09 Clark & Marathon Counties

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=47 style=" border-bottom: 3px solid #FF9900;" BGCOLOR="#FFFF33" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>09 Clark & Marathon Counties</B></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=162 style="border-right: 3px solid #FF9900;" BGCOLOR="#FFFF33" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Yellowstone Trail"><B><IMG SRC="30164140.png" border=0 width="100" height="20" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="wisguide0.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Wis Guide Home"><B>Wis Guide Home</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="guidewis00.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="How to use the guide/ legend."><B>How to and legend</B></A></div> <bR> <div> <B>By county:</B></div> <div> <A HREF="guidewis12.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="12 St Croix County "><B>12 St Croix</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="guidewis11.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="11 Dunn Eau Claire Counties"><B>11 Dunn & Eau Claire</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="guidewis10.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="10 Chippewa County"><B>10 Chippewa</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="guidewis09.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="09 Clark Marathon Counties"><B>09 Clark & Marathon</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="guidewis08.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="08 Wood County"><B>08 Wood</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="guidewis07.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="07 Portage County"><B>07 Portage</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="guidewis06.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="06 Waupaca County"><B>06 Waupaca </B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="guidewis05.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="05 Winnebago Outagamie Counties"><B>05-Winnebago & Outagamie</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="guidewis04.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="04 Fond du Lac DodgeCounties"><B>04-Fond du Lac & Dodge</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="guidewis03.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="03 Washington Waukesha Counties"><B>03 Washington/</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="guidewis03.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="03 Washington Waukesha Counties"><B>Waukesha</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="guidewis02.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="02MilwaukeeCounty"><B>02-Milwaukee</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="guidewis01.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="01 Kenosha Racine Counties"><B>01 Kenosha & Racine</B></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=433 width="100%" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="06100c00egerdp.jpg"> <div> <B>Please scroll down for draft text. </B></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B><IMG SRC="3686b130.jpg" border=0 width="875" height="531" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <bR> <div> Clark&Marathon Counties - America’s Dairyland</div> <div> <B>M110.0 </B>Chippewa/Clark County line.</div> <div> <B>M111.7</B> Originally the YT followed Willow Road (county X) east of Stanley.  In 1928 it was moved to south of the tracks to avoid two rail crossings</div> <bR> <div> <B>M115.9</B> <B>Thorp</B> <B>downtown</B> <I>Small country hotel. MH; Dell’s Station existed in the 1920s if not earlier.MD</I></div> <div> Thorp(e) - Railroad telegraphers dropped the (e) from founder Joseph Gilbert Thorpe’s name. This lawyer, lumber baron, State Senator lived in Eau Claire, but never in his eponymous town.  Yellowstone Trail Park, so named because it is on the Trail, (Stanley St., Co. X). The park was just recently renamed due to a resurgence of interest in the YT. Outdoor activities there include ice skating, and summer live music.</div> <bR> <div> Almost two decades ago, local resident Arnoldine Gulcynski was instrumental in reviving interest in the Trail in the area by placing markers at the main intersection in town, Stanley St.(county X, YT) and county M.  At the same intersection is Bob’s Corner Service. In the 1920s and 1930s Al Capone, the famous Chicago gangster, frequently stopped at this station on his way to his hideout in northern Wisconsin.   At the same intersection sits the present Heritage Court Motel in a 100 year old building.</div> <bR> <div> <B>M117.9</B> There is a large yellow rock on the corner of Hwy X and Gorman Ave. marking the Trail. Turn north on to Gorman Ave. to visit the <B>Thorp Area Museum</B>. It has a variety of historic displays and exhibits. At this writing, the museum is moving to the renovated 1907 St. Helwig’s Catholic Church basement from the Rectory next door. The congregation long ago moved to a new church in Thorp. Small businesses will now occupy the rest of the church.</div> <bR> <div> <B>M126.0  Withee</B> - Named for Niran H. Withee, a landowner, county board member, and Wisconsin Assemblyman.  <I>Black River Tourist Camp, free, in a nice grove.  Supplies and gas. MH</I>  Withee has grown since this 1926 Mohawk Guide camp information to include a busy aluminum extrusion plant which employs 75. The people there say that Withee “has gone from logging trails to super highways.” We like to think that the Yellowstone Trail was part of that growth.</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>M127.8 Owen</B> <B>downtown</B>  <I>Lumber mill and box factory. Two small free camps, four blocks from town.  Woodland Hotel, modern and well managed.  Dining room.MH</I>   Named for J.S. Owen, lumber baron, who established a lumber mill and box factory early in the 20th century.</div> <bR> <div> At the corner of Central and Fifth St. is Taylor’s Do Drop In tavern, a local watering hole under various names since c.1907. There is a large yellow “R” on the side of the building which owners keep painted and a bronze plaque. That “R” is the only original <B>Yellowstone Trail marker</B> known to remain outside of museums in Wisconsin. It stands for “turn right at this corner to remain on the Yellowstone Trail.”  There was, of course, an “L” marker for turning left, but that last remaining marker painted on a building is in Deer Lodge, Montana.</div> <bR> <div> Woodland Hotel. Built in 1906, now is used for apartments. Lumber baron John Owen either named it after an ancient ancestor, William-of-the-Woodlands, or in honor of his occupation.</div> <bR> <div> Owen’s Mauel’s Dairy at 609 W. Third St., made ice cream for Yellowstone Trail travelers 90 years ago and is still at it.</div> <bR> <div> The Old School on Third St., the Yellowstone Trail. The Owen High School was built in 1921 and functioned until 1995. It is on both the State and National Register of Historic Places. Its adjoining gym, built in 1952, now serves as a community hall, site of a Heritage Room for local history, and site of many events such as a large annual area quilt show.</div> <bR> <div> <B>134.2</B>  Between Owen & Curtiss on Willow Road is a small Norwegian church. Used until 1953 when the congregation moved into Curtiss’ St. Paul’s Church.  Now it is owned by St. Paul’s Lutheran Cemetery Assn. Built c.1916 of red brick, it is a simplified Gothic style with arched door and windows. It is opened for one service a year, on the last Sunday in July, but the church is open and some come daily to pray.  Why not stop in? The caretaker lives across the road and it looks well kept.</div> <bR> <div> <B>M135.2 Curtiss</B>. Easternmost town in the Partnership 29 consortium.See note in Chippewa Co.about Partnership 29. </div> <div> The late Les Bowen remembered walking to school on the Yellowstone Trail (county X) every day. He also remembered the Revival Tent on the corner of county X and E where the Yellowstone Trail turned at<B> M134.9.</B> He became the leading businessman in the area.</div> <bR> <div> The Old Curtiss Hotel built c.1905, (Meridian St., county E) called “Our Place Bar and Hotel.” Until recently it was owned by the late Les Bowen who also owned a restaurant near by. The restaurant was the site of many community events including antique auto runs. It burned down in 2003, taking with it priceless antiques.</div> <bR> <div> Curtiss Community Center, built in 1912, was a state graded school until the 1960s. A library was constructed  across the street. Tom Wilson, a black man, was librarian in 1917.  The pay was $75 month.</div> <div>                </div> <div> <B>M141.8</B> <B>Abbotsford </B>  <I>Headquarters for Wisconsin cheese Proucers Ass’n.  Small garage, but no hotel. MH; Camp 1 blk s. 5 cars, unlimited # of people, open field. AAA</I>.</div> <div> Named for Edwin H. Abbot, the financial genius of the old Wisconsin Central Railway. Because it is the first city in alphabetical order of any list of Wisconsin cities, it calls itself “Wisconsin’s First City.” </div> <bR> <div> On Wis. 13 (Yellowstone Trail) south, stop at Hawkeye Dairy 118 S. 4th St. for a sampling of “America’s Dairyland,” cheese and really good, huge ice cream cones.</div> <bR> <div> Abbotsford, Colby and Unity, all on the Yellowstone Trail, share a unique fact: they straddle the  line between Clark and Marathon Counties, no doubt complicating city government! </div> <bR> <div> <B>M144.3</B>-<B>Colby  </B><I>Niehoff is a good country hotel.  Ford garage. MH; Home of the only natural cheese native to the U.S. Available to Yellowstone Trail tourists. </I>.    If the word “cheese” comes to mind here, you are correct! In 1885 Joseph Steinwand developed the world-famous <B>Colby Cheese</B>. He left more whey in the curd and pressed it into molds for up to three months, leaving a tasty mild cheese. It was the only natural cheese native to the USA.</div> <bR> <div> After the turn of the century, this area became one of the great cheese producing centers in the nation and Colby Cheese became known the world around. </div> <div>  </div> <div> The <B>Rural Arts Museum</B> is a collection of buildings that tell the story of the railroad, dairy industry, and other past history. The buildings are: the old railroad depot, a one-room school, a log home with its original furniture, and a new Heritage Building featuring a historical rural main street. It is open on Sundays from Memorial Day to Labor Day.</div> <bR> <div> <B>M145.8 </B>The <B>original factory </B>(now closed) is southwest of town on, logically, Cheese Factory Road. You can drive down the road about a mile or less to see the closed, historic, small factory. You can buy Colby cheese and other cheeses at the Colby Cheese House at N13283 State Road 13 (Yellowstone Trail).</div> <bR> <div> <B>M148.3 Unity  </B><I>Free camp space one mile east.  Good  meals at Unity hotel.  Garage across track is reliable. MH</I> </div> <div> Site of Ray’s Market. Ray’s Market suffered a tragic fire in 2008, 99 years after it was built in 1909. It was there six years before the Yellowstone Trail arrived in 1915.</div> <div> There was a small museum in the meat market with pictures and artifacts of old Unity, all of which are now lost.  Ray’s Market was formerly called Unity Sausage Co. and also Unity Meat Market. It is unknown whether Alan Gurtner  will rebuild on site or move off of the Yellowstone Trail. A history buff, Al knew about the Trail.</div> <div> When you drive through Unity on Wis 13, the Yellowstone Trail, you will notice that most of the downtown buildings are on the east side of the tracks and are brick. Wooden buildings once lined this street. In 1909 a fire swept the street, up to the wooden post office. But the meat market, made of brick, didn’t burn. In 1917 another fire swept the rebuilt wooden stores, again, missing the post office. After that, all of the merchants rebuilt in brick! </div> <bR> <div> <B>M149.2 </B>The Clark/Marathon county line follows Wis 13 between Abbotsford and Unity.  South of here the route is solely in Marathon Co. </div> <div> <B>M148.3 Spencer</B></div> <div> <B>M162.8</B>  Wood/Marathon county line</div> <bR> <div> Code 1 <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" > Withee Historic Note</FONT></div> <div> The <B>Four Kruegers</B> <B>as Draft Dodgers</B>. When the United States finally entered WWI in 1917,  neutrality faded and outward shows of patriotic fervor commenced. This was aided by the fact that Congress amended the Espionage Act in May of 1918, widely broadening the definition of “espionage” to include uttering disloyal language against the government, showing disrespect for the flag and evading the draft. Disloyal language garnered the perpetrator fines of thousands of dollars and a jail term. Draft evasion only resulted in immediate induction. Pro-war hysteria was just as fervent in Wisconsin as elsewhere, despite Senator Robert LaFollette voting against it. And despite 9 of the 50 in the House of Representatives who voted against being from “German Wisconsin.” </div> <bR> <div> Louis and Leslie Krueger registered for the draft.  Frank was too old and Ennis too young.  Neither claimed “conscientious objector” on the form, but both were influenced by their mother’s strong religious view that war was wrong. Louis fled west before the shoot out.</div> <div> A new draft law was enacted which broadened the age category. Ennis at 19 and Frank at 37 were now eligible. They did not register. In September of 1918 (two months before the war ended) a US Marshall, armed with a posse of disorganized, angry locals came to arrest the boys. Much gunfire ensued resulting with the death of one officer, the capture of Caroline Krueger, the boys’ mother, and the wounding of Frank. Ennis and Leslie escaped, but Ennis was supposedly shot by officers days later and Leslie was captured in Minnesota the next month. Sixteen years later Frank and Leslie, who had been incarcerated for “mental illness,” were set free and were eventually reunited with Louis and Caroline back at the Withee farm, or what was left of it, just south of Withee.</div> <bR> <div> Jerry Buss has written a meticulously researched and fascinating book about this complicated case, entitled <I>A War of Their Own</I> (Badger Books 1998). He leaves no doubt that the entire event could have been better managed and that, even in 1998, the Justice Department and the FBI would not release the full story, and he asks, “Why?”</div> <bR> <bR> <div> Code 1<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" >  Owen Historic Note</FONT></div> <div> Woodland Hotel. John S. Owen built the Woodland to house the brokers, salesmen and buyers of the lumber trade who arrived by train to this small, isolated town. It was so well-built that 103 years later it still stands whole. It featured hardwood floors and real wood paneling. It had hot and cold running water, steam heat and electric lights in 1906!  There was a writing room, dining room and large kitchen. The parlor was a “man’s man” room with spittoons handy. Huge breakfasts were served for 30¢.</div> <bR> <div> As auto travel superceded train travel and the eight trains a day to Owen dwindled, the Woodland was still in an enviable position because it was on the first completely concreted cross-state auto road - the Yellowstone Trail. The Woodland’s prospects rose and fell over the years, a high point being between 1955 and 1974 with the advent of the popular Sunday night buffets. People came from as far away as St. Paul, Minnesota, 135 miles, for the famous 100-item spread.</div> <bR> <div> Today, some of the hotel has been turned into apartments. The owner is looking for a buyer, and the town of Owen is hoping for a resurrection of this historic centerpiece of their downtown.</div> <bR> <div> Code 1<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" >  Colby Historic Note</FONT></div> <div> The 409 miles of the Trail  in Wisconsin were completely concreted by 1929, the first cross-state route to be so.  Until that time, counties struggled to keep roads graveled and dragged.  After rains, the mud mired autos; in dry weather, dust clogged motors. No wonder people wore “dusters” on auto trips. </div> <div> It was common on muddy roads to put the wheels in a previously made narrow wheel rut and allow the rut to steer the flivver. That explains the following Colby Phonograph newspaper report of January 26, 1928:<I> John Pacholke turned his car over on highway 13. However he did not even get a scratch. Mr Pacholke was driving south at the time and the wheels of the car were in the rut, but when he made an attempt to get out of the rut, his car skidded and turned completely over - the top down and the wheels up. John at once broke the glass in one of the doors and climbed out without being hurt in any way.</I></div> <div>           </div> <div> Driving notes:</div> <div> At <B>M119.9</B>, the Trail used Fisher Av. to what is now Wis 29.  That route is closed because Wis 29 is a freeway here.  Follow the 1928 route which is now Co. X.  This section was another part of the concreting of the Trail in the late 1920s.</div> <bR> <div> Between Owen and Curtiss the original northern route on Willow is the more evocative of 1920's travel. It was used until around 1919.  The 1919 route was modified near Owen in 1928 to the present route of Co. X.  Now that road is closed at the County Health Care Center which has an historic building built in YT times.</div> <bR> <div> Between Curtiss and Abbotsford the YT lies under Wis 29.  Use exit # 131 to leave or enter Wis 29. In town follow Spruce and Wis 13, turning at their intersection at <B>M141.8.</B></div> <bR> <div> At about <B>M150</B>, the route connecting Fairhaven Lane and Lasalle St. has been variously identified, but Century Rd. is known to have been used on the early route some or all the time.</div> </td> </tr></table></body>