August 2006 Odd Wisconsin
In recent years, cougar reports have proliferated in Wisconsin -- as many as 75 were said to have been spotted in 2005, though none of these sightings were confirmed. Wisconsin's own subspecies, Puma concolor schorgeri, is thought to have been extinct for nearly a century. John H. Fonda, of Prairie du Chien, had a surprising encounter with one several decades...
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Posted in Animals on August 28, 2006
Sun Prairie's annual Sweet Corn Festival happens this weekend, the modern manifestation of an ancient ritual that marks the seasonal return of abundant food supplies. The annual planting of corn, rising of shoots, budding of ears, and beginning of harvest have marked the calendar for Wisconsin peoples for more than 1000 years. The time when the first corn was ripe...
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Posted in Curiosities on August 17, 2006
The desire to claim distinction seems to be part of human nature. Right here in Wisconsin, the Manitowoc Co. city of Two Rivers has long claimed to be the birthplace of the ice cream sundae, citing local oral tradition of its invention there in Berner's Ice Cream Parlor in 1881. But Ithaca, N.Y., also claims the distinction, and can point...
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Posted in Curiosities on August 13, 2006
This week a visitor from out of state requested a tour of Aztalan, our state's best known and largest archaeological site. Driving back after a delightful summer afternoon on the ancient hillside, he asked where the name originated. This opened the door to a bizarre series of explanations on the origins of Aztalan. The first white settler to lay eyes...
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Posted in Curiosities on August 10, 2006
The source for today's Odd Wisconsin is a New York Times reporter who claimed (Dec. 7, 1902) only to "relate the tale as the Nashotah people tell it, and the reader can draw his own conclusions." The Nashotah Theological Seminary in Waukesha Co. was founded by Rev. James Lloyd Breck and three companions in 1842 as a center for the...
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Posted in Bizarre Events on August 6, 2006
Did You Know?
The Wisconsin Historical Museum is currently featuring Odd Wisconsin objects in the latest exhibit: Odd Wisconsin. And don't miss the Odd Wisconsin book by author Erika Janik published by the Wisconsin Historical Society Press.
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