Current Issue of the Wisconsin Magazine of History
Spring 2020, Volume 103, Number 3
Grand Portage imagined in 1792
Howard Sivertson
Wisconsin Magazine of History Cover Image
Grand Portage, located on Lake Superior’s northern shore at the Canada–United States border, was one of several trading posts frequented by the Cadotte family, whose fur trading exploits are explored in this issue’s book excerpt, The Cadottes: A Fur Trade Family on Lake Superior, by Robert Silbernagel, released this spring by the Wisconsin Historical Society Press. Here, artist Howard Sivertson imagines the post as it might have appeared in 1792, when the North West Company was in full operation.
Table of Contents
Meteor showers like the Perseids, seen here above Cana Island Lighthouse in Door County, are vivid reminders of Earth’s place in space
Matthew Vahl
A Cosmic Visitor: The 1917 Meterorite Fall in Colby, Wisconsin
By Marcia Bjornerud and Keith Kleinstick
Preoccupied with the noise and bustle of human affairs, we easily forget that we are also citizens of the cosmos. Meteor showers like the Perseids, which pass by every year, are vivid reminders of Earth’s place in space. Although the streaks of light in these natural fireworks displays are often called shooting or falling stars, they are actually produced when clusters of icy comets or rocky meteoroids vaporize high in the atmosphere. Such events often produce spectacular light shows, but occasionally the chunks of extraterrestrial ice or rock don’t completely disintegrate and continue hurtling down to the Earth’s surface. This happened on July 4, 1917, in Colby, Wisconsin, when a rock weighing at least 150 pounds plunged from the sky in the middle of the town’s holiday festivities. In this issue, geologist Marcia Bjornerud and amateur astronomer Keith Kleinstick tell the story of the dramatic arrival of the Colby meteorite, as well as its origin in the early solar system and its continuing importance in the history of science.
Still raids, like this one in Washington, DC, in 1922, were major news. The still pictured here with IRS and police officials standing by was boasted as being “the largest still in captivity.”
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS LC-USZ62-95475
On the Banks of the Lemonweir: A Prohibition Murder in Juneau County
By Karla Riley
In Juneau County, Wisconsin, a district attorney’s discovery of a large moonshine operation in Wisconsin leads to an investigation into profiteering and bribery—and ends in his murder. The discovery of the Kilbourn still, one of the largest in the state, and the likely collusion of a well-regarded sheriff in this small Wisconsin community together reveal how far the tendrils of illegal activity reached during Prohibition to affect small rural communities. Prohibition created a divide that drove formerly law-abiding citizens to crime, connecting some to urban networks that used intimidation and even violence to ensure the underground trade prospered. The Kilbourn incident was just the beginning of a sprawling story of corruption, organized crime, and murder in Juneau County.
In 1938, the Geneva Lake Water Safety Patrol acquired a 135-horsepower Garwood patrol boat, which allowed rescuers to respond to emergency calls with significant speed.
WATER SAFETY PATROL ARCHIVES
A Century of Running the Reds: The Trailblazing, Lifesaving History of the Geneva Lake Water Safety Patrol
by Anne Morrissy
Anne Morrissy shares the organizational history of this one-of-a-kind Wisconsin institution, the Geneva Lake Water Safety Patrol. Now a century old, the WSP has been a national pioneer in lifesaving, emergency response, and swimming and boating regulations at one of our state’s most-loved resort destinations. Over its hundred-year history, what began as a committee of concerned citizens affiliated with the Lake Geneva chapter of the American Red Cross became one of the most innovative, progressive programs for water safety and education in the nation.
A subscription to the Wisconsin Magazine of History is a benefit of membership to the Wisconsin Historical Society. The current issue, described above, will become available in the online archives as soon the next issue is published.
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