepees. They were a desti­ tute band of Indians with no land to live on. As the white settlers bought the land here in this area, they would tell the Indians to move; and that they have done for many years," In I9I8, Chief Edward Ackley went to an Indian lawyer in Green Bay to talk about the tribe's problems. The lawyer told him that he could write to Washington, D. C. and ask for an inspector to be sent. Inspector Coleman arrived in I9I9, along with W. W. Bennett of Laona. A tribal roll was made, but noth- .ing. more. Mr. Walter Torgerson ^as hired to keep writing 250 letters to Washington. In 1929,however, Chief Edward Ackley died, leaving the duty of Chief to be handed down to Willard Leroy Ackley. After a decade of having no place to call their home, Chief W. L. Ackley was called to a meeting in 1933 and asked by Commissioner John Collier where he wished to have a reservation placed. He was told by the chief that the reservation should be placed here, They wanted the Mole Lake area because of the wild rice growing there. In 1934 eighteen hundred and fifty acres were set aside for the Sokaogan band of Chippewas that lived in the Mole Lake area. In 1936-37 eighteen new homes were built for the Indian community under W. P. A. Chief Willard Leroy Ackley stated about the condition of the homes: "The homes were built with no insulation and with only num­ ber 2 and number 3 lumber, with number 1 lumber never being seen on the reservation." Fourteen federally standardized homes were built for the tribe in 1977-78 by HUD (Housing and Urban Development). Recently, completion date being June 30, 1980, fifteen newer homes were built with funding from HUD. They are ten three bed­ room homes, five four bedroom homes, and five elderly apartments. There are approximately a hundred and fifty to two hundred In­ dians living on the Mole Lake reservation today. It's the smallest reservation in Wisconsin,

WORDS

He never flinched, and never a muscle stirred; Speechless he stood beneath the stinging whips She laid upon him in each syllable That crackled from her lips. Yet in his heart a river of anger rolled, And swept his words into a groaning jam. As when a torrent chokes a rushing stream With logs across a dam. But when she flung at him the dynamite Of epithet and insinuating doubt, With a mighty moan the pent up tide gave way. And the jam of words went out: Words cut by a madman's ax; words brittle with ice; Words pointed, barbed with sleet and torn of branch; Words that cascaded, ricocheted, and split. Fell in an avalanche.

Lew Sarett Chief Willard LeRoy Ackley in ceremonial clothes and ceremonial drum. The bands on drum are woven, four pedal flowers standing for the four winds. His sister, Alice Randall, with crown for Indian mother of the year, in 1957. 2b? HISTORY OF WABENO-SOPERTON

A tornado went through northern Wisconsin on June 2, 1880, carrying with it all that was in its path. The cleared strip, about one half to one mile wide, extending from Antigo to Super­ ior through the dense forest, was known by the Indians as the "Wabeno", which means the coming of light or the rising of the sun. The Chicago Northwestern made their first survey in 1886, In 1897, the rails were laid from Green Bay through the little valley which now bears the name, Wabeno. As soon as the rails were laid, various claims were taken by the first farmers, namely: A. G. Scherm, H. W. Swan, A. E. Fowler, and Fred Morey. All of these farmers came to Wabeno in 1897- The following year Louis Rummel, Williams Rumrael, Nick Lentz, and George F. Strohm began clearing farms west of the village. In the next few years, Frank Kopecky, William Baker, Harry McNad, Charles Symes, Walter Symes, and Theodore Brenner also bought farms. Thus, the agricultural line flourished. Quite a few families moved to Wabeno in 1897. Mrs. Thomas Moore was the first white woman to come here. The first two buildings in Wabeno were the log building, now the museum, which was used as a land office by the Chicago Northwestern Railroad Company, and a log shanty which was used as an eating house by the men working on the railroad. Wabeno's first depot agent was Victor John. He was also the first postmaster since the post office was in the depot. Later the post office was moved to Dickenson's Store, then to the printing office building, then to the Bergen building. In 1927 the post office was moved to the White building, which had just been built. Anton Fritsch, Sr. walked to Wabeno in I897 from Town- send to buy land from George Sutherland, who was land agent at that time. As soon as the railroad was finished, Mr. Fritsch went to Townsend to have lumber sent to Wabeno so he could build his home, the third house in Wabeno. The Rusch brothers came to Wabeno in 1897 from Stratford over the old Choate road and through by Padus. They built their first mill on the location of the site of the J. W. Jones mill. The second mill was moved out of town and bought by the Reliance Wooden Ware Company in 1924. The Rusch board­ ing house, purchased by the Joneses, was built in 1913, In the summer of 1928, Lillian Bigelow of Superior bought the boarding house. An award of five dollars was offered for the best name for the hotel, Mary Meisuis won with the name, "The Lilliano" . In 1898, Tony Wettstein brought the first cow to Wabeno, bringing it over the old Choate road. The Schmoll house was built in 1898. On the first floor there was a dwelling, the second floor was used as a church on Sundays and for dances when they were given. Wabeno's first band often played there. The band was led by Otto Senglaub. Band members included: Messr, Mike Ashbeck, William Hintzman, Joseph Wenzel, Lovely Mum, Charles Wettstein, Leonard Zahn, William Fischer, Peter Hoffman, and Anton Burgen. i 253 The second band in Wabeno was led by Wendell Krohn. This band included: Wm. Huettl, Mike Henes, Albert Hassman, Sr., Charles Wettstein, John Mallow, Joseph Wendel, Anton Burgen, Edward Geil, Frank Dupray, and Mr. Selmar. This band was or­ ganized in 1907. It was disbanded in 1908, but reorganized in 1912 under the direction of Charles Zeike for a term of six years. A new band was started in 1919 and later the Wabeno- Soperton Band was organized in 1926 under the direction of Father Halinde. Clyde Marion's home was one of the first houses in Wabeno. It was formerly a log dwelling. It was built by Mr. Bell. The first school was built in 1897. It was a one-room building which was later a printing office. The year the build­ ing was erected, there were only two children of school age in Wabeno. Since there was a state law requiring four students in order to have a teacher, the school stayed vacant for a while. Then, the John Carlson family arrived in 1898. They had two children of school age, and they telegraphed Madison to let it be known that a teacher was now needed. Wabeno's first teacher was Miss Minnie Brown. Her first pupils were: Edward Carlson, Harry Carlson, Madge Moore, and Hessie Wright, As the number of pupils grew, a bigger school was needed, While it was being built, various places were used to hold classes. These were: the town hall, Mr. Schmoll's house, and part of the Jones boarding house. The high school was built in 1906. Mr, Goerge Hall was the first principal. Mr. Rank was the second principal. He resigned two weeks before the opening of the school. His assis­ tant took his place, but she resigned, also. Dr. P. J. Noer, and his sister-in-law. Miss Helen Peabody, managed the school. Around I9I6 the school again became too crowded and some of the grades were moved into different buildings. The Lutheran church and a building that housed the overall factory were used. Two four-room school buildings were constructed in 1920. These were the Washington School at Wabeno and the Lincoln School at Soperton. These buildings housed the first five grades, the next three grades were in the high school building. Members of the first graduating class of Wabeno High School were: Edward Reavey, Joseph Schaenzer, Jr., Claude Carter, and Homer Hemingway. On June 27j 1898, the property across the tracks from the depot was purchased for the purpose of building a mill to saw rock elm for the West Bend Sleigh Runner Company. Because of this, most of the lumber sent out was rock elm. However, bass- wood, maple, birch, hemlock, and pine were also cut. At that time, hemlock cost about $3 per thousand, maple was $7 per thou­ sand, birch was $7 per thousand, basswood was $9 per thousand, pine was $12 per thousand, and rock elm was $12 per thousand. Then, the best laborers were paid $1.25 a day, not includ­ ing board. Meat was 40 a pound, cheese 60 a pound, and grapes were 50 per basket. The mill could only produce 21,000-25,000 feet of lumber per day, then. In I900, the mill was reorganized, with stock­ holders taking shares. Since the majority of the stockholders 254 had passed away by 1907, the mill was sold to John Gayhard, Sr. The mill was later remodeled into a barn. The construction of the Bay Shore Mill was begun in October, 1904. The architect and builder was Gus Floctor of Menominee, Michigan. The first log was sawed on May 29, 1905. This marked the opening of Soperton, likewise boarding house and the store. Actual operation began on June 7, 1905. Burley Perkins built the dam at Soperton. Alec Padore of Menominee built the store, boarding house, twenty houses, and a part of the planing mill. After two years, Thomas Sualer built a forty foot extension onto the planing mill and the remaining number of houses. During the first year of operation, twelve miles of railroad were built, extending to Otter Lake. Camps One and Two were built at the same time; Malcolm Mc Echen managed them. Wabeno had five mills in 1905. They were: The Bay Shore, Rusch, Jones, Prebe, and the May Flower Mills. The railroad track was laid as far as Wabeno in 1897. It was then extended to Laona in 1899- The turntable was at Wabeno, but was later moved to Laona when the railroad was built there. During these early days, only one train came from the south. It left Gillett at noon, arrived at Wabeno at four o'clock, and then went back to Gillett. The train had one coach, four passen­ gers , and a number of freight cars. A year later a morning passenger train was put through. It ran on Wednesdays and Satur­ days . Rusches built the first store in 1898. It is Wabeno's old­ est business place. Neidep'a first hall was built in 1912. After eighteen months of operation, it burned with the rest of the block on July 3, 1914. The carpenters built the hall back up, only to have it burn again in 1923. The building was then built out of brick. The first hardware store in Wabeno stood at Hansen's Elec­ tric Shop (this was around 1926). Mr. Jecklin operated it. He was also a licensed undertaker and embalmer. The second store was owned by Harter Brothers. This was built in 1915. Another hardware store was built by Roy Neider in 1928-29 - This had the most stock of any of the stores. The state bank began in 1907 with $10,000 capital and thir­ teen stockholders. It was located in the lower part of the A. E. Lawrence Opera House. It burned in 1914. Later, the bank's cap­ ital was raised to $25,000. This was done by consolidating with a group of businessmen who were about to start a new bank, A group of young boys from Green Bay robbed the bank on July 15, 1921. They were caught and they received ten years in prison. The new bank building was built in 1922. A jewelry store was in the building later occupied by the Mike Henes barher shop. Another one was later put into the Bergen building. Dickinson's and Richotta's stores burned in 1914 and were later rebuilt. Ole Anderson started a shoe store; it later became a creamery. The first newspaper in Wabeno was printed on a small hand press by Mr. Himley. Later, "The Advertiser" office got much more machinery. Ben Slowed s- first hotel was situated where the Wabeno State

255 Bank was. It burned on July 4, 1914. Later, Mr. SloWe?; moved into the Grank Plank Hotel, built and at one time owned by Kathryn Fitzpatrick. Mr. Sloive. sold the hotel to John Ker- vinen in 1928. The town hall was at one time a one-room building. In 1916 a $6000 appropriation was given and another town hall was built. In 1920 a hurricane took the roof off. The first voting was done at Armstrong Creek. Three town­ ships were assembled: Armstrong Creek, Crandon, and Argonne. The towns of Wabeno and Laona were at one time the same town, During April,,1902, the towns were separated. Around 1920 Freedom was also separated and made into, a town. The first services of the Lutheran church were held in the school building. Reverend Brenner officiated. In 1900 a church was built on the corner of Windfall and Ogden Streets. Reverend Frederick was the first pastor of the new church. Freda Rietz, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Rietz, was the first child to be baptized in the church. Mr. and Mrs. August Neuman were the first couple married there., John Hammes later bought the build­ ing and remodeled it into a dwelling house. A Lutheran church was built in 1916. The parsonage was built and owned by Mr. Prieb, not being used for a parsonage until later. The Presbyterian Church's first services were held on September 2, 1908. Reverend Boiler was the first official pas­ tor. The manse was built during Reverend Guberlex's term. Land for the Catholic Church was purchased from Mr, Rusch. The church was built in 1907 by Thomas Solar. In 1915, the building was moved toward the left and cut in half. An addition of about twenty-five feet in length was built between the ends. The first officiating pastor was Reverent Pastor Loerke. Joseph Kimla built the priest's house. Later priests included: Father Buytaert, Father Van Dyke, and Father Halinde. A number of parks have been located in Wabeno. A park was cleared on the McGraw-Quinlan hill. A park was located across from the Standard Oil Station, and another was on the LaRue- Wolfgram hill. The first town policeman was Tony Wettstein. He was paid $50. A wooden sidewalk was put in in 1905, It was laid from Soperton to the Grand Plank Hotel. Tom Moore's saloon is supposedly the first saloon that Wabeno had. It started in a tent and was later moved to a motor garage. Electric,-:, lights were introduced in 1925. They were sup­ plied by Jones' mill. John Mallow built the first barber shop. A black man by the name of Braun ran it. Two shops, the Henes and Reese barber shops, each employed two barbers. Mr. Betts owned the first car, a red one. John Mallow, Sr. owned the second car, and Giddo Stemper owned the first Ford, which he bought in Crandon. The first Ford garage was built by Charles Rietz in 1915. It was destroyed by fire in I927. Later, he built a brick build­ ing. Mr. Connor purchased the brick building around 1928. Doctor Crawford was the first dentist. Doctor Woods was the

256 first physician. While making a sick call to a camp at Long Lake, he was frozen to death. Doctor Pinch came next, followed by Doctor Dawley. A hospital was built in 1904 by Dr. P. J. Noer. The pine trees in the locality of Roberts Lake were logged in 1890 by the Black Brothers of Shawano. The logs were driven down the Lily River to the Wolf River. Many of the best logs were stolen at that time by pine robbers who were infesting the country. The first great forest fire occurred in 19O8. It started at Range Line Creek,- sweeping the timber for two miles toward Wabeno. A fire engine was called from Green Bay, saving the town. People nearest the fire packed their valuables and buried them in the ground to save them from being destroyed. The first fire to damage the town also happened in 1908. It burned the whole block from Rusch's store to Mallow's corner. The second big fire started in Ben Slowe's hotel. The entire block, except for Boehm's drug store, burned. The Harvest Festival, financed by the businessmen, was or­ ganized in I9I6. It was reorganized under the supervision of the Farmers and Businessmen's Association in 1920. Wabeno's first library, situated in the south room of the town hall, was run by Katherine Kintzman Pleshek. Around 1923 the library board purchased a five year lease from the railroad company for the oldest home in Wabeno, It was remodeled and new books were brought in. The huge pine log, which lies on the library lot, was pre­ sented to the town by the G. W. Jones Lumber Company. This log, the largest in Forest County, was cut on January 5, 1925 by the Fred Colburn crew. Originally the tree grew three miles west of Laona. When cut, it measured ten thousand board feet. It was seven feet, two inches at the butt and it tapered to fifteen inches at the top. The log is now preserved and placed in an artistic rustic enclosure.

CATHOLIC CHURCH

The land for the Catholic church was purchased from Mr, Rusch, being part of the Rusch addition. The church was built in 1907 by Thomas Solar. In 1915, the building was moved toward the left and cut in half. An addition of about twenty-five feet in length was built between the ends. The first officiating priest was Father Loerke, The church was dedicated by Bishop Fox. The priest's house was built by Joseph Kimla. In the year of 1922, Father Van Dyke took over the parsonage. Later, Father Halinde came to Wabeno.

257 a&to' * .: ?

Madge Moore: First white child bom in Wabeno. She was born in the Library Building. Wabeno High School In 1928.

i

'^^'^

C,W. Jones Lumber Company in Wabeno, in 1910. I 259 LUTHERAN CHURCH

The first services of the Lutheran Church in Wabeno were held in the school building. Reverend Brenner officiated. In 1900 a church was built on the corner of Windfall and Ogden Streets. Reverend Frederick was the first pastor in the new church. Pastors Dollock, Webber, and Waldsenski succeeded him. Freda Rietz, daughter of Mr. and Mrn, Charles Rietz, was the first child to be baptized in the church. Mr. and Mrs. August Meuman were the first couple married there. It is now occupied by the Frank Bendals. The new Lutheran church was built in I9I6. The first pastor there was Reverend Keather. The pa'rsonage was built and owned by Mr, Prieb, but not used for a parsonage until later. PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

In 1915, after many missionaries had been in the field work- on the Presbyterian Church, the people decided to have a regular pastor and to build a church. The services in the new church were held the first time on September 2, 1908. Reverend Boiler was the first official pastor. F*o 11 owing him were: Reverends Calvert, Buros, Guberlex, Hulegman, Sherwln, and Haskins,

260 ^ 3 3] 1

Grand Plank Hotel In Wabeno, in 1908.

State Bank of Wabeno 1908. 1

1 261 -'• Main Street, Wabeno, in 1909 looking east.

In 1910, Wabeno Main Street, Highway 8, showing log cabin now used as library. Main Street in Wabeno in 1920.

Wabeno was growing fast by 1911. 263 INTERVIEW WITH ETHEL BALTUS

Ethel Baltus came to Laona in 1922. She taught high school business courses. She got $135 a month, being the highest paid teacher in the school. The high school was located where it is now. The grade school was behind the high school. Mr. Robinson came the first year Ethel came, which was in 1921. Mr. Robinson was the principal. The high school had about 25 teachers. She taught the 7th and 8th grade in penmanship. If women teachers got married, they couldn't teach anymore. There was one male teacher at that time. His name was Mr, Carlson, The male teachers could get married. The kids had to walk to school. Kids living around the Stark Settlement area were brought in by their parents. Town kids walked. If there was a bad snowstorm, the kids simply did not come to school. Some people weren^t able to get in to school or work, so they stayed home while those that were able to went. There was a snowplow, an old tractor. It would take a week to get the roads cleared, so the tractor was always clearing roads. Drifts by the Grumann settlement, north of town, had to be blasted open by dynamite. Lower Town had a hotel, grocery storeg, and taverns. Years and years ago, Laona was called "Snyder". The train would stop by the depot in Lower Town and by the company store, Very few people in Laona had cars, The first hospital was located next to Collin's tavern. Dr. Elliot, a cousin of Ethel's, ran the hospital. Connors built the present hospital and it got the name of Ovitz Hospital because Dr. Ovitz was there at the time. Isel Ward was the first nurse in the Ovitz Hospital. Dr. Clark worked for Dr. Ovitz, Later, Dr, Carroll and Dr. Castaldo came. All clothes were boughten at Connor's Store. No one was allowed to order out of catalogs because the orders would be intercepted in the mail and not sent to the houses. Two boarding houses were run by a man named Gunther, They were located next to the old bank. One was for sleeping and one was for eating. If a man didn't keep working or he walked off the job, Connors wouldn't give him back his suitcase. Back then they had a sawmill, planing mill, and a flooring mill. Now there is a chair factory and a sawdust outfit. Ethel worked at the chairfactory for 37 years, as a secretary. Food was kept in ice boxes. Baldy Lawrence used to deliver the ice. He took ice out of Silver Lake and cut it up. Ethel's house was heated first by wood, then oil, and then coal. They had a space heater that sat on the floor and a wood stove in the kitchen for cooking. There was dancing for entertainment. A dance hall was across from the Club House. It was owned by Mallows. Listles owned the "Wigwam", a dance hall down the road from Silver Lake. Laona had a theatre on the site of the new bank. There was an 264 ice cream parlor and pool hall in the basement. That building burned down. The logging camps were located out of town and the lumber­ jacks would come in town on payday and get their money and spend it all in taverns. The men would stay in town for about three days. Laona had about sixteen taverns then. If a lumber­ jack was married, he would leave his wife before coming to America. The area around Silver Lake had very few cottages. It was mostly forest. They would go berry picking where the golf course is now. A newspaper and its office were located where the post office is now. The newspaper building was moved out to Camp Five Farm. In Ethel's opinion the weather now is much better than it was then. Now there are fewer tornadoes and bad storms.

APPENDIX

ENGLISH LANGUAGE POTAWATO Bee Amo Beaver Mek Butterfly ME Me ge Button Sedo Cat Ma yos Cigarette Pwa Gas Clam Abe si Cuccumber Ko Ko be Feather Mi-gwen Fish Gi gos Four Nyew Kettle kek Nine Shak Pear Bok do Pipe P^a gen Ribbon Zen ba River Zibe Road Ny 5w Spoon Em kwan Star Ni gos Stone sen Sun Gi ses Table Dop wen Tobacco Sema Water Pall Zindl The vowel sounds a e i o ah eh e c

265 List of Interviewees .... -sol-ir^-Q fiiHS'so e Alderton, Mr, and Mrs. Fel: -X- L Hillinecker, Rob- L ' Alderton, Joseph- L Hoefts, Willimina- L Ammerman, Bertha- L Hupf, Beulah- L Aschembre;nner, Mr. and Mrs Arnold-L Irish, John- L Austin, Mrs. Martin-L Jackson, Ray- C Baltus, Ethel_-B Jacobson, Gladys- L Benzinger, Roy- L Johnson, Alton- L Bernacki, Sophie- L Johnson, Gwenn- C Bey, Kenneth- L Kazmierczak. Henry- L Bocek, Jerry- C Keith, Marshall- C Bock, Lydia- C Kellam, Eugenie- C Bradle, Frank- L Kellam, Jim- C Bruss, Walter- C Kennedy, Robert- C Brutlag, Rev. Keith- L Kincaid, Floyd- C Bytell, Joe- L Kluss, Joseph- C Calhoun, Joe- L Kniess, Mr. & Mrs.- N Campbell, Art- C Kohlbeck, Joe- C Campbell, Green-C Kolbe, Bob- L Carter, Walter & Agnes- L Kott, Royal- C Castaldo,Frank M.D.- L Lange, Alice- L Cerkas, Father John- L Larsen, Hugh- L Chinnock, Malcolm- TL Lawrence, Dorothy- L Colburn, Mary- H Lempel, Michael and Nora- L Collins, Anna- L Lewders, William- L Listel, Charlie Sr.- L Collins, Maryin _- L Listel, Lloyd- P Conley, Mrs. Ed- L Luderman, Ellen- L Conway, Ollie- C Lulich, Amanda- L Cook, Hilda- L Lundt, Omer- C Cummings, Mae- B Majnarich, Ruth- L Daniels, Jim- C Matelski, John- B Davison, Evron- C McMillion, George- C Dawson, Clark- L McMillion L.W.- C Deaton, Irene- C Medenwaldt, Noah- L Eagan, Irene- B Mentz, Bob- L Elmer, Evelyn- C Mentz, Maurice- B Faivre, Laura- L Milak, John- L Finney, Don- L Million, George- C Gentz, Cora- L Miskowick, Andrew- C George, Ike- C Mrugala, LaVern- L George, Mary- C Mundt, Henry- C Godin, Jerry- L Murphy, Dorothy- M Goodchild, Emma- B Novak, Alice- L Grandine, Lester- C Novak, Lavenia- B Grant, Rose- L Ovitz, Dr. E.- L Gray, Joe- L Paul, Adah Moe- C Grumann, Margaret- L Pfeiffer, Ed- H Grumann Ralph & Gertude- L Phillips, Grace- L Gunderman, Dale- L Pollick, Joe- C Haney, Bert- C Hayek, Charles & Florence- C Radcliff, Clarence- A Henkel, August- B Roberts, Ralph- H Hess, Frank- Ca Robinson, Frances- L Hess, Helen- L Rosio, Mary- L Hillman,Mona- C Ross, Sam- C Himes, Thelma- C Roth, Joyce- L

266 Ruesch, Albert- C Russel, Vern- C Samz, Charlie- A Samz, Teresa- C Sargent, Charles- W Slimmer, Dale- L Smith, John- C Spencer, Hobert- L Spencer, Straw- C Spencer, Zack- C Sundberg, Clyde- C Tinsman, Garnet- N Tipton, Forest- L Waite, Marcella- C Weneaut, Mary- C Wilson, Clay- C Wilson, Floyd- C INTERVIEWERS Wlnkleman, Otto- L Wolff, William- La Baudhuin, Judy Zink, Forrest- C Cappellettl, Tom Coleman, Cindy L- Laona Durant, Patty B- Blackwell Fatla, Frank C- Crandon Gerow, Larry TL- Trump Lake Gretzinger, Michael H- Hiles Holland, Debbie Ca- Cavour Ison, Scott N- Newald Jacobson, Lori P- Pennsylvania - Jacobson, Walter M- Milwaukee Kratky, Allen A- Argonne Kratky, Mathew W- Wausau La- Lakewood Lafferty, Jeff LaFountaln, Grant McLaughlin, Todd Mentz, John Mihalko, Jeanne Miller, Tammy PadJen, Thomas Retzlaff, James Spencer, Michael Stafford, Harry Webb, Todd Wilson, Cindy

267 People Interviewed Arthur and Lydia Bock Arthur Bock was the local representative for the Rhinelander Light and Power Company, starting in 1922. Arthur and Lydia Mueller were married in 1924. Before she married Arthur, Lydia taught school at the Rangeline School and also became Principal. In 1925, Mrs. Bock.began working for the Light and Power Company. Mr. Bock remained at the Power Company for thirty-one years until he passed away in 1953. Mrs. Bock remained for forty-one years, until her retirement in 1966. Green Berry Campbell Green Berry Campbell was born in 1899 and came to Crandon in 1910. He came from Kentucky with his parents. Green Berry married Maude McMillion in 1920 and had six children. In 1929 Mr. Campbell started racing and breeding horses. He has raced his horses in many states. He was town chairman of Nashville for four years; town chair­ man for ten years in the town of Crandon. , Ollie Conway Ollie Conway was born in Antigo, WI in 1895 and moved to Crandon in 1905. Her husband, Steve Conway, was Judge for thirty years. She worked in the Welfare Office for 17 years. Her dad worked for the Pail Factory and this caused their moving to Crandon. For transportation she usually walked, but sometimes rode horse. Her family supplied most of their own food by raising cows, chickens, and pigs. They also had a garden. Evron Davison Mr. Davison was born in 19II in Ladysmith and came to Crandon in 1936. He was working for the state as a ranger when he came to Crandon. He was the first warden in Crandon. He worked with the CCC and the W. P. A. Some of his duties were checking on violaters and fires. Mr. Davison, his wife, and three children lived at the ranger station for seventeen years. Lester Grandine Lester's family came to North Crandon in 1901. They moved here from Chilton by train to Pelican Lake and then to Crandon by stage. Lester was in the first graduating class from the North

268 Crandon High School in 1908. Lester married Amy Smith in 1922. They have seven children, Bert Haney Bert Haney was born in Tigerton, Wis, in 1894. One of eight children born to Emma Jane and Herman John Haney, The family moved to Crandon in 1900, They had one of the first dairy farms in Crandon. (1903) In 1905 Bert's father drove the first school bus. Bert served in World War I in the Sixth Company-161 Depot Brigade. He served on the board and was the road commissioner for Forest County. He belongs to the Praise Chapel Church and previously was a V.F.W. and Golden Ages member. In 1945 he married Grace Spencer Gross, they had tow children from that marriage, but she had six children before, Mona Hillman Mona Ison Hillman was born in Kentucky in 1897 and came to Crandon in 1915. She graduated from high school in 1919. The school was where the Lakeland Motel is now. Mona's main career was in teaching. She taught school in Mole Lake for seventeen years, starting at $95. a month in 1919. In addition to teaching, Mona and her husband owned a store and post office in the town of Nashville, which had a population of 150. Thelma and Forest Himes Forest Himes bought land form Page and Landeck and built the Himes Lumber Company in 1921. A year later in 1922 Forest Himes married Thelma Moe, who had come to Crandon in 1903 with her parents. Thelma taught school before she was married. She taught at thfe South School. They had two children, a daughter and son. Their son, Thomas was killed in action in Metz, France in World War II. Marshall Keith Marshall was born on July 29, 1908 in Hinsdale, Illinois. He has a Bachelors degree of Science in Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering. He and His wife, Helen, were married on April 30, 1934. They have two children. In 1942 to 1946 he served as an officer in the U.S. Navy. Mr. Keith retired as a captain from the Navy in August 1968. In 1933 to 1935 he served as caseworker and assistant director of Forest County Welfare Department. In 1936 to 1942 he was Field Representative Wisconsin State Department Welfare.

269 Guinn Johnson Mayor Guinn Johnson was born in Gwenn, Michigan and came to Crandon in 1923. Guinn married Elayne D. Kline in 1945; they have three chil­ dren . He was elected to office in 1975 and has been Mayor for five years. He said that the changes in the environment from Exxon would be little and he didn't feel there would be a problem because the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Natural Resources are such watch dogs they'll keep everything in line. Eugenie Kellam Eugenie was the first white person born in Crandon. Her family lived both in town and on a farm. They raised cows, chickens, pigs, and dogs. They also had a garden. She said her dad drove stagecoach to Pelican, and that she worked in stores. One she worked in was Karlbergs. Eugenie said her family was especially close to the Sam Shaw family. Mrs. Shaw was her dad's sister. Lloyd Kincaid Lloyd Kincaid was born in Sault Saint Marie, Michigan and came to Crandon when he was six years old. He is of Irish and Scottish descent. He served in the U. S. Army in 1943 to 1946. He was an instructor to combat engineers in the special service. At present, he is our State Representative for the 36th District. He is Chairman of the Committee on Mining, Vice Chairman of the Committee of Tourism, Recreation, and Economic Development, Also, he is a member of the committee on highways, small businesses, and state affairs. Lloyd was elected to two terms on the County Board, two terms on the City Council, and two terms on the Nicolet College Board of Directors. Lloyd and his wife, Kathleen, were married in 1952 and have four children. Royal Kott Royal Kott came to Crandon in 1932 from Chicago. He had a farm in the NE corner of Crandon, He later worked for Joe Kluss and Leo Samz in their garage. In 1940 he went to work for the government at the distillary making whiskey until it was closed in 1945. He is presently married to Eleanor Jackson,

270 Noah Medenwaldt Noah moved to Laona in 1923. He went to school in the High School that is still standing today. When he moved to Laona, he was only in the eighth grade. In 1917) the sc hool bought land for the school. The school was then built in 1917 Noah worked as a plumber and heating in the Laona area. He owns d and operated his own business. The charge that he charged was an hour for the work which included the tools and all the equi pment for the job. He put new pipes and system in the hospital wh en Doc Ovitz was the doctor. He worked for 25 years as a plumber nd in heating. Noah then had an accident, Noah then worked in the Gordon Hotel. He was the clerk behind the register.

Mike Lempel Mil:e Lempel came up to Laona from Milwaukee in 1951. He moved here because he liked it and his wife was from Laona. He worked in the woods. When he was working in Milwaukee his wages were about 1/3 higher. In 1955 he worked for Connors in the woods for 17 years. He made about $100.00 per week. In 1969-1970 he owned the uptown service station. Gas was about 300 at that time. His wife worked at the chair factory for 17 years. She and Tilly Collins were the first two women to work down there in the mill Part. Jim and Doris Kellam Jim Kellam was born on June 27) 1923, He married Doris Turensky in 1947 and came to Crandon in 1952. They have six children. W. E, Webb (Jim's grandfather) came to Crandon in 1877 with Patrick Shay and E. 0. Woodbury. Willis Webb's sister was Louise Shaw. Jean Webb Kellam met and married Jim Kellam Sr. in Kansas City, Missouri. Jean was born in December of 1886 and she is said to be the first white baby born in Crandon. She was born on the Hemlocks on Lake Metonga's west shore. Jean was once Crandon *s postal clerk. Jim worked for Wisconsin Public Service for quite some time and is now Crandon's Morning Glory Milk distributor. Joe Pollick Joe moved to Hiles in 1924. When he first came, he worked in the mill for 500 an hour. The mill was then called the Fish Sawmill, it was later changed to Keith and Hiles. For recreation he used to go play pool and dance in the town hall. Clara Sevenson Pierce Robert Kennedy is the grandson of Clara Sevenson Pierce. Mrs. Pierce is 105 years of age and is the oldest living resident of Crandon. She now resides in the Crandon Nursing Home, Mrs. Pierce lived at her home until she was 100 years old. She had one daughter, Florence, who is Robert's mother. She was a nurse in the Spanish-American War. She was station­ ed in Florida where she treated soldiers coming in from Cuba. Also, during the time when women were granted the right to vote, she was a nurse in Denver, Colorado. Robert Kennedy Robert Kennedy was born in Rhinelander on September 4, 1931. He is now an attorney.of -law practicing in Crandon. Robert married Genevieve in 1954 and came to Crandon in 1965. They have three children. Mr. Kennedy served as District - Attorney in Crandon for eight years and two years in Oneida County. He earned his attorney's degree at the University of Wisconsin where he played on the football team. He played in the Rose Bowl game at Pasadina, California, in 1953. Robert Kennedy's father is Earl Kennedy, who was District Attorney in Oneida County. Robert was also District Attorney and now his son is running for District Attorney of Florence.

272 Sophie Bernacki Sophie was born and raised in Blackwell. She had explain­ ed the birth certificate with two birthdates on it. Her late husband had one birthday and then was born on October 4, 1894, in Poland, on the Russian Certificate it would be October 16, 1894. Sturzl Family As many immigrants did during the beginning of the 1900's, the Sturzl family came to Laona in search of something better then what they had left. About 1903 Rosina Sturzl and her husband Bartholmaus came to Laona with their children; Rosie, Joe, John, Alice, Bud, Frank and Francisca, They came form Barvaria Germany. Some of their relatives settled in Sleepy Eye, Minnesota. Bart- holmous Sturzl left to work on the railroad in Portland, Oregon. He never came back and Rosina had to raise the children by her­ self. On the road to Birch Lake, (where Ron Meyers house is now) they built a tar-paper shack. Later, they built the house which still stands. Bud Sturzl owned a blacksmith shop in Laona, down the street from Alderton's tavern.

Martin Austin Mrs. Austin (formerly Miss Florence Ettinger) came to Laona in kindergarten, went through the grade school and completed two years of high school. They quit school to go to work. Her first job was cleaning up the bedrooms at the Gordon Hotel. She was paid $4.00 a week. The managers then were Mr. & Mrs. Maltly. She eventually worked in every position in the hotel, except the head cook. Mrs, Austim was married twice, having a total of eight child­ ren. She has a brother who now resides at the NuRoc Nursing Home. Bob K olbe Bob said that the Lutheran Church, the one there now, was built in 1958. He also said that one of the pastors that served from Wabeno came and helped build the church. He said that the pastor and the congregation put up the church-building by them­ selves. He said that Mr. & Mrs. Carl Wick, Mr. & Mrs. Arnold Wahl, and Herman Lange helped out the most. The church was heated by wood and Connor Company paid for light, Andrew Miskowiez Andrew was born in Poland in the year of 1901 and moved to Laona in 1914. Andrew worked in the woods when he first moved to Laona. His job was to skid the trees out of the woods to a place where they could be hauled out. The pay for this job was $2,00 a cord. Later he worked for Connors at the pay of $13.00 a month and Andrew^said,"I worked form daylight to'dark." Lynn Paul Lynn Paul came to Crandon in 1913 and married Adah Moe in 1922, The Pauls purchased Julius Breakstone's grocery store in 1924 and operated it for 43J years. The Pauls had two daughters and one son. The son served as a bomber in WWII and lost over the Black Sea and was never found. Mrs. Adah Moe Paul is still in Crandon. Mr. and Mrs. Sam Ross •:"' '''^•. Mr. and Mrs. Sam Ross live in Crandon in the house built by Sam's parents, the Mathew Ross's in 1906. Sam was born in 1905 and later served in WWII. After the war Sam was engaged in the logging business and married Ada Leminster. Edward Phieffer Edward Phieffer came to Hiles with his family in 1925. He married Mell James who lived in Hiles since 1919. Edward worked at a sawmill owned by C.W. Fish for 300 an hour. He worked 6 days a week and 10 hours a day. Vern Russell He was born in Marshfield in 1893. He moved to Laona in 1905. Their belongings were brought to Laona by means of boxcar. His father worked for Wisconsin Central Railway and then later worked for Connors running their train. He worked at the planning and flooring mill for a time, and then worked as an electricians helper. He told us that in 1922 he worked for Biever Motor Company. He was the shop foreman there. At that time he made 400 and hour. The Biever Motor Company sold Chevrolet-. He worked there until 1927. He got his first vehicle in 1923. The car was a model-T Ford.

Nina Russell and Felix Alderton In the year 1905, the John Russell family moved to Laona. They were the first ones to live at Silver Lake, but only for the summer months, because they used tents. They also, had the first commun­ ity soup. In 1907, the Alderton family moved to Laona. They bought a tavern and resturant, where the Club House stands now. Mr. Felix Alderton and Miss Nina Russell, were married on New Year's Day 1924. The house they lived in now was built by Felix's father, Fred Alderton— 1921-1922. When they were first married they lived in a small log cabin across the road from his parents. Clyde Sundberg Clyde Sundberg was born in Michigan in 1915. He worked as a game warden in Florence until he had to serve in WWII. After the war he went back as a game warden in Crandon in 1946. Clyde and Clara have two children.

274 Joseph Kluss Joseph Kluss came to Crandon in 1918, when he was one month old. Joe's father had a farm and he worked on it until 1934, In 1938 Joe and Francis PashoIk were married and now have two chil­ dren In 1942 Joe became the under-sheriff in Crandon. He became the youngest mayor in Wi, in 1945. He was deputy sheriff in I960 and sheriff from 1971-1978. John Smith Mr..Smith was born in 1897 near the shores of Lake Metonga, He moved to the home in 1973. He went to school in Wittenberg School for Indians. He was 15 years old and in grade three when he quit. He quit because it was to far from home and he just didn't like it. Then he moved to Mole Lake area and worked for the Keith and Hiles Company. He walked 4 or 5 miles to work. He was a deck man. He had to pile logs, He said, 'There was no such thing as a power saw in those days, they used cross cut saws."' John use to make moonshine, but he never used his own still, because he didn't have one so he always used his neighbors. He made about ten gallons at a time.

Hugh Larsen Hugh Larsen is 69 years old. He lived in Laona since 1938, and he came from Minnesota. Hugh worked for Connors mill for 35 years, when he retired in 1973. When he worked for Connors in 1938, he got 400 an hour and he worked for 42 hours a week. Hugh said that there were eight houses on the north end of town, where the Indians lived. They moved out of Laona around 1965 to 1970, and they never came back. Collins The Collins family is a very unique one. There are two Collins families in Laona^ they are not related. There were two Clark sisters that were married to Sturgous Collins and Lu Collins. As Far as we know, Sturgous Collins lived in Vernon County and worked on the railroad, and Lu Collins lived in Carter and worked. Sturgous and Lu were good friends, so Sturgous came around the territory of Laona and and worked with Lu Collins. Some of the sons of Sturgous stayed in Laona and raised a family. Sturgous had seven boys named; Edward, Marvin, Elmer, Okey, Claude, Hilton, and Raymond Collins. Okey ran a pool room, tavern, and a barbershop. The tavern was located where Lemerande *s market is today, which is better know as Mineau's store. Okey had three children; Helen, Irene, and Kenny, Kenny Collins owns a tavern in Laona now named Collins Bar. Sturgous *s other boy, Marvin Collins lives in Laona at this time. He is retired from the Connor Company now. Marvin and his wife Laura, had seven children named Jackie, Hilton, Arletts, Carol, Marvin, Delroy. and Melvin Collins. Edward Collins, Sturgous' other boy, had five children. Ronald,

275 Mary, (Retzlaff), Berthena (Mohr) nickname Pozie, Russell and Edward Collins Jr., most of them live around Laona. Florence and Charles Hayek Florence and Charles Hayek lived in Laona since October of 1936. They came from Phlox, a town on the other side:.of_-.Antigo. Mrs. Hayek worked as a cook in the Laona High School for twelve years. Mr. Hayek worked at Connors for 26 years in the flooring mill. He worked for 150 an hour, 10 hours a day, 6 days a week with no vacations. The Hayeks said they used to feed the Hobo's that came to their home. Some Hobo's even got robbed when they came to town. In 1936, the Hayeks had electricity, but they had no electrical plug ins. They had a water pump to share with four other homes,

Mrs. Adaline Pemma Adaline Pemma came from the Forest County Potowatomi Indians and lived here for sixty-seven years. When she was a little girl. She said she didn't do anything for fun because she had to watch her little brother all the time. She said it was easier living then than it is now and she liked living in a log house. L.W. McMillion L.W, McMillion was born in Crandon in 1922. He is at pre­ sent employed in the Veterans Service Office in Crandon. In 1941, he married Wayva Counter and now has two children. He served in WWII in the South Pacific. George McMillion George McMillion came to Crandon in 1910 from Illinois with his parents, Louie and Mints McMillion. George was born in 1909 and had one brother and two adopted brothers. George had six children from several marriages. He worked in the woods and in his fathers saloon. Now he is retired, Joe Bytell Joe Bytell was born in Antigo in 1892 where he went to school up to 8th grade and moved to Laona in 1932. He rented the Cooper farm, on which he raised crops, cows and chickens. In the winter he butchered and sold the cows for $25. a piece. For forage, for the cows, he cut hay with a mower pulled by a team of ponies. Dur­ ing the depression he sold some hay to Connor's for $35, a ton. On the farm the Bytell's had a pet dog and transportation was pro­ vided by a 1927 Chevolet, In addition to farming, Joe worked on the Chicago and Northern Railroad.

Mrs, Novak Mrs. Novak came to Blackwell in 1927, She was Blackwell's town clerk since 19^5. The town clerk before her was Frank Johnson 276 and Mrs. Flanner was town clerk before Frank Johnson. Mrs. Novak said she could remember when postage stamps were 20 and they would have to travel 2^ miles on a pede to the junction to pick up their mail. Walter Carter Walt Carter is a native of Iron Mountain, Michigan. He came to Laona in 1927, and worked for the Connor Company until he re­ tired. Walt married Miss Agnes Webb in 1929- He built the house they now live in and all of the furniture too. He lives across from his parents. He and his wife were blessed with two child­ ren; Jack, and Jane. Art Carpenter Art was born in Baraboo, Wis. Art moved to Crandon in 1901 at the age of 10. His dad owned a sawmill in Crandon where the Schiek Clinic is now. He worked for Page and Landbeck which was changed to Keith & Hiles when new owners took over. He worked 11 hours a day 7 days a week. He also worked as a .post master in 1920, and as city clerk in his later years. Walter Brass Walter was born in Wausau, Wis. in 1890. He built a house on lake Lurcerne in 1930. He worked on the railroad for the post office as a Postal Clerk. His job was a long traveling job, he went form Ashland to Milwaukee and back which added up to 400 miles a day. When he was younger he worked in a factory.for 90 an hour. He retired from the post office at 66. Forrest Zink He had a contracting company for construction and brick laying. He started his company in 1936. Most of his pay was on contract, but some small jobs that he worked were payed by the hour. He helped build the Catholic Church in Laona for $1.25 an hour. Alton Johnson Alton Johnson was born May 14, 1911 in Padus. He came to Laona in 1916. Alton carried mail in 1936 until 1973. He also was on the School Board for 10 years. He was a delegate C.E.S.A. for four years. For two years he was the secretary for Lions Club. In 1946 he was the cub master of the Cub Scouts. He married on September 21, in 1935 and has four children. He also had two terms of PTA (president and vice president).

277 Forest Tipton Forest Tipton was born in 1903 in Stanton, Kentucky. He came to Wisconsin in 1907 and his first job was working at Con­ nors farm. He worked for 800 a day and that included dinner. Forest retired in 1966. He got married in 1927 and had two children. William Mentz William Mentz, father of Michael Mentz, came to Laona from Germany. His wife came from Sweden. Michael came from Medford, Wisconsin before moving to Laona in 1902 and married Mathilda Hansen, who also came from Sweden. All together they had eleven children. Irma Radliff Irma Radliff came to Argonne, Wisconsin in 1925. She came from Kaloma, Wisconsin. They moved to Argonne because most of their relations were there. They moved to Laona for a period of seven years. They moved there because of her dad's job at Connors mill. When they moved back they had a farm. Irene Deaton Irene Deaton was born in Kentucky in 1890 and moved to Michigan at the age of two. She went to school ih Michigan and graduated there. At the age of fifty she moved to Crandon. She came in a truck with her family. They bought a farm and raised eleven cows. They sold some of the milk from the cows to the neighbors. Irene's father worked in the woods cutting pulp. He also, worked on the railroad for many years. Theresa Samz Theresa Samz was born in Lebanon, Wisconsin in 1894. She came to Argonne in 1917. In that year she married Richard Samz. They lived on a farm where they raised five children. They had three boys and two girls. As far as work goes she worked for Ella Sparks doing house work. On the farm her own family drove tractors and hayed. She went to school until she was thirteen. John Mentz He was born in Laona in 1914. In 1898, when his dad came to Laona, there were only three houses. They were on the south side of town. Mr. Mentz's father worked for Connors for 30 years. He worked as a saw filer. He also worked for Flanner Company in Blackwell in 1897-1899. The Flanner Company use to be the NuRoc Nursing home and some of the land or area around it.

278 Mrs, Edward Conley Mrs, Edward Conley was born in Crandon, Wisconsin. She lived her schooling years in Crandon, which lasted until the tenth grade. In 1919( she was married to Edward Conley. Edward Conley was working at Connors mill at the time they were married. They hard a hard time getting by because Edward was only making 170 an hour. They moved to Laona in 1923. Her husband then worked on Connors train, known as the Lumberjack Special. He was the break and fireman on the train. During World War I, in 19I8, Mrs. Conley worked at Connors mill. She was still living in Crandon at the time, so she came home only on weekends. She boarded at Zahringer's Hotel during the week. She worked ten hours a day and six days a week. She made $1.80 a day and about $8 a week. Laura Faivre Laura Faivre was born in Laona in I910. She was delivered in her parent's house by Dr. Dawley, Laura went to Laona schools and graduated in 1928. She worked for the phone company in Laona. It was located on Highway 8 in the green house next to the Presbyterian Church. She started at 190 an hour and moved up to 290 an hour for eight hours a day. After that she and her husband moved to Indiana and lived there until about 1951. Jerry Godin Mr. Jerry Godin, formerly of Stevens Point, came to Laona in 1913. He worked for $1 a day, for ten hours, in the basement of the hotel. He then worked for Connors, where he continued to work for 48 years. His starting pay was $1.30 a day. Joe Durant Joe Durant, Laona'3 previous resident plumber, came here in 1946. According to him, plumbing facilities were rather primitive. Outhouses were commom. Baths were taken in galvanized steel tubs. Joe Durant logged around the Cavour area after World War I.

Steve Conway Steve Conway, Jr. was born in Crandon to Steve and Ollie Conway in 1923. In 1939 he went to work for his father. He went into the service from 1942 until 1945. Steve and Bette Lombard were married in 1946. They have five children. Steve and Bette own and run the Forest Abstract Company. Alois Bocek

Mr. Alois ocek came to Crandon in 1919. He was born in Prague, Czechos lovakia on April 21, 1885. He bought 40 acres in the Cornin, settlement on the east end of Crandon. After he g ot settled, he sent for his wife, Mary, who had remained in Mil waukee, Mary came by train to Pelican, then by stagecoach to C randon. Mr. Bocek worked in the logging camps, cut firewood, and later became a stone mason. He built the fireplace at the ranger station and some waysides. He also built the Arch at the Old Decker resort. He and his wife raised ten children. His wife had nurse's training and he Iped deliver some of their grandchildren, It was sai d by Winfred Abney that when Louie died in 1967 and Mary in 197 7 that an era in history had passed.

Jerry Bocek with his horse "King". One of the last men still working with a horse and dray in the state. Picture taken in 1977.

280 Gilbert C. LaDu and his Kenworth Diesel Truck illustrating modern transportation of pulp and logs in the Forest Products Industry in Forest County,

281 A mechanical shear attached to a crawler tractor.

•M null A short wood skldder used for 8 feet long wood. A pole skldder used to drag logs or poles out of the woods. A short wood and a pole skldder. Cutting the Chriiitmas tree for the Nation'.s Capitol, November 1979. Laona Forest Service. 286 X 1f^

! I I • « M,

Lrectinf the Christmas tree on thp Capitol lavm — the tree was donated by the.^^itizecs of Forest County. November 'ly?.^.. . , zaf ' ' • NATIONS CHRISTMAS TREE

Forest County had the honor in 1979 of providing the Nation's Christmas tree to grace the grounds of the Capitol in Washington D. C. The tree, which grew on the Laona Ranger District of Nicolet National Forest, was a forty-seven.year old white spruce standing fifty-nine feet tall with a branch spread of thirty-three feet. It was cut in a special ceremony at Laona on November 28, 1979 and transported to the Capitol where it was lighted on December 12, 1979- VETERANS OF WORLD WAR I

Crandon Albert Raymond Alexander William Leslie John Wilber Peter Apel Charles E. Lewis Alex Wolosuk Laurence Frank Arndt Claude H. Lovelace Ray Stanley Aird Alonzo B. Bailey Leo L. Lutterman Chester E. Cahoe Russell M. Bailey Al J. Macauley Donn Joseph Girswold Theron N. Bailey Earl Macauley Winford Perry Girswold Clarence Stanley Bartels Melvin Martin Frank Leonard Harris Howard H. Bingham Floyd A. Maybee Harvey Joseph La Mere Ray V. Bingham Steve Milanski Herbert Pekel Arthur C. Bock Grin E. Miracle Harvey S choepke Henry I. Breitman Charles J. Monte Herman Thompson, Jr, Archie Bullis Gus Murray VJilbur Wallace Thompson ,Ervin F. Burmeister Roy J. Murray Ernest John Tischer ©liver Campbell August Nelson Lee Edgar Wyman Walter E. Carter Jack Frederick Netzej Edwin Worthy Wickham "Harold C, Case Walter F. Netzel Samuel Chaney Dayton C. Packard Ignatz Chowich Edward M, Packard "ffimery C. Cole Edwin Elmer Palmer Nashville ert Lewis Compton Lynn Paul lohn Compton Arthur S. Peterson John Bartol Earroll C. Comwell Green B. Ratliff Charles K. Batten pari H. Cyrus Gwenald Lee Ritter Marion Bellemi Clark Ogden Decker Raymond Ralph Rogers McKinley Dodd lEdward D. Dreger Harry C. Ross Oscar F. Dodd •Courtney Allen Duff Roy W. Rouse Elmer Gearheart lEdward Farley Walter H. Schmidt Ollie R, Harris IBenjamin W. Ferguson John H, Schoepke Cam U. Holbrook iArthur William Freimuth George W. Scott Kelley McPherson I George W. Gehrke Ward A, Scott Carl S. Peed [Henry E. Geske William J. Sense Marvin C. Pitts IRoscoe Gibson William J, Shay Reece McKinley Pitts IGeorge H. Gifford Charles A. Smith Robert Rogers Iciaude M. Graham Daniel Boon Phipps I John Graham John Stankos '- Lawrence Graham Paul Statezny ! A. Grimmer Ernest Carl Stetter Joseph W. Stransky Bertrand George Haney Charles E. Thompson Arms trong Henning Frank Holm Hans Jensen Thyregod Reuben M, Johnson Leon Tinney Arthur P. Johnson Fred Kluge Albert P. Towne Jacob Joseph Stark Frank C. Kobin Edward J, Trudeau Frank Toth' Walter P, Kobin Porter C. Tyler Joseph Walczak Walter R. Korth Rolland G. Waite Rudolph M. Korth Charles E. Walker Warden B. Krauter Clarence F, Webb Joseph Krawza Harry Edward Webb Newald William A. Lamont Willis Verant Webb Lester La Mere Peter N. Whisnant Charles Bouscher Robert Bruce Faulkner Shelby \Jhite Alfred G. Gerl John Riley Lewis Ernest H. Wickham Edward K. Hupt William Francis Tischer Joseph Claude Newell Rowell William L, Hupf 289 Bert Dolan VETERANS OF WORLD WAR I (con.) n Laona Joseph E. Austin Michael Oettinger Wabeno Willim Barowski Roraey Martin Oettinger John T. Bradle Don Vernon Russell Josef Myja Leo James Bradle Ron Myers Russell George Nemetz Bert Bradley Walter W. Niermann Claude Brisbin Harold R. Noer Fred Brown Clifford O'Connor Raymond F. Brown Wab eno Henry Olson Frank Chropek Edward F. Peterson James Collins Richard Steven Adams Raymond Pichotta Joseph B. Collins Thomas J, Adams Anton Piontek John L. Critchett Clinton S. Alexander George H. Reddick Tony Czenkust Harold Christian Anderson Walter R. Rietz Jozef Dyja Seigfred E. Beck Elmer J, Roberts Lester Elkey Thomas Bartlein Fred T. Rondeau, Jr. Murton Elkey Frank Boven Edward Schader William Fellion Charles William Braun John P. Schaenzer Perry Lee Flanery Peter F, Braun William Schultz Justin Gaidelis Chaney Briggs Albert Schuster Adam Gamek George A, Campbell Earl L, Schwerke Joseph Gurczak Gustav H. Carlson Edward Shampeau Stanislov Jankovsky William D. Champean John Shampo Charley Jim Jos eph Cheduikis Mike Shampo Robert James Johnston Guy L, Dodge Johm Shamnoo Martin Kaker William J, Doyle Joseph Shores William Karl VTalter Frank Duprey Joseph Simineau Karl Kolobsie Isaac Dupuis, Jr. John F. Stage Ray LaBrile Alden J. Flegal William N. Stronach Elmer Lambert Robert J. Geiter Charles F. Swan Fred Lobner Ernest Giroulz Fred Talliere Randolph A. Lonier Rudolph Glasl, Jr, Edward Tallire Peter Makarevich William G. Grunniwaldt William Tucker Konstantine Malahowski Carl Guse Harry A. Welch Martin Michel Harry L. Hall Frank J, Wines Otto Ostertag Emery Peter Hebert Rudolph Zielke Samule Potts, Jr, George Josenh Huettl Albert V. Adams Dell Rogers Otto Edward" Igl Percy W. Adams John B. Shackelford August F. Iwen Wilbert B. Carlson Jozef Smith Joseph Jennes Allen L. Chinnick Joseph Sobezak Leroy C. Kinsey Irving J. Courtice John B, Sturzl George J, Kufner Alexander E, Hopper Roland S. Swanson Frank LaPage Paul S. Mallette Ralph Taylor Lloyd J. Londo Raymond J, O'Connor William Taylor Frank J. Luisier Francis L. Touloff Noah S. Tomlin Fred Luisier Bernard J. Pichotta Clarence P. Truckey Raymond MacDonald George W. Verrinder John P. Mallow William C. Wynn Charles Mathys Roy Barnes Herbert G. Miller John Zatic Irwin W. Miller Fidossy Zitinetz Ralph H. Miller Carl John Bourassa Willig.m E. Moore LeRoy Alfred Cornell George Herman Mueller 290 VETERANS OF WOJ^D WAR I (con.)

Soperton Cordie Kincaid Blackwell William Kruse Andrew Anderson Mike J. Powers Simon Behart James C. Brathoved James F, Short Minle Cyruk Harry Ernest Carlson John Short Philip D. Flanner Ernest Carney ;_;: . Earl Stokes Albert Gensch Jacob Ciesielczk -x i-' Harry C, Willcox Waclaw Glofka George E. Coakley Charles Elmer Cahoe Earl Louis Goodchild Rajonond G. Derrah Hugh R. Cunningham Harry E. Hansen Otto J. Gissing Vernon A. Du Four Epolie Jeanquackie Angus B. Grant Mark Williams Gibbs Steve Kaskavitch Leroy Grant William John Hill Stanley Kimbark Vernon J. Howard Kenneth A. Peterson John Kufner Carl A, Johnson Frank Rosio Joseph Frank Kufner Wilbur H. Kennedy Mike Lekowski James G. Kenny Feliky Niewetzaskl Edward Kuntz Edward G. Rouse Alois Strilka Oscar T. Larson Armstrong Creek Stanley Swiston Jerry Jerome LeFleur Henry F. Turcotte Cliffort Harvey Lindberg Anson M. Bartels John A, Turcotte, Jr. Harry E, McGraw, Jr. Ben Biestek Joseph Wujeik Alexander M. Machus Walter Jock Henry G. Nellis Bruno Kizefski Clarence G. Noble Kostanty Kliescebski James Martin Nolan ,... John Lukaszewski Roland Peterson g^';V Stephen Masuschak Hiles John Pfankuch a (,.-. John Vernon Miller Francis H. Reavey Wallace Miller Raymond W, Bell Kenneth Rogers John Panick Clyde F. Bell Louis G. Waubenom Henry Pego Frank Burton Oscar Wedell Vastel Sadoski Harold E. Harkin Robert Clifford Alexander Joseph Sarik William B. Harkins William Ellwood Derrah Frank W, Scott Leo Frank Jankowski Robert Leonard McGraw Adolph J. Sinkula Jay H, Keefe Ellery Ellsworth Michaels Aires Stafford Panas Kozal George A. Michaels, Jr. Arthur H. Lambert Joseph Patrick Nolan Anton Narbut Frank John Reardon Harry E. RobenoIt Alvin Anton Sabynicz North Crandon John H. L. Brewer Woodie W. Brooks Christian Anderson Herman H. Buchanan Elvin D. Anderson Marion H. Gibbs Padus Hilding E. Anderson Leonard P. Perry Ronald J, Anklam Nute L. Powell Ralph E, Knutson Charles K. Bowman Garrod M, Thrasher Alfred Peterson Archie C, Cardinal James Oliver Thrasher Sam Peterson Forrest Carvill Virgal R. Thrasher George S. Smith Morton D. Grandine Albert Edwin Knutson Henry Houle Otto Peterson Jessie Joseph Houle William J. Houle Mole Lake James Hyland Samuel L. Sturdevant 291 VETERANS OF WORLD WAR.I (con.)

Carter Veterans Who Died During Their Service in World War I Asa G. Collins Asher C, Collins John R. Collins Jackson W. Adoma Albert Koch Chester Andrews Louis Koch E. M. Aschenbrenner William Clifton Pittsley Leonard H. Bazille Orville E. Ward Clarence W, Beyer Peter Boyd Orvil J. Christensen Vernon L. Colburn Cavour Boyd G. Collins Arnold Cook Raymond L. Bouck James A. Deaton Oscar W, Eckliind Norbert C. Elffords Leo C. Hess Michael J, Frye Frank Irzmbrorski Arthur P. Hansen Roy G. Kniess Thomas F. Himes Frank L. Madison Herbert W. Joas Tonie Rudis Orlands Krupka Ignatz Sinkewitch Adolph Lej a Richard Marvin John Bouck Chester Masel Russell Mohr Collins B, Murray James Paul Other towns Donovan A. Petts Paul Pukacz George Stevan Sullivan Martin R. Raetz Brunskelf Kyinkecke Matthew E. Rausch Daniel Bobell Melvin Roberts Martin T. Ison Michael R. Seeman Charley E. Nelson Forest F. Sharey Elmer Sparks, Jr. Anton Tauer Carl F, Tauer Edmund Thompson James Venerka Grank K. Whitt Veterans of Forest County Who Died During the Spanish-American War

Green, Charles Oscar Harlan, James Isaacs, George R. Russell, Leonard J. Snider, Harland H. Weight, Arthur Adam Wincel, Davis Ison, Robert James, Elmer

Veterans of Forest County \flio Died During the Civil War

Bouret, William Carson, Fredricks D. Cheney, William M. Forrest, DeWitt C. Johnson, Alonzo Webster Lyons, Frank Mc Hugh, Francis Mc Nob, Carlos M. Mountain, Robert G, Quinlan, William Richardson, Samuel D, Rorer, George Slater, Dellon Smith, Alfred Vallier, Charles Wickham, Worthy Edwin Boodry, Sylvester Pooler, James

Veterans of Forest County Who Died During the 1846-1848 Mexican War

Hess, Leo C.

293 APPENDIX- VETERANS OF WORLD WAR II

ALVIN ARGONNE ARGONNE

Baker, Wallace L. Asbach, Donald L. Marvin, Leo L. Boardman, Keith P, Bailey, Ervin Marvin, Richard R. Borske, Andrew M. Bailey, Oce Masbaum, Glen E. Borske, Arnold A. Baken, Malcolm R. McCorkle, Ellsworth L. Borske, Everett M. Bennett, Clark A. McCorkle, Gerald N. Borske, Harold W. Bennett, James W. McCorkle, Rodney P. Borski, Joseph Buckbee, Harold H. McMillion, Charles H. Brabank, Joseph Cobert, Winford A. Meyer, George R. Culver, Eugo L. Cole, Carmon M. Monte, Richard V, Day, Herman C. Cole, Lloyd E. Monte, Roland R. Haase, Lorenzo D. Deaton, James A, Mullings, John H. Hall, Clifford C. Deaton, Jesse R. L. Murray, Francis W. Hall, James E. Dixon, Thomas A. Novak, Frank J. Huff, Earl T. DuFour, Allen E. Novak, Joseph B. Hughes, Lawrence DuFour, Arthur G. dinger, Donald E. Krueger, William C. DuFour, Douglas W. Pasholk, Albert L. May, Clayton DuFourt,Ray F. Pfeiffer, Joseph James May, Robert Emerson, James R. Pfeiffer, Martin C. Netherly, Melvin Feucht, Edmond J. Prusinski, John V. Pelts, Donavan A. Feucht, Frank X. Prusinski, Joseph V. Perry, Maurice E. Feucht, Leo R. Ranft, Elwood L. Puckett, Edward 0. Flannery, John R, Rasmussen, Donald A. Puckett, Fred 0. Fulk, Charles H. Richard, Leo J. Ramsdell, Kenneth H, Fulk, George M. Riegert, Peter W. Stapelton, Cay Fulk, Harry B. Rindal, Hjalmer F. Stock, Michael G. Fulk, Heber E. Rindal, Norman G. Zierler, Alvin C. Fulk, Lawrence A. Ritter, Edward A. Zierler, Bernard H. Graves, Joseph M, Samz, Alloys J. Zierler, Gilbert N. Grayer, John Samz, Charles L. Zierler, Leonard E, Greene, Lowell D, Schmidt, Alfred C. Hamilton, Charles F. Schmidt, Bruce H. Harris, Richard H. Schmidt, Edmund L. ALVIN CCC Hill, Frank S. Jr. Schmidt, Philip W. Houle, Joe A. Schmidt, Richard E. Behm, Mu rland J. Hoover, John F. Schultz, Clyde H. Dowdin, Alfred G. Hoover , Oscar R. Schultz, Marvin L. Dreiling Peter M. Jankovlch, Frank F. Schultz, Walter D. Ecker, L.awrenc e J. Jesse , Fabian A, Shorey, Forest F. Galeen, John W. Johnson, James A. Stamper, George L. Heschke Melvin J. Johnson, James M. Stover, James 0. Jurk, Ot to F. Kevilus, Frank A. - Taylor, Arthur P. Kryzak, Robert J, Kirker, Jack J. Taylor, Hobert E. Kust, An thony J. Klus, Andy Tinsman, Orlo Lehman, David 0; Krause, Arnold R, Turk, Stanley K. Lundin, Ivan L. Krause, Warren H. Vaneika, James F. Matti, J ohn J. Krawus, William F. Waalkins, Alfred R. Michalsk , Herbert A. Kugel, Leo G. Waalkins, Anton H. Nletzer, Theodore G. Kugel, Leonard S. Waalkins, Charles Oszuscik Paul J. Kunz, Earl L. Waalkins, Jacob Retlick, George L. Kunz, John F. Wojtecki, August G. Ronzani, Anthony LaBlanc, Leonard J. Yeskis, John F. Sobezak, Leonard E. Marvin, John H. Unmuth Jack

294 ARMSTONG CREEK ARMSTONG CREEK CARTER Andrews, Chester Tomaszewski, Anton R. Kozd, Stanley W. Bunij, Joseph M. Twardowski, Edward K. McDaniel, James J. Chitko, Stanley V. Twardowski, Sylvester McDaniel, Vernon R. Cichonski, Thaddeus S. Uprigh, Ben R. Mielke, Orben P. Cichonski, Walter Wall, Andrew P. Montour, Roland G. Czech, Andrew T. Wall, Michael J. Morstad, Laurence W. Dziedzie, Frank J. Wall, Walter S. Morstad, Raymond A. Franczak, Joe J. Wedeking, William P. Morstad, Robert Erie Franzek, Walter S. Wozniak, Joseph Morstad, Theodore A. Gogat, John M. Yoblonski, John Nelson, William Gurka, Walter L. Yoblonski, Mike Schaal, Norman E. Jacher, Leo A. Zaraski, Ben R. Shepard, Louis A. Janczy, Stanley A. Sherrick, Bert Jarosz, Henry J. BLACKWELL Tucker, Harvey L. Joslin, Lester N. Walker, Byron H. Van Der Joslin, Vern W. Bidden Archie J. Kiszonas, Rafol R. Crowley Walter G. CAVOUR Klescewski, Bennie DonaldS'on , Perry 0. Klescewski, Chester F. Flanner Edward F. Benzinger, Fritz H. Klescewski, Edward R. Flanner George C. Benzinger, Roy A. Klescewski, John Frank, Harry Bouck, Charles F. Klescewski, Vincent W. Freeman Merlyn K. Bouck, Joseph A. Kluss, Joe Gentz, Karl 3. Brown, Lester B. Kopka, Benjamin S. Gentz, James H. Brown, William J. Kowalkowski, Benjamin ^ Gentz, John R. Bull, Clarence E. Kowalkowski, Joseph S. Gentz, Phillip Joseph Elkington, Ralph J. Kozlowski, Joseph P. Goodchi Id, Gery F. Gruman, Norbert F. Kudabeck, Steven L. Groh, J.'aco b Hansen, Arthur P. Kush, Peter P. Kagerba.uer , Edward A. Hess , Neal A. Leja, Adolph Masel, Chester Kohlbeck, Joseph L. Malas, Martin Masel, John E. Moczarney, Paul Mazur, John R. Mauger, Frank J. Olson, Oborn R. Mazur, Mack G. Mervyn, Robert J. Schimmel, Elsworth Mazur, Stanley F. Rogers, Roger William VenZile, Ralph V. Mazur, Theodore D. Simons, Gerald E. Mazur, Walter P. Wall :lroy G. CRANDON Migas, John F. Whitefi George Millan, Ignatz S. Abney, Garland J. Millian, Joseph J, CARTER Abney, Winfred G. Mrugala, Joe A. Adams, Oliver R. Mrugala, John S. Bagocus, Andrew Adams, Orville D. Nusykiewicz, Stanley L. Bagocus, Victor Adkins, Andrew Parzatka, Frank J. Bocloh, Shirley M. Allen, Alfred Paweowski, Edward J. Chapman, Clyde K. Allen, John M. Piszcor, Joseph S. Collins, Harold J. Alloway, William Plucinski, Raymond Collins, James F. Andrews, Orlin W. Price, Alvin H. Collins, Johnny W. Armstrong, Gerald E. Pukacz, Paul Cox, Wilber N. Ashley, Curtis Pukacz, Peter J. Cox, Wilmar A. Ashley, Ronald J. Sadowski, Joe W. Dickhoff, Alvin W. Ashley, William K. Sewczljk, John Harris, George W. Aubol, Kenneth L. Sidor, Stephen E. Harris, Raymond A. Bailey, Alvin Siekierski, Mathre F. Jacobson, John E. Bailey, George Sladewski, Bernard J. Kexel, Vincent G. Bailey, Herbert Sladewski, Edmund J. Koch, Harold W. Baker, Leo W. Syta, Joseph T. Koch, Leonard L. Ball, Charles 295 CRANDON CRANDON CRANDON Ball, John G. Clinton, Charles Fougate, James H. Barker, Charles E. Colborn, Ernest G. Fraley, Azel S. Barker, George A. Colborn, Gilbert G. Fraley, Kerrait R, Barker, George L. Colborn, Paul a. Fredrick, George W. Barnes, Russell A. Colborn, Vernon L. Friendt, John Bartz, Armund B. Converse, Charles E, Gallian, Thomas Bartz, Glen L. Converse, Robert W. Gambill, James W. Bartz, Lester L. Conway, Kenneth J. Gambill, Joseph F. Bartz, Robert Conway, Richard F. Geske, Harry H. Bauknecht, Duane F. Conway, Stephen J. Jr. Geske, Louis M. Bazille, Herald J. Cooper, Thomas W, Gerald, Clifford A. Bazille, Leonard H, Cottrell, Eugene E. Gerow, Carl J. Becker, Donald F. Cronce, Edward D. Gilbert, Jack Becker, Fred Crum, William D. Gilmore, Burton W. Bellomy, Victor Cyrus, Donald L. Graham, Earl M. Bennett, Benjamin A. Graham, Theodore 0. Bergman, Edward T. Cyrus, Harold 0, Grandine, Lester D. Jr. Bocek, Frank G. Cyrus, Henry H. Greene, Allie M. Bocek, Joseph E. Davis, Darren L. Gretzinger, Earl Edward Boodry, James Davis, Harvey M. Gretzinger, Frank J. Boodry, Ralph E. Davis, James C. Griffith, Wilgers Booth, Noel B, Davis, Martin V. Gruentzel, Charles R. Bowman, Roy L. Davis, Ralph G. Gruentzel, Paul J. Boyd, Peter Davis, Robert A. Gruentzel, Richard A. Davis, Sylvester R. Gryczkowski, Chester T. Broiullad, Telesphard J, Day, Delmer Gryczkowski, Lee H. Brownell, Dennis C. Dean, Marvin M. Gryczkowski, Stanley S. Bushweider, Leslie E. DeHart, Donald E. Hale, Dudley Cable, Charles G. DeMars, Vernon F. Halkofen, Alvin B. Cable, Lloyd J. DeNoble, James H. Hanes, Carl Campbell, Arthur L. - DeNoble, Joseph R. Hargraves, Austin W. Campbell, Harold 0. Derickson, Osbert C. Harris, Arnold Campbell, Nowel T. DeWitt, Arthur Harris, Gordon W. Campbell, Paul Dononue, William D, Hart, William Campbell, Richard Duff, Everette Hartwig, Phillips C, A. Carey, Albert F. Hayes, George W. Carlson, Al M. Duff, Virgil Duff, William Hempler, John W. Carlson, Robert H. Hewitt, Alvin A, Carpenter, Irvin H. Edmonds, Jack R. Himes, Thomas Jr. Carrier, Clark B. Elan, Fred R. Hoenig, Tamon M. Carter, Bob C. Elan, Howard D. Hoening, Samuel S. Carter, Jack W. Ernest, Eugene F. Hoffman, Glenn J. Carter, Jeanne A. Ernest, Gustave W. Holt, George W. Carter, Stuart L. Evans, Earl Honzik, Joseph Jr. Charapine, Harold J. Evans, Harry A. Howard, Virgil Chaney, Garland Fannin, Allen S. Ingram, Albert A. Chartraw, Donald D. Fannin, Eugene F. Ingram, Leonard J. Chartraw, Leonard E. Fannin, Harry Jr. Ingram, Willie M. Chartraw, Raymond Fannin, Hilton T. Ison, Luther A. Christensen, Donald K. Fannin, Vernon A. Ison, Victor G, Christensen, Harold E. Faulkner, Sidney B. Jackson, John Christensen, Gerald K, Flannery, Charles W. Jacobs, Dorsle A. Christensen, Orvil J. Flannery, Emil H. Johnson, Clarence A. Christensen, William R. Flannery, Talmadge Johnson, James Church, James C. Flannery, Willis J. Johnson, Richard M. Clark, Gerald Flight, Cencil L. Johnson, Steral Cline, Everette D. Flinehum, Suel Ford, Ward&^H. 296 CRANDON CRANDON CRANDON Johnson, William E. Mc Nutt, Ison T. Red, Gordon E. Jones, Gilmore R. Mc Nutt, Robert L. Robbins, Adrian C. Jones, Owen M. Mc Nutt, Walter F. Robbins, Earl L. Juetten, Donald J. Mc Pherson, Hertsel W. Robbins, Gene Juetten, George H. Mc Pherosn, Robert Roberts, Melvin J. Juetten, Kenneth L. Meister, Ottie Rogers, Curtis T, Kalkofen, Harold C. Mihalko, Donald Billy Rosa, Homer P. Kamm, Guerdon B. Morinsin, Robert C. Ross, Samuel S. Kemp, Frank S. Mullins, Ernest H. Rowlinson, David W. Kemp, George W. I. Murray, Alfred L. Rowlinosn, Robert B. Kemp, John Murray, Earl Santerno, Gene Kemp, Ralph Neal, Arthur C. Schleiger, Joseph F. Kendall, Martin P, Neal, LeRoy Kincaid, Curtis J, Seifert, Victor F. Kincaid, Lloyd H, Nelson, Donald E. Sharp, Cencil G. King, Elmer A. Nettleton, Wayne A. Sharpe, Glenn King, Norman A. Netzel, Leroy J, Sheldon, Charles W. King, Elmer A. Netzel, Walter F. Sheldon, Gale P, Klime, Donald W, Newasson, Joseph L. Sheldon, Lyle R. Kobin, Harold F, Noreika, Paul R. Sheldon, James B. Kobin, Herman Jr. O'Brien, Chester F. Sheldon, Raleigh F, Kobin, John W, Oestreick, Delmer F. Sheldon, Thomas A, Koth, Howard H. Oestreick, Frederick W. Shelley, Frank T. Koth, Howard M. Oestreick, Robert M. Shields, Allen J, Koth, Ronald H. Oettinger, Donald T. Sipple, Glenn Koth, Royal R. Jr. Oettinger, Earl J. Sipple, Ervin E. Krohn, John S. O'Marro, James Sipple, Estils L. Kruse, John R. O'Marro, Roy T. Smith, Arthur Kukinski, Ted A. O'Marro, Walter V. Smith, George Jr. Lambert, George M, Otten, James R. Smith, Mose Lambert, John M. Oudyn, Robert W. Smith, Wallis M, Lambie, George H. Jr. Packard, Elmer A. Sparks, Elmer Jr. Lambie, Willard J. Packard, Reuben Charles Spencer, Claude Jr. Leon, Francis A. Pador, Charles Spencer, Mark Lobner, Joseph Palmer, Ronald L. Spencer, Paul E. Lockard, Porter M. Patton, Tom Stamper, Russell M. Lykins, Seldon C. Paul, James R. Lyons, Kenneth R. Statezny, Eugene E. Lyons, Theodore L. Pence, Donald W. Statezny, Melvin F. Maculey, John A. Pence, Robert W. Stevens, Robert W. Macheichok, Harry H. Peterson, Arthur S. Stewart, Lawrence R. Manley, Fred W. Peterson, Fred A. Stewart, Lyman L. Marsh, Richard 0. Peterson, Harold A. Stone, Grant C. Marzini, Clarence E. Petrick, Ruben T. Sturzl, Eddie A. Marzini, John W. Pfeiffer, Elmer A. Stull, Walter E. Mathews, Robert M. Pfeiffer, Harvey W. Swann, Herbert G. Mattson, Sigfrid M. Pfeiffer, Julius N. Jr. Terrian, Leonard Maxon, Alonzo A, Pitts, Donald G. Thiel, Robert Maxon, Randolph Plummer, Raymond J. Thomas, Charles A. Mc Cartz, Everette Plummer, Richard Thomas, Robert C. Mc Cartz, Gardner H. Plummer, Samuel Thomas, Roy E. Mc Geshick, William Plummer, William D. Thornbury, William C. Mc Gregor, Thomas W. Pratt, Edwin D. Timm, Raymond A. Mc Million, George A. Predith, Lester L. Tompson, Edmond Mc Million, Henry J. Purdy, Samuel L. Tracy, Samuel P. Mc Million, Jack L. Purdy, Thomas W. Tracy, Francis A. Mc Nutt, Donald L. Quade, Orville A. Tupper, Bernard J. Ramsdell, Robert A.. Tupper, Edward J. Ramsdell, William A. Tupper, Lawrence F. 297 CRANDON HILES NASHVILLE Tupper, Richard.A. Bell, Kenneth L. Bellomy, Goebil Tyler, Arthur L. Bell, Wilson H. Bellomy, Jesse M. Tyler, Delmar Bochte, Anton J. Boggs, Harry D. Tyler, George N. Bochte, Rudolph Boggs, Willis G. Tyler, Glenn G. Bonack, Clifford 0. Campbell, Oral L. Tyler, Lawrence R. Castonguay, Lyle Cedzo, Joseph M. Tyler, Norman 0. Castonguay, Meryl I. Combs, Arlys G. Tyler, Raymond L. ' Colburn, Edward D. Derickson, Charles C. Tyler, Richard L. Dixon, Robert H. Derickson, Jesse J. Unger, Karl A. Dreger, Forrest F. Decorah, John B. Valley, Earl C. Elffors, Norbert C. Fraley, Mervel Vanderhoff, Arvid V. Elick, Adam Gayhart, Richard T. Van Zile, Robert A. Ellck, John Jr. Ginter, James W. Vine, William A. Hagen, Stewart W, Greene, Grover A. Wagoner, Charles 0. Halase, Anton G. Greene, Roy Elmo Wagoner, George L. Halase, Frank H. Grezenski, Louis 3. Waite, George R. Halase, John J. Harris, James R. Waite, Wallace J. Halase, Raymond A. Harris, Paul V. Walrath, Edwin C, Hanson, Marshall J. Hoffman, Barney J. Warax, Ansford Hanson, Robert E. Howard, Ivan Weber, George J. Harkins, Harold N. E. Jacobs, Orville Weber, Gordon Lewis Harkins, Henry A. . Jacobs, Osie Weber, Martin T. Harkins, William B. Jacobs, Victor V. Wewason, Raymond Herman, Joseph M. Jazdewski, Ludwig R. White, Donald E. Hozan, Martin J. Joan, Herbert W. White, Marshall V. Johnson, Oliver B. Johnson, Allen R. White, Robert C. Mattson, Gilbert A. Johnson, Kenneth Whitefish, John Mattson, Harold J. Jones, Alvle H. Whitt, Glen V. Rasmussen, Elmer F. Jones, Ivan Whitt, Frank K. Rausch, Jacob Kocian, Eugene E. Wickham, Harry H. Robinson, Forest L. Logan, Harold Wickham, Oliver S. Robinson, Perry M. Mc Geshick, Peter Wilber, Floyd M. Sochte, Joseph Mc Geshick, William Wilber, Harley M. Taver, Anton Mericle, Charles Wilber, Jack I. Taver; Carl J. Montgomery, Leonard Wilber, Wayne G. Taver, Francis A. Mullins, Virgel Wilson, Jay G. Taver, John T. Murdock, Archie Wilson, Raymond Taver, Roman Noreika, Raymond 0. Wilson, Ora M. Tomazevic, Anton L. Palubicki, Raymond J. Wilson, William L. Tomazevic, Donald E. Parker, Ralph Jr. Wilson, Woodrow H. Voutos, Donald F. Phipps, Dorsay Wilson, Woodrow W. Voutos, William E. Pitts, Laurence E. Woods, Stanley E, Wald, John G. Pitts, Loren P. Yeager, Roy A. Wald, Marvin J. Pitts, Ralph J. Yocum, Howard Wald, Raymond H. Plummer, Eugene Zunk, Eugene A. Wald, Wilbert W. Poler, Harry Wills, Kenneth • Poler, Michael F. Pollery, Jack Remington, Gerald R. HILES Sherman, John Clarence NASHVILLE Smith, Daniel Anderson, Rudolph A. Smith, Dorsey Antonuk, Adam J. Ackley, Charles W. Smith, Earl D. Antonuk, Alex P. Ackley, Earl E. Smith, Frank Antonuk, Harry Ackley, Fred Smith, Henry L. Antonuk, Peter Ackley, Richard D. Smith, Vernon Baumgartner, Robert J. Bauknecht, pmil Jr, Bell, Charles H. Beach, George J. 298 NASHVILLE NEWALD SOPERTON i Sparks, Bernard E- Koenig, Stanley M. Linn, Joseph F. Torgerson, Donald A. Meyer, John E. Lorenz, Elmer H, Van Zile, Henry K. Miron, Bernard C. Lorenz, Irvin L. Van Zile, Joseph C. Miron, Edward H. Lorenz, Orville F. Walentowski, Alby W. Miron, James V. Mann, Frank Whitts, Carl 0. Mohr, Leonard E. Manomin, John Williams, Herbert G, Mohr, Merlyn L. Mc Allen, William A. Jr Murray, Collin B. Mc Donald, John W. NELMA Myers, Gerald E. Mc Ewen, Melvin Perenlch, Gollub N. Pemma, Henry A. Adams, Jackson W, Philips, Floyd E. Prue, Grant A. Bowman Charles E, Phillips, Roy R. Quinlan, David J. Brewer Woodrew Rajek, John L, Quinlan, John V. CornW' n, Cleatis Sheldon, Alfred H. Quinland, David J. Heller , Francis M. Sheldon, Donald C. Rank, Arnold J. Knott Bert C, Schrader, Raymond B. Vallard, Elmer E. Seeman, Michael 'R.. Mc Int osh, Vernon L, Vallard, Frederick R. McMurl , Stuart R. Squire, Fredrick D. Vallard, Ralph F. 0. Synon, Joseph M, Modrow Bruce J. Vallard, William G. Powell Darell A, Thesnder, Charles J. Donald W. Werth, James N. Thurber, Ervin -.C: Powell Werth, Russell P. Trudeau, Clyde J. Sparks Harold L. Clayton A. Vachon, Edmund A. i Spence SOPERTON Ward, Vern Spence Duard J. Garrod C. Wengyn, Frank J. Spence Hillard W. Alloway, Hoffman Woelfinger, Joseph A. Spence Zack P. Bartlein, James R. Spence ton, Harold Bartlein, Jean F, Staple Bartlein, Ray WABENO Brooks, Merritt K. NEWALD Brooks, Robert R. Aarstad, Theodore J. Jr Clavette, Delbert J. Adams, Peter 0. > Albrecht, Manley W. Davis, Millard L. Anderson, LaVern N. Aschinger, Ariyn M. Ellick, Ben Baccus, Oliver C. Bey, Duane E. Glasl, Alfred A. Bauman, Oliver H. Bonesteel, Rodger E. Glasl, Phillip R. Beaulieu, Mitchell H. Borden, Marvin E. Glasl, Rudolph F. Bedal, Lyman Butler, Donald E. Hager, Max Jr. Beyer, Clarence W, Castellion, Herman C. Harris, Arnold J. Bintz, William P. Castellion, Russell F. Harris, Charles C, Jr Braun, Donald J. Chaney, George Harris, hubrey E. Braun, Robert L. Cleerman, Francis W. Hassman, Joseph A, Broman, Orville C. Cunningham, Donald E. Heller, James J. Broman, Robert A. Davis, Lyle J. Heller, Wayne A. Brooks, Thurman D, Dessel, Bufus J. Johnson, Harry J. Brooks, William J. Percy , Edward F, Kadow, James C, Brushafer, Ervin J, Forrest, Matthew R, Kaker, Martin L. Brushafer, Chester J. Gerl, Edward J. Kexel, Francis R. Brushafer, Ronald L, Gorr, Burnett K, Kenzick, Max Carlson, William A. Gorr, James D, Kielman, Lyle M. Charapeaie, Clarence G. Hiles, George B. Kostuch, Clements R. Clogh, Jack L. Jobelious, Warren F. LaFleur, Edwin L. Coleman, Jack L. Johnson, Harry H, LaFleur, James T. Collins, Boyd G. Knapp, Leonard B. LaFleur, Jerry A. Collins, Tytus M. Kniess, Duwaine L. LaFleur, Leo D. Crawford, Arthur Kniess, Max G. Jr, LaFleur, Mc Guire L, Craw, Lawrence Edward Kniess, Ray Lyaman, Lyle E. Dagen, John 0. Kniess , Willard R. Le Fevre, Onville C. Dailey, Jon P. WABENO WABENO WABENO Dellraan, Norman V. Miller, Bernard J. Stage, Rodney J. Doyle, James B. Miller, Frank R. J. Stroud, Almon Doyle, Kathryn E. Miller, Glen R. Synon, Benjamin H. Dudley, Eugene L. Miller, Herbert V. Tahwa, Edward Dudley, James B. Moore, James T. Thaves, Albert A. Dunn, Ourentine A. Morella, Samuel F, Thunder, Louis A. Flegal, Blaine A, Nachtway, Emmanuel J. Tokarczhy, Leo J. Flegal, Roger Neider, Bernlce A, Tomkiewicz, Albert W. Fontaine, William G, Jr. Neider, Felix F, Tomkiewicz, Ernest T. Forrest, jesse R. Neider, Lincoln W, Tuell, Arnold L. Fosdick, Clarence G. Neislus, Joseph A. Valcq, Kenneth J. Fosdick, Malcoln E. Neitzer, Franny J. VerBunker, George E, Fritsch, Clarence J. Newton, Clarence A. VerBunker, Gilbert G. Geiter, Robert W. Newton, Millard E. VerBunker, Robert E, Gillem, Henry J. Nicholas, Philip J. Wegner, Eugene W. Graves, Allen R, Niermann, Walter W. Wilcox, Garth E. Hammes, Eugene E. Norris, Norman F. Wolfgram, Ervin W. Hammes, Howard J. Olson, Berly L. Zukoski, Theodore P. Hartel, Ambrose F. Perry, Harlan Harter, John Jr. Peterson, Andy C. PICKEREL Harter, Leslie J. Peterson, Herbert Harter, Ray E, Pfankuch, John J. Braun, Victor H, Harter, Sylvester V, Pickreign, Herbert H, Brewer, Jules R, Hartman, Gene H. Pleshek, Joseph A. Cook, Ralph J, Heller, Glenn B. Qulnn, Dillman F. Cook, Wallace G, Henes, Alton G. Quinn, Richard A. Cook, William C. Hood, Granton D. Quinn, Robert C. Klapper, Ewald L. Huetl, George J, Jr. Radke, Victor C. Tyra, Warde Z. Hujdt, Rudy Raettz, Martin R. Iven, George W. Raetz, Walter E. LAONA Jim, George Ramsdell, Vernon J. Jim, Walter Ravencraft, Archie R, Allen, Kenneth G. Johnson, Raymond D. Ravencraft, Charles A, Alvis, David L. Johnson, Lynn G, Riendl, James A. Ammerman, Clarence R. kagerbauer, Raymond I. Riendl, Joseph A. Aschenbrenner, Adolph S. Kopecky, Frank J, Riendl, Juanita C. Aschenbrenner, Edward H. Krause, Roland 0. R. Rogers, Alvin V. Aschenbrenner, Francis N. Kuhn, Lynn F. Rusch, Albert D. Aschenbrenner, Hubert Kuntz, Melvin A. Schilleman, Jake Aschenbrenner, John W. Ladrow, Joseph G, Schraitt, Mathew V. Aschenbrenner, Russell L. Laycock, Theodore W. Schmoll, Robert L. Baker, Leslie C. Laysell, Robert J. Schroeder, Eugene Baltus, John R. Lemke, Walter B, Schroeder, James H. Baltus, Robert C. Loft, hersel Schwartz, Leonard P. Baltus, James T. Mallette, Edward P. Sebero, Clarence J. Banks, Laurence E. Mallow, John A. Shampeau, Herbert E. Barnes, Forest Robert Mallow, Justin Siminean, Joseph E. Jr, Barnes, Theodore Manske, Calvin J. Simlnean, Wesley N. Barnes, Theodore Jr. Manske, Walter E. Slowe, Norman B. J. Barney, Charles E. Jr. Manske, Neil F. Slowe, Russell G. Barney, David C. Mattson, Russell F. Smith, Harold P. Barry, Stephen J. Sr, McAllen, Charles F, Jr. Smith, Kyle F. Basler, William D. Jr. McLean, John E. Snow, Philips D. Beecher, John G. McNulty, Etherel E. Stage, Alfred J. Belland, Harvey A. McNulty, Harold L. Stage, Antony J. Belland, Homer Michigan, Joseph Stage, Jdnn Jr. Belland, Mike L. LAONA LAONA LAONA Belland, Patrick W. French, Charles Jr. Lemerande, Edward C. Belongia, Edward C. Gitchell, Lloyd A. Lemerande, Frederlch J. Jr. Bether, Edward C , Gibson, Jack D. Lepscier, Oliver C. Bether, Roy W, Gilligan, Joseph G. Lewis, Ernest E. Bidden, Otes Gilligan, Robert F. Lewis, Theodore Biever, Donald J. Glenn, Elmer H. Liesch, Bruce A, Bingham, William G. Godin, Edward D. Liesch, Robert K. Bocher, Philip B. Godin, Lloyd J. Liesch, Keith B. Bohman, Robert F. Godin, Roy G. Listle, Charles B. Jr. Bowling, Delbert Goich, Daniel G. Listle, Francis L. Bowling, Edward H. Gotz, Richard L. Lykins, Rondal Bowman, Charles P. Grumann, Ellwyn C. Majeske, Harold M. . Bradle, Anton L. Grumann, Kenneth J. Majeske, Ludger H. Bradle, Donald F. Grumann, Robert C. Majnarich, Joseph Bradle, Francis L. Gunlack, Willard H. Medenwaldt, George V. Bradle, Robert C. Hawkins, Lloyd F. Meisch, Steve Breaker, Eugene R. Hayek, Myron W. Mentz, Harvey F. Breaker, Henry A. Hetfield, Gerald W. Mentz, Orville E. Breaker, Royal K. Holmer, Laurence L. Mentz, Robert W. Brewer, Arvon L. Hunt, Harry F. Meyers, Norman E. Britten, Francis Hupf, Edward S. Meyers, Willard A. Brooks, LaVerne Hupf, Erswood E. Michlig, Hilary J. Brunkalla, Donavon M. Hupf, Nathaniel K. Mihalko, Arthur G. Calhoun, Ivan A. Hutsell, John R. Mihalko, Floyd J. Calhoun, George W, Intermill, Webster W, Milak, John Carroll, Gordon E. Irish, Harold C. Milhara, Earl H. Chapman, Clinton D. Jaros, Peter J. Meinecke, Claude Cherf, Steve F. Kaatz, Elroy M. Miller, Dale 0. Collins, Douglas L. Kanack, Benjamin F. Miskowiez, Allvce C. Collins, Edward L. Kanack, William P. i-llnarck, Norman J. • Collins, George C. Karnopp, Harold 0. Mohr, Russell D. Collins, Kenneth T. Kersten, George H. Mortsen, Harold 0. Collins, Loyal I. Kevilus, Paul Nagel, Joseph F. Conley, Arnold I. Kimball, Dale N. Nelson, Clarence M. Conley, Edward P. Kimball, Ward E. Nerbun, Robert C, Conley, Lyle L. King, Donavan L. Newman, Arthur 0. Connor, William D. King, James W. Nicholas, Claude A. Cook, Arnold J. Klover, Chester L. Nicholas, Victor R. Cook, Lyle G. Kluth, Benjamin L. Oettinger, Edwin A. Cook, Robert E. Konop, Herbert J, Oettinger, Eugene J. Cox, Ernest J, Kramer, Manville J. Oettinger, Marcellus R. Cronick, Theodore R. Kramer, Milton L. Oettinger, Sylvester H. Dappen, Leonard L. Krautu, William F, Ovitz, Ernest G. Jr. Dauksavage, Kramer S. Krawze, Chester V, Palmer, Rolland K. Dault, Russell J. Krawze, Edward C. Pantzer, Robert L. Dault, Theodore 0. Krolon, Arnold E. Peterson, Roger C. Dault, Walter W. Kuester, Otto F. Pitzlen, Walter J. DiUlio, Albert J. Lacy, James H. Plummer, Louis J. Drewiske, Bernard F. Lacy, Leonard B. Pollack, John J. Dudo, Edward J. Lambert, Donald B. Powell, Clarence G. Eastman, William Lambert, Leslie P. Praninskas, Adolph K. Elliot, Harry E, Lambert, Raymond B. Puza, Albert G. Engel, Samuel J. Lane, Donald B. Puza, Joseph F. Fowler, John T. Larsen, George E. Qvella, Alexander C. Fraley, George D. Laurence, Donald A. Qvella, Andrew S. Fredricks, Frank D. Leach, Ward iTT Jr. Randall, Maxwell C.

301 LAONA LAONA Ratty, Max F. Van Opens, Francis W. Raymond, Delor A, Ward, Alfred M. Raymond, Richard W. Webb, Adrian D. Redlich, Edward A. Webb, Edward J. Redlich, Ervin D. Webb, Leonard P. Roberts, Glynton Webb, Willard J. Robinson, Keith L. Weidner, George A. Rosner, i?homas K. Werko, Phillip Ross, Harry C. Williams, Glen H. Ross, Robert T. Williams, Orveld J. Rowell, Glenn I. Williams, Roderic M. Royce, Weward N. Wilson, Edgar R. Rusch, Merle L, Winkleraan, Arthur B. Rydeen, Lester W. Yaeger, Arleigh W. Ryself, Jacob Yeater, Willie G. Ryself, Sidore Zahringer, Philip L. Schapell, Francis A. Schiesl, Edward G. OTHER TOWNS Schiesl, George J. Schmitt, Peter M. Conn, Claude C. Schneider, Karl P. Hoyt, Isaac F. Schnerweis, Kurt Wilson, Lloyd A. Scott, Norman F. Mc Geshick, Jack Sharko, Eugene W, Smith, Edwin Sharnek, Frank L. Forrest, Russell J. Sharnek, George A. Blitstein, Harry J. Sharnek, Raymond B. Burge, David T. Shelhammer, Lewis W. Buckman, Russell Shelhamraer, Vernon W. Peters, Eugene H. Shields, James H. Slimmer, Edwin F. FOREST COUNTY VETERANS Slimmer, Frank W. OF WORLD WAR II WHO Snow, Darroll W. DIED IN SERVICE Sorenson, Floyd A. Sorenson, Vernard L. Spencer, William H. Jackson W. Adoma Chester Masel Stamper, Howard Chester Andrews Russell Mohr Stamper, Jesse E. M. Aschenbrenner Collins B. Murray Stamper, Robert Leonard H. Bazille James Paul Starks, Curtis L. Clarence W. Beyer Donovan A. Petts Starks, Jack G. Peter Boyd Paul Pukacz Starks, John Arnold Orvil J. Christensen Martin R. Raetz Starks, Oreel G, Vernon L. Colborn Matthew E. Rausch Stauber, Norbert A. Boyd G. Collins Melvin Roberts Strauch, Melvin L. Arnold Cook Michael R. Seeman Strickland, George E, James A. Deaton Forest F, Sharey Sturzl, Bruce R. Norbert C. Elffords Elmer Sparks, Jr. Sturzl, Francis D. Michael J. Frye Anton Tauer Sturzl, James J. Arthur P. Hansen Carl F. Tauer Sturzl, John F. Jr. Thomas T. Himes Edmund Thompson Sturzl, Richard A. Herbert W. Joas James Venerka Thomas, Edward E. Orlando Krupka Grand K. Whitt Thomas, Fred Joe Bocek Thomas, James F. Adolph Leja Thompson, Clarence J. Richard Marvin Tipton, Stirling Treml, Louis C. GLOSSARY 1. BACK CUT The second and final cut made in falling a tree. After the initial deep undercut on one side of the trunk determined the general direc­ tion of the fall, the loggers completed the job by making a back cut on the opposite side of the tree, slightly higher than the undercut and just deep enough so that the tree toppled.

BARK SPUD A sharp, rounded cutter blade with a twelve to eighteen-inch blade. BINDLE Woodsman's bed roll or pack. BOARD FEET A board foot measured one f

303 13. CHUTE A dry trough made of wood or sim­ ply gouged in the earth, used to slide bucked timber down a hill­ side . 14. CRUISE To estimate the amount and value of the standing timber in a par­ ticular region. 15. DEACON SEAT A bunkhouse bench- usually a split log, flat side up- that stretched in front of the bunks. 16. DOG ''--^.r-lO ' ^'•• A short metal spike pointed at one end, with an eye, or ring, at the other; among many used, a dog was driven into a log so that it could be tied to another log. 17. DOG HOLE One of a number of small coves along California's wave-lashed Mendocino coast where the lumber schooners could put it to load cargo. 18. FALLER The man with whom the logging process all began- the woodsman who cut down the trees. The faTier's crosscut was long 19. FALLING SAW and narrow, so it would sink quickly into the tree and let antibinding wedges be driven into the cut. An inclined wooden trough carry­ 20. FLUME ing running water, mostly used to float sawed lumber from isolated highland mills to lower-lying mills, markets, or transportation centers. Means any worker that works for the 21. GANDY DANCE railroad. 22. GOAD STICK A stick used by farmers to guide their oxen. 23. GROUND-LEAD LOGGING An early method of hauling logs, by cable winched to a donkey engine, along the ground to cen­ tral yard or collection point. In later, more sophisticated high lead logging, a spar tree, still rooted to the ground, was rigged with cables and pulleys su thcit cut logs could b^ llfte(i at one eoS., and hauled to the yai-d mor'e J04 easily over such obstructions as stumps and rocks. 24. HIGHBALLING Speeding up the logging opera­ tion. Very fast, expert lumber­ jacks proudly referred to them­ selves as highballers. 25. HIGH CLIMBER Daredevil who climbed and topped a spar tree in preparation for high-lead logging; in some opera­ tions he also served as the high rigger and fitted the tree with cables and pulleys. 26. KEY LOG A log that lodged in a river or stream in such a way that it caused a jam during a log drive;' to clear the jam, lumberjacks set about finding and dislodging the key log.

27- LUMBER JACKER The man on the ground. The name lumberjack was formed from this term. 28. MARKER Measures the length of the logs. 29. MANCATCHER People paid by Connors to find men and bring them into work. 30. MUZZLE LOADER A bunkhouse so crowded that the men of the woods had to climb into the bunks from the foot rather than from the side. 31. NOTCHER The man that notched the tree for falling. 32. PEAVEY HEAD A Maine born tool used to maneu­ ver logs on the land or water, the peavey had at its tip a log-prying spike that was lacking in the cant hook, which it came to replace. 33. PEDE OR SPEEDER A hand-pump railroad car. 34. PEELER A woodsman who stripped off the bark, usually after the felled trees had been sawed into lengths. 35. PESTHOUSE House for diseased people. People with smallpox, yellow fever, etc. 36. PICKAROON This tool's sharply pointed head was driven into a log to horse it {t* move it by sheer muscle power). 305 37. RIVER PIGS The man who worked on the river drives. 38. SALVE The lumberjacks called margarine salve because it had no color. 39. SHANTY BOYS Men of the woods. 40. SKIDROAD The road or path through the woods over which logs were dragged- at first by horses, mules, or oxen, later by mechanical means; also came to apply to the saloon-packed district in lumber towns where crews went to carouse in their free time.

41. SLIDE-ASS Steam loader for logs. 42. SLONGOLIAN A stew, usually has beef, pota­ toes , tomatoes, carrots, corn, and a few other things. It was started in the morning and usual­ ly cooked all day before eating.

43. SNAKE ROOM A room in a saloon where drunks are placed to dry out. 44. SNIPE To shape or level the front end of a log with an ax, making it easier to haul the logs along a skidroad, or slide it down a chute.

45. SNOW SNAKE A steam powered caterpillar with front-end runners for steering. It was used on ice roads, it could haul several sleighs of logs at one time.

46. SPLASH DAM Constructed across a lazy or shallow water course to build up a head strong enough when released to wash logs downstream. 47. SPRINGBOARD A sturdy plank notched into a tree to provide a working platform for the fa Her; thus elevated, early fallers avoided the swollen, some­ what pitch-saturated base of the tree.

STEAM DONKEY A portable steam engine equipped with cables and one or more revolving drums that found a score of uses in the industry, particular­ ly in yanking felled logs through the woods to a central collecting yard. 306 49- SWAMPER Makes notches where the logi. were to be sawed. 50. SWOCK The echo of axes while chopping wood. 51. TIGER BUNKS Steel double bunk-beds that the lumberjacks slept on. 52. TIMBER BEAST Wry nickname for anyone who worked in the woods. 53. TIN PANTS A timber beast's waterproofed, heavy canvas pants. 54. TURN Any unit of logs, from one to half a dozen or more, hauled out of the woods, either by animal power or by donkey engines, 55. WEDGES Driven into sawcuts to spread them and keep blades free, these tongues, made of steel or wood, were also used to control the direction of a tree's fall. 56. WICKIUP The popular term for the brush shelter or mat-covered house of the Paiute, Apache, and other tribes of Nevada, Arizona, and nearby territory. The name also was applied to the small house of sweat, a house built by the Plains Indians for taking sweat baths. Several heated stones were placed in the center of the lodge, the framework of which was covered with skins or blank­ ets . The person or persons within poured water over the hot stones to produce steam.

57. WIDOW MAKER A treetop, heavy limb or chunk of bark dangling loose and ready to fall on any unwary woodsman. 58. WOOD MALLET With a 36 inch haft and a hard­ wood head five inches in diameter, this sledge was used to drive wedges into sawcuts and also to help split shingles and shakes. Bibliography Books Brandon, William, The American Heritage Book of Indians, Dell Publishing Co., Inc. Collins, Charles W., An Atlas of Wisconsin, American Printing & Publishing Inc., Madison, 1972, Connor, Mary Roddis, A Century With Connor Timber, Worzalla Pub­ lishing Company, Stevens Point, 1972. Davis, Christopher, North American Indians, Group Limited, London, Douglass, M. John, The Indians in Wisconsin History, Board of Trustees. Fletcher, C. Alice, Indian Story and Song, Boston First AMS. Grant, Bruce, American Indians Yesterday & Today, E. P, Dutton & Co., Inc., New York, Gridley, E. Marion, Indians Legends of American Scenes, M. A. Donohue & Company. Havighurst, Walter, The Great Lakes Reader, The MacMillam Company, New York, 1966. Joseph, Jr. M. Alvin, The Indian Heritage of America, Alfred A. Kroff, Inc. Kubiak, J. William, Great Lakes Indians, Bonaza Books, a Division of Crown Publishers, Inc. Miles, Charles, Indian & Eskimo Artifacts on North America, Bonaza Books, a bivision of Crown Publishers, The" Morstad, E, Alexander, The Reverend Erik Olsen Morstad, Eldnar Press. Royal, Hassrick, North American Indians, Octopus Books Limited. Strikling, Mary Lou, North American Indian Arts, Crown Publishing, Inc., New York. Wissler, Clark, Indians of the United States, Doubleday & Company, Inc., Garden City, New York. Olsen, T.V., Roots of the North, Pineview Publishing, Rhinelander, Wisconsin, 1979. Kubiak, William J., Great Lakes Indians, Baker Book House Co. ! 308 Bibliography Pamphlets Brown, Dorothy Moulding, What Say You of Paul, Democrat Printing Company, Madison. -Classroom Atlas, Rand McNally & Company, 1979. County Agricultural Statistics Series, Forest County Agriculture. Hearings Before a Subcommittee of the Committee of Foreign Relations, United States Senate, "The Great Lakes Basin", United States Government Printing Office, Washington, 1956. Peterson, Rex, Geography of Wisconsin, American Printing & Publishing Inc., Madison, 1965. Wisconsin Engineer. The Split Over the Atom, The Engineering Students of the University of Wisconsin, Radison, April 1979. Zimmermann, Janet Hull and Bright, Frank F., Our Inland Seas, The Great Lakes, Row, Peterson and Company, San Francisco, 1942.

309 Bibliography Bulletins Kelley, R, W. and Farrand, W. R., The Glacial Lakes Around Michigan, Speaker, Hines, and Thomas Inc., Lansing, 1967. Hanson, George F., Uranium Prospecting in Wisconsin, University of Wisconsin, Madison, January, 1956. ""

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