Heyday of the Artesian Stock Farm

This cutout from a bird's-eye drawing
of the Artesian Stock Farm depicts
portions of the Villa Louis estate.
(Click on the image
for a complete view.)

Harness racing came into vogue in the 1870s, and trendsetters of the day — particularly young men of wealth and leisure like H. Louis Dousman — pursued the new sport with a passion. Louis took up harness racing while living in St. Louis and, upon his mother's death at the old home place in Prairie du Chien in 1882, determined to transform the sprawling country estate into a horse-breeding farm — and thereby make the sport his livelihood. So began the brief heyday of the Artesian Stock Farm.

The rise of the sport's popularity coincided with development of Standardbred trotting horses as a pedigree noted for speed and endurance — and accepted as a fully American breed by 1879. By 1883 Dousman had made plans to renovate the grounds and buildings for use as a breeding farm. He purchased horses in Kentucky, Illinois, and Iowa, including several descended from Hambletonian, the great breed foundation sire. The farm soon established a name for itself within the Midwest — through performance at race meets as well as its elegant setting and fine stable of more than 75 horses.

In 1884 artist Alex Simplot of Dubuque, Iowa, created a bird's-eye view of the farm that illustrated existing buildings as well as those still in planning, and the drawing proudly graced the farm's early catalogs of breeding stock. The farm's brief heyday ended abruptly, however, when Dousman died unexpectedly on January 13, 1886. Within a few months the horses were sold, and a new and lasting name had settled on the estate — Villa Louis — in tribute to H. Louis Dousman.

Each September Villa Louis recalls the days of the Artesian Stock Farm when the historic site hosts the annual Villa Louis Carriage Classic.