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USRWA NEWS for Friends of the Upper Sugar River

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USRWA NEWS for Friends of the Upper Sugar River USRWA NEWS For Friends of the Upper Sugar River The American Pearl Rush: Spring 2011 The Sugar River’s Moment of Fame In This Issue Submitted by George Johnson Page 1- The American Pearl Rush: The Sugar River’s In the 1940s, I often fished for channel catfish in the Sugar River near Du- Moment of Fame rand, Illinois. The preferred bait at that time was “sour” clams and involved a clamming expedition a few days before going fishing. Several misshapen Page 2-The American Pearl pearls were a byproduct of those clam gathering days, but what stayed with me Rush: The Sugar River’s longest was a vague tale of a fortune once being paid in London for a cache of Moment of Fame pearls from the Sugar River. In 2002, I chanced upon a book about pearls and found this sentence: “One shipment made from the Sugar River to London Page 3- USRWA, New Century in September, 1890 contained 93 pearls weighing 28 grains each, for which School, City of Verona Team Up 11,700 pounds was received in payment.” That was equal to $1,300,000 in on Environmental Education today’s dollars. Grant Application The book was a reprint of the 1908 The Book of the Pearl by George Kunz and Page 4- USRWA, New Century William Stevenson. The sentence was part of a section describing an event School, City of Verona Team Up which they called “the pearl excitement”. They described the discovery of on Environmental Education pearls in the Pecatonica River in August, 1889 which overnight turned into Grant Application near hysteria with the populace of river towns descending into the shallows of the nearby stream in search of easy riches. Page 5-Kindred Spirits: USRWA Welcomes Oddly, The Book of the Pearl is the only chronicle of “The American Pearl Lower Sugar River Group Rush”. A few later publications cite Kunz as a source, but often include pearls from the rush along with the pearls marketed by pearl button clammers, Page 6-Annual Meeting Report beginning about 1895 and continuing into the 1930s. My work since then has been to reconstruct the American pearl rush from other sources, especially Page 7-Annual Meeting Report on-the-spot reports from local newspapers of the time. Page 8-Get Your Feet Wet: Jumping ahead, one of the first things I discovered was that Kunz and Ste- Monitor a Stream this Spring! venson, while reliable in most respects, erroneously had placed the first pearl in the Pecatonica River. It actually was found in the Sugar, and the rush that Page 9- Updated Board of would soon spread nationwide started in Albany, Wisconsin. The Albany Directors, Natural Resources Sugar River rush would last well into the 1890s and the Albany dateline would Foundation Endowment Fund ultimately appear on articles in New York newspapers. Within days, the rush spread upstream to Belleville and into the Madison lakes. Downstream, it Page 10- Membership Renewal made William Murry of Brodhead wealthy enough to buy a farm one year into Form the rush. 1 The American Pearl Rush: The Sugar River’s Moment of Fame Continued from Page 1 Then there was the 1890 London shipment, and the next year the organizing committee for Wisconsin’s exhibit at the 1893 Chicago’s World Columbian Exposition selected pearls from the Sugar and Pecatonica Rivers as one of their state’s most important features. This collection was later sold to Tiffany’s in New York for over $3,000,000 in today’s dollars. Other rushes had quickly developed following the August 8, 1889 report in Albany’s weekly Vindicator. Within days, Milwaukee and Madison papers had reporters in Albany and were giving it major space. I have identified 23 pearl rushes in Wisconsin alone by the end of 1890, and dozens more were happening in Illinois, Minnesota and Iowa. Shallow water streams attracted searchers for pearls, and every species of freshwater clam carried a potential fortune – but only for the few. Gem quality pearls were found about once in 10,000 clams. Between the Albany Sugar River rush and its final gasp, the American pearl rush touched every waterway east of the Rockies. The last pearlers were fishing guides in Maine and cotton workers in Georgia in the early 1900s. During the height of the rush, America became the third largest supplier of gemstone pearls to the world jewelry trade. I believe I am close to being able to make the case that the Sugar River – per square yard of river bot- tom – was the richest pearl bed ever discovered. The matchless range of colors of Sugar River pearls made them unique. Many factors contribute to this story: The weak rural economy---the enthusiasm of the public to participate --- the almost instant development of a ready market for pearls --- the role of pearl buyers like Bunde and Upmeyer of Milwaukee and John E. Young of Brodhead --- the rise of pearls to become the most valuable gemstones of the times. Much is yet to be uncovered. More will be appearing on this missing bit of Wisconsin history, and anyone reading this with any information on Sugar River clamming and pearls please contact me at 608-663-0581 or [email protected]. 2 Left: The Nichols House in Albany was a main hub for pearl trading during the Sugar River pearl rush. Special thanks to George Johnson for composing this intriguing piece and providing the Nichols house photo and the newspaper headlines on the previous page. Watch for his upcoming environmental history piece in the Wisconsin Magazine of History! USRWA, New Century School & City of Verona Team Up on Environmental Education Grant Application Submitted by Marty Cieslik, Secretary The Upper Sugar River Watershed Association, New Century School and the City of Verona Public Works Department have teamed up on a Wisconsin Environmental Education Board (WEEB) Grant Application. The grant, if awarded, will support the New Century School environmental focus by providing hands-on opportunity for second through fifth graders at the New Century School through 9 different activities. The following activities are identified in the grant application: • Teach students and parent supervisors Water Action Volunteer (WAV) monitoring techniques and collect water quality data at the Badger Mill Creek • Teach students why invasive species should be controlled and their negative impacts on native systems • Discuss causes and impacts of erosions on streams and the fish populations within them. • Appreciate natural resources and foster environmental stewardship by participating in a canoe trip • Promote public awareness of stormwater issues by stenciling “Dump No Waste, Drains to River” on storm sewer inlets in the City of Verona • Explain to students how wastewater is treated and returned to the environment including a field trip to the Nine Springs Wastewater Treatment Facility • Learn about the basics of fish biology through visits to fish hatcheries and a guest presentation by Kurt Welke (WDNR Fisheries Manager for Dane & Green Counties) • Observe how the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources assesses fish populations using electo shock- ing devices to sample fish populations on a local stream or lake • Participate in the “Trout in the Classroom Program” involving raising trout in the classroom and comparing the water quality of the class room tank to that of the Badger Mill Creek 3 USRWA, New Century School & City of Verona Team Up on Environmental Education Grant Application Continued from Page 3 This grant is a wonderful opportunity for collaboration allowing each organization to benefit. USRWA will ben- efit by having a forum to teach new WAV volunteers and through the extension of the WAV monitoring pro- gram up into the Badger Mill Creek. New Century School will benefit by providing its students with hands-on environmental experiences and fulfill part of their mission for community service projects. The City of Verona will profit from the data collected on the Badger Mill Creek as it continues to improve its storm water treatment infrastructure and from the public outreach the students will be doing. USRWA should receive notice on whether or not the grant has been awarded in mid May. If the grant is spon- sored, funding would be available in July to start the WAV training. The grant request is for $7,440 with a match- ing budget from the organizations and businesses in the community of $8,046. The grant application was authored by Lee Lohr and Heidi Konop, teachers at New Century School and Megan Phillips, Executive Director of the USRWA. Special thanks to Allison Werner at the River Alliance of Wisconsin for her constructive input. Above left: New Century School teacher Heidi Konop helps students measure flow rate on the Badger Mill Creek. Bottom left: In celebration of Earth Day, New Century School students spray painted a stencil design on storm drains in a Verona neighborhood. The message reads “Dump No Waste - Drains to Stream.” Above right: Students observe macroinverte- brates collected from the Badger Mill Creek during their first experience with Water Action Volunteer (WAV) monitoring. 4 Kindred Spirits: USRWA Welcomes Lower Sugar River Group Submitted by Megan Phillips, Executive Director It was a crisp autumn day in late September when a small group of cars gathered at the boat launch on CTH EE for a day of what Dave Marshall would describe as “high adventure on the Sugar River sloughs.” Paddlers in attendance included Lisa and Bill Keen, Megan Phillips, Dave Marshall, and Susan Lehnhardt. The group had gathered to conduct the final surveying trip for the “Floodplain Lakes Ecological Survey” project. A full report of the findings of this study can be found on the USRWA website under “Projects.” During the trip, Susan expressed concerns about the ecological threats to the Lower Sugar River.
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