WMoHspIO 2/12/10 1:32 PM Page i -^

SPRING 2010 WMoHspIO 2/12/10 1:43 PM Page ii -^ ^miilp^

Remember the Stories of Vietnam m

i^

Join the Welcome Home Mmtm TM Celebration! LAMBEAU WELCOME HOME MAY2010 Lambeau Field May 21-23,2010 Welcoming Home Wisconsin's Vietnam Veterans Learn more and sign up for e-mail updates at LZLambeau.org

WISCONSIN WISCONSIN DKl'ARTMENT 01- VETER/\NS AFFAIRS HISTORICAL Wisconsin Public Television ^'^S^^ SOCIETY WMoHspIO 2/12/10 1:33PM Page 1 -^

WISCONSIN HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Division Administrator & State Historic Preservation Officer Michael E. Stevens

Editorial Director Kathryn L. Borkowski

Editor Jane M. de Broux

IVIanaging Editor Diane T.Drexler

Research and Editorial Assistants Jesse J. Gant, Joel Heiman, Mike Nemer, John Nondorf, Andrea Rottman, John Zimm 2 "When will this horrid war end!" Designer r :^i Lancaster's CalhariiK- Eaton on the Zucker Design Civil War Home Front THE WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY (ISSN 0043-6534), PUNTAVICTODT published quarterly, is a benefit of full membership in the by James B. Hihhard Wisconsin Historical Society.

Full membership levels start at $45 for individuals and $65 for 16 Food Will Win the War institutions. To join or for more information, visit our Web site at Food Conservation in World War I wisconsinhistory.org/membership or contact the Membership Office at 888-748-7479 or e-mail [email protected]. Wisconsin by Eiiknjnuik The Wisconsin Magazine of History has been published quarterly i^ since 1917 by the Wisconsin Historical Society. Copyright © 2009 by the State Historical Society of Wisconsin. 28 More Groovy Than Woodstock ISSN 0043-6534 (print) The Sound Storm Fcslixal of'Aijril ISSN 1943-7366 (online) 1970 For permission to reuse text from the Wisconsin Magazine of His­ by Michael Edmonds tory, (ISSN 0043-6534), please access www.copyright.com or con­ tact the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc. (CCC), 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA, 01923,978-750-8400. CCC is a not-for-profit organiza­ 42 A Pictorial Class Prophecy tion that provides licenses and registration for a variety of users. Re\isiiino- the Menomonie High For permission to reuse photographs from the Wisconsin Magazine School Class of 1905 of History, identified with WHi or WHS contact: Visual Materials Archivist, 816 State Street, Madison,Wl, 53706. by Andrea Rottmann

The Wisconsin Magazine of History, welcomes the submission of articles and image essays. Contributor guidelines can be found on 50 BOOK EXCERPT the Wisconsin Historical Society website at wisconsinhistory.org/ wmh/contribute.asp. Wisconsin Vietnam War Stories Our Veterans Remember The Wisconsin Historical Society does not assume responsibility for statements made by contributors. by Sill ah A. Lavseu and Jennifer M. Miller Periodicals postage paid at Madison, Wl 53706-1417.

Back issues, if available, are $8.95 plus postage (888-999-1669). 54 Letters Microfilmed copies are available through UMI Periodicals in Microfilm, part of National Archive Publishing, 300 N. Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106, www.napubco.com. 56 Curio

On the front cover: Blues guitarist Luther Allison performing at Sound Storm

WHI IMAGE ID6623d

VOLUME 93, NUMBER 3 / SPRING 2010

-^ WMoHspIO 2/9/10 11:29AM Page2 -^

LANCASTER'S CATHARINE EATON

/^^^Z (Xt^G. tu>l^

' /1_.^ yJ^-^

a II tftr-i^

tr?^~^ WMoHspIO 2/9/10 11:45AM Page3 -^

OPO//^ ^mnk ON THE CIVIL WAR HOME FRONT

BY JAMES B.HIBBARD

he blast of the engine's whistle could

be heard across the village of Bosco-

bel, Wisconsin, as the train pulled

into town. Among the people waiting at the depot

were Catharine and Samuel Eaton and their four

children. Samuel, a Congregational minister, had

accepted the chaplaincy of the Seventh Wisconsin

infantry regiment and on this "pleasant" summer's

day, July 29, 1862, his family had gathered at the

depot to say goodbye as he left to join his regiment.

Catharine Eaton was photographed by Alexander Hesler in August 1863.

On facing page: In 1864, Union General Ulysses S. Grant led the Army of the Potomac into the hardest fighting of the Civil War. That May, as casualty reports streamed in, Catharine Eaton of Lancaster, Wisconsin, wrote, "I watch with trembling our country's destiny. I see among the thousands marching on, only one man; one precious, brave one who is all the world to me." i^ WMoHspIO 2/9/10 11:29 AM Page 5 -^

WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY

For Catharine, their parting could "calls" on parishioners, entertain not haw been easy. Slie supj^orted guests, or attend a [)rayer meeting. A Samuel's decision to become a chap­ serious ])erson, she also had a wry lain, but, as she would later write, his sense of humor. After hearing a minis­ army "ex];)erienee distresses me." On ter's sermon at another church, she this particular morning, however, she remarked to Samuel that "I soon made took comfort in the little details, recall­ up my mind that we had nothing to ing later that the room where he gave fear from his eloquence." Neat in her "that last kiss, seems very sacred to appearance, her soft eyes gave her me now." After heartfelt goodbyes, countenance a natural serenity. David Samuel boarded the ])assenger train to McKee, a family friend, called her a Madison, Wisconsin, the first leg of a "most estimable lady."' journey that would carry him to the By the eve of the Civil \\'ar, the seat of the war in the east, Virginia. Eatons with their four boys, James Arri\-ing home the next da\- in Lan­ fourteen, Eddie eleven, Samuel nine, caster-, twenty-five miles south of Bosco- and Charlie seven, lived on a forty- bel, Catharine kept her emotions in acre farm on the southern edge of check mitil sujipcr, when, ])iobably see­ Lancaster, within walking distance to ing his empty chair, the enormity of town. They had not only become well- sending her "precious Samuel" off to established members of Lancaster soci­ war finally dawned on her. "I could not ety, but Samuel, with assistance from keep the tears back," she would confide Catharine, had made Lancaster's in a letter to Samuel, "and they will Congregational Church one of the keep coming now'." more innuential churches in soiiihwesl Steeling herself a few days later, Wisconsin. The church, a small frame Catharine reassured Samuel that she building, was located two blocks east of Samuel Eaton, 1864 i^ would "take good care of the children Lancaster's courthouse scjuare. and of the church during your Lancaster itself was not much more absence." Little did she know that his than a sleepy village of about eight absence, expected to last only a few hundred peo]ile. Established in 1837, its months, would turn into a three year ordeal, and that she would courihou.se was surrounded by law firms, shops, a jail, and dirt face alone the trials of raising children, managing a household, streets. Though Lancaster was located in the center of the and kee]iing her church's doors open without a full-time rector." county, it was relatively isolated, lacking railroad or telegraph Catharine Demarest Eaton was born on November 11, service. Being the county seat, however, ensured that it became 1824, in New York City. The daughter of Re\erendJames and the site of many wartime activities. Mary Demarest, she grew up in the city, but also s|5ent time in From the moment President Abraham Lincoln called for Napanoch, a small town on the edge of the Catskill Mountains. seventy-fi\'e thousand \olunteers to put down the rebellion in She met Samuel Eaton while he was attending Yale Divinity A])ril 1861, Grant County res])onded enthusiastically. The vol­ School, and on May 20, 1847, they were married in Napanoch's unteers, organized into companies, assembled at the court­ Reformed Church. .After their wedding, they made their way to house and were gi\en a patriotic send-off by local dignitaries. southwest Wisconsin, more s]3ecifically Lancaster, county seal One of the companies, the Lanca.sler Union (Juards, was com­ of Grant County, where Samuel had begun a ministry the pre­ manded by the Eatons' good friend, Captain John Callis. At its vious January. cle])arture, Catharine and two other ladies |)resented Callis and Grant County was originally settled by miners who had come his men with a banner The company e\entually became Com­ up the Mississippi River from Kentucky and Tennessee during a pany F of the Seventh Wisconsin infantry. One year later, it lead mining boom of the 1820s and 1830s. By the last half of the was this regiment that Samuel joined as chaplain. The Sev­ 1840s lead production declined, and the sculemem pattern enth was part of the soon-to-be famous Iron Brigade, consist­ shifted to farmers and other artisans moxdng in from the north­ ing of the Second, Sixth, and Seventh Wisconsin, Nineteenth eastern stales. The Ealons were jjarl of the latter migration.^ Indiana, and Twenty-fourth Michigan infantry regiments. Catharine was a ]3erfect match for Samuel. Raised in a min­ Samuel's cha])lain work would range Irom assisting in hosjiitals ister's house, she had been imbued with a strong work ethic. As and holding religious services to reading hymns and admon­ the wife of a minister', rare was the day that she did not conduct ishing the men about playing cards.'

SPRING 2010

-^ WMoHspIO 2/9/10 11:29AM Page6 -^

WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY

Samuel's departure left Catharine little time for reOection. Though it was not recorded in church records, it is ob\ious by her actions that she was expected to take a leading role in managing the Con­ gregational Church and in proxiding ]iastoral care to its parishioners. During the first weekend after Samuel's departure, she wrote to him that no fewer than tweke parishioners visited her, she held one impromj^tu meeting in her "parlor," and on the evening of Friday, August 1, she sat up all night with Phebe Jones, a deathly ill ])arishioner. For the Sun­ day service, Catharine selected the sermon "If ye love me, keep my commandments," which was delivered 1)\ a su]5|ily minister; and after service, .she conducted a "Sabbath School" and "Infant Class." Amidst all of this, she found time to write a long letter to Samuel and mail it Monday—after attending the funeral of Phebe Jones, who had died Saturday night.^ It is no wonder that she subserjuently wrote, "My cares seem doubled since I ha\e not vou to share

WHIIM»aEID'2182

^^ K^ l^ddoyi^^^^. Jlo^)' /-^

,/i^'^/ cL^

The Eaton boys are, from left to right: J'V ,/', rt/t-^-'ft^^^u^-L^-- ^ Qi^^^- Samuel, Edward (Eddie), Charles (Charlie), .'/.. •.'.

and James. . rX^ ,^

In this letter from Samuel to Catharine on May 7,1864, Samuel describes the horrors ofthe Wilderness campaign. Ur-i.,,^u^ f^ / •• i-Zi^A

^ :'^,.;./ . ^^^i^.

:r^y -'»•<-'-> I ^ \KtWK MiMii

^^

WHIIMAGE ID 12423 This 1875 bird's-eye map of Lancaster, Wisconsin, shows the Eaton's Congregational Church next to the Grant County Courthouse.

them." Samuel appreciated her new role, emphasizing that female population was filling traditional male roles while the "What you do I regard as of immense imiDortance, as holding men went ofTto war. Like many women, Catharine was learn­ things together and keeping them moving." The extent of ing how to conduct herself in a heretofore all-male profession, Catharine's leadershi]) role can also be gleaned from a remark and for her, a strong, low-keyed leadershi]) worked best. she made to Samuel a few months later concerning a su])|5ly Life at home had its own challenges for Catharine. One of minister: "He & I get along grandly managing together He her most difficult moments came barely a month after Samuel said ... that I was the minister. ^Vhen I demurred, he repeated had left. On Seplembei" 12, 1862, the family horse ste]5]Ded on it. I told him I was the 'minister's wife.' So we ended with a a loose board, forcing it down on one of Charlie's legs and shat­ good laugh."'"* tering his tibia "in a frightful manner." Catharine's account of Catharine knew that she was much more than the "minis­ what followed is gri])])ing: "\Ve carried the little dear up to our ter's wife." She was not only o\erseeing the operations ofthe room ... [w herej Doct. Hyde with .Mr. Jones & .Mrs. Fisher to church, but had also become the face ofthe church. This made assist, went through the dreadful operation. I holding his hands her very guarded with her jiublic actions. She carefiilly chose, & trying to soothe the little sufferer. Mrs. Ffisher] could not for example, which public events to attend and b\' whom to sit, stand it & left the room. The little fellow acted so nobly, not wanting to be "identified" with anyone she thought might although he endured agony for about two minutes." Charlie's cast a shadow on the church. To be sure, her ]5ublic reticence leg healed jirojierly, but less than fi\e months later, he con­ was intended to protect the church's image, but it may also tracted "Inflammatory Rlieumatism" and nearly died. James, have been due to something that she never mentioned: gender. her oldest son, was also stricken with "Rlieumatism," which For the first time in ,\merican history, a large segment of the temporarily afTected his ability to walk."

SPRING 2010

-^ WMoHspIO 2/9/10 11:30AM Page8 -^

WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY

On balance, Catharine's children provided her with more joy than sorrow. Not once in three years would she mention ha\ing any disciplinary problems with her boys. Education­ ally, all of them were studious, and they excelled at the Lan­ caster Academy. They also helped with chores around the house, and James, the oldest, worked their farm with the a.ssistance of a neighbor. Even with their help, a "sore" hand from her increased workload and her need for more time to attend to church business convinced Catharine to hire a "girl," or domestic ser- \ant, to assist her with the housework. .•\ constant worry for her, however, was money. Raising four boys on a chaplain's salary of $1,200 a year proved difficult. Wartime inflation forced Catharine to cut corners to make ends meet. "Every­ thing in the line of provisions is enormous," she explained to Samuel. "I only buy what we must have." Most merchants, aware of her circumstances, did not ]5ress her for cjuick ]5ay- This Civil War-era Bible resembles the one Samuel Eaton would have ment. As one merchant put it, she was "sort of [a] Widow."'* carried during his service as chaplain ofthe Seventh Wisconsin Infantry. Catharine's one relaxation, shared with Samuel, was corre­ spondence. Writing at least once a week to each other (and WHS MUSEUM •H14336 sometimes to their boys), they were able to keep in close contact. She became Samuel's eyes and ears during his absence, inform­ The resolution passed by Samuel's congregation on September 3, ing him about famil), church, and local happenings in a precise 1863, allowing him to remain in the field as the Seventh Wisconsin's yet elegant hand. On occasion she could be very poignant. After ^^ chaplain. Within a few weeks, the Iron Brigade was again in battle at i^ Antietam. a ])articularly beautiful sunset, she remarked to Samuel that "1 went to the front door to enjoy it [sunset] in connection with thoughts of my absent, but dearly loved husband. I stood long, gi\ing myself up to the influence of the landscape, looking ever & anon up the road." His letters, in contrast, • i^ C'^ a-t^-'.CZZi <• u-^< < ( ^£/..^'?/,^:,y. .:/r. were full of advice, businesslike, and, at times, barely legible. ^-^ayZc^ Not surjii'isingly, with letters / being the primary source for news ^^Z.'..', from lo\'ed ones, it was not long before towns])eo]5le started knock­ ing on her door to ask if Samuel had written anything about their f€^<- C-<>. <'i-t^ sons. Catharine readily acknowl­ edged this to Samuel, "People flock t.y-3 t.-f^X.^lf^^ to me to know what you write & I convey any information I can, immediately to them."'^ Ironically, the public nature of Samuel's correspondence may ha\c caused him, and Catharine, to write \ery little about the issues of sla\ery or race. Neither, for exam­ a>' ple, even mentioned the landmark Emancipation Proclamation. What

fe^iS..^. /^,_ '/ ^ / C Cy*.

I . -^ WMoHspIO 2/9/10 11:31 AM Page9 -^

WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY

they did write about these subjects was anti-slavery in nature, Samuel's service, writing more than once that she was proud sup|5orti\e of racial equality, and usually written in letters to of him and ha])py that he was "with the 'boys,'" she missed their children—letters, it should be noted, least likely to be him. From October 1862 onward she began expres.sing anxi­ shared with the public.'' ety o\er his absence. On October 2, for example, she wrote This suggests that the Eatons were silent by design. But that "If you decided to stay through the ^Vinler, could you not why? One exi)lanation may be that they did not want to alien­ lake a moderale fuilough & come home! Oh! Do!!"'" ate townspeople (those of both Southern and Northern ori­ Her anxiety was due, in no small measure, to Samuel's gins), who su|5]5orted the Union, yet were not necessarily in change in plans. Samuel and Catharine had initially decided favor of emancipation or lacial ecjuality. This not only w ould that he would only ser\e as chaplain until No\ember 15, 1862, have enabled the Eatons to maintain local support for the war, the date that the Congregational Church leaders had set for but also keej) good relations with these indixiduals, something his return. But as that dale grew near Samuel became hesitant that would ha\e been very useful to Catharine. about returning home. As early as October 1, 1862, he wrote Almost five months to the day of Samuel's departure, on to Catharine that "It does not seem pi-obable that I shall return the evening of December 30, 1862, more than twenty friends in the Fall." He was becoming attached to the troops and gathered inside Catharine's house and gave her a "Donation would eventually consider it "a great wrong to leave my ])osi- Party." Among other things, she received sugar, nutmeg, soap, tion [as chaplain]." candles, and a turkey. The highlight of the party came when Catharine accepted Samuel's change in plans, but it clearly Catharine publically read Samuel's latest letter, which I'^ddie bothered her, as she wrote that "I think you will be a neces­ and Mary, her domestic serxant, had just brought from the sary attachment to the army until the war closes... If it were post office. "The stillness," she later remarked, "while all lis­ not for living apart... I would say Stay on. Stay on." Hence, tened to hear it, almost made me weep."'" rather than welcoming Samuel home forThanksgi\ing, as she Outwardly at this lime, Catharine was the epitome of had expected, she was forced to maintain hei" grueling sched­ organization and punctuality. Inwardly, she was in turmoil. ule and heavy responsibilities without him, something that she This was her first lengthy se|oaration from Samuel in their fif­ had ne\'er anticipated. Samuel's extended absence, moreover, teen years of marriage. Though she was \'ery supportive of stretched Catharines ability to keep the church functioning. ^^ i^

This photo shows the north side of Maple Street in Lancaster, circa 1864. The building on thefar right is where Catharine entered to "gifts and bows"on her birthday in 1863. With her husband away to war, she had gained a new level of independence and respect in the community. WMoHspIO 2/9/10 11:31 AM Page 10 ^

WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY f

.^^^..^^ '^^. <^{Cz/?^^>

IH-jT^ Qj)aU.

/lo'-t4jl O iitA.. ^A-^ ^VetO

M^(A.~c-oC ^f^^iL^^oiz.^<::J:L^e,U...^

iAj cp^ (?i^o

y,. <^^o6-^^ Ssci^ 6^ <*_££. ^H..^ "z^ .^.r:>

^^L^^t-U a (hX^ l.rJ^t' ^f-'t^ry-i.-t-rCZ^ ^ ^

o^

^TH.v yuojz^^.^ t.tr-L 4<,„^ a^oO pr-^t^T^Ji^^i,^.^ I.J-LLI) p,-..,„.,^£jij ~l^t^ /t^/^-r-c^

f^c^.

y - , . _-t-*.^-y a^ i^ a.

7,

CU-^

^ • 'J-

& "S^ An^ay^c^^(Wii-iJiZi^ il^U'cKj.cPaJ^. /h^. /%,(D 6^Io A1<^ (;1^<^W«..<; l^r^T^ t.yyL,Jt^

10 wisconsinhistory.org

-^ WMoHspIO 2/9/10 11:31 AM Page 11 -^

WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY

The lack of a full-time pastor and S the uncertainly of when Samuel i would return to the ])uli)ii led to a § decrease in church attendance I* and financial ])ledges. Frustrated, | she confided to Samuel that "the s people are too mean to |)ay the i money" for a sup])ly minister" On at least one occasion, how­ ever, Catharine was able to clev­ erly turn Samuel's absence into an advantage. It happened during a conversation she had in her house with James Jones, the clerk ofthe church, who was pressuring her for an answer as to when Samuel would return, andjosiah Pickard, an old family friend, then state superintendent of public instruc­ tion. In recounting the conversa­ tion to Samuel, Catharine noted that "I managed delicately, but shrewdly, to bring the matter of your remaining [indefinitely] . . . before the two, thinking .Mr. P[iekard]. would help along. This ^^ i^ he did splendidK, sa\ing when Mr. J[ones]. objected to your j^ro- longed absence, 'Let Mr. Eaton stay by all means, he is doing a great work.'""" Still wanting to see Samuel. Catharine considered "going East" with the children to \isit him, but decided against that, cit­ ing "the expense of trax'cling." Instead, she pressured him to come home on a leave of absence. Samuel resisted, preferring that she travel east because a leave of absence was hard to procure. Their inability to decide how they could meet led to their only serious misunderstanding in thi-ee years. In .May 1863, On July, 4,1867, this marker was dedicated on Lancaster's courthouse Catharine, who thought it had been finally settled that Samuel square to the nearly 750 Grant County men who fell in the war. would come home on a lea\ e of absence, w as shocked when Catharine and Samuel attended the dedication ceremony with nearly he wrote that it was still undecided. I^xasperated, Catharine ten thousand people. It was one of the first memorials of its kind in the nation. replied, "O my darling husband am I to be thus disappointed

On April 19,1865, Catharine wrote to Samuel expressing her grief over the death of "our beloved President Lincoln."

SPRING 2010 11

-^ WMoHspIO 2/9/10 11:31 AM Page 12 -^

WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY

after all I ha\e endured!. .. lAcrybody wants to see you, but nobody so much as your poor, lonely, wife." When Samuel received her letter, he immediately applied for a leave of absence, only to be turned down. He could not be spared because the army was on the move—to Gettysburg, Pennsyl- vania• . 2:i On July 1 -3, 1863, the Union army fought and won the p'n- otal Battle of CJettysbiug. A mammoth struggle in which more than fifty thousand soldiers in total were killed, wounded, or captured, its effects reverberated across the nation. For Grant County in |)articular, the battle was devastating. It was home to four companies of the Iron Brigade (Samuel's brigade), which was nearly destroyed at Gettysburg. The fate of Samuel and the Iron Brigade remained unknown in Lancaster for over a week. Catharine, sensing that "an awful crisis" was at hand, waited "with trembling" to hear from Samuel. Finally, on July 11 th, she received word from him that the Iron Brigade had "lost one half our number." It was like a scythe had cut a huge swath through a generation of men from Lancaster and nearby villages: sixteen killed, sixty- one wounded, and five taken ])risoner. John Callis, their close friend, was among the many wounded. With "sad feelings," Catharine wrote to Samuel, she went to the Callis house and told "Mrs. Callis as carefully as I could." Martha Callis "decided to go at once to her husband."" Callis survi\'ed, but ^^ he never fully regained his health. ^^ Samuel counseled Catharine to "comfort the sorrowing as much as you are able." She did what she could do, but the toll ofthe war on her was becoming unbearable. On July 14, she confessed to Samuel "that m\- heart weejjs all the time now for the beiea\ed ones. When will this horrid war end!" By August Catharine fell ill, exhausted from stress and "depressed" over E. R. CURTISS,. yViADIS.ON.Wl.'S. Samuel's continued inability to get a leave of absence."' Fortunately, Se|5tember brought relief Samuel, who had Catharine Eaton, 1875 remained behind in Gettysburg assisting the wounded in makeshift hospitals, was finally granted a leave of absence. Arriving in Lancaster on Se])tember 10, he stayed ten days. The visit brightened Catharine's spirits. Shortly after he dentially, what is in your mind." Recei\ing no answer, she did returned, she wrote to Samuel that "O, how your xnsit has com­ not ask him again until the next summer, when she again pres­ forted me, but then I do want you more . . . and I think I can, sured him to resign and come home: "Don't you think two for a while at least, be very brave.""'' years of separation will answer for our gift to the Country?" That same September a convention of Congregational min­ Samuel was sympathetic to her feelings, and even consid­ isters met near I.iincaster and settled the question of Samuel's ered resigning, but he sim])ly could not bring himself to leave tenure as a cha])lain by a])pro\ing a motion that allowed Samuel the troo|)s. .\s he once remarked to her, "I am not with the reg­ to serve as chaplain for as long as he thought he was needed. iment, I am in it and of it." Finally accepting this, Catharine This had the "strong" endorsement of the soldiers of the Se\- wrote to him in .August 1864, asking him to "stay in the /\rmy enth Wisconsin, who had written a letter in su])port of it."' all Winter, if in his judgment, duly recjuires it." She knew she Catharine, however, was troubled because Samuel had not had to let go.'"" given her an answer as to when he would letuiii to the Lan­ A second action the Congregational comeniion look that caster pulpit. On November 20, 1863, Catharine asked, Septeinber 1863 was to convince several ministers to supply "Samuel! Do you think you will resign in the Spring, if matters Lancaster's pulpit on a i-otational basis. This solution proved to mo\e along about as they do now? Can you not tell me, confi- be short lived. By November 1863, after one rotation, most of

12 wisconsinhlstory.org

-^ WMoHspIO 2/9/10 11:31 AM Page 13 -^

WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY

from her She not only helped them with their sermons, but also assisted with "their expenses" from her own pocket, and often jiut them UJD at her house during their supply weekend. The latter arrangement could be stressful. Once, after deal­ ing with a sick minister, a somewhat exasperated Catharine remarked to Samuel that she had "heated the study for him, & warmed a blanket for him to wrap himself into before jumping into bed. I did everything but sleep with him."" In addition to her church res])onsibilities, Catharine often ])artici])ated in the activities of other Lancaster churches in order to keejj her hand on the pulse ofthe wider religious com­ munity. For instance, at the consecration service ofthe Epis- co])al Church she ])layed the melodeon. And on the Sundays when her church did not hold service, she would usually attend the Methodist Church or the Ba])tist Church. Interestingly, she admitted that she preferred attending the Methodist Church, "because I always have to play the Melodeon at the Baptist Church."'^' Although she would never acknowledge it, Catharine gained a significant amount of independence during Samuel's cha])laincy. For the fiisl time in her marriage, she was the one making the decisions that afli-cted her family and chinch, often informing Samuel latei\ Now iowns|)eo])le, not just parish­ ioners, sought her advice and even ]«ud her compliments. On her birthday in 1863, for example, .Addison Burr, a Lancaster ^^ merchant, gave her "a beautiful pair of kid & fur mittens" when ^^ she was in his store, and, as she proudly remarked to Samuel, when she entered the law oflice of Joel .Allen Barber she "was received with many bows." She knew that she had become an influential member ofthe community in her own right.'" On May 4, 1864, the Union army, commanded by General ^ fL. pURTISS, ^ADisak, Jfis. Ulysses S. Grant, advanced against General Robert E. Lee's army in Virginia, putting Samuel and the Iron Brigade once Samuel Eaton, 1875 more in harm's way. In Laneastei, the tension could not have been higher Towns])eople gathered at the courthouse and, in support of the troo|5s, hoisted the American flag U|D a "liberty |3ole" and fired an old cannon several times. Still, word of casu­ the ministers stopped supplying. Faced with a lack of su])])ly alties did not arrive until the evening of May 16, when ministers and a worsening financial situation, Catharine con­ Catharine received a casualty list from Samuel. Upon receiv­ fided to Samuel on November 7 that the church "shall be ing it, she wrote, "I flew to town, with it, to relieve the hearts entirely destitute jiretty soon." of anxious parents." 'Fhe last climatic year of the war had Remarkably, Catharine was able to stabilize the situation. begun.''' By early 1864, not only had she persuaded a couj^le of local It was around this period, ])robably in an effort to kee]) her ministers to sujjply the pulj^it on a semi-regular basis, but she mind busy, that Catharine began to pariicii)ate in other activ­ was even able to raise enough money to have the church ities, such as the Lancaster chapter ofthe Soldiers' Aid Society. painted. Though money would remain tight, the ministers A statewide organization, it ])rovicled food, clothing, and band­ would continue to supply until Samuel returned in 186.")."'' ages "Ibi' the comfort of sick and wounded soldiers." She had Securing supply ministers still left little free time for attended a few meetings in 1863, but became more involved in Catharine. Hardly a day went by without her attending a 1864. The Lancaster chapter, established in September 1862, church meeting, advising a parishioner about marital "infi­ met in members' homes on Thursday evenings and concen­ delity," or comforting a mother whose child had "died of diph­ trated its efforts on preparing canned food for the soldiers. In theria [s/'c] ."Supply ministers themselves took special attention June 1864, she attended an event held at the courthouse by the

SPRING 2010

-^ WMoHspIO 2/9/10 11:31 AM Page 14 -^

WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY

U.S. Sanitary Commission, a national organi­ zation supportive of the troops. While the gath­ ered ]Deople ale "Hasty Pudding & milk," close to fifty dollars wei'c I'aised.'*' l^^ Five months later, to Catharine's "joy," Lin­ coln was reelected ])resideiu. By the v\inter of 1864-1865, however, she faced what would be her final personal sacrifice. Samuel asked thai Eddie join him at Petersburg, Virginia, where Grant's army was besieging Lee's army, to work for the U.S. Christian Commission, a sol­ diers' lelief organization. At first, Catharine was reluctant to part with Eddie. She had grown the closest to him during Samuel's absence and thought that it would make her "void much greater." She eventually relented and let him go. Eddie reached the front just as Grant's army was beginning its final pursuit of Lee's army, which had evacuated Petersburg on April 2-3, 1865.'''^ Six days later, on .A[)ril 9, Ix-e sun-endered to Grant at .Ap])()matlox Courthouse. Catharine could not have been happier, writing on April 11. "Just think, I^chmond taken & Lee Surren­ dered!" '' This ha])])iness tinned lo "dee]) sorrow " when the news arrived that President Lincoln had ^^ i^ been assassinated. Not sur])risingly, through Catherine's "agency," the Congregational Church, like many churches across the nation, held a memorial .service for President Lincoln on April 20.-'' In 1895, after almost fifty years of marriage, Catharine and Samuel Eaton were That same April, Catharine, in a reflective photographed together in front of their home. mood, remarked to Samuel that "I often stand on our little front stoop at evening, thinking of the last evening you were with me, when we stood together Notes looking at the moon." When July came, she no longer had to do that alone -Samuel, with Ikldie at his side, finally returned .\ll K.110I1 family lelK'i's .are from llie I-:duaixt I). ]v.iton PniM-i-s, 18'2C 1917, Wis .\Iss ().\', Wis­ consin Historical Socicly .Archives, .Madison (hereafter WHS). home. For three years, through resourcefulness, willpower, and 1. Kduard Dwighl I'Mon,.Along Ufc's Pallmm" Sketches in Remembrance {Vr\\nlt:\y Printed, faith, Catharine had kept her family intact and her church 1911), 17; Orlando S.Jones Diary. Vol. l,.A|)i'il 1. l852March :(1. 1873,Jnly29. 1862, Pl.ll- te\ille Small C:ollection 3. WHS Grant County Herald. July :J0. 18()2, 3; C^atliarine i^aton functioning. Like countless women aci'oss the nation, she had {hereafter fJE), to Saninel tlaton (hereafter SE). .August 1. 18G2. .S<*pteml)er 18. 1862. and Sep- temlx-r 25, 1862. ])rovided needed leadershi]) on the home front, an indispensa­ 2. C:t-toSF-..August I. 1862; Recoixisofthe l.anc,ister Presbyterian [Congirgational] Church, ble contribution to the Union's war effort.'"' July 23, 1862. First Congregational C:huirh Records. Platteville .\lss .\(). WHS. 3. IC

14 wisconsinhlstory.org

-^ WMoHspIO 2/9/10 11:31 AM Page 15 -^

WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY

The gates of Lancaster's Hillside Cemetery, where Catharine and Samuel Eaton are buried. Catherine died in February 1904, and her husband followed her a year later, in February 1905.

^R..**v j-r c:E:,- T-< ii-x^s^TD^ C'Ei/^iEi.'r ELZF^-Y-, i_.»»>xc. J=».S"r-E:,T5..-v^3 s . HANix:i«:o

10. Catharine did not want to be "publically identified" with Jarcd Warner, an agnostic. t:lv 32. CE to SK, .Ncnember II, 1863. to SE, .August 13, 1862, M,irch 9, 1863, Seiitembcr 3, 1863, .August 29, 1864, and .M.iy 10, 33. Gram County Herald .May 9. 1861. 3. and May 23. 1861. 3; C:E to SE. .Mav 6. 1864. May 1865; Castello .N. Holford, Histoix ot'Grant Connty U"jsron.s/n (L-uicaster, Wl; The Teller 10, 1864, May 1 i, 1864, and May 18. 1864; SE to (CE. May 15. 1861. Print. 1900), 122. 34. CE to SE. .May 5. 1864. May 6. 1864, aiuljuix- 18. 1864; Gram County Herald. Sep­ i^ 11. CI-; to SE, September 15, 1862, .\ovemher 12, 1862, November 28, 1862. February 3, temlx-r 16. 1862. 3; Ethel .Alice Hurn. U'(s<-o«s/i) Women in the War lletween t/jc .St.-tK-s (.Madi­ i^ 1863, and .April 27. 1863. son; Wisconsin History Commission, 1911), 23. 12. CE to SE, December 15. 1862, December 29, 1862.Januan-13, 1863, .Maixh 8, 1863. and 35. CI'^ lo SE. .Novemlx-r 5, 1864, .November II. 1864,January '24, 18(>5. I'ebruary 17. 18(>5, March 22. 1865; Gnml County Herald, December 11, 1861, 3, and .August 12, 1862, 3. and .March 22, 1865; SE to Cl-;,Januaiy II, 1865, .Maidi 31, 1865, and .-Xpril 3, 1865; EE to 13. CE to SE. .Xovemlxr 12, 1862, Nowmbcr 22, 1862, No\x:mbcr 28, 1862, December 8, SE, January •>5. 1865; KE lo C:E, March 31,1865, and April 3, 1865. 1862, and .March 8, 1863. 36. CE to FX, .April II. 1865. 14. CE to SE,July 2, 1864,July 23, 1864; Edward Eaton (hereafter EIC), to SE, .August 12. 37. The actual national day of mourning was .April 19. but Catharine could not gel a minis­ 1862. ter for her church until the IK-XI day, .April 20. C:F- to EE. .April 18. 1865; C:l-^ lo SF^. .April 19, 15. CE to SE, .August 1, 1862. and .\|>ril 11. 1864. 1865; Grant County U'lmrss. .April 27. 1865. 2. 16. CE to SE,.August 1, 18(i2, ScptenilxT 18. I8(i2. and September 25. 1862. 38. etc to SK. .Ajjril 11. 1865; Rosier of Wisconsin X'olnnieers, 539. 17. CE to EE. .April 10, 1865; SE to CE, September 1862, and .March II, 1863; SE to C:har- 39. Grant County //craW.Jnly 9, 1867, 2, and Febrtiary 15, 1905, 1; 77ic Weekly Idler, Feb­ lie Eaton, May 13, 1863; SE to Samuel Lewis Eaton, May 16, l863;Samucl Lewis Eaton to SE, ruary 25, 1904,5. Januaiy 13, 1(163. 18. Ci; to SE. DecemlH-r 29, 1862. and l)eceml)er 31. 1862. 19. CK to SE. .August 15, 1862. October 2. 1862. NovemWr 28, 1862,July 13, 18(i3. andjuly 16, 1863. 20. Recoixis ofthe I-u»c.aster Presbyterian [Congregational] Church,July 23,1862; SF^ to CFL, Octolx-r 1, 1862, and .Manh 17, 1863. 21. C:E to SE, August 15, 1862, .Xovemlxr 28. 1862. Mairh 19, 1863, and June 23, 1863. 22. CE to St^, February 25, 1863; Dictionaiy of Wisconsin Biogi^phy (.Madison; State His­ ABOUT THE AUTHOR torical .StK-iety of Wisconsin, I960), 287. 23. CK to Sli, SeptemlK-r 25, 1862. Octolx-r 2, 1862, October 9, 1862, October 24, 1862. .Novetnlx-r 8, 1862, .\ovcmlx-r 12, 1862, and .May 22, 1863; SE to CE, .April 14. 1863, Miiy James B. Hibbard is the archivisivist at the 13, 1863, May 23, 1863. and .May 27. 1863. 24. 'Iliotiws L. Livermorc, Xumlx'rs & IAJSSI'S in tlie Cixil War in .\nierica: 1861-1865 {Bloom- University of Wisconsin-Platteville's South­ ington: Indiatia University Press, 1957), 102-103; CE to SE, Jutie 18,1863, July 10,1863, atid west Wisconsin Room. An avid researcher, July 13-14, 1863; SE to CE, July 3, 1863; Grant County Herald, July 14, IStiS, 4; Roster of James is at home in archives, poring over Wisconsin Volunteers. War of the RelM'llion. 1861 1865. X'ol. 1 (.Madison. \VI: Demwrat Printing C;ompany, 1886), 345 378 and 491 576. dusty ledgers, fragile letters, and tax rolls. 25. SE to CE,July 3, 1863; CE to SE.July 13, 1863, and .-Vugtist 21, 1863. Raised in an 1850s Greek Revival farm house 26. Samitcl Eaton would visit Lanc.tster three times during his chaplaincy. September 1863, January/February 1864, and Octolwr 1864. C:I'- to SE. Scpiemlx^r 24. 1863. C:E lo F-lx-n Eaton, -iJ in Michigan, from an early age he devel­ Octolx-r 5, 1863; Marriage Registration, Januaiy 25, 1864, Grant Clounty Marriage Regis­ oped a passion for nineteenth century history, particularly the Civil trations, Vol. 3,225 Rccoixls ofthe l.;incaster Presbuerian [Clongix-gational] C:hun'h, August 31, 1865; Gram Cotitily HeraW. Septcmlxr 15. 18(33,2. War. His articles have appeared in the Atlanta HistoricalJournal and 27. C^E to SE, Septemlx-r:{, 1863, and Septemlx-r 21, 186:J; CX lo Elxrn E<-iton. Octolxr 5, 1863. Everton's Genealogical Helper, and he has written one book, Plat­ 28. CK to SE, .Novemlx-r 20, 1863. June 24. 1864, July 23, 1864, and .August 13, 1864; SE lo CE,July 21, 1863, and .Novemlx-r 28, 1863. teville. He lives in Lancaster, Wisconsin, with his wife Dori and their 29. CE to SE. September 3, 1863, October 27, 1863, Novemlx-r 7, 1863, .November 14, 1863, daughter Violet Rose. November 20. 1863. Decemlx-r 5. 1863. December 12. 1863, and .April 8. 1864. 30. CE to SE. August 1. 1862, October '24. 1863, DecemlKr 12,1863, and May 25, 1864. 31. CE to SE,Juiu- 23, 1863, and May 10, 1865. J

.SPRING 2010

-^ WMoHspIO 2/12/10 1:33PM Page 16 -^

^^ ^^

Victory is a Question of Stamina Send-the Wheat Meat Fats Sugar the fuel for Fighters FOOD ADMINISTRATION

-^ WMoHspIO 2/9/10 11:31 AM Page 17

FOOD WIU WIN THE WAR FOOD CONSERVATION IN WORLD WAR I WISCONSIN

BYERIKAJANIK

"^5 DIRE JblbiJlMf® nMKFS

^^ ^^ m f^Mk

PUNTAVICTORT DEN w c •.J 8.

-«*l bOTunoE-AriDGUfi T

"r..,,..»' MViTDErEMDTMEfLAG ,»•-=' ..,x-,.,? Si

Dane Cant) Could ol hftiN'

Victory gardens lessened the burden on commercial growers and also helped small businesses, like this hardware store in downtown I that sold seeds and garden implements.

Less food for civilians equaled more food for soldiers to keep them in fighting condition (left).

^ WMoHspIO 2/9/10 11:31 AM Page 18 -^

WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY

nyone who walked through the doors of Piper's Grocery Store. Griiide's Clothing Store, or Sumner's Drug Store A in Madison in 1919 likely encountered a window display draped in American flags and patriotic signs exhorting passersby:

Old King Corn is American Born; A Mighty Fine Food is He. He Makes Good Bread or Cakes Instead; So We Don't Need Wheat, You See.'

Corn in its many forms—grits, hominy, cornmeal, fresh ears, even corn syrup, found itself in the spotlight in the midst ofthe multiprongcd effort to get homcmakcrs to use more corn and less wheat during World War I. Food was the ])rinci])le weapon on the home front against the Hun, as Americans were urged to save wheat, sugar, fat, and meat to feed the Allies. In su]>|5ort ofthe wai', Americans filled their menus with dogfish, sugarless candy, whale meat, and horse steaks. They planted xactory gardens and learned to prize lefto\ers nearly as much as the original meal. President Wilson even grazed sheep on the White House lawn." And Wisconsin helped show the nation the way. State Council of Defense Chairman Magnus Swcnson of Madison began promoting food conser\ation before Congress ^^ had even created the U.S. Food Administradon to do the same i^ nationally. In Wisconsin, Swenson attacked food hoarding, urged citizens to cultixate backyard \'cgetablc gardens, and insti­ tuted "meatless" and "wheatless" days. Wisconsin was also the first state to form a State Council of Defense, the primary \'ehi-

President Wilson's sheep reduced the need for manpower to mow the Magnus Swenson oversaw food conservation efforts in Wisconsin. He lawn and also provided wool. began promoting food conservation in the state before Congress created the United States Food Administration to do the same nationally.

18 wisconsinhistory.org

-^ WMoHspIO 2/12/10 1:33PM Page 19 -^

WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY

cle for implementing, supervising, and s regulating war activities on the state s level. .So im])ressed with Swenson and i Wisconsin's efforts was Herbert Hoover * that when President Woodrow ^\'ilson put him in charge ofthe newly created U.S. Food Administration, Hoover adopted many of Swenson's policies and made Swenson Wisconsin's state food administrator. He also took to Swen­ son's model of making women and home kitchens the first line ofdefen.se. The outbreak of war brought tremendous shortages of food across Europe as farmers put clown their plows and |)icked up their rifles, fields of food becoming fields for battle. Aside from money, food was essential for wag­ ing war. By the time the United States entered the war in 1917, three years of fighting had seriously damaged Euro­ pean sup])lies. Prewar trade routes were disrupted or desti'oyed, cutting off imports of wheat from /Australia and Romania and beef from .Argentina, HUNGER while the sugar beet fields of Germany, i^ Belgium, and France weiT devastated For three years America has by fighting. The U.S. entry into the war only fur­ fought starvation in Belgium ther disru])ted the su])ply of food. .Mlied forces had come to depend on the pro­ Will you Eat less -^ wheat ductivity of the United States, particu­ larly the Midwest and the (Jreat Plains, meat —fats and sugar for food. To that ahead)' huge .Mlied that we may still sen* demand on U.S. food supplies was added the needs ofthe U.S. military, as food in ship loads ? it i)repared to add hundreds of thou­ sands of men to the field who would require huge quantities of food to sustain UNITED S TAT E S FOOD AD MINISTRATION them.'' Further complicating matters were poor U.S. grain cro]5s in 191(5 and 1917, which threatened The war on European soil made local food production all but to decrease available food su])plies. Something had to be done. impossible in some areas. U.S. ships carried food to those who could As an agricultural state, Wisconsin took a keen interest in not grow or buy their own. the wartime food crisis. Wisconsin organized its State Council of Defense, the first in the nation, on April 12, 1917, only six days afier the United States officially declared war on Ger­ many. -Madison resident -Magnus Swenson was named chair­ not use force to implement iis i)i'ograms, but rather man. The council's purpose was to educate citizens about the approached wartime needs by rallying the American spirit of causes ofthe war', to advise on efficient methods of fimctioning self-sacrifice and \'oluiitai'ism for a ])alri(>tic cause. The coun­ within a wartime economy, and to identify '"slackers," as the cil's work was carried out by a highl)' organized series of com­ council called those who were not doing their part for the w ar mittees that included Publicity, Americanization, History, and effort, along with other subversive influences. The council did Information, while a weekly publication. Forward, dissemi-

.SPRIXG 2010 19

-^ WMoHspIO 2/9/10 11:32AM Page20 -^

WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY

nated opinions and directives to Wisconsin residents.*" | In support of the state council, a small army of g county, city, and town defense councils mobilized i throughout the state. Each county council of defense * also included at least one female meniber, who ser\ed as the official rci^resentative and liaison for women's work in the county. Wisconsin's organizational model was soon aclo])ted by the rest of the states, and the councils quickl)' became a powerful mechanism for the federal government to spread its wartime mes­ sages.^ In his role as chair, Swenson quickly im|5lemcnted programs to eliminate food waste. It was a line of work for which he was eminently qualified, ha\'ing built his career, in part, on develo])ing methods for utilizing the waste produced by sugar lefining. Born in Langesand, Norway, in 1834, Magnus Swenson had come to .\merica alone and penniless at the age of 14 and, following the familiar rags-to-riches immi­ grant tale, rose to become a distinguished citizen of his new country. Swenson trained as a mechanical engineer at the University of Wisconsin and spent the first part of his cai-eer devising ways to make various industries more efficient and less wasteful. Afier moxiiig to .Madison in 1902, Swenson turned from a life devoted to invention ^^ i^ and industrial development to the life of an adminis­ trator andexecutixc, serxingas regent ofthe Unixersity of Wisconsin, chairman ofthe commission to build the state capitol, president of a steamship company, and first as chair ofthe State Council of Defense and then as food administrator for the state of Wisconsin." don't waste food Through the State Council of Defense, Swenson collaborated with the Unixcrsity of Wisconsin's Col­ while others starve! lege of Agricultui'c to implement a vigoi'ous campaign UNITED STATES FOOD ADMIN I ST HAT I OlM to increase the production of grain and lixestock, plac­ ing particular cm]5hasis on wheat, dairy, backyard Reports of hardship and hunger overseas could be an effective catalyst to get ]30ultry flocks, and war gardens. Farmers around the people at home to change their eating habits. state received letters, bulletins, and jjersonal visits from county extension agents encouraging them to increase and maximize |)roductioii. Surxeying groxvers to find the best and most reliable seed ty]Des, the council published a list labor became in short supply just as it was needed most. In the of "Pedigreed Seeds for Fall Planting" that included the price spring of 1917, the council coordinated with the Wisconsin and contact information for nurseries and other seed sources. Highxvay Commission to release road xvorkers for farmxvork Farmers xvere also urged to construct silos (xvhich were, inci­ whenever the council notified them they were needed in the dentally, invented by UW scientist Franklin Hiram King) to fields. The council woiked xvith the University of Wisconsin to store excess or immature grain lo secure the maximum feeding place college students in the fields for the summer, urged value of their crop for livestock. Wisconsin's efforts proved so retired farmers to return to farming, and requested that man­ successful that the Council of National Defense (the federal xer- ufacturers release a ])ortion of their factory workers for faim- sion ofthe state councils) rej^rinted and distributed its literature work each day. They also adxocated for "automobile to other states as an examjile to follow.' squadrons" to transport men and boys for emergency farm With American men headed to xvar in 1917, agricultural labor assistance. The men were conx'cyed to the farm in the

20 wisconsinhlstory.org

-^ WMoHspIO 2/9/10 11:32AM Page21 -^

WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY

ings, they created recommendations for the reduction of fire hazards and for the placement of guards and watchmen out­ side these storehouses to prevent theft. '^ Build a Silo Swenson also persuaded Wisconsin Gov­ ernor iMiianuel Philipj) and the slate leg­ un Swenson also waged war on unsold ibort. drouiht-ilrickea pulurei. 8. THE SILO enables the farmer to bread, asking all wholesale bakers to sign 4. THE SILO help* the fanner make (cod hi* »locb from leu actet, Uierebx tcairin( tb« b*«l pouibl* ut« of (rodvd <«rB, Even im- huiun c«ni un b* M>*d hn pwtdni II In ih* aUo. pledge cards in June 1917 that read: "State What Crops Can Be Put in the Silo? Council of Defense: I hereby pledge Com, oats and peas, pea cannery waste, soy beans and com, finely myself, for ihc duration of ihe war, not lo chopped clover (better if mixed with com), sugar beet tops cut with com fodder or stover. accept the return of unsold bread,"''

A Meaaago Flvm the Banker* What Kind of a Silo? Using science to bolster his case and make Concrete h«» certain advantage. — to ha. wood, vitrified tile or brick. A ulo mtut his decisions seem less arbitrary, Swenson be round and imooth on the in.ide, perpen. dicular from top to bottom, and air tight. inlbrmed bakeis ihal ""bread ihree or four Vi.it your neighbor who ha* a *tlo and Me what he think, about building one days old, we are told by chemists, is better ^^ thi. year. Hi. experience .hould be i^ worth a whole lot to you. food, more healthful food, than bread It i. belt to build the kind of a ulo which is new." Often sold as animal food, which ha. proved a .ucccu in your ic- neighborhood. returned bread, Swenson admonished, ^•rrc: WiKoniin ha. fully 60,000 of theK feed J" bank. — far more than any other .late, was "human food wasted.""' yet only the equal of one farm in three ha. a lilo. Women's committees of the State It wiU pay to build one this year, for you will need silage next winter more than you ever did Council of Defense, comprising hun­ before. Talk it over with your banker, he can help you. dreds of women eager for a grealer role Agricultural Experiment Station, University of Wisconsin, Madison in the war effort on the local and county More Food This Year Is Patriotism level, played a central role in planning and carrying out many of Swenson's con­ The tower silo, invented by Franklin Hiram King, increased efficiency and decreased waste of servation programs, A July 1917 letter livestock feed. from Mrs, H, H, Morgan, Chair of the Woman's Committee of Wisconsin, to the women of the county councils expressed concern about food waste in morning and returned to their homes at night by businessmen, the overgrown garden plots of absent homeowners. She also delixcry dri\crs, and anyone else witii a car. Each squadron decried the lack of transportation facilities to ship garden food worker carried his own kiiich wiili iiim to "relieve Uie farm where it could be used. She suggested that women in each com­ housewife of additional labor."" The plan was so highly rec­ munity could get together in school or church kitchens to dry, ommended that the Council of National Defense broadcast it can, or ])reser\e this sur])lus food using jars and other contain­ nationally as "The Wisconsin Plan.' ers collected duringcommunily ""can"' dii\es. Because food had In addition to increasing production, Swenson also imple­ become so precious, Morgan urged women to "be conservative mented a strict conservauon ])r<)gram. The council called a about trying these [drying methods]: slick lo ihe few things that conference to work out a strategy for the protection of food our grandmothers dried and thai we know are good, such as held in storage, and made plans to inspect all grain elevators, corn, apjDles, peaches, cherries, and berries. Dried pumpkin is warehouses, and other food depositories. Based on their find­ also reliable." All of the preserved food could then be sold at

.SPRING 2010 21

-^ WMoHspIO 2/9/10 11:32AM Page22

United States Food Administration workers taught food conservation methods in communities across the United States. The official uniform ofthe Food Conservation section ofthe Food Administration Department of the federal ^^ government during WWI. i^ This uniform is part ofthe Wisconsin Historical reasonable prices lo the poor, turned over to a social services Museum's clothing agenc), or held for emergency use by each town. r collection. To encourage conservation at home, the council coordi­ nated lectures and demonstrations on food preser\'ation meth­ ods to make food last longer and lo cut down on waste. The College of Agriculture and the University of Wisconsin Exten­ sion in\iied women to attend free conservation classes in Madi­ son during a weeklong session devoted lo the topic in ihe summer of 1917. In exchange for free training, those who aitended were then ex])ecied lo leach what they learned to those in their hometowns unable to attend. Whether part of an organized committee or not, women were essential to the program at the heart of Swenson's con­ serxaiion ])lan: meatless and wheatless days. Recognizing the |)ower women held over family meals and over purchasing decisions, the ])lan urged women lo use their power patriot­ ically and sup])ort the war by abstaining from using certain foodstuffs. Instead of wheat, beef, pork, and sugar, the staples most easily irans]X)rled to the front lines, women were urged lo feed their families rye, corn, chicken, fish, and other peri.sh- ablcs. Mondays and Wednesdays became wheatless days and Tuesdays meatless, an eating ])lan soon ad<)|)ied nationally."" To help ihem, the Women Students' War Work Council, together with the University of Wisconsin's Home Economics Department, produced a wartime recipe booklet in 1917 that

wisconsinhlstory.org WMoHspIO 2/9/10 11:32AM Page23 -^

WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY

used alternative ingredients to show how everyone could do their ]»ri lo sup]5ort the iroo]K at mealtime. Recipes included Grcular 106 May, 1918 steamed barlc)' pudding, scalloped cheese, ""salmon box" (a loaf ])an lined with rice with a center of cold, flaked salmon), and croquettes made of rice seasoned with jiajirika and salt." The Woman's Committee ofthe Dane County Council of Defense What Shall We Eat on also |)ublished their own Manual of Wheatless Recipes con­ Wheatless and Meatless Days ? taining 1;)() common recijies adajited to wartime needs. Selling more than eighteen thousand copies by the suminer of 1918, the committee donated all profits to aid suffering children in France and Italy." Even former Wisconsin Governor William The Soldiers Need Dem]>ster Hoard, the man largely responsible for mo\ ing \\'is- WHEAT consin from wheat to dairy farming, got in on the act, offering to Swenson his own family recipe for muffins that used half The Folks at Home Can Use CORN \\ heat and half buckwheat flour, "For .'iO years it has been used OATS in my family, yet 1 find that not one housewife in a hundred EIOE ever heard of it," wTote Hoard to Swenson. Long a proponent BARLEY ofdi\ersified agriculture, Hoard concluded, "This war will not POTATOES pro\e an unmixed curse if it leaches our peo])le lo use some of the other grains... in their daily dietary."'"* While meatless and wheatless may ha\e in\ol\ed some form 1 of sacrifice, it was hardly onerous, .Meatless, for instance, usu­ ally only meant no beef and pork—chicken and fish were okay. WnK..T.,.«^ .vs.. MK.^T»^ D"-« , . (hnsc in which wheat So the "meatless" menu devised by the Chicago, Milwaukee, ,„.,..ithout.he.aro..Heas.oaas.hose ^^^^ and St. Paul Railroad that included half a chicken and shred­ ^^ ded chicken or crab on toast was scarcely a hardship.^* i^ .'\s Swenson and Wisconsin's State Council of Defense worked lo solve the food problem on ihe slate and local level, measures to prevent hoarding and food shortages and to regu­ late food jjioducers and distributors naiionally began wending through Congress soon after the oflicial declaration of war. President Wilson named future president Herbert Hoover fed­ eral food administrator on May 19, 1917, though the agency he was appointed lo lead, the U.S. Food Administration, did not receive full Congressional ap|)ro\al for another three months."' Hoover was a natural choice to lead the new organization. Break fw** As head ofthe Commission for the Relief of Belgium, Hoover had earned a formidable reputation overseeing the distribu­ Cortco Milk, tor ='•"''"'" tion of millions of dollars worth of American food to neutral

l.„iicli or Siil>l~r Belgium afier it was o\errun by Germany in 1914, His success Scotcll Brotli Cornmoal MudW, in running the voluntary organization out of a makeshift office Stew«« P'"""' . Oalmeal Macaroon.- in London reinforced his faith in the principles of voluntary coo|5eration and efficient administration. So while awaiting SwVM Steak naked potato Congressional consent, the I'ood -Administration acted as a \ol-

ISuUereJ Carrot. untary committee, enabling Hoover to gather information to Cantaloupe mount a national, xoluntary restriction cam])aign at home. .As cormncal Mum""' 1 taWo'POo",'?;'„. .j„r in Wisconsin, a policy of cooperation over coercion would .«iiw •* icvspoon. baking v I CUP .our t"',^ dl»

.SPRING 2010 23

-^ WMoHspIO 2/12/10 1:34PM Page24 -^

WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY

RaLL In! Make Ready T Obey>four Counfiys CdU! Make AbtUeMeatGoAlonpWay

^^ •Ik '" i^

Stores used their display windows to promote wise use of food to passersby.

become central to the federal organization's strategy."'' And women were, again, at the center. One of Hoover's first actions as food administrator was the circulation of pledge cards to American women in July 1917. The cards asked women to promise to support the war effort by taking care lo reduce waste and to conserve much-needed war foods, Wisconsin's Slate Council of Defense coordinated the distribution ofthe pledge cards, enlisting women in a house-to- house can\ass to reach e\ery household, hotel, and restaurant where food was served."' One hundred |)erceni of housewives in Green Lake Count) and eighty percent in Milwaukee County were iei)orted lo lia\e signed on." Over 10 million .American women e\eniuall\- signed the jjledge,""' Women were encouraged to hang their pledge cards in the front windows of their homes, dubbed "the service lag of .Ainerican women." A former governor of Wisconsin Herbert Hoover at his desk during The cards would demonstrate women's patriotism to their and the publisher of Hoord's his tenure as head of the United neighbors and, hopefully, produce the social pressure that Dairyman, William Dempster States Food Administration would induce others lo follow suit. Hoard hoped wartime The next month, on August 10, 1917, the prolonged strug­ conservation practices would gle over the creation of the U,S, Food Administration finally last longer than the war. ended with Congressional approval, and Hoover began assem-

24 wisconsinhlstory,org

-^ WMoHspIO 2/12/10 1:34PM Page25 -^

WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY

bling staff and adwsors and appointing state food administra­ tors. The s])irit of voluntarism that suffused his and Swenson's food conserxaiion plans extended lo the organization of the U.S. Food Administration itself Only the clerks recei\ed wages.^' At the u])per levels of the administration. Hoover gathered a group of skilled, \ersalile, and dedicated volunteers from a wide variety of businesses and professions, including Uni\ersity of Wisconsin piesident Charles Van Hise, to serve as advisors.'" Hoover, too, look no ])ay, contending that it would give him the moral authority to ask Americans for their voluntary sui5])ort. He also a|)])()imed state food administra­ tors to coordinate national initiatives on ihe state le\el. Mag­ •ft-*=^'' nus Swenson was the obvious choice for Wisconsin, and four days afier the bill passed Congress, Swenson received the telegram from Hoo\er informing him of his selection. Little Pulling the U.S. Food Administration campaign into effect in Wisconsin was relatively easy. Whereas in other states the AMERICANS conser\aiion programs that had been run by the Slate Coun­ cils of Defense had to be se|5araled and given over to a new Do your bit state food administrator, Swenson served as chair of both organizations. He was already intimately familiar with all that Eat Oatmeal-Com meal mush- had been done to date and could readily deploy his committees Hominy-other corn cereals- when food directives arrived from Washington, and Rice with milk. Many of those direcli\es came in the form of catchjihrases and \isual persuasion. l'"iom the emergingacKertising industry Save the wheat for our soldiers. the Food Administration had learned the importance of slo­ ^^ Leave nothing on your plate i^ gans and \isual ])ropaganda. A flood of catchy ])hrases and snappy sentences poured from the Food .Administration to the

states, targeting every sector of the community:"*'* "Be a Food UNITED STATES FOOD ADMINISTRATION Controller in your home and count your.self fortunate thai you '"• _-^- : . . >sm ha\c food lo control," "Do not help the Hun at meal time," and "Food Will Win the War" became rallying cries on gum Children, too, were asked to join the cause of food conservation. wrappers, menus, theater curtains, library bulletin boards, and in storefront window dis|3lays. The Woman's Committee of the Dane County Council of mended by the Food Administration, so they created their own Defense created a s]iecial subcommittee lo work s]iecifically on pamphlet and sent them to the slate food administrator in every creating window displays, beliexing them the best means lo state. Their ])ami)hlet included photos and exam|)les of displays advertise and educate women on food conservation. These swathed in American flags intended to stimulate food saving weren't just simple cardboard dis])lays, though: committee chair and encourage the use of sugar substitutes.' ' Mrs. L. M. Hobbins hired architects and desigiieis fiom the Although most of these disj^lays were no more iDrovocative University of Wisconsin lo help with the |)laiis. One of the dis­ than any other wartime |5ro]5aganda, some still ignited con­ plays had a Mother Goose theme and featured rhymes like troversy. During Food Window Display Week in March 1918, "Sing a song of thrift stamps / .'\ pocket full of rye / Flour and the women's committee of La Crosse put together a display twenty Hoover kinds / Of bread and cake and pie," and "Mis­ featuring a soldier stretched at the feet of a grinning human tress Mary—Quite contrary / Wants beef and mutton too? / skeleton, intended to convey the danger of famine if food was Why! All I'xx- got is halibut / And chicken for the stew.""*"^ The not conser\ed. The grinning skeleton was too gi"a])hic for some committee took |)hot<)s ofthe displays and sent them to the ])eople, and the ensuing protest led lo its immediate removal. Food Administration ofTiccs in \Vashington, D.C. In return, The next day, though, the skeleton was back. In a statement they received an official Food .Administration |)am]5hlel with its explaining the decision, the committee wrote: "If people were own suggestions and sketches for window displays that urged all so sensitive about having their feelings hurt, it was time that states to adopt this publicity plan. The women of Dane County, the grim reality ofthe need of food conservation was thrust however, thought their displays far superior to those recom- home in just such a bald and brutal way. So the skeleton and

.SPRING 2010 2,1

-^ WMoHspIO 2/9/10 11:33AM Page26 -^

WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY

the soldier and the bag of sugar with its direct appeal is still on etable oil, worth 33.67 trillion, to the Allies. Wisconsin display and those who are loo tender hearted to look at it increased its food ])roduction by twenty-five ]5ercent while [should] pass by on the other side." ' sending ;)0,000 farmers to war." During the war, domestic Even children were targeted with conservation messages. consumption of food dropped by fifteen percent and food ship­ Children were urged to sign their own sjiecial Junior Soldier ments tri])led. The U..S, .Army had been fed and a surplus of Flag Pledge cards, urging them to conserve and to convince food had even been built u]) lo pre\eni a post-war famine.*" their parents to do the same. In school, kids found posters pro­ Food really did help win the war, and Wisconsin, with Swen­ claiming the \ irtucs of potatoes while their teachers read them son's direction, had led the nation in finding new ways to save. conserxaiion fairytales like the Fairy Story on Potatoes to At the war's end. President Wilson sent Hooxcr to Europe encourage more potato consumption. Colleges, universities, to lead a new food organization, the American Relief Admin­ normal schools, and technical schools recei\ed lesson plans istration, which exentually sup|:)lied food to 300 million people ]5rei)ared by University of Wisconsin President Charles Van in twenty-one countries. And w ith him was Magnus Swenson, Hise on increasing food production and conservation. who brought the experience and innovations he had pioneered \Vhen the war ended in 1918, Americans had shipped in Wisconsin to the new postwar food crisis facing Scandinaxda, nearly 10 billion |Dounds of meats, fats, dairy jjroducts, and veg­ the Baltics, and Poland, K'i

^^ i^

,-• ,r ' K'li.' nil- '

"i|piHli||^^": tjwMj . v,!l|ji||||iiiL;".i,;..r l '-it'iiiiiilS?

Massive amounts of food waiting in crates to be shipped to the boys in France, 1918

Civilian sacrifice helped ensure food supply for soldiers overseas. Here a meal is prepared on a rolling kitchen for troops who had just captured Saint-Mihiel, France, in September 1918, WMoHspIO 2/9/10 11:33AM Page27 -^

WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY

18. "I.ctter from .Mi's. H. H. .Morgan to Chairman ofthe Woman's Committee."July 3, 1917. .Magnus Swenson Pajx-i's. IM)X .">. Iblder 1, Supiar means Ships Wiseonsin Historical Society .Archives, Madison. 19. Uiinel Ciraham, "Beyond Manipulation: Lillian (jilbrelh's TEve sugar used" in Industrial Psycholog)' and the Goverimieniality of Women Con­ sweet cfrinks must sumers," 77K' Sociological Quarterly 38. no. 4 {Autumn 1997): 539- be brought- to Amer­ 565. ica, in sRipft. Last- 20. "Wisconsin in fu"si World War faced nuioning problems just like yedf 4oo.ooo,ooolb.& today's." Capital 'I'imes iDecember 13. !913;: .Meirion and Susie of sugar cjere im­ Harries. 7"/ir hist Days of Innocence. l.')8. ported for Sweet" 21. Women Students" War Woii; Clouncil, War lime Rcci/x-s (.Madi­ drinks. These son: Women Students' \Var Work Council ofthe Uni\-ci'si(y of \Vis- consin, 1917). ships must" rv3w te 22. "Manual of Wheatless Recipes Issued by the Food Board ofthe .used" to carry sol­ Woman's Committee of the Dane County Council of Defense diers to the front 1918;." Dane County Coimcil of Defense Papers, \Visconsin His­ -, Drink, less torical Society .Archives, Madison. •I sweetenea 23. "Ixtter from William Dempster Hoard to Magnus Swenson, j beverages June 2. 1917," .Magnus Swenson Papers, box 5,Jan.-Junc 15, 1917 folder. Wisconsin Historical Society .Archives, Madison. We are at wcip 21. "Chicago, .Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railroad menu," .Magnus Swenson Papers, box 5, October 1917 folder. Wisconsin Historical Society .Archives. .NLidisou. 25. David .\l. Kennedy, (her Hen: 117. 26. Harvey .A. Ix-vensiein. Revolution at the 'Table: 'The Transfor­ mation ofthe .American Diet (London: Oxford University Press, 1988). 138. 27. "Ixtierjuly 2, 1917," Magnus Swenson Pai>ers, Iwx 5,June I6~ Sept. 1917 folder. Wisconsin Historical Society .Archives, Madison. 28. National .Archives, Teaching with Documents, "Sow the Seeds of Victory! Posters from the Food .Administration during World \Var I," online at littp://w\\'w.aix-liives.gov/education/lessons/sow-seeds/. 29.Jay Cooke, "The Work ofthe Federal Food .Administration," Annals of the Academy of Political and .^x-ial Science 78 July 1918): Food Administration, 175 181. 176. 30. Harvey .A. Ix^-vensiein. Revolution at die 7;jWe. 140. Every Spoomfwl — Evex*v S£i>-- 31. William E. Leucbtenlx-i^, Herbert Hoover (New York: Times ftesms less tor a FfoHter Btwks, 2009), 35-36. 32. .Maxcy R. Dickson, "The Food Administration: Educator," .Agricultural Histoiy 16 {Apiii 1942): 91 -96, 92. ^^ 33. David \l. Kennedy, Over Heiv. 117. i^ Importing less sugar allowed more ships to contribute to the war effort. 31. Meirion and Susie Harries, The I^st Dap of Innocence, 159. 3.'). 'Dane County Council of Defense, Food Conser\ation—Dane County—Women's Com­ mittee Window Display," Dane County Council of Defense records, Wisconsiit Historical Society .Archives, .Madison. 36. Ibid. Notes 37. "United States. Food .Administration. Wisconsin Division. Release. .Mar. 12. 1918." (.Madi­ son: Wisconsin Food /Vlministi^aiion. 1918). online at hH])://ww\\-.wisconsinhisiory.org/turn- 1. Abby Marian. "World War I Food Conscrx-aiion Material, 1917-1918," Madison: ingl>oints/search.asp?id=1245. Wisconsin Hisioriral Soricty Airliivcs. 38. "Food Conscr\-ation Report of FOCMI Board Re|H)rt of Market" and "Food Conservation 2. The Naiioiia! Arrliivcs. "Sow IIK* Seeds of Wion! Posters from the Food Administration in Townships & \'illages Second Food Pledge," Dane County Council of Defense Pajrcnj, Wis­ Dtirinn \N'oi l(i War I." online at wuu.archivcs.gov/cducation/lcssons/sow-sccds. consin Historical Society .Archives, .Madison. 3. Paul Glad, The History of W'istomin \'ol. 5: War. a Sew Era, and Depression, 1914-1910 39. Charles \an Hise, Consenation atid Regulation During die World War: An Outline for (Madison: State Historical Socicly of Wisconsin. 1990), 28 30: "Wisconsin in fii-si World War a Course ofU'ctures to l)c Oiwn in Higher Educational Institutions (Washington: Oo\ermneni faced rationing problems just like today's," online at Wisconsin Ixical Histoiy and Biography Printing Omee, 1917). 74. Articles http://w'\\iv.\visconsinhisior\.org/\vlhba/arliclcVie\v.asp?pg=l&id=7132&pn=0. •to. Dickson, "'Ihe Food .Adminisiraiion: Fducator." 95. 4. Meirion and Susie Harries, The List Days of Innocence: America at War. 1917 1918 (New 41. "Wisconsin in fir"st World War laced rationing problems just like today's," Capital 'Times York: Random House), 151. (13 Deceml)er 19131. 5. David .\I. Kennedy. Over Heiv: The First W'oiid War and Aniericiw Society (New York: 42. Herlx-rt Hoover Presidential Library and Museum, "U.S. Food .Administrator," Hooier Oxford L'nivei-siiy Pivss, 1980), 117. Ori/z'/ie.'online at wwvv.econ«iicode.com/lioo\'er/lioo\'eronlinc/lioo\'er_bio/food.htm. 6. Wayne Wicgan, "In Sernce to the Slate: Wisconsin's Ptibtic Libraries During World War l" Wisconsin Masptzinc of Histor\niii\iunt^ 1989): 199-224,206-207. 7. "Wisconsin in fii-st World War faced rationing problems just like today's." online at Wis­ consin I^oeal History and Hiogntphy .\riicles htt))://www.Wisconsinbistory.org/wlhba/ariicle- \^iew.asp?pg= I &id= 7! 32&pn=0. ABOUT THE AUTHOR 8. Olaf Hougcn. "Magnus Swenson, Inventor and Ohemical Kngineer," Norwegian-.American Historical .Association online, Vo]. X, http://\s'w'w.naha.siolar.eoit ofthe Wisconsin State Council of Defense, 30. Wisconsin, both published by the Wisconsin 11. "The .Automobile S(|uadron,"July II, 1917, Magnus Swenson Papers, 1K>X 5, folder 3, Wis­ Historical Society Press, She holds master's consin Historical Society .Archives, Madison. degrees in American history and journalism 12. Wisconsin State Council of Defense, Refwrt ofthe Wisconsin State Council of Dclcnse, 30. 13. Wisconsin State Council of Defense, Re/wrt ofthe Wisconsin State Council of Dclcnse, 25. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison 14. Paul Glad, The History of Wisconsin Vol. 5, 29. and is a producer at Wisconsin Public Radio, 15. "Bakers pledge card," Magnus Swenson Papers, box five, folder l,\Visconsin Historical Society .Archives, Madison. She eats meatless- but not wheatless—every day. 16. "Bread Situation."June 15, 1917, Magnus Swenson Papers, IK>X 5, folder I, AViseonsin His­ torical Society .Archives, Madison. 17. "Letter from .Mrs. H. H. Morgan to Chairman ofthe Woman's Commiticc,"July 12, 1917. Magiuis Swenson Papers, box 5, folderS, Wisconsin Historical Society Archiws, Madison.

.SPRIXG 2010 27

-^

WMoHspIO 2/9/10 11:34AM Page30 -^

..M^LEDMONDS

The Golden Freak, Pete Obranovich, on horseback at the Sound Storm grounds

^^ Pete Obranovich worried he might be the only guy to ever stage a rock festival lo which nobody came. It was the morning of Friday, .April 24, 1970, and for five months he'd been straining fiienclshi])s and making enemies to create Sound Storm, Wisconsin's first outdoor rock festival. Opening day had finally arrixed, but as he peered down the An advertising poster with a stylized map pointed the way to the festival site near Poynette, cmjily road outside Poyncllc, \\'isconsin, all Pete could hear was gentle spring breezes. He didn't need to worry. For the next three days, pulsating The Golden Freak electric guitars, ubic|uitous LSI), ]3er(i:ct weather, and clouds of Pete arrived in Madison in ihc fall of 1969 at age twenty- marijuana smoke would help thirty thousand young people seven with his Harley, shoulder-length hair, and impeccable invent a se|oarate reality outside Poynette. Nearby, disgusted counter-culture credentials. He was neither a re\olutionary nor residents feared ibr their children and vowed never to let it ha])- a flower child. "I was always a one-jier-center, all the way," he pcn again. To this day, participants debate what actually hap­ explained, using a bikers' term for the one percent of society that pened there forty years ago. They generally agree, though, that doesn't fit in anywhere at all. ".My biker life was my politics,"" Sound Storm marked the height of hippicdom in Wisconsin. hi 1967, he trekked fiom Buffalo, .\cw York, lo Los .Ange­ les and then wandered up the coast to Seattle. Along the way, he spent lime in Haighl-Ashbiu-y with ])sychedclic alchemist Photos on previous page: and stayed at Ken Kesey's commune in Ore­ An appreciative crowd seen from stage.The camping area can be gon ("hell, even the cows on that place were laying on their seen in the background (left), WHII).IA6EID67I29 backs, wa\ing their feet in the air"). He helped handle the (irateful Dead's eciuipment when they played in the Xorthwest Tickets were printed and sold, but most Sound Storm attendees bypassed the ticket booth and found other ways onto the grounds. and became friends with and keyboard player

COURTESY OF MICHAEL EDMONDS Pigpen McKcrnan. When he landed in .Madison in Se]5lcmber 1969, Pete was James Ramey, better known as Baby Huey, performed with his band using the name Bobo, one of several identities he could pull The Babysitters, WHI IMAGE loesM? from his wallet. "Wc didn't know his real name until long after-

30 wisconsinhistory.org

-^ WMoHspIO 2/9/10 11:34AM Page31

Despite local opposition, landowner Irene York allowed the show to Workers set up the stage and scaffolding for speakers one go on by renting her land as the festival site. day before the festival began.

wards," says his attorney John Hanson. When a Madison years. Golden Freak knew there would be strong opposition to i^ reporter asked Pete where he came from, he replied, "The a festival. In March 1970, Pete announced to the press that world. I'm from the planet Earth.""' Sound Storm would be held at Aquarian Ex])rcss Farm, a com­ This was just after Woodstock, and many people wondered mune in western Dane County. "It wasn't big enough," he later if a similar event could ha|)])en in the Midwest. Pete had recalled. "Hell, it wasn't big enough to be the parking lot." But worked that summer on a festi\al outside .Seattle and was the it was a perfect way to call out the opposition, and the media only ])crs()n in .Madison with firsthand experience, Injanuary (liiickk- rcNcaled the official strategy foi'sup|)ressing the festi\al. 1970, he formed a company called Golden Freak Enterprises It also cast Sound Storm as a David-and-Goliath battle lo organize Sound Storm for the following s])ring.'' between middle-aged bastions of law and order and a handful "For Pete," said his fiicnd Bob Pulling, "every clay really is of hil^pies with nothing but their dreams." a new day , , , The whole world starts all over again when he Among those who followed the controversy was a seventy- gets out of bed every morning," Pete's charisma was ])alpable, nine-year-old grandmother in rural Cokmibia County. "I read and he was unrelentingly energetic. Part lovable kid brother in the |5a]5er that they were trying to have it at Cross Plains," and part con man, one friend said Pete missed his true calling: Irene York said. "So I wTote and told them about this spot and he could ha\e made millions as a tele\angelist,'' the\- came uji and looked at it and said it was i^erfect." .Accord­ Golden Freak consisted of Pete and several allies. Sandy ing to neighbors, the York famil)' members "were very much Nelson's curly blond hair and cherubic features made him look individual free-thinkers." Irene's son Mayam admitted that, like the CowardK' Lion fVom 77)c Wizard olOz. and he pro\cd "Mother didn't caie what Poynette people thought and said as loyal to Pete as the lion was to Doroth)-. When Pete first so, in so many words."'' landed in Madison, Bob Pulling repaired his Harley and Their farm was an ideal site for a festival. It was near Inter­ shared his orange barrel acid. They became lifelong friends, state 94, just half an hour north of Madison and an easy drive and Pulling agreed to take photographs during the festival. fiom Chicago, Milwaukee, and the Twin Cities, It could shel­ Recent law school gradsjack Van Metre, John Hanson, and ter tens of thousands of people in a natural amphitheater, its Roger Schniizler, intrigued by the idea and in need of clients, sandy soil would drain quickly in the rain, and Rowan Creek look on Golden Freak's legal work.' ran through the bottom to provide cool water and shade, Their services were essential because local authorities and Pete agreed to pay $5,000 to rent the farm for Sound Storm, the counterculture had been battling in the streets for two The April 1.3, 1970, contract also promised a security force of

.SPRING 2010 31

-^ WMoHspIO 2/9/10 11:35AM Page32 -^

WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY

In the weeks before Sound Dekorra, Poynette counsels Storm, municipalities attempted to block the aiven rock fesffval quesfion festival on legal grounds.

W BJy JACK «OJX^

and traffic now. Cota said he «s c«M«« FnrU»r, V» Metre said, UePoj^e rdq>.rtmenl could handle the traltlc W area property ns more or !•«J^ J^. UcteTmaniwwer and equipment lor tt. ^se ol controlled access, "l*''". J?f"' actual policing ol the festival Itself. SS. soil conditions that lnsnr«l "P "^ iSioSg c^nty officials also prese^-W age in event o( rata, and general topogra- declining comment - were Zoning A* Uls month reraataa) unsettled. mSStor Robert Irwln, CMl De «nse Dh Closeted ifter the opening n>f«*^'™° "'i.-U, my o.n opinion, the York property Is redSr B. J. Amend, Patrol Caplata ArmU „S>^rs 0. the Poynette ^^m^^"^.^ the best suited (or such purpose than either Otaesorge. Detective Captain RJertHame^. selwtmen referred the matter to PorUgc "'X's'l^i^^g'^'^edandnea.ly.x.rt^red S^rvUo* Elmer FUk and Resource Di­ IttMnev Arno MUler, town counsel, tor a rector Palmer McCoy. Local authorities prepared ^l Jl a 1^ aspects ol the case, and Cl^on said that 1" drawing up he 1«« But II the county """Ws ">P»taed sU

County ready It riot occurred KELLT Columbia CoontT Sh.riff v. ^^ sua Writer hTcTmS'""'""'»•-"«"«-*» «»> rock lZ'rS^JLT„''J ''"f^' ^re were man, pKp,t In Ihe conoh ». lale access to a J^" '"! •»" '""ed. WMPOQS " '° ' ""^ cache of poUce saw wtK) apparently believed ii —T/'T i^ ThorZd' Z 2fn^- ," '«'.^I 00 the oreraU^jL^ °' «**"<«>rs thlscoMty." '"""^ '» be held 111

«.'???ont°rorSly';".,'err?-^ to Ws case Ihe ^y ^rS^fJi the county board." • "" ""y bf COLUMBIA COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE •"K geographical features of Ihe sita •»• Sheriff Golz (kneeling, right) and his deputies kept the peace in sJiolmns ?.«k' VrT* ''^ '"lo aimbers Columbia County when thousands of young people flocked to the

area for Sound Storm. c^Sai^s^'^h^'eXS^l'^'^ "•'- ««ld be used lo^XT^ ^"^ *• '«" mem, Colt eqJSneT "^ "^ "^ *^- "•"« """ "w" was no( only ideal for th,

--~ pirsoonel from surrogadtatcoiMy •" tar enough, perhan but ii u^Z "^-ed Ideally for obse^lu,^.'. ^ S? not less than one hundred security guards (striking UVV- "The rHKkt.^ ._

Madison leaching assistants) as well as ambulances, medical

staff, and two helicopters. Golden Freak also jiromised not to

])ermit "use of, presence, consumption of or sale of alcoholic '» Commajxl Post perSoi! "^""^ '"'° <" and/or intoxicating beverages, liquors or drugs on the ]5remises."

Everyone expected there to be drug and alcohol use, contract a or no contract, but Irene York's counsel insisted that liability for !*< infractions should rest squarely on Golden Freak.'" oJ's as J. ,sf"°* """• « ""T »artS *1 With a venue in place and construction ready to begin, SHERIFTOfflLZ at Pnesaaou takes Sound Storm needed more tangible assets than hippie dreams.

Bob Pulling later recalled that they had no money at all, - "0«r plan, irom the start _. .. though attorney Roger Schnitzlcr thought that Pete jjossessed

a few hundred dollars. To raise money, Pete decided to license continued '"^r "nproiected,' (Mt xending rights lo merchants who wanted lo sell food to the site ««!/ w^.i7^ "*^^ wlttila the •£4;x£rrcl!f/.ir^-2 crowd. When restaurateur Jeff Wehrman paid for the right to «l'5°L°"'° "^oocem'was lo protect lheo»r sell burgers and hoi dogs, Pete apjiroached anyone who might £, VUlage of Poynene.- he reportedic. put down cash for a similar monopoly. Local businesses shelled Sri'm\r?^r!--™-^«^ £rs.;^'i{^"rm"s=p"S-n^

32 ^^^edTr?o'r:^r' ^^ '"^ i»'/'^°°^ communication played a k« r,j. in (Sur operatloo.'' Golz said ' ^ "*' «»Jl.r^tod_brok_en_bu.„st«^,.;^:^':^

•#• WMoHspIO 2/9/10 11:35AM Page33 -^

WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY

COURTESY OF MICHAEL EDMONDS WHI IMAGE ID67020 WHI IMAGE ID676S9 9 Grale fill l)ml. ,,^

Hllinois Speed Press, Rotary ^omu'ctioiJ. Mason Pfoffit,'Fuse, Baby Huey, Soup, The Sori-y Muthas, Spocti'c Inc., CaptiXin Billy's VVIiiz Btind 'Bj(mffa,^Bmirery Hogs, ^•.S. IniTe, The Smil Asylum, Bliss, Brimn Siijiur, Ox, Ntirlhem C/mfori, Tayles, Sargasso, Wheezer Lockinger Manitoba Hugger, Wingfietd, Tongue, Orove, Woodbine, Strophe. Ice, Oinaha, Staph. Hope, Fly-By-Night Blues Band, Mother Blues, Don Gibson, Wildcfncss Road. Incredible Soui

More than thirty bands appeared over the three days Jeff Amundsen, lead singer of Madison, David "Colonel" Leis (guitar), Steve Ungs ofthe festival. Although he received second billing. Wisconsin, band The Bowery Boys (bass), and Roger Wylie (drums), ofthe ^^ Ken Kesey did not actually attend. Rockford, Illinois, band Wheezer Lockinger i^

out for the rights to sell lemonade, soft drinks, ice cream, and ground if it rained, or if a number of other uncontrollable vari­ tee shins. Within a few days, Pete had S45,000 in hand." ables came to ]>ass. Pete's attorneys knew they'd gone out on a He contactedjeirerson Air|5lane, but their fee was too high limb, swept along initially by his charisma and the sheer pre- for his budget. Jerry Garcia, however, committed the Grateful ])oslerousne.ss of it all. But when the political establishment tried Dead to ]>lay for just S9,.'i00 (a third of their usual rate) out of to dri\e a stake through the heart of their vision, they got mad. friendshi]) for Pete. .Mthough the contract called only for a 50- minule set, the Dead had such a good time they ]Dlaycd for sev­ "Guns, Not Clubs" eral hours. Pete lined up about another thirty local bands for Local radio reporter Jim Packard says that most rural resi­ $250 to S500 each. In all, the music cost Golden Freak between dents panicked at the thought of being outnumbered twenty- $30,000 and 535,000, most of it paid in cash when performers fi\e-to-one by beatniks, bikers, rebels, and freaks: "[IJt was like took the stage.'" science fiction, monsters from outer space descending on Pete hired lighting and sound c.\]5cris from Chicago's for­ them." Poynette's county board representative, Elmer Fisk, mer Electric Theater, who were building custom audio systems recalled "lots of nervous, tense people, who didn't know i)ut for bands around the country under the name Tomorrow Inc. they would bust all the windows and burn ihe tov\'n down."''* Crew members Mike Dzielinski and Sparky Raizene arrixed Rural Columbia County had just emerged fiom a genera­ in Poynette on Wednesday, April 22, helped build the stage, tion of intense suffering. y\fier the Depression ])araly/.ed its and then began erecting speaker and mixing towers. The next economy, most young men were called away to fight in a hor­ morning they unloaded iruckloads of s])eakers and am])lifiers rific war from v\'hich many never returned. Those who did and, using a rented crane, hoisted massive ba.ss units into place. come home started new lives under the ominous shadow ofthe They spent the rest of Thursday and Friday scaling the towers Cold War and mushroom clouds. In 1970, more than forty per­ to install high-frequency horns and testing connections in lime cent ofthe county's adults had noi finished high school; two- for the first act on Friday e\ ening. thirds of the men worked at blue-collar jobs in factories, As opening day approached, Sound Storm was a fragile construction, trucking, or farming. Only one teenager in five house of cards. The whole fantastic edifice would crash to the went away to college. '

.SPRING 2010 33

-^ WMoHspIO 2/12/10 1:34PM Page34

Concert goers share a large bucket of water. Drinking water was a It was rumored that acid blotters were dropped by helicopter, but it concern at Sound Storm. was security flyers that fell from the sky.

The village of Poynette was a hard-working. God-fearing grew up in a circus family and S)'mpathized with anyone trying town of 1,100 where tidy streets ran at righl angles and to pull off a good show. He also had dee]) knowledge of and churches outnumbered taverns. Residents prided themselves respect for the law. So he ultimately ruled that, "if these people on their well-equipped volunteer fire department, new high comply with the law, they have a right to have a rock festival. And school, and patriotic boys in uniform. It was obvious to them .Mrs. York, as a |)ropcrty owner, has a righl to lease her property that the .Xmerican way of life was successful. When hordes of ... the ai)])lication for a tcm|3orary injunction is denied."''' ^^ young people who rejected that lifestyle threatened to invade Po)'nette was stunned. A whirlwind of fear swept through the i^ their town, they were understandably alarmed, ' more im])ressionable residents. Some |)arcnts worried their On April 14 and 16, 1970, local officials called public meet­ teenagers would sneak onto the York farm and come home ings about the looming catastrophe. Golden Freak's attorney addicted to drugs, or run ofTto and never come home Jack Van Metre tried to calm residents by telling them his staff at all. Some thought Hell's Angels might roar in on their Harleys had researched rock festivals around the country and most had to rape their daughters and terrorize the community. A few in been "orderly, agreeable, and interesting." Irene York's attorney the all-white village even feared the Black Panthers would explained that the contract prohibited drinking, drug use, and invade. The night before the festival began, one speaker at a local disorderly conduct. When asked how that would be accom­ meeting urged residents to keep their firearms dose at hand."" plished. Van Metre described the security force of striking Most residents were more realistic. Local officials, in par­ UVV-Madison graduate students. A Poynette village selectman ticular, simply resigned themselves to making the best of a bad promptly burst out, "Those are the very kind of ])c<)])le we situation. This burden fell .squarely on the shoulders of forty-one- want to keej) out of our community." .\o one v\ent home reas­ year-old Columbia Countv' Sheriff Warn (Jolz who, as a profes­ sured. The second meeting ended with officials demanding sional law ofTicer, knew that the v\c)rst rumors were unfounded. that county government hall ihe festival." But he also knew that moving thousands of ]5eo]5le safely around The county board immedialely sought an injunction in cir­ rural roads was a major challenge. With conccrtgoers certain to cuit court. They argued that "public health, morals and safety exponentially outnumber police, he decided to ignore minor are in danger," that fans might go "on a rampage," and that the infiactions inside the festival grounds and focus his resources plan V iolaied sanitation and zoning ordinances. Golden Freak's on keei)ing the hi])])iesas far awa)^ fiom the village as ]:)ossible."' attorneys responded that the contract met local codes and the Golz set up a command post next to the main parking lot in land v\as alreadv' zoned for commercial use, which explicitly a tv\'enty-six-foot trailer. Hundreds of uniformed ofhcers were included theatrical performance such as rock festivals. " called uj) fiom as far as one hundred miles away, many strate­ The case was heard on April 22,1970, by Circuit Court Judge gically |)ositioned to radio advance notice of approaching Robert Gollmar, who was indebted to his neighboi-s for re-election motorcycle gangs. Others were trained to work undercover and shared their values. He declared opening in court that, "1 inside the crowd and keep their fingers on its pulse."" v\ ouldn't go to a rock festival if they carried me out there on a /\s o|)ening day api^roached, Golz took every opportunity to sedan-chair and purchased me a portable toilet." But Gollmar defuse tension, |)ublicly praising the "excellent cooperation

34 wisconsinhistory.org

-^ WMoHspIO 2/9/10 11:35AM Page35

Kink Middlemist (left) works his hair and the keyboards and Denny Craswell (right) lashes at his drum kit as the Minneapolis band Crow keeps the party going into the night.

from the ])romoters ofthe affair" and giving the impression By mid-afternoon on Friday, 1,500 people were lounging on that he anticipated no problems. But he secretiy brought in a the hillside in the sun while engineers went ihrough sound truckload of shotguns, automatic rifics, and tear gas canisters, checks and vendors opened their stalls. Madison's Mifflin Street and he privately assured Poynette ofTicials that if trouble broke Co-op offered a free food booth stocked with one thousand out it would be met "with guns, not clubs.""'' ]iounds of brown rice, three hundred ]XHinds of oatmeal, one By the evening of Tluirsday, .\])ril 23, nerves were frayed. hundred ])ounds of onions, and fifieen bushels of a])])les. A group ^^ Sheriff Golz had scheduled hundreds of officers in twelve-hour calling itself the Milwaukee Tribe set up a mimcogra]5h machine i^ shifts and assembled his cache of wcajDons. Pete remains mys­ beneath a Vietcong flag and began |)rinting a newsletter. By sun­ tified by the town's reaction. "I don't know what the [expletive set, groups often to twenty ])eople were |)ouring in steadily, and deleted I they were so afraid of," he later commented. "It was the opening night crowd eventually swelled to twelve thousand."' just a bunch of kids listening to music.""* Nick Berigan hitchhiked up from Madison and crept in through the woods after dark. As he crested the final ridge, "A Vision Worthy of Dante" the brightly lit stage burst into view below him. Music rever­ The next morning, SherifTGolz activated his mobile head­ berated off the opposite hillside and thousands of people quarters, hoping for the best but prepared for the worst. danced around camp fires. He called the scene "other­ Nearby, Pete waited outside the ticket booth, wondering if anv - worldly a V ision worthy of Dante." After taking it in for a few one would actually show up. In the woods a mile away, Mike seconds, he said to himself, "'Fhis is cool," and descended into Dziclinski and Sparkv Raizene scrambled across four-story-tall the maelstrom.-" speaker towers with electrical ta])e and screwdrivers. As Ihe first night climaxed when Pete walked onstage between reporterjim Packard watched long-haired workers finish erect­ sets with Irene York. He introduced her as "the person who made ing the stage, he wondered silently, "Was this really hajjpening, all this jiossible" and asked fans to "hold u]) a light for Granny out in a field in Poynette?""'' York." John Hanson, watching fiom the peri])hery, remcmbei"s Thousands of cars were soon parking in farmers' fields all that "the entire hillside lit up like a Christmas tree." Pete said around the York farm. Seeing them a]5proach, Jack Van Metre York "balled like a baby, the tears streaming down her face." thought there might actually be monev' in Pete's wild idea. But For the rest ofthe night, music pulsated ofTthe stage, bare­ neighbors had posted signs and handed out maps to guide con­ foot dancers spun in the shadows, and the valley filled with the ccrtgoers through the woods v\ithout ])aying, and fev\'er than fragrance of ]5ot smoke. "Campfires flickered as far as the eye twenty-five ])ercent actually bought tickets. Pete enlisted biker could see," rejiorted the Milwaukee Journal, "and long-haired friends to cruise the perimeter on their Harleys, one of whom youths dressed in everything from raccoon skin pants to bib brought in one hundred nervous fans like captured prisoners of overalls gvrated ha])])ilv- in a dusty tangle in front ofthe stage."'"' war. But the site was "a leaky sieve," in Schindler's words, and John Hanson trekked over to the farmhouse with the final a number of fans always thought Sound Storm had been a free installment of Irene York's $5,000 in cash. Exce|)t for two juve­ festival.''^'* niles who tore down No Parking signs, the police made no

.SPRING 2010 3 5

-^ WMoHspIO 2/9/10 11:35AM Page36

arrests. Sheriff Golz told the press, "Both the promoters and the fans have been very cooperative."'"

Thirty Thousand Freaking Freely The sun rose on a glorious Saturday morning. "It was like God loved rock festivals," Roger Schnitzlcr recalled, "in the 70s and 80s, just fabulous weather." Sheriff Golz awoke in his trailer and sent undercover ofhcei"s Robert Hamele and Gary Cross into the crowd to gather intelligence. There was a lot for them to see.'*" Fans had arrived from all over the nation. There were ded­ icated hippie moms in long dresses cuddling babies. Brawny bikers with greasy hair drinking beer for breakfast. .'\ v\'oman wearing nothing but sunglasses, nonchalantly catching the rays. College students from every campus within 200 miles. A naked man flailing ecstatically atop a U-Haul truck. Great cir­ cles of dancers holding hands and s|)inning entranced in front ofthe stage. Solitary wanderers exploring the woods with pecu­ liarly rapt attention.''' On Saturday, members of The Hog Farm arrived in a painted school bus. This New Mexico-based commune traveled the countrv' helping peojile use [psychedelic drugs for personal liberation. Wavy (iravy, their best-known member, often i dressed as a clown, "cause it's joy that makes me move in this Michael McCormick of Madison was named the Mud King and jail, this earth that's a jail, and what v\'e're plottin' is one incred­ crowned with a wood violet. ible jailbreak." The Hog Farm had organized the free food and ^^ medical care at Woodstock and came to help at Sound Storm."** i^ Drug dealers v\'andered o])enly through the crov\cl all week­ end, like hot dog vendors at a ballgame. Marijuana, hashish, Remember, you are the leaders and there is no way to LSD, mescaline, MDA (an Ecstasy-like psychedelic), hallu­ peace. Peace is the way. cinogenic mushrooms, and a buffet of uppers and downers were always within easy reach. Announcers issued warnings Hamele and Cross escaped unharmed. from the stage: "Don't buy the white tabs or the orange SherifTGolz was astonished by the crowd's peacefulness. wedges, it's bad shit." The mimcogra]5hed newsletter assured "It's just amazing," he told the Milwaukeejournal. "If you had readers that the "grass, hash, ]5urple microdots closest to pure this many middle-age people, drinking the way these kids arc, acid" were all fine, and that the orange sunshine LSD was you'd have no end of fights and trouble." Perhaps he didn't "outasite." Alcohol flowed freely, and newspaper accounts sug­ a]5]oreciate the pacifying effects of ego-melting psychedelics. gest that the most wides]>read mind-altering chemical at Sound Pete estimated that at any given moment, more than half Storm may have been Bali Hai, a cheap screv\'-to|) wine. ' ofthe audience was trip])ing' on LSD or similar hallucinogens, Before long, Golz's undercover officers were spotted, and drugs which often dissolved the ego and spawned mystical the festival's mimeogra]>h machine had alerted the crowd ex]5eriences. "One youth, with downy sideburns and a mus­ under the headline, ".\ Pig Is a Pig Is a Pig." Pete, fearing tache," reported ihcMilwaiikeeJournal, "whittled 'G. Z. Loves arrests of fans or harm lo officers Hamele and Cross, com­ Life' into the trunk of a maple, then carved a heart around the mandeered a helicopter and flew into Madison, where he inscri])tion." A j^erson discovering heaven in a wild flower or printed 10,000 flyers. Adorned with Golden Freak's buzzard giggling at (he thought there could ever have been a "me" and bomb logo, he dropped these onto the audience from the would be unlikely to start a fight. sky and urged readers to "Keep the Faith:" In fact, only one significant confi-ontation was reported dur­ ing the entire weekend, and it was settled not by the police but FREAKS: by Pete. There arc ])eople who aren't turned on and are trying When the Vietcong flag was hoisted onto a sound tower, to turn ofl"what's happening here. It depends on you, [patriotic Chicago bikers demanded its removal. Pete oflcred to each and every one of you, to make it! So please don't have the stars and stripes raised on the opposite tower, but this break it. Let the vibes be your guide. Just let it be. didn't satisfy them. When the ringleader started to climb

36 wisconsinhistory.org

-^ WMoHspIO 2/9/10 11:35AM Page37

get in, more than $ 100,000 in cash should have changed hands during the weekend. Golden Freak's attorneys rotated shifts v\atching the money and discretely carried wads of bills dov\'n- hill to hide them backstage in a suitcase in the sound crew's trailer. Roger Schnitzlcr estimates that by Sunday afternoon, $75,000 $100,000 was hidden ihere.*" As temperatures rose into the eighties, sweaty festival-goers christened a stretch of shoreline "T^arth People's Beach" and transformed a huge mound of soil nearby into a slide, flying clown it into Rowan Creek like otters. After frolicking in vari­ ous states of undress, they crowned twenty-one-year-old Michael McCormick of Madison "The Mud King" by encas­ ing him in slime and balancing a marsh jjlant on his head.*' A high |5oint ofthe weekend was the wedding on Sunday of Robert Leslie and Barbara Sv\enson. The bride wore flov\ers in her hair and an ankle-lengih while cotton dress. Ex])laining why she chose to be married at a rock festival, she told re]3oricrs, ".Ml of these |)eople are our friends, and where could we find a church big enough for them?" Poynette residents could hear the music two miles away and v\al('hed the news coverage every night, but most obeyed Sher­ iff (Jolz's advice to stay away. Poynette's only jjolicc officer, John Racsch, took several calls from anxious parents whose Barbara Swenson ofthe band Northern Comfort before her onstage wedding to bandmate Robert Leslie teenagers had snuck out and were worried they might run off to California. He later claimed with mock pride, '"[\\ |c didn't ^^ lose even one to the hippies." High school basketball coach i^ Richard Hanick and his v\'ife drove down to the York farm v\ith onstage and tear down the flag himself, Pete leajjed micro­ windows rolled up and doors locked; they never got out of their phone in hand, knocked him to the ground, and pummeled car. Village board member Mel Egger briefly surveyed the him into the dirt. .'\s comrades swarmed in to retaliate, Pete scene and concluded that "animals treat their own kind better held the microphone u|5 in one hand, pulled a knife out with than what I observed."*'' the other, and announced, "y\ny of you other [expletive Village merchants were more positive. Three bar owners deleted] want some?" He then helped his adversary up and the had ordered truckloads of beer and wine, and one reported two of them went for a beer. " selling fifty cases of Bali Hai. So many long-haired fans found Three dozen bands jjlayed at Sound Storm. "We would set their way into town lo buy su]0|5lies that shelves in many stores u|o a band on one side of the stage," audio manager Mike were swept entirely clean. Merchants joked afterward that "the Dziclinski recalled, "and while they jjlayed their set, we'd set up only guy that didn't make money was the barber."*'' the next band on the other side so that there would be very lit- By Sunday afternoon, thousands of their friends had been tie down time between bands." Apart from the , partying non-stop for forty-eight hours, and still the crowd con­ only a few^ can be easily traced today.'"' tinued lo swell. New arrivals could be immediat(-ly s]iotted by The Chicago group Rotary Connection blended rock, soul, their relative cleanliness. Those who had arrived on Friday and psychedelia featuring multi-octave solos by vocalist Min­ night were generally covered in dust from the grounds, mud nie Ri]Derton. Illinois Speed Press mixed rock, soul, and coun­ fiom the creek, soot from their cam]Dfires, or all three. As the try. Baby Hue\' was a three-hundred-ijound jjiotege of Curtis sun reached its zenith on Sunday, tripped-out veterans and Mayfield whose trippy renditions of R&B tunes spawned a pvv- bright-eyed newcomers were all eagerly awaiting the top-billed manent follov\ing, Rockford-bascd Fuse ])layed hard rock and band, San Francisco's Grateful Dead.*' blues, and two years later evolved into the power-pop sensa­ tion. Cheap Trick,*' "World Comes Undone" While the bands played, thousands of dollars in small bills Twenty-five miles away, the Dead were piling into John were being counted, tallied, banded, and paid out at the ticket Hanson's nine-|3assenger station wagon, which cjuickly filled booth. Tickets cost $15 for the whole weekend, $12 for Satur­ with dense blue smoke. Jack Van Metre, who hated highway day alone, and $7 for Sunday, If even one fan in four paid to driving under the best of conditions, struggled to avoid a debil-

.SPRING 2010 37

-^ WMoHspIO 2/9/10 11:35AM Page38

WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY

itating contact high as he sped north to Poynette. A half-hour later, the band tumbled out behind the stage laughing hysterically. The Grateful Dead were not yet famous. When performing, they almost always took LSD, played without any |)redetermined song list, and im])rovised instrumental jiassages lasting thirty minutes or more. Their mission was to deconstruct the listener's inher­ ited mental conditioning and enable mystical e|Di]Dha- nies to break through. As lead guitarist Jerry Garcia put it, "Magic is what we do. Music is how we do it." Anthropologist Joseph Campbell likened them to shamans and their concerts to ecstatic ceremonies.*" While their equijiment was being set up at Sound Storm, the Dead prepared the usual sacraments. .•\ case of soda was brought onstage and each can popped open. A Visine bottle with an cycdroppcr appeared, and each can was dosed with liquid LSD. The cans then circulated lo everyone onstage and into the audience.^" Although the weather was unseasonably warm, temperatures dipped into the forties Between 2:30 and 7:30, the Dead ]ierfoi'med three at night. Here, festival-goers warm themselves around a fire in the camping area. long sets. Xo one can verify what they played, since Pete's reels were lost and no tapes survive in the band's vault. They must have performed all the ]:)sychedclic Kesey himself was at the controls. WHien asked about this, John standards from their album Live/Dead as v\'cll as their new Hanson replied, "I hope it turns out to be true; it ought to be ^^ country-rock songs from Workingman's Dead, which they had true." But Bob Pulling pointed out that it would have been i^ just recorded. .Mike Dziclinski often helped set up their sound unnecessary: "There was enough acid there v\ithoul having to systems when ihey |)la\'ed the Midwest. He says, "As the band dro]) it from a helicopter" Pete sus|3ected later that hallucinations has admitted, because of their improvisational style sometimes at the time and the passing years transformed security fiyers that they were on and sometimes they weren't. At Sound Storm, he clrop]X'd on Saturday into the myth of an LSD airlift.'" they were definitely on." John Hanson recalls that they were Pulling recalled that at the end ofthe third set most ofthe relaxed and engaging on stage, nurturing a generous, support­ band left the stage exhausted and happy, but rhythm guitarist ive atmos]ohere across the hillside.'' remained at his microphone trembling and Recollections posted at fan Web sites include some evocative entranced, almost catatonic. The Dead's crew came forward, details about the Dead's five-hour performance: ])icked him u]) under the arm])its, and carried him backstage. Hanson bundled the band into his station wagon and, as the After second GD number, band asks audience if any­ car filled with pot smoke again, he imagine he "could sec the one has an I Ching. .\ book is passed forward but Bob headlines already 'Promising Young .Attorney .Arrested on says, "No, the grey book." 'That is produced, band Highway 51 with Notorious Rock Band.'" On the ride back, kneels down together in ccnier of stage, lo.sses coins, Jerry Garcia told him that "for its scale, this was the best festi­ reads results, all rise laughing and hollering, launch into val they had ever ])erformcd at, the most mellow."'' Other One . . . Phil in middle, Jerry to audience's far left, Bob on far right. During jam, jilaying lickety split, Wake ofthe Flood suddenly Jerry and Bob stride ciuickly lo center, band By then, Wisconsin and Chicago finis were flowing cjuietly starts playing double-time, world comes undone ... It toward their cars. About three thousand people who'd jour- was dark when v\e lefi and I had to drive home lo Mil­ ne\ ed from Calif<)rnia or the East Coast lingered around their waukee, since 1 was the only one able to . . . Driving campfires v\hile the stars came out, losing themsehes in what home, I announce that, "Now I can die." Pal Jim con­ the Dead called "the transitive nightfall of diamonds." curs, though third passenger was a little uneasy ... Golden Freak Enterprises, meanv\'hile, got a rude surprise: the suitcase with $100,000 had vanished during the Dead's An urban myth persists that LSD was dropped from aircraft performance. "Looking back," Roger Schnitzlcr says, "wc got during the Dead's performance, with one j^erson claiming Ken caught u|) in the general excitement and failed to act very

38 wisconsinhlstoryorg

-^ WMoHspIO 2/9/10 11:35AM Page39

WNIIMAGCI0eSW3

Jerry Garcia, lead guitarist and vocalist for the Grateful The legendary Grateful Dead performed Sunday afternoon as the headline act of Sound Dead, on stage at Sound Storm Storm.

business-like." They saw no point in reporting the theft since majority when he called Sound Storm "one ofthe most repul­ thousands of suspects had already disap])eared down the high­ sive situations impo.sed on a friendly, tranquil, beautiful rural ^^ way. Sound Storm had been an ecstatic musical and social community . . . We were shocked by what we saw, what we i^ success, but a financial disaster.' heard and by the reports we have read."'" Pete grabbed the last few thousand dollars lying around, Many of those reports came from law enforcement, whose put half in his pocket and left half for his attorneys, and then opinion was epitomized in the title of an article in their pro­ headed into Madison. By noon on Monday the York farm was fessional journal: "Rock Festivals, Cancer in Our Society." empty, though wide-eyed stragglers re]5orteclly wandered out of .\fter complaining about being ordered to ignore violations of the woods for several more days." the law, Lt. Lyle Sewell claimed it would have taken "very lit­ Estimates of total attendance varied widely, since fans arrived tle to agitate these people and possibly cause a riot... It would and departed non-stop throughout the weekend. The press and be very ca.sy for a young person to attend a festival like this and police re]Oortcd between six and twelve thousand on Friday night to smoke j)oi' for kicks, or even try some of the do])e that is and between fifteen and twenty-five thousand on both Saturday passed around, and perhaps become addicted .. ." and Sunday. .Allowing for overla]^, |)robably thirty thousand dif­ The festival's harshest criticism came from Madison's left- ferent individuals attended at least pan ofthe fi'stival. leaning counterculture, which denounced Golden Freak for From a crowd of thirty thousand, the police made only being "outside hippy capitalist promoters." "The general atti­ three arrests—two f()r littering and one for drunk driving, 'The tude," rc|)ortcd the Madison Kaleidoscope, "was 'Let's rip off medical stafTtreated about sixty ])eoplc, most for minor burns the pig promoters ... I hope they go bankrupt. All they're suffered at cam|)fircs. About twenty-five were treated for bad interested in is money.'" Editor Mark Kno])s objected to this LSD tri]5s. "It's incredible, really," one ofthe nurses said. "This attack. Besides being "one ofthe best little rockfests ever pulled many people and nothing more to report than that.'"'' off," he wrote, Sound Storm had strengthened the counter­ Comparisons with Woodstock were inevitable. One fan who culture: "Freeks [sic] from towns all across the state came out had been at both festivals called Sound Storm "better than of winter hibernation, shook off their ])aranoia, grooved Woodstock. Not as many people, but a more groovy event." A together, rapped together, reinforced the idea of alternative cul­ Chicago reporter called it "a lesson in glittering possibilities" ture, and went back home to East Jesus, Wisconsin, with and Madison's Capital Times characterized it as "])eaceftil renewed self-confidence and enthusiasm."'" and—quite often—ecstatic."'" Kno])s also detailed the festival's finances. Pete had Local residents, on the other hand, were outraged. Elmer informed him that total costs amounted to about $102,000 but Fisk, chairman ofthe Columbia County Board, spoke for the revenue came only to $81,000, leaving an outstanding debt of

.SPRING 2010 39

-^ WMoHspIO 2/9/10 11:35AM Page40 -^

WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY

521,000. Knops laid the blame for this on freeloaders. Only Notes i. liiu rvicw with IVir Obranovich :nic) Bob Puiling. April 15, 2009. seven ihousand liekeis had been sold and ewryone else snuck 2. Pliom- intcmcws with Oljratioxich.Jiimiury 29 and February 10, 2009. in v\ ithout paying, including more than four hundred posing as :J. Phone inicrxinv with Obranovich, l-cbniary 10, 2009. !. Interview with John 1). Hanson and Jack V'an Metre, February I, 2009. Capital Times. reporters for his newspaper, which actually had a staff of ten. .\|)ril l(). 1970. Seciion 6, pa^o 3. j. Phone iiueiview with Obranoxich February 10, 2009; intcmcw with Bob Pulling, March No mention was made ofthe stolen suitcase full of cash.*'*' 13. 2009; nurses had nicknanu-k. Ml. Hoi"cb. Wisconsin. I am deeply grateful to Jim for sharing his research mntrrials); 4, Tom Jamieson went o\'er to the York farm and repossessed Mayam ^'ork inler\iew withjim Oook.June 25. 1S)95, side I. all the plywood and i)lanking thai remained, which he resold 10. ".Alfidavit of Irene \ork." (loiumbia C'o. Cliiruii Ooiu'i, (lase no. I2'1M: interview with Hanson and \an Metre, February 1, 2009. to a contractor building a new home. The stage from which 11. interview with Hanson and \'an Meiie. Febrnary I, 2009; Richaixljnegei'. "Dane (bounty's the Grateful Dead distributed free LSD became part of a ranch 1st Rock Festival Due on .April 21." Wisconsin Siatejournal. March 31, 1970, 11; "Rock Fes­ tival 0]>ens will) Light Crowds," Capital Times, .April 24, 1970, l;Jon Wegge, "Clai-s Keep house in Poynelle.'*" Streaming Toward Rock Festi\-al," Wisconsin Statcjournal. .April 25, 1970, 1; .Mark Knops, "Rockiest: The Inside Story." .Madison Kaleidoscope. .May 5, 1970. 1. Although Golden Freak lost thousands of dollars, no one 12. Inter\iew with Hanson and \'an Metre. February 4. 2009; Kno))s, "Rockiest," Madison regrets the events. "I didn'l do il for the money," Pele later Kaleidoscope. May 5, 1970, I. 13. Michael Dziclinski, |>ersoiial communicaiton (email). .August 15. 2009. explained, "I did it for the happening, so people could get 14. Inter\iew withJim Packard, February 12, 2009; Msk interview with Cook.Jimc 22, 1995. together ... Everything went wrong and nothing went wrong. 15. Census of Population Wisconsin, \'b/iiinc /, Part 51, tables 119 and folloxving. If). Wiseonsin Blue Biwk, 1946, 442 and 1952,505; Poynette Press, May 28, 1970,2. It was a helluva lot of fun." 17. Jern .AmlM'leng, "Poynette .Area Seeking Way Co Block Festival," Capital 'Times. April 16, 1970, 1: Jack Kelly. "Dekorra. Poynette Counsels Given Rock Festival Qiiesiion," Portage Daily Sound Storm marked the end of an era. While thousands Register. .April 1.5. 1970. I; "Springtime with the Rockies" Wisconsin .Swr. June 1970. 5;Jack tripped on LSD in the warm Wisconsin sunshine, Richard Kelly, "Ofiicials Und Ix-gal 'lineal to Bar County Rmk Feslix-al," Portage Daily Register. .April 17. 1970, 1; "Columbia C:o. .Acts to Block Rock Fete." Capital Times. .April 17. 1970, 29. Nixon and Henry Kissinger were planning the imasion of 18. Columbia County Board ofSftiXT\isors. Proceedings... .April 21. 1970, through April I, Cambodia. Within days, protesters filled the nation's streets, 1971 (Portage. Wisconsin, 1971), 6; "PlaintilTs Memorandum Brief." Clolumbia Co. Circuit Couil. Case no. 12414; ^^ shut down college campuses, and faced down the National "Defendant's Statement of Fans," Columbia Co. Circuit Court, ("ase no. 12414; interview ^^ Guard at Kent State. A fe\s^ weeks later, radicals blew up Ster­ with Hanson and \hn .Metre, February 4, 2009. 19. Roliert H. (;ollmar..\/v/'})f/je/On7icf/-T OVn/s (Caldwell. Idaho: Caxion Priniei-s. 1965); ling Hall in Madison, killing an innocent physicist. At the end "Ruling." Columbia Co. Circuit Court, Case no. I24I4. 20. "Springtime in the Rockies," Wisconsin Star, _}une 1970, 5; "F>nthusiasis Begin .Arriving ofthe summer, Janisjoplin andjimi Hendrix died from drug as Festival Begins Hap[>eniiig,'" Portage Daily Register, .April 24 1970, I;John Raescti inter­ overdoses. That fall, C'harles Manson's trial highlighted the view withjim Cook.June 25, 1995. 21. Rtithann llehnann, "Columbia Sheriffs Race is Only Contest in County," Wisconsin malevolent potential of mind-altering drugs.*'' Statejournal. Septeml)er 4. 1974,81; "Bleich C^hallenges Columbia Sheriff Golz in GOP Pri­ Over the next four decades, psychedelics were re])laced by mary." Cap'nai limes. Sepieml>er 5. 1974, 49. 22. Jack Kelly. "C^ouniy Onicers Ready for 'nnvo-Day Festival," and .Author Unknown, "Sher­ crack cocaine, methamphctamine, and heroin as America's iff .Asks Curious to Stay out of .Area," Portage Daily Register, April 23, 1970, 1. 23. "County Ready If Rioi Occurix-d." Portage Daily Register, .May 4, 1970, I; "Springtime drugs of choice. "Back then," Bob Pulling reflected, "it was an with the Rockies." Wisconsin Star.Junc 1970, 6. 'expand your consciousness' mindset. Now it's just 'Ciet high 21. Obranovich phone inter\iew, January 29, 2009. 25. D/ielinksi. personal communication (email), .August 15, 2009; interview with Packard, and feel good.'" LSD prophets like Ken Kesey, Timothy Leary, February 12.2009. and Jerry Garcia grew old and died, and the vision of a psy- 26. "Rock Festival Opens With Light C^rowd," Capital Times, .April 24, 1970; interview with Hanson and \'an Metre, Februan- 4,2009; phone interview with Schniiz-lcr, March 19,2009. chcdclically enlightened America died with them. Endless wars, 27. Dave Wagner, "6,000 E)njoy First Rock Fete FAening," Capital Times, .April 25, 1970, I, a presidential impeachment, and the attacks of September 11 3; .Marinette Eagle Star, .April 25, 1970; .Milwaukee Si-ntinel, .April 27. 1970. 28. Phone interview with Nick Berigan, February 3, 2009. reduced the hippie j^henomenon lo a distant memory.*'* 29. Inten'iew with Hanson and Van Metre, I'cbruar\' 4, 2009; phone interview with Obra­ novich, February 10, 2009. Nearly forty years later, many participants still cherished 30. Dave Wagner, "6.000 Knjoy Fii-st Rock Fete Evening." Capital Times, .April 25, 1970, I; Sound Storm as a turning point in their lives. For example, .Marinette Eagle Stai\ .April 25, 1970; .Milwaukrejtnirnal, .April 25, 1970, page 1. 'M.Portage Daily Register. .April 25, 1970; .MilivaukeeJournal, .April 25,1970,1; intcmcw with sound engineer Mike Dziclinski recently recalled "thai long Hanson and \an .Metre. February 4, 2009. weekend as being one ofthe greatest of my life. I'm sure that 32. Phone interview with Schnitzlcr, .Mairh 19, 2009; Portage Daily Register, .April 30, 1970, and May 2, 1970. about thirty thousand others who were there would feel the 33. .Mihvaukeejournai .April 27, 1970. 34. Dziclinski, |>crsonal communication (email), .August 16, 2009; Obranovich, jxri'sonal com­ same way." Audience member Paul Uebelher said it |)ro\'ed to munication (email), .August 19, 2009; Wavy Gravy, 'The Hog Farm and Friends (.\ew York: him "that thousands of strangers could get along and be Links, 1974), 99. 35. Portage Daily Register. .April 30, 1970;Jerry .Ambelnng. ".No Major Ttwibles .Mar Rock together and share in harmony, [that] a counterculture was .Music Festival Weekend," Capital limes. .Apiil 27, 1970, 1; .Milwaukeejournal. .April 27, 1970, really possible." Nick Berigan concluded, "From the j^erspec- section 2m, 12; "Monday Brings Qiiict .Around Portage .Area." Portage Daily Register, April 27. 1970;Jack Kelly, "A Pig is a Pig is a Pig," Poitage Daily Register, April 3(i. 1970; "Spring- tive of twenty-first-century America, it may as well have been lime with the Rockies." Wisconsin Sf.ir. June 1970, 6. in another universe. Sometimes I have to pinch myself and say, 36. Jack Kelly. "A Pig is a Pig is a Pig," Portage Daily Registei: April 30, 1970; Jack Kelly, "Hamele Finds Little in Fesiival Fortunate," May 2, 1970; phone interview with Obranovich, 'Did that really happen?' "'''*^ m Februarv 10, 2009.

40 wisconsinhistory.org

-^ WMoHspIO 2/9/10 11:35AM Page41 -^

Concert organizer Peter"Bobo"Obranovich and photographer Bob Pulling, still friends forty years after bringing Sound Stornn to Wisconsin

37. Milwaukee Sentinel. .April 25, 1970,6; Jay Stevens, Storming Heaven: LSD and the .Amer­ son." K;i/c/f/(wro/j<-iMilwaukee. Wis.). May I 14, 1970, lO-U. ican Dtvam (New York: .Atlantic Monthly Press. 1987), xiv xv. 58. Portage Daily Register. .April 30. 1970. and .May 7. 1970; "Springtime with the Rmkies," 38. Phone interview with Obranovich, F'ebruary 10. 2009. Wiscotisin Star. }imc 1970; "Rock F'estivals: Cancer in Our Sotiety." Wisconsin Star. Sep­ ^^ 39. F'ive fi-agmenlary. irreconcilable vei-sions of this event sunive. I follow that ofjohn Han­ tember, 1970, 4. i^ son, the only eyewitness not une, .May 5, 1970. ruary 4, 2009 interview; the Milwaukeejournal. .April 27, 1970, section 2, 12. imported that 60.Ibid. the flag was torn down and burneemsoi:s." Portage Daily Register, May 21, 1970, 1. 40. Phone interview with Obranovich, F'ebruary 10. 2009: Dziclinski. personal connnimica- 62. Ton) Jamieson interview withjim Cook,Jimc 20, 1995. tion (email), .August 15, 2009. 63. Phone interview with Obranovich, F'ebruary 10, 2009; interview with Pulling, March 13, 41. Descriptions based on pmfiles in v\-v\'w.allmusic.com, viewed February 15. 2009. 2009; phone inicrview with Schniizler. .March 19, 2009. 42. Phone interview with Schnitzlcr. March 19. 2009. 64. British Broadcasting Corp., "War and Protest the US in Vietnam (1969-1970)" al 43. Wiseonsin State Journal, .April 27, 1970. hnp://www.l>l>c.co.uk/dna/h2g2/.A71,5042,;Wisconsin Historical .Musemn, "Fjigine fragment 44. Milwaukee Sentinel, .April 27, 1970. from the van used in the Sterling Hall l)ombing, 1970." ai hiip://www.wisconsinhistory.oi^ 45. Intenicws vriihJim Cook.june 20-25, 1995. museiim/artifacts/archives/00l636.asp. 46. Elmer Fisk and Mayam ^'ork interviews with Jim Cook.june 22 and June 25. 1995; 65. Inicrview with Pulling. March 13. 2009. "Springtime vrith the Rmkies." Wisconsin Smr. June 1970,5; phone interview with Schniizler, 66. Dziclinski [>crsonal communication (email), .August 16, 2009; phone interview with Paul .March" 19, 2009. UcbcIhcr,January 26,2009; phone interview with Berigan, Fcbruar>' 3, 2009. 47. .Milwaukee .Heminel. .April 27. 1970, section 1,9. 48. Interview with Hanson and Van Metre, February 4, 2009; Jerry Klein, recollections of show postc

SPRING 2010 41

-^ WMoHspIO 2/9/10 11:36AM Page42

•^

A PICTORIAL CLASS PROPHECY REVISITING THE MENOMONIE HIGH SCHOOL CLASS OF 1905

i^ WMoHspIO 2/9/10 11:36AM Page43 -^

WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY

liat did the future look like in Wisconsin in 1905? for some ofthe photographs. Others were taken at local stores, In a unique photo album preserved in the visual in classrooms of Menomonie High School, and in a photo stu­ W arciiivcs of" the \Visconsin Historical Society, two dio.^ northern Wisconsin high school students imagined the future for themselves and their classmates. Historical document and Albert Hansen time machine simultaneously, the album opens the door to Tlie proplict foresaw photographer Albert Hansen as traveling lurn-of-the-century imaginations of the early twentieth cen­ "about with a forsaken and hungry look to the next town know­ tury and illustrates the kinds of possibilities teenagers back ing little of his destination or where he will procure his next then could foresee. The lives imagined within encompass meal. This deplorable state of affairs came about in conse­ everything turn-of-the-century America had to offer, from quence of betting at horse races, losing each time until all he rough to sophisticated and from down-and-out to rich and had left was a ]5ipe, a ball of string and a knife tied up in an old famous.' red handkerchief"'* Created in 1905, the album is made up of thirty-two pho­ Notice the pipe dangling from Albert Hansen's mouth in the tographs of graduates of Menomonie High School in 1931 photograph shot at Manitoulin Island, Lake Superior? Menomonie, Wisconsin. Althougii similar to a high school yearbook, it doesn't reveal the students' achievements. Neither does it tell us about their hopes and aspirations upon leaving high school. Rather, this pictorial prophecy for the class of 1905 contains photographs that illustrate the predicted profes­ sions and fates imagined for them by two fellow graduates, pho­ tographer Albert Hansen and "prophet" Sarah Ana Heller. In the album, yesterday's future has become today's past, and what was once pure speculation has become history. At eighteen, Albert was already a skilled ]:)hotograi5her. The son of Norwegian and German immigrant ])arenis, /Mbert ^^1 developed and printed his first picture—a view of Red Cedar River—wiien he was fourteen, and he subscribed to photo magazines in order to learn about pliotograpliic ])rocesses. His subjects were his surroundings, the landscape of northwestern Wisconsin, but lie also liked lo jjlay with the medium and the illusionist possibilities it oflcred. Unfortunately, little is known about Sarah Ana Heller, but the prophecies she foresaw por­ tray a \i\'id imagination and a great sense of humor." In the pages ofthe album itself, the heroes ofthe American West appear next to East Coast snobs. Hobos and paupers share the pages with a Russian ambassador's wife, an actress, I a prima donna, and a world-famous violinist. In these ])iclures, cvcryiiiing is possible—heads can be detached from bodies to perform brain surgery, magicians can duplicate themselves, and a woman can win an international ])ri/,e for the best book on mathematics. Many photogra|5hs depict more common middle-class professions, such as cook, dentist, pharmacist, nurse or fisherman, though notably, neither lumbermen nor farmers, two of the most widespread occupations in Menomonie at the time, are present. Hansen and Heller set the stage for thciv dramatis personae al different locations in and around their hometown. Lamjjcrt Clark, who is pictured as a famous violinist, performs on stage at the Mabel Tainter Memorial Theatre. Paul Toft's act as a Sarah Ana Heller, co-creator ofthe class prophecy, poses holding "Mohammedanist" preacher was shot at a very Christian- a bucket in the 1905 album. Her prophecy invited the audience looking house of worship. The Stout Manual Training School to predict the future ofthe bucket, offering a prize packet of and School of Physical Training clearly served as a background chewing gum as a reward.

SPRING 2010 43

-^ WMoHspIO 2/9/10 11:36AM Page44 -^ T WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY

HISTORICAL SOCIEIV WHI IMAGE ID 7939 COURTtSVOFTHEOUNNCOUNTY

Fred Albert Quilling's drugstore, ca. 1930. He ran the store in Menomonie for many years with his business partner, Louis Ehrhard. i^

Apart from this litde detail come true, Albert's life evolved along much more respectable lines than the prophecy had foreseen. He remained in Menomonie for a while, where he studied and later taught at Stout Institute. He had also operated a |3liotogra]3liic studio on Main Street with Fred Haft. He moved east in 1915, first to Philadelphia, and later to Columbus, Ohio, where he settled with ills wife, Mary Elizabeth Schaus, and wiicre their daughter, Ann, lives to this day. There, he employed liis expertise in photographic chemistry for the Haloid Company, manufacturers of photographic |5a]5er wiio later became Xerox. He continued to take and print photographs of his family and his travels across Fred Albert Quilling's career prediction was based on his love of chemistry, a prophecy that proved accurate in his case. He went on to tlie United States. After retirement, he was finally able to travel run a drugstore In Menomonie. lo Europe. Between the ages of eighty-two and ninety-two, he flew over the Atlantic six times. Maybe it was a certain restless­ ness that Ana Heller had seen in him when she projected him as a hobo? The pro])liecy was "fairly accurate," concludes Albert's daughter Ann, "except that he stayed in good hotels!"^

Ana Heller Ana Heller's prophecy read, "The last portrait I failed to read ihe meaning of Any person in the audience who will volunteer

44 wisconsinhistory.org

-^ WMoHspIO 2/12/10 1:35PM Page45

WHI IMAGE ID S4737

George E.Thompson as a cowboy. His prophecy was inspired by the pleasure he took in the open range during his school days.

and established the student loan board there. As the obituar­ ies noted, this "more than charming . . . Ironwood matron" ^^ had "taken a prominent part in nearly every movement launched here for the betterment of our city."*'

Fred Albert Quilling "From a lo\e of mixing things in Chemistry Fritz Qiiilling has develo|Ded the art of throwing drugs of every kind together to make a medicine which is warranted to kill or cure. He acts as his own salesman, travelling [sic] through the country, adver­ tising extensively and occasionally .selling a box of his famous medicine." For Fred Albert Qiiilling, ihe j^rophecy couldn't have been Gladys Harvey poses as a golf teacher as foreseen in her 1905 more accurate. Perhaps in 1905 he already knew that making prophecy. and selling medicine would be his life. He wasted lillle lime after high school to that end. He apprenticed with a local drug­ store and graduated from Northwestern University in 1910. In the 1920s, he returned to Menomonie, where he and partner to predict the future of this singular looking object will receive Louis Ehrhard operated a drugstore at 300 Main Street for a ]>rize package of chewing gum al the close of this meeting." many years. A father of five and grandfather of eleven, he died Did ihe propliet's powers fail wlien it came to reading her in Rochester, Minnesota, in 1963.' own future? The bucket suggests that Sarah Ana Heller is per­ forming household chores in this i^icture. Indeed, she ga\e u]) Gladys Harvey her work as teacher and an supervisor in the Ironwood, Michi­ "A single glance at ihe j^ortrait next presented will reveal the gan schools when she married surgeon Dr. David Pierpont. distinguished career that awaits our classmate, Gladys Harvey. Marriage did not limit her activities to housework, though. After completing the course at Smith and taking post graduate Before her untimely death in 1934, she not only raised three work for years at the universities of Paris and Berlin, Miss Har­ sons, but also created an impressive record in public service. vey felt herself qualified to fill the difficult and arduous posi­ She was a charter member ofthe Ironwood Woman's Club tion to which her high ambition led her, that of a lady Golf

SPRING 2010 45

-^ WMoHspIO 2/9/10 11:36AM Page46 -^

WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY

WHI IMAGE ID SSOU WHI IMAGE ID 794S

M'GU,VBA-SEEI>Y

Louis G.Seely as an army Esther Eloise McGilvra married classmate, Louis G. Seely. general. His prophecy did There is no record of her teaching anyone to swim as her not come to pass, but he ^C: ana .. O. McG..a prophecy once predicted. did marry a classmate, Esther Eloise McGllvra. The McGilvra-Seely wedding announcement appeared in the Dunn County News on May 27,1909.

St', there they lea- J^or^^^^^ .^ ^,. home m ^«'»"l^uttber business.

46 wisconsinhistory.org

-^ WMoHspIO 2/9/10 11:36AM Page47 -^

WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY

teacher. I quote from her professional card; 'Golf taught with they got married in 1909 and left Wisconsin for Washington, reference to Psycholog\', Pedagogs', Chemistry, Physiologx' and where Louis found work in the lumber industry as a tallyman. Hygiene. Com]3lexions renovated, teeth straightened and They mo\ecl back to the Midwest later and became farmers in straight hair made curly by this fascinating game. Terms, one Minnesota. The last trace Esther left to posterity was her mar­ shilling a lesson strictly in advance.'" riage to Louis, so wc don't know if she e\er taught anyone how Gladys Harvey, daughter of Stoul president Dr. Lorenzo D. to swim, as her proijhccy had ])redicted. Louis moved back to Harvey, did not attend prestigious Smith College in Massa­ Washington in later life, where he died in 1965.'" chusetts. Rather, the fine schooling that she received at the University of Wisconsin and the Art Institute of Chicago led W. Lambert Clark her to a career in education. Instead of teaching golf", she W. Lambert Clark's ])ropliecy called him "the greatest violin­ became an instructor of interior decoration at Stout and, in ist of the times. The last place they starred was at Banzyville, 1922, established the art department there. In the census of Africa, where the proceeds were three hundred million Ugs, 1920, she was recorded li\ing in Manhattan as a social worker. which is equivalent to thirty cents in American money. Mr. A founder and first chair ofthe Dunn County Suffrage Party, Clark has been married several times." she moved to California in the 1920s with her mother and her Lambert Clark had no chance to li\'e up to the promising close friend Celia Harris. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, future laid out in his iDro]Dhecy. He started his musical career- in she chose the University of Hawaii for post-graduate research the Ludington Guard Band and the Memorial Orchestra. His over the famous European institutions thai the prophecy fore­ leap from Menomonie's Mabel Tainter Memorial Theatre, saw—]3robably a wise choice in the troubled limes the old con­ where this photo was taken, to the world's great stages was pre­ tinent was facing. Living in Berkeley and Carmel, she vented by a slight attack of indigestion. The seemingly harm­ remained active in adult education, serving as principal ofthe less ]5ain develo|5ed into a rupture of the bile duct and adult school in San Jose for ten years before her retirement. peritonitis, and within two weeks, Lambert Clark lay six feet She died in Carmel in 1962. No record is left to tell us if she under at Evergreen Cemetery, Menomonie. He was twenty enjoyed golf as a pastime, if not as a profession. years old."

^^ George E. Thompson Henry A. Dahl i^ George E. 'rhom|3son's prophecy read: "It is not strange that "Down in the shade of the many trees that border Lake we find George Thompson excelling all the cowboys breaking Menomin, sits a solitary fisherman. He has been having fish­ broncos on the broad, treeless and fenceless stretches of grass erman's luck and as he scans the beautiful park that was once land in the far AVest, following out a natural inclination which an impassable tangle of brush and rubbish; the stillness ofthe was a pleasure and a joy in his school days. His former con­ place I'ccalls to his mind the many pleasant hours of his boy­ quests in athletics will seem little to him in contrast to the great hood spent in his life's occupation. Throwing his line back into honors he will receive in the great inter-ranch roping contests." the water Hank Dahl reflects on the happy day when he with Did George Thompson ever experience the wild, fenceless his fellow students labored diligently to cause an evolution of freedom ofthe far West? If he i-eally swung a lasso for a while, the once unsightly place." he did not leave any traces. He made his living with a different Hank Dahl exchanged his fisherman's luck for miner's luck kind of horsepower, working as a foreman in an auto factory in when he tra\ellcd more than two thousand miles northwest to Pontiac, Michigan." Douglas Island, Alaska, to refine gold in the Trcadwell cyanide plant. The cyanide plant was part of the Treadwell mine, the Louis G. Seely largest gold mine in the world at that time. Records do not The pro])liecy foresaw Louis Seely as "a general in command indicate if he was still working at the mine when it collapsed in of the American Army. He had been taken captive by the 1917. Henry fought in World War I and, coming back to Alaska Siamese Army and was held prisoner for two years. Finally after, found work in a general store in Petersburg. Even if fish­ gaining his release by rescuing the kings [sic] son from the ing did not become his occupation, the bountiful Alaskan British who held him for ransom. His deeds of valor were many waters surely supplied him with plenty of opportunity to pur­ and his name will be heard in the next presidential campaign." sue his fa\'orite boyhood jDastime tliiX)ughout his life.'" Not only did Louis Scely's prophecy not come to pass, but For a complete \icw ofthe 1905 Menomonie High School the prophet also failed to read that Louis would marry a class­ album, visit the online gallery at the Wisconsin Historical mate, Esther Eloise McGilvra. Maybe things clicked between Images, fffi the two only after graduation. Or perhaps their affection for each other was an open secret, unworthy of being part of the prophecy. Whether they were high school sweethearts or not.

SPRING 2010 47

-^

WMoHspIO 2/12/10 1:35PM Page49

Henry A. Dahl posing as a fisherman, a career foreseen for him based on his luck when engaged in his boyhood pastime. i^

Notes 1. The photo album is part of the Allxrrl Hansen collcclion at the Wisconsin Historical Soci­ ABOUT THE AUTHOR ety Archives, Madison, Wisconsin. .Mlwrt Hansen Pa|)ers 1899 1980, Boxes 38 41. 2. Ann .N'atalie Hansen, biograpliic essay on file with the Wisconsiit Mat(axiitc ofHistory; photo magazine clippings collected by .Albert Hansen on file with the .Mbert Hansen Pa|)ei'S Andrea Rottmann is a graduate student of 1899-1980. \VHS .Vchives. North American studies and history in 3. Anchor's corrcs|K)ndence with /Vnn .N'aialic Hansen, August 2009; author's corrcsiMndencc with Menomonie photographerjohn Russell, August/September 2009. Berlin, Germany. Her scholarly and personal 4. .Mbert Hansen class prophecy album, WHS Archives. All prophecy texts quoted here arc interest in the United States, in addition to from this album. 5. .Ann Natalie Hansen, biographical essay; author's corresjwndence with .Ann .Natalie her never-ending worries about what to do Hansen. .August 2009. with her degree, led her to an internship at 6. ".Ana l'icri>ont," Itviiw-ood Daily Globe, January 19, 1934, J; ".Mrs. Pierj)ont Dies Stid- denly," /romvoorf Daily G/obc, January' 18, 1934, 1,9; "Prominent Ironwood Woman Dies in the Wisconsin Historical Society. During her Duluth,"/nomtioorf 77me5, January 19, 1934,7. stay in Madison in the summer of 2009, she was intrigued by Wis­ 7. "Qiiilling, City Druggist .Many Years, Succumbs," Dm»j Coimfv'iYeu'5, July 11, 1963. consin's history, nature, and people and excited about the Society's 8. Stoul .•\nininl, I91j. Stout Institute. Menomonie, Wiseonsin, 19: Stout 'I'ower yearijook, 1923, 24, index searchable online at the Stout Area Research Center homepage, dedication to public history. Equally important, she discovered the http://ezproxy.uwstout.edn/ics-wpd/'rowei's/index.shtinI; Kevin 'I'horie, "Honoring Stout's joys of genealogy. Back in Berlin, she is now working on her mas­ Heroes,'' Stout Outlook. Spring 2002, 7; U.S. Federal Census 1920; obituary ".Miss Haivcy," Monterey Peninsula Herald, Sepieml)er 3, l%2,4. ter's thesis, which will be on Wisconsin history. Special thanks to Al­ 9. U.S. Federal Census 1930. bert Hansen's daughter, Ann N. Hansen, Menomonie photographer 10. "Marriages, McGilvra-.Seely," Duiui County .Yens, May 27, 1909; U.S. Federal Census 1910, 1920; Social Security Death Index. John Russell, UW Stout archivist Kevin Thorie, Rose Mary Stoll and II.ObitiiarN'in the Dunn County .\n%'s, 1906, on file with the Dunn County Historical Soci­ Carol Thibado ofthe Dunn County Historical Society, and to the au­ ety, Menomonie. Wisconsin. 12. Marri.ige notice "Marriages, Bclgardt-Dahl," Dunn County :Veus 1911. on file with the thor's mom, for driving to Menomonie with her. Dunn Clounty Historical Society, Menomonie. Wisconsin; World War 1 Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918.

W. Lambert Clark's prophecy referred to him as "the greatest violinist of the times." Although Clark did play the violin, his untimely death prevented him from taking his career beyond Menomonie's Mabel Tainter Memorial Theatre.

SPRING 2010 49

-^ WMoHspIO 2/12/10 1:35PM Page50 -^ v.t^ilfc^^iS^'

BK}'J\

#

the soldier with sunglasses.'

IN THIS BOOK EXCERPT, MILWAUKEE NATIVE GEORGE BANDA TELLS HIS STORY OF SURVIVAL DURING A DEVASTATING EARLY MORNING AHACK AT FIREBASE HENDERSON IN QUANG TRI PROVINCE, VIETNAM, ON MAY, 6, 1970. AN ARMY MEDIC WHO SERVED WITH THE lOlST AIRBORNE DIVISION, BANDA IS ONE OF FORTY VETERANS WISCONSIN VETERANS WHOSE FIRST- PERSON ACCOUNTS OF THE WAR ARE FEATURED IN WISCONSIN VIETNAM WAR STORIES: OUR VETERANS REMEMBER BY SARAH A. LARSEN AND JENNIFER M. MILLER, WHICH COMES OUT IN MAY FROM THE WISCONSIN HISTORICAL SOCIETY PRESS.

wisconsinhistory.org

-^ WMoHspIO 2/9/10 11:43AM Page51

WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY

was transferred out to Firebase Henderson. Henderson ammo dump. Five seconds later the ammo dump starts explod­ was u]) at Qiiang Tri, about twelve miles south of the ing. You've got one thousand rounds of 155, white ]5hos|5horus, • DMZ. I never had heard of it. We were up there pretty claymore mines. You've got highly explosive stuff up there. close to all the activity and the trails that were coming from Every five seconds an explosion would go off and just the north resupplying the North Vietnamese soldiers. Hen­ shower you with shrapnel, and white phosphorus would start derson was one of the worst firebases I had ever seen. There burning you. We stayed in our foxhole because that was the was no protection there. There was just one or two strands of safest place to be. Trying to get up and run anywhere was out concertina wire. I said, "We're in the jungle here and there's of the question. We just stayed and kept fighting. Their pur­ enemy around us and this is all we got?" Lieutenant [Hawley], pose was to get over to that ammo dump and cause as much he saw it first. He said, "OK, we have to dig in. We gotta dig damage as they could. They did. It was horrible. We stayed in deeper. Get more sandbags." We got there on the 5th of May. that position for as long as we could. The explosions were get­ We worked all clay long, digging in deeper foxholes, putting ting too powerful and too scary. Every explosion was louder up more sandbags. We were right next to the ammo dum]3. and closer. 1 said, "We can't stay here. We're going to get killed [It] had almost one thousand rounds of [155-millimeter how­ for sure. We need to get away. Come around the hill." We went itzer ammunition]. I said, "When the enemy comes, that's about ten or fifteen feet down toward the bottom of the hill. what they'll go for." That's exactly what ha]5]5cned. 1 was like, \Ve had only one guy with an M-16 and he was down to one "Tomorrow morning we'll get up early and start making it a clip. I said, "We have to get around to the north end ofthe hill little bit more secure." We never got the chance. and then come back up to get away from these explosions. I was on watch that night. I remember sitting there by the We'll get over by Ed Veser, Kenn Shutte, Doe Diller, Doc Bow­ foxhole and looking at my watch and thinking, "My watch is man, Lieutenant Hawley, and Sergeant Snyder." We came almost over. It's getting light out. It's about five minutes to fi\'e around to the north end ofthe hill, and we managed to get up o'clock." There was a heavy fog. I thought maybe I should to the guys. I thought we were going to be safe, but most of wake one of the guys up to shoot the breeze with him. Just them were dead already. then, I heard an explosion on the west side ofthe hill. It didn't Kenn Shutte was wounded. He had been shot and then I sound right. I was like, "Was that a claymore going off?" Ten think he had lost one eye. He was throwing hand grenades out seconds later, a trip flare goes off maybe fifty feet in front of because he had run out of ammunition. The machine gunner me. We had the concertina wire, so we had put trip wires out had been killed. There was still shooting and ex])losions. I said, just in case the enemy tried to come through. The trip flare "I've got to cheek on these guys just to make sure they're OK. goes off It hit the claymore. It blew. To my right, there was a I'm a medic. I need to help these guys." I went to Doc Diller. tower with some guards from Alpha Company. They just Doc Diller was just laying there on his back. He looked like opened fire over that whole area. I turned to my left and said, he was asleep. I said, "Hey, Doc, get up." I tried to pick him "Hey!" to the guys that were asleep. An instant later, I saw a up. The back of his head was gone. His head was full of sand, flash out of the corner of my right eye, and an RI-'G [rocket- which fi'caked me out. I'm like, "How can that be? How can propelled grenade] hit five feet away from me. It exploded. I his head be full of sand?" I laid him back down and I went went flying up in the air. I landed on my head and rolled over. over to Lieutenant Hawley. He was dead. Sergeant Snyder I got up real quick. I was deaf There were tracers flying was dead. Our lieutenant and our sergeant. Our leaders were through the air. I could see explosions but I couldn't hear any­ gone, both dead. thing. It was surreal. Slowly, my hearing started to come back. I caught a round on the left side of my head, which severed The adrenaline started to rush. I looked at myself: "OK, I'm an artery. Being a medic, knowing an artery had been severed, fine. I'm not hurt. I'm not bleeding." I |5icked up my rifle and I knew I was bleeding to death. I couldn't stop il. I didn't have started shooting. I ran out of ammunition. any bandages, so I was taking whatever I had to wrap around There was a box of hand grenades. I tore the box open. The wounds. Every time I moved around, I would squirt five feet of other guys came around. One ofthe guys had half of his left blood from that artery. Your adrenaline is going. Your heart is foot blown off from the RPG explosion that hit the bunker. You ])um])ing. Every time my heart pumped, that blood shot out. It could just see smoke coming out of his boot. There was very lit­ slowed down a litde bit. I said, "OK, I can handle this. Start tle bleeding because it was an explosion. It cauterized it. It was taking care of Kenn Shutte and everybody else." I tried to get a lot of pain for him. My first aid bag was blown to them into a safe area so the explosions or the shooting from up smithereens. The other guy wasn't wounded. I said, "Well, two in the jungle wouldn't get them. of us weren't wounded." He still had a rifle. He started shoot­ I went over to see Tommy Teran and I couldn't find him. I ing. \ Ve were throwing frags and rocks, whatever we could find. found out later that he was MIA. His body wasn't found until He turned around. There was a gook. We called them "gooks" 2001. I went looking for bodies and survivors, and there was back then. He shot and killed one and the guy fell right into the nobody left. I looked for Ed Veser and I said, "Where the hell

SPRING 2010 51 WMoHspIO 2/9/10 11:37AM Page52

WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY

is Ed?" There was a pile of debris from the explosions. Some­ how he either walked down there or was blown down the hill. I don't think I've ever told this to anybody but 1 hesitated to go down there. I was scared. You get so scared that every cell in your body is just terrified. I just wanted to stay where I was. I was thinking, "I'm bleeding to death. Ed's way down there. What good can I do?" I was scared because there was no pro­ tection down there. He was in an open area. I said, "If I go down there, I'm going to get killed. I know it." I hesitated. I was scared but he was my friend. I finally said, "I can't leave him down there." I tore a little piece of my T-shirt and balled it up and pushed it into the hole in my head until it hurt. I said, "OK, you feel pain. That's good. You're all right." I tied the rest of that T-shirt around my head. I crawled down there. I got to Ed. The thing that I'll always remember: he said to me, "I knew you'd come." Terrible. I feel guilty about that. I still do. He was horribly wounded. Horribly. r[d] seen wounds before because I'd been a medic all the way up until then, but I was shocked that he was still alive. The wounds he had should have killed him instantly. He was strong, young, and he had a wife. He'd just gotten married in Hawaii. He'd just gotten back from R&R, and he comes back to this? I said, "We've got to get out of here. We're going to get killed down here for sure." I could see dirt kicking up around us, so I knew people were shooting at us. I said, "\Ve've got to get you back up there." He couldn't. He was too badly injured to help himself I can't remember how I dragged him up to the hill. 1 got him up to the sandbags and laid him down. I said, "Ed, the helicopters will be coming." He said, "OK. Don't leave me." I said, "I won't, Ed." He grabbed a hold of my dog tag. He grabbed it real tight. I said, "Ed, I've got to go. I've got to check on the other guys. They're hurt too." He said, "No, I don't want you to go." I said, "Ed, I don't want to go, but I have to." I started pulling away and he pulled one of my dog tags out. He held onto that. Weak from injuries sustained at Firebase Henderson, George Banda I said, "Ed, I'll be right back." I went in to check on Kenn and steadies himself at the back of a supply trailer at Camp Eagle. the other guys to make sure they were OK, that they weren't bleeding out or going into shock. They seemed to be all right. I turned around and started coming back. That's when Alpha The medevacs finally were able to land. They came in real Company Team came from around the corner to rescue us. quick and loaded him up. I'm thinking to myself, "Maybe they They couldn't get to us because the ammo dump was might be able save him. Maybe he's just unconscious. Maybe exploding. Cobra gun ships that were coming to give us su])- he'll be OK." The helicopter took off. 1 did another walk port were flying around us, shooting at everything that was around to make sure that I hadn't missed anybody, but every­ coming. They had called artillery in on us, but they couldn't body was dead. Another helicopter came in and got everybody land because they were still taking a lot of fire. You could see else, and I jumped in and flew out of there. I wound up in the the medcvacs flying around, but they couldn't land. It was real Marine hospital because our hospitals were so full that day. frustrating because I knew Ed was dying on me. I would move There were thirty-two Americans killed that morning. I knew back to him and start talking to him, trying to keep him con­ ten of them personally. At the hospital they put me on a scious. I said, "Hey, your wife, Connie, is waiting back there sti'etcher. I jumped up because I saw Ed on a sti'etcher. There and we're all going to go home, Ed. Just hang in there. The was a doctor and a nurse looking over him. I remember run­ medevacs will be here soon and they'll be able to land and get ning over to them and saying, "Doc, you've got to save this guy you out of hei'c." 'cause he's got a wife and he's going to have a kid and he needs

52 wisconsinhistory.org WMoHspIO 2/9/10 11:37AM Page53

WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY

to go home." A nurse grabbed me and put me back in a them from those dear, happy moments when we were all stretcher and I laid there and all of a sudden, I just got drained. together, having a beer and laughing and talking about things I became weak as a kitten. I couldn't move. we were going to do when we got back to the world, passing I remember lying in the hospital where they took me by photos around, saying "Oh, this is my fiancee," or "This is my helicopter. I was still bleeding. A priest came up. My eyes were kid." Happy times. I remember Ed and me, after we'd been closed, my head bandaged. 1 could hear somebody speaking through a number of fircfights, looking at each other and Latin. I thought, "Am I dreaming?" I had to force my eyes pi'omising, "If we get back to the world, everything's going to open. I was so weak. I could not believe how weak I was. be gravy. \Ve're never going to complain about anything again. There was a priest there and he was giving me the last rites. Every day is going to be grav)'." I made it back from that. It's That was a shock and it angered me. There was a time when gravy. You tend to forget that once in a while. I have. When I was so weak and tired and exhausted and I'd seen so much I've forgotten it, I start feeling sorry for myself I remember Ed. and all my friends were dead, I felt like, "Just give up. Just go Ed says, "Wait a minute," and I say, "Right, Ed. It's good to be to sleep. It will be all over." Hearing that priest, I couldn't see alive." He reminds me. k^/i him so much as I heard him, speaking Latin. [In my head] I was saying, "No, no, no, no. I've made it. I'm going to make it now. I'm not going to give up." I opened my eyes. I don't In May of 2010, Vietnam \Var veterans, think there was any expression in my face, but inside of me, I their families, and the public are invited to was like, "No, no. I'm not going to die here. I'm going to go I.Z a special Welcome Home celebration at home." Here I am. LAMBEAU Lambeau Field in Green Bay. For more I see them, those young kids. I'm almost sixty-one years old mcMrac Hitii information and to ])ui'cliase tickets, please now. Those guys were nineteen, twenty, twenty-one. I look at go to lzlambeau.org. the photos that I have and we were kids. What a thing to wit­ ness. It never goes away. I see their faces. I remember the sounds of their voices and their laughter and the jokes we used to tell. When I first met Ed in Vietnam, this new guy coming into the ^^^^^^^H ABOUT THE AUTHORS platoon, I asked, "Hey, where you from?" This young kid, blond-haired, freckled face: "I'm from Wisconsin." I'm like, ^^^^^^^^1 In addition to this volume, Sarah Larsen is "Wisconsin? Where?" "Milwaukee." "Milwaukee! Me too!" We ^^g - ^^^H co-authorofM/Zscons/n Korean l/VofSfor/es got to be real good friends. We had a lot of plans. He was going ^H'^ f^vl (WHS Press, 2008), the companion volume to buy a GTO and I was going to buy a Mustang, and when we ^R ^^ to the Wisconsin Public Television docu- ^H m mentary of the same name. A graduate of got back we were going to drive up and down the street and \ ^ the University of Wisconsin-Madison, have a good time. He was going to come to my cookouts, and \ > Larsen worked on the production of Wis­ we were going to go to Packer games. We were going to visit consin Korean War Stories and Wisconsin World War II Stories: each other's families and have a good time afterwards. Legacy w'\th the History Unit of Wisconsin Public Television. For It never happened. He died at 7:40 a.m. on May 6, 1970.1 this volume, Larsen transformed the raw transcripts of veteran in­ tell people, "Ed got back earlier than I did. He was here, wait­ terviews into a comprehensive, book-length format. She lives with ing for me, when I got back." [Tears up.] Ed was there when I her family in Madison. got married. He was there when 1 started my first job. He was there when I got divorced. He was there when I got married Jennifer M. Miller has worked as a teacher and lecturer for the again. We had a few drinks together. Whenever I go some­ University of Wisconsin-Madison History Department from which where, he's there. I talk to him. she received her master's degree in 2005. When I got back from Vietnam, I got a chance to meet Ed's An expert in U.S. foreign relations with East Asia during the Cold War, she is writing a family and his wife, Connie. They were very nice and kind. Ph.D. dissertation on U.S.-Japanese rela­ We'd talked about his mom and dad. He'd said, "Oh my, my tions during the 1950s. She is a member of dad's a plumber and my mom's a good cook. My wife, I just the Society for Historians of American For- love her to death." He couldn't wait to come home. He wanted K I^M^ ^'9'^ Relations and has been published in to do his duty, get in and get out, survive it. His wife took it V ^^^^1 ffeWews in History. Miller coauthored Wis­ really, really hard. She never remarried and they had a son, consin Korean War Stories with Sarah Larsen Eddie Jr. He's had a hard time with life, without a father. and is author of the historical chapter introductions for this book. That's what happens when a life is lost. It ripples, and it affects The recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship, she is currently living in a lot of people, family and friends. Tokyo for research. I picture them smiling. That's the way 1 try to lemember

SPRING 2010 53 WMoHspIO 2/9/10 11:37AM Page54 -^

The Wisconsin Historical Society Board of Curators

The Ruth and Hardey Barker Director: Curator Emeritus Ellsworth H. Brown Ruth Barker, Ephraim and Scottsdale. AZ Thomas Barland, Eau Claire Letters Officers Jane Bernhardt, Cassville President: Judy Nagel PaXTiciaBoge, La Crosse President Elect: Ellen Langill Thomas Caestecker, Kenilworth, IL I iTceived the autumn issue ofthe ]Visconsin Magazine of Treasurer: Murray D. "Chip" Beckford David Clarenbach, Madison Secretary: Ellsworth H. Brown Glenn Coates, Racit^e History and found the article ".She Taught Him to Hear with Joyce Czajkowski, Wauzeka His Eyes" very iiueiesting. Immedialely I lecognized Maude Board of Curators John Milton Cooper Jr., Madison Betty Adelman, Mukwonago and Harpswell, ME McGinty's name. I volunteer at the Kaukauna Public Library Angela Bartell, Middleton Ness Flores, Waukesha transcribing data from the old Kaukauna Times onto the inter­ Terese Berceau, Madison Harry Franke, Mequon Sid Bremer, Green Bay Stephen Freese, Dodgeville net. I searched the Times and found six articles pertaining to Mary F. Buestrln, Mequon Lynne Goldstein, Okemos, Ml Maude McGinty and establishing the School for Deaf at Park Linda Clifford, Madison Gregg Guthrie, Lac Du Flambeau Craig Culver, Prairie du Sac Vivian Guzniczak, Franklin School in Kaukauna as well as her obituary. I knew my aunt, Laurie Davidson, Monneffe Edna Gwin, Hudson George Dionisopoulos, Pewaukee Charles Haas,/.ti Crosse who reads lips \ery well, was one of Maude's students and now Victor Ferrall, Orfordville Janet HartzellWap/es, ft I know the rest of the story! Mark Gajewski, Madison Delores Hayssen, Mequon Conrad Goodkind, WhitefishBay Jean Helliesen, La Crosse —Carol Van Bo.\iel, \ia email Beverly A. Harrington, Oshkosh Fannie Hicklin, Madison Norbert Hill Jr., OneWa Richard Holscher, Lake Tomahawk PHOTO COURTESY OF KAY SHIBLEY John 0. Holzhueter, Mazomanie and Kailua Kona, HI Carol McChesney Johnson, Black Earth Gregory Huber, Wausau Will Jones, Madison Margaret Humleker, fond dutac John Kerrigan, Oshkosh Thomas Jeffris, Janesville Steve Kestell, Elkhart Lake Errol Kindschy, West Salem Helen Laird, Marshfield Ruth DeYoung Kohler, Kohler Chloris Lowe Jr., Mauston Sharon Leair, Genesee Depot Jerry Phillips, Bayfield Virginia MacNeil, Zirconia, NC Fred A. Risser, Madison Howard Mead, Madison Brian Rude, Coon Valley George Miller, Ripon Michael Schmudlach, Brooklyn Douglas Ogilvie, Appleton John Schroeder, Oostburg David Olien, Madison Dale Schultz, Richland Center Mary Pierce, WaterstTieet, Ml Janice Rice, Stoughton Ex-officio Board of Curators Peggy Rosenzweig, Wauwatosa Dennis Dorn, President, John Russell, Menomonie ^^ Wisconsin Historical foundation Mary Sather, NewRichmond i^ Chuck Hatfield, President, Bob Smith, Huntsville, AL FRIENDS of the Society Edward Virnig, Brookfield Helen Robinson, Pres/c/enf, Gerald Viste, Wausau Wisconsin Council for Local History Lynne Webster, Cottage Grove Rebecca Martin, Senior VPfor Anne West, Whitefish Bay Academic Affairs, UWSystem Robert Zigman, Mequon

Honorary Curators Thomas Barland, Eau Claire George Miller, Ripon

Wisconsin Historical Foundation Board of Directors

Officers Emeritus President: Dennis R. Dorn, Portage Hartley B. Barker, Scottsdale, AZ Wce-Pres/denf; Walter S.Rugland,/lpp/efon Thomas H. Barland, Eau Claire Vice-President: David G. Stoeffel, WhiteUsh BeyRockn e G. Flowers, Madison Treasurer: iohn R. Evans, Verona John J. Frautschi, Madison Secretary: Melinda V. Heinritz, Madison Richard H. Holscher, Lake Tomahawk W. Pharis Horton, Madison Directors Marga ret B.Humleker, fond duiac Loren J. Anderson, Elkhorn Roy C. LaBudde, Milwaukee Diane K. Ballweg, Madison Paul F Meissner, Milwaukee Bruce T. Block, Bayside George H. Miller, Ripon Renee S. Boldt,,4ppteon CarolT.Toussaint,/Mod/son C. Frederick Geilfuss, Milwaukee Edwin P.Wiley, Milwaukee Maude McGinty Michael R. Gotzler, Madison Robert S. Zigman, Mequon Fritz R Grutzner, Madison Henry G. Herzing, Milwaukee Ex-officio Mark D. Laufman, Madison Ellen D. Langill, Waukesha Thomas J. Mohs, Madison Judy K. Nagel, De Pere Neal Nottleson, Racine Peter Ostlind, Madison Jeffrey D. Riester, Appleton Peggy A. Rosenzweig, Wauwatosa Jeffrey N. Trader, Brookfield David A. Zweifel, Madison

54 wisconsinhistory.org

-^ WMoHspIO 2/9/10 11:43AM Page55

Corporate Supporters of the Wisconsin Historical Society

The Wisconsin Historical Society is pleased to recognize the following companies for their generous support. Those marked with an asterisk (*) are also participants in the Society's Business Partnership Program. Business Partners are eligible to receive a menu of benefits including membership discounts for employees, complimentary passes to historic sites, and public recognition as a community leader. To learn more, please contact Martha Truby at 608-261-9363 or [email protected].

$25,000 and above Uihlein-Wilson Architects Associated Bank Green Bay Wal-Mart Foundation The F. Dohmen Co. Foundation Wausau Daily Herald Kwik Trip, Inc. West Bend Air, Inc.* Potawatomi Bingo Casino Worzalla Publishing Company Wisconsin Public Service Foundation WPS Health Insurance" Xcel Energy $10,000-S24,999 Asplrus Wausau Hospital $500-$999 Burger Boat Company Commonwealth Cultural Resources Group IKI Manufacturing Hilldale Land Company LLC Orion Energy IBM International Foundation Ruder Ware The Manitowoc Company, Inc." Wisconsin Preservation Fund, Inc.* River Architects* State Farm Companies Foundation $S,000-$9,999 Television Wisconsin Inc.* The Aeroflex Foundation Urban Land Interests* American Girl" Weimer Bearing &Transniission* Baird Foundation Burke Properties CG Schmidt Credit Union Executives Society (CUES)' Culver's Frozen Custard DEMCO, Inc. ^^ Northwestern Mutual Foundation ^^ Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren s.c. S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc. Vogel Consulting Group*

$2,500-$4,999 3M Foundation Alliant Energy Foundation Beyer Construction* Gilbane Building Company Gorman & Company Marcus Hotels & Resorts Mead Witter Foundation* Name Badge Productions* The QTI Group QuarlesS Brady LLP Sensient Technologies* U.S. Bank- Webcrafters-Frautschi Foundation* Wisconsin Energy Foundation

$1,000-$2,499 Alliant Energy* Alpha Investment Consulting Group" Black River Archaeology, LLC The Coburn Company* Edison Electric Institute Electronic Theatre Controls, Inc. John Wiley & Sons Kikkoman Foods* Kohler Company* Marshfield Clinic* Mead & Hunt* Milwaukee Brewers Baseball Club Mueller Communications, Inc. and The Greater Milwaukee Committee Navistar, Inc.* Potter Lawson, Inc."

55 WMoHspIO 2/9/10 11:38 AM Page 56

•^

^ Curio ^

I

he tintype process, made by creating a direct positive image on a sheet of iron metal blackened by painting, lac­ T quering, or enameling, was very popular in the United States in the latter half of the nineteenth century. It was supplanted by George Eastman's roll film in the 1880s. Tint^^pe portraits from this time are ciuite common. This image is unique for a tinty|Dc because it docs not show a human subject. The HLJl-A photograph shows a model of a machine gun that was ',y fU..(Cl ^-tt 1^ « ^^»' ^^ imcntcd by William Bradford. According to the letter shown here, Bradford hired prominent Pittsburgh patent lawyer William Bakewell to assist in a patent claim that ultimately ])ro\ed imsuccessful. Bradford sent the pho­ tograph and the letter to Burton Millard, Commissary Sergeant of Company G ofthe 5th Wisconsin Volunteer yH ^.,vfe '^^4 '^-^ "'"^"^'p^^X

Infantry, on February 13, 1862, in hopes of selling his ^fidi-Zl, invention to the regiment for use in battle. Bradford and Millard were neighbors near Nutterville in Marathon /ac*.tC County in the 1850s. Sergeant Millard was killed while \tr1.tW.C±, '>ti.^i.tj4^ on patrol just a few weeks after receiving this letter.

^ WMoHspIO 2/12/10 1:43PM Page57 -^

Monster Fire at Minong Wisconsin's Five Mile Tower Fire of 197f

Bill Matthias

Ignited by a single match on April 30,1977, the Five Mile Tower Fire raged out of control for seventeen hours. It would be one ofthe largest wildland fires in Wisconsin history, ultimately destroying more than 13,000 acres of land and sixty-three buildings.

"Bill Matthias has captured not only the destructive fury ofthe fire itself, but the anxious urgency and high stakes that face the folks responsible for taming the beast.. A fascinating read." —Blair Anderson, Chief, Forest NSTB Fire Management Wisconsin Divi; Wisconsin's Five Mile FIRE Tower Fire AT MINONG of 1977

* BILL MATTHIAS V '•

NEW BOOKS COMING SPRING 2010

^^ WISCONSIN! Our Veterans P A SHORT j VIETNAM Remember

^HISTORY o|J SMhA. iMMMMd JtxNkr M. H.lkr i. B'l'/ii:) KMM*»«lCk j^JL^^^^g^^ STORIESI

Ql UJ 1 S CON51 N R I' •* <-v ,i—r

p^^il||l848 STATEHOOD 1948 Q lvi 'fl •a' ERIKAIANIK ' V^'

• •--^ -'^

A Short History of Wisconsin Horse-Drawn Days Wisconsin Vietnam War Stories Erika Janik A Century of Farming with Horses Our Veterans Remember Jerry Apps Sarah A. Larsen and Jennifer M. Miller

Spring 2010 Spring 2010 Spring 2010 Paperback: $18.95 Paperback: $24.95 Paperback: $24.95 164 pages, 49 photots and illus., 240 pages, 140 b/w and color photos 400 pages, 180 b/w photos, 8 maps, 8x9 5'/2x8 and illus., 8x9 ISBN: 978-0-87020-448-7 ISBN: 978-0-87020-440-1 ISBN: 978-0-87020-445-6

TO ORDER Wisconsin Historical Society Please call: (888)999-1669 (608) 264-6565 (in Madison) PRESS Shop online: shop.wisconsinhistory.org

-^ WMoHspIO 2/9/10 11:39 AM Page 58

"^J

liii -^^- FOOD WILL WIN THE WAR^ You came here seeking Freedom m You must now help to preserve it i^ WHEAT is needed for the allies Waste nothing

UNITED STATES FOOD ADMINISTRATION

uring ^Vorld War I, Americans were urged to save wheat, sugar, fat, and meat lo help feed the Allies. In support ofthe war, Americans dined on dogfish, sugarless candy, whale meat, and horse steaks. They planted \ictory gardens and learned to prize leftovers nearly as much as the original meal. President Wilson even grazed sheep on the White House lawn. And Wisconsin helped show the nation the way. Read more about how Americans con­ tributed on the home front in Erika Janik's ardcle: "Food Will Win the War: Food Conservation in World War I Wisconsin."

WISCONSIN magazine t?/history

WISCONSIN HISTORICAL SOCIETY

^