The Great Sand Fracas of Ames County (5 page)
Read The Great Sand Fracas of Ames County Online
Authors: Jerry Apps
“I have good news for you, Marilyn, and for the citizens of Link Lake.”
7Link Lake Historical Society
T
hank you all for turning out on this rather chilly April day,” said Emily Higgins as she called the regular monthly meeting of the Link Lake Historical Society to order. “I'm told spring is just around the corner, but I'm wondering what corner it's hiding behind.” A few groans came from the audience in response to Emily's rather uncharacteristic attempt at telling a joke.
“Today is our annual planning meeting as you all know, and by popular demand, especially from some of our newer members, Oscar Anderson will make a presentation on the history of the Trail Marker Oak. The old oak is an important symbol for our community from the days when Native Americans lived here and when the village was first founded. And it remains an important symbol for our community today. But first we need you to sign up for one, two, or all three of the major activities we have planned for this summer. As you know the cemetery walk is coming up fast, and I need to see some names on this sign-up sheet.” She began passing the sheet around the room. She was smiling when she askedâeveryone liked Emily and even if she could be a bit pushy at times, no one doubted her love for history and fondness for the Village of Link Lake.
T
he Link Lake Historical Society traced its beginnings to 1860 when the first group of settlers in this part of Ames County met regularly and wrote down what they remembered of the days when they lived in upstate New York. They talked about their trip on a steamship that sailed from Buffalo and eventually reached the port of the Sheboygan, where they disembarked and began their long trip overland. They recalled how they spent their first night in Wisconsin at Wade House on the old plank road, and their second in Fond du Lac, a bustling city on the southern end of Lake Winnebago. Finally, they arrived at Berlin on the Fox River, took the ferry across, and found themselves in newly surveyed Ames County, after the treaty with the Menominee Indians was signed and the area was ready for settlement.
These many stories were written and stored in files in the old Link Lake State Bank building, long ago replaced by a more modern bank on the outskirts of town. The old bank building now served as the main offices for the historical society, which housed a small gift shop as well as the Link Lake Historical Museum. It held many memories, especially for the older citizens of Link Lake. The gift shop and museum, open from April until October, attracted hundreds of visitors during the summer months and busloads of schoolchildren in April and May and again in the fall while the museum was still open. The museum and the historical society were both operated entirely by volunteersâall under the direction and constant encouragement of Emily Higgins, who lived and breathed Link Lake history.
Membership in the historical society had remained constant for more than fifty years, with forty people on the membership list and from twenty-five to thirty who attended the regular monthly meetings, now held in the meeting room at historical society headquarters.
The meetings generally included a business meeting, much of it devoted to discussing and planning historical society events and activities, followed by presentations from those within the organization or speakers associated with other historical societies, the Wisconsin State Historical Society, or historians teaching at one of the University of Wisconsin campuses.
The organization had its own popular speakers. Oscar Anderson and Fred Russo topped the list. Several years back, Oscar and Fred had photographed every old barn within twenty miles of Link Lake, interviewed barn owners, dug into old records, and discovered the stories behind each barn. Their presentation, “The Barns of Link Lake,” had proved to be the most popular presentation in many years. Now, at least once a year they were asked to repeat itâthey of course continued to research these old barns and added new information each time they were asked to speak.
The Link Lake Historical Society also worked hard to involve the entire community by sponsoring major events that brought hundreds of people to the area. Each year historical society members designed a float for the Fourth of July parade and were actively involved in the summer's Trail Marker Oak Days.
They also sponsored three major events each year designed to attract tourists and locals interested in rural history. Each spring the group organized a walking tour of the cemetery with historical society members assuming the roles of past Link Lake notables. In May they reenacted the bank robbery that happened in 1900, and they organized an enormous thresheree each August at Ambrose Adler's farm. The thresheree attracted thousands of people from throughout Wisconsin and from several other states and was the main moneymaking activity for the historical society. The thresheree also served as an economic boost for the restaurants, taverns, the motel, and the gift shops in Link Lake.
This year, with the assistance of the Link Lake High School Nature Club and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, historical society members worked with high school students to erect a video camera pointed toward a bald eagle nest in Increase Joseph Community Park. This “eagle cam” operated twenty-four hours a day, with streaming video of the nest available on the Internet for all to watch. The eagle cam had attracted viewers from all over the country.
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nyone have any new business before I turn the meeting over to Oscar?” asked Emily. She paused for a bit. “Hearing none, Oscar, let's hear about the Trail Marker Oak.”
Wearing a new pair of bib overalls and a red plaid flannel shirt, Oscar slowly got to his feet and, with his cane, made his way to the front of the room. He was clutching a yellowed newspaper clipping in his hand.
He cleared his throat, looked out over the audience, and began.
“I believe you all know about the Trail Marker Oak, but some of you may not know its history, how it is that it stands today at the entrance to Increase Joseph Community Park. Back in 1952, the
Ames County Argus
ran a story about that famous old tree. If you'll bear with me, I'll read it.” Oscar began reading the article in his deep baritone voice.
Trail Marker Oak
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It's believed that this special bur oak tree saw the first light of day about 1830, when a tiny shoot pushed up through the prairie soil and sent forth its first leaves to capture the sunlight. It would be six more years before Wisconsin became a territory and 18 years before it reached statehood.
In 1830, these central Wisconsin lands that surround the body of water now called Link Lake were Menominee Indian lands and had been so for centuries. The Indians fished the waters of Link Lake, camped on its shores, and marveled at the lake's beauty. When the first settlers arrived, the land was mostly tall grass prairie with wild grassesâbig bluestem, little bluestem, and several other varieties waving in the summer breezes. It was a quiet area with long, hot summers, cool, refreshing autumn days that carried on from September to well into November, snowy, cold winters, resulting in the lake freezing over from December to March, and then warm spring days with wildflowers, returning flocks of migrating birds, and Indians trailing by in search of the maple trees that grew near the lake. They tapped the maples for their sweet sap that they boiled down into maple syrup and maple sugar.
Oscar paused for a moment, turned the page of the newspaper, and continued.
As the bur oak tree grew through its infancy and began peeking above the tall prairie grasses that surrounded it, few people saw it. The occasional Indian passed by on the well-worn trail but a few feet from where the bur oak grew, and even a French fur trader hiked by once, apparently lost as he searched for the Fox River to the southeast. In 1839, a great prairie fire swept across this part of what was to become Ames County, sending up enormous clouds of acrid smoke that filled the air. During the midst of the fire, which finally stopped at the waters of Link Lake, the smoke obscured the sun. Many of the shrubs and trees died in the fire, but not the bur oak. Its corky bark protected it and the tree continued growing, even better than before, now more than a foot a year, as some of its competition for nutrients and water had been destroyed in the fire.
In 1840, a traveling band of Menominee Indians, who had regularly traveled the old trail, stopped in the scant shade of the 10-year-old bur oak, now some 12 feet tall. They walked around the tree, inspecting it from every direction. And they noticed that no other trees grew nearby. So this bur oak tree became a trail marker for them as they traveled from their trapping grounds to the trading post on the Fox River several miles to the south.
In 1848, when the bur tree was 18 years old and had been a trail marker for but eight years, the Menominee, heavily pressured by the federal government, negotiated a treaty that ceded all of their lands to the United States. After some serious discussions and a refusal of the Menominee to move to a reservation in Minnesota, an agreement was reached between the Indians and the government that the Menominee would be settled on a reservation near what is now Shawano, Wisconsin. As a result, thousands of acres of once Indian land was now ready for surveying and then for sale at $1.25 per acre.
In 1852, Increase Joseph Link, a preacher from New York State, along with a group of his followers called the Standalone Fellowship founded the Village of Link Lake and gave both the village and the lake the name of their leader. A year after the Standalone Fellowship founded the Link Lake community, Increase Joseph had a surprise visitor. A tall Menominee Indian appeared at his cabin door one day and introduced himself as Kee-chee-new. The two men shook hands. Kee-chee-new was a tall, fine-featured man with high cheekbones and a prominent nose.
The Indian said to Increase Joseph, “We camped by this lake for many years, our men and women and children. We camped by this big lake on our journey from the trapping lands to the west on our way to the river called Fox and the trading post there. Today I come to show you something. Something long important to the Menominee making the long journey from the valley of the great river to the west where we trap to the trading post on the river called Fox.”
Increase Joseph followed the tall Indian to the top of a hill, just outside the Village of Link Lake.
“See this big tree?” asked Kee-chee-new. “See the trail nearby?”
“I've seen this bur oak tree many times,” said Increase Joseph. “And I too have walked the trail that goes by it, a trail worn deep in the soil from the many hundreds who have passed this way over the years.”
“This is a marker tree,” explained Kee-chee-new. “It points the way to the trading post on the Fox River. Before the tree showed us the way, our people often got confused and traveled long distances trying to find the trading post. With the trail marker tree, they are shown the way.”
Kee-chee-new ran his hand along the tree's corky bark.
“This is a sacred tree. It must always be protected. It has a special meaning for my tribe. You are a religious man; do you understand what I am saying?”
“I do,” said Increase Joseph. “And I will do everything in my power to make certain that no one ever cuts down this tree or in any other way harms it.”
Later that day, Increase Joseph stopped by the blacksmith shop in Link Lake. “I want you to make me a little sign,” Increase Joseph said to the blacksmith. “I want it to read, âTrail Marker Oak. A sacred tree.'”
From 1853 until the present time, the little metal sign has marked the location of the Trail Marker Oak.
“Well, that's it,” said Oscar, as he folded the newspaper and reached for his cane that he had leaned against a chair. “That's the story of the Trail Marker Oak, a very special tree in our history, and in so many ways a very special tree yet today.”
Emily Higgins stood up. “A round of applause for Oscar. We all need to be reminded from time to time about our histories and how important they can be for us today. Clearly, the Trail Marker Oak is one of those prized pieces of history for our village. That brings our April meeting to a close; we'll see you all at the cemetery walk. Bring your friends and hope for good weather.”
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