September 2006 Odd Wisconsin
In the summer of 1853, 10 families from Belgium settled just east of Green Bay. They were the first in a wave of 15,000 Belgian immigrants who would soon populate the region where Brown, Door and Kewaunee counties come together. Among them was Adele Brisse, a young peasant woman who came with her parents. The Brisse family established a remote...
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Posted in Bizarre Events on September 24, 2006
It's September, and around the state thousands of children are about to be taught that Jean Nicolet was the first European to set foot in Wisconsin. But there's fascinating evidence that he was not the first but rather the second white person to visit our state. Nicolet (1598-1642) was a protege of Samuel de Champlain (1567-1635), who sent him west...
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Posted in Curiosities on September 17, 2006
In the summer of 1827, a small band of Ho-Chunk warriors, misled by scheming informants and angered by white squatters, made two attacks on settlers near Prairie du Chien. Following the Indian code of "an eye for an eye," on June 28th a warrior named Red Bird and three companions executed two French-Canadian farmers. Three days later, they fired on...
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Posted in Curiosities on September 12, 2006
We usually think of libraries as staid and imposing edifices that grace the main streets of our towns, or elegant temples of knowledge that anchor our college campuses. But some libraries refused to stay put. This photo shows what is surely one of the earliest bookmobiles, a 1910 International Auto Wagon loaded with books. Its location is not known. The...
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Posted in Curiosities on September 8, 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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