KVA History Project - Part 2

So, let us finally continue with our look at the KVA local history project, which ran from 1977 through 1979.

            Perhaps no one knew of the importance of the oral history interviews for the KVA project better than Dale Muller of La Farge.  Dale had spent most of his life listening to peoples’ stories, remembering those stories and then passing them on to others.  As a young boy, Dale had been drawn to listen to his elders as they told of “the good old days”.  He remembered those stories of that earlier time and in 1972 when his son, Lonnie, began a new weekly newspaper in La Farge, he started writing about some of those memories in a weekly column called “John Bear Spreader Notes”.

            Dale used the pseudonym “Johnson Gunfrunk” when he penned the local history columns in the weekly issues of the Epitaph.  Some of the stories he told were priceless and I will share a very early one that he wrote in the second edition of the Epitaph – January 19, 1972.

            Dale was writing about the Dutch elm disease wiping out the American elm trees in the Kickapoo Valley.  He was not a big fan of that type of tree because it was a poor source of heat when it was burned for firewood and because of its penchant for warping and splitting.  Dale shared a local history story in that column that went like this, “Richard Cornell, local gunsmith, once made a full length stock for a .22 rifle out of elm.  It warped so bad that it bent the barrel.  He had the only gun on Bear Creek that would shoot around corners.  Dick became quite an expert at shooting squirrels on the other side of trees with it.”

            In 1976, when the village organized to celebrate the nation’s Bi-Centennial, Dale became a vital part of the committee that was formed in La Farge.  As part of La Farge’s look back for the American Bi-Centennial, Dale began to interview older people in the village.  Using a tape recorder for the interviews, he was able to save the precious local history stories for posterity.  As a matter of fact, when the Bi-Centennial activities were concluded with the 4^th of July Celebration in La Farge, Dale continued on with the oral history interviews and archived the tapes in the village’s library.

            When the Kickapoo Valley Association (KVA) began its local history project in 1977-78, Dale was a natural to serve on an “Advisory Group” for the project.  In the last issue of the “Kickapoo Pearls” (September – 1979), this testimony was made about the Advisory Group:

            “The Advisory Group to the Kickapoo Valley Association History Project has been a vital part of our efforts.  The members of the advisory group were selected by the KVA and the Crawford, Monroe and Vernon County Historical Societies to represent their various perspectives and concerns as historical information was gathered.  Other members were selected at large by the Advisory Group.  Their role has been to provide advice, direction, assistance, contacts and experience and knowledge to the staff of the project.  The members of the Advisory Group have served on a voluntary basis since early January of 1978.

            ‘Staff and Advisory Group have met regularly every six weeks over these past 20 months to jointly map out direction and goals.  Working in this type of situation was a new experience for most all of us and one that we’ll not soon forget.”

            Others on the Advisory Group included Kate Walter, Leita Twining Slayton, Kathy Calhoun, Helen Tuchalski, Jeanne & Bernard Smith, Connie Stephens, Steve Picus, Arlene Obert, and Dawald Craig.

            Dale Muller was also instrumental in helping with the initial phase of the KVA History Project, which was the preparation of a history of Seelyburg.  Dale had spent much of his youth in the Seelyburg area and helped to coordinate a research project on the old lumbering town on the Kickapoo River.  Working with other local history advocates Jeanne & Bernard Smith of La Farge and Connie & Lawrence Stephens of Viroqua, Dale joined Dale Treleven from the Wisconsin Historical Society’s Oral History Program to get the history of Seelyburg project started.

            In the summer of 1977, the KVA used a Summer Youth Work Program grant to hire Janet Marshall, a recent graduate of La Farge High School, to research and write about the former community of Seelyburg.  Janet conducted oral history interviews with several people and then wrote an excellent history about the old lumbering town.  Janet Marshall’s work set a fine example for the local history project that was to follow.

            With the advice and direction from the members of the Advisory Group, the KVA soon assembled a staff to collect the local and folk history, take that information from the interviews and put it into essay form and add photographs and graphics for the editions of the Kickapoo Pearls.  Tom Hovde, who lived near Ontario, became the leader of the KVA’s project and assisted at almost all levels besides administering all of the programs.

            Working from offices on La Farge’s Main Street, Hovde assembled a staff of researchers and writers that included Dail Murray, Lon Reuter, Judy Wilmes, Dan Eumurian, Lynne O’Brien, Mike Wright and Dana Strobel.  That group soon started conducting oral and folk history interviews with people up and down the Kickapoo Valley, recording their stories and memories while collecting and copying historical photographs to supplement the project.  According to a written account of the local history project that was published in the last issue of the Kickapoo Pearls, another local woman was a key ingredient to its success.

            From Volume IV, “Jean (Daines) Muller of La Farge was the main cog around which things got done.  Jean’s title was secretary/typist but her ability to keep files, typing, tapes, and everything else in order while working with ten people was a key to any accomplishments we’ve had.  Jean got married while she was working for us but it only slowed her down a little while.”

            Shawn Donovan of La Farge was the project’s bookkeeper, making sure that all CETA grant guidelines were followed and that the payroll came out on time.

            In addition to the written products of the KVA research, other mediums were used to present information on the history of the Kickapoo Valley.  Mike Wright led an effort to develop radio programs called the Crooked River Series, which aired the first Sunday evening of every month on WGBM-FM from Viroqua.  The one-hour programs included discussions on The Great Depression in the Kickapoo Valley, Settlement of the Kickapoo Valley, the Kickapoo Valley Railroad and other topics.  Several programs featured area musicians playing in “Old Time Kickapoo Music” segments.

            Frances Burton also produced a 16-mm color documentary film as part of the local history project.  Burton, whose family was from Gays Mills, was a filmmaker from Milwaukee, who moved back to the Kickapoo Valley to make the film.  She created the 15-minute film titled “Land of The Crooked River” from a script partially written by Dale Muller and narrated by Orlie Baker of Seneca.  The KVA History Project film (now a classic!) includes rare film footage from August 1939 of the last train on the Kickapoo railroad as it departed the station at Soldiers Grove.     

            In the end, the various results of the KVA’s local history project about the Kickapoo Valley were really marvels of their particular time.  The interviews, collections, essays, publications, oral tapes and film all strove to tell the story of a unique and particular place and its people.  That is something that others, including this humble scribbler, continue to this day.

KVA HISTORY PROJECT

Kickapoogians, “have an established unsavory reputation, extending throughout the state of Wisconsin and even beyond; that it is a territory some fifty miles long, wild and undeveloped, inhabited by illiterate people who are designated timber thieves, horse thieves and desperados.”

            That description of the “unsavory reputation” of residents of the Kickapoo Valley comes from the introduction to the classic local history book, The Kickapoo Valley – The Gem of Wisconsin.  The book was written and published by two women from Viola, Gertrude Frazier and Rose Poff, in 1896.  The entire purpose of the book was to present evidence that this reputation was undeserved and in their words, “wholly false”.

            (Before going any further, let the word go out to all good history lovers that a new shipment of the “Gems” book has arrived at the Friends of the Reserve gift shop located at the KVR Visitor Center north of La Farge.  Under the leadership of Chuck Hatfield, the “Gems” book was republished and rereleased in May 2007 after having been out of print for over 100 years.  An original copy of the book that was owned by Joyce Blackmore, noted Rockton historian, and donated by Brian Turner was used as a copy for the republication printing.

After the “Gems” book was released, Chuck and I along with wives, Gwen and Carolyn, went on a tour of the Kickapoo Valley from Wilton to Wauzeka talking to groups about the book.  The original order of the books was soon sold out and another batch had to be printed, then another after that.   Recently the gift shop had run out of the “Gems” books, but once again, the book may be obtained at the Friends gift shop.)

Gertrude Frazier and Rose Poff’s book was one of the first efforts to tell the stories of the people of the Kickapoo Valley.  Over the years there have been many others, including these scribbling’s that appear in the La Farge Episcope on a bi-monthly basis.  One of the more comprehensive efforts to record the history of the Kickapoo Valley and its people came about during the late 1970’s as part of a government funded project that had great impact and significance.

In 1977, the Kickapoo Valley Association (KVA) received a Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) federal grant.  The purpose of the CETA grant was to provide employment and training for people in the areas of public service.  The KVA, a group formed earlier in the decade to promote the Kickapoo Valley, used the CETA grant in a variety of ways.

There was a river project that included a cleanup of the Kickapoo River to open up more areas of the river for canoeing.  This particular project was not too popular in some circles in the La Farge area as the community was still simmering from the stoppage of the dam project.  Some ardent pro-dam activists saw canoeists on the Kickapoo as one of the factors that contributed to the dam project being stopped.  So, on several summer weekends during these times, the “Beavers” (a secret chain saw wielding group of guys who often gathered in local watering holes before proceeding to the river under the cover of darkness) would saw down trees and drop them into the Kickapoo River to thwart canoeing.  Interestingly, the “Beavers” efforts provided plenty of work for the young men working on the KVA’s river project, as they assisted the local canoe livery owners in keeping sections of the river open to canoeing.

Another aspect of the KVA’s CETA grants was an agricultural survey done with landowners and farmers along the river way to look for problems and seek solutions caused by flooding.  There was also an Energy Alternatives Project developed under the CETA grant.  The work and findings under that aspect of the grant led to the development of Soldiers Grove as the first solar community in the country.

But the showpiece of the KVA’s CETA grant was the Local History Project.  The KVA’s History Project (1977-79) was vast in its reach and impressive in its accomplishments.  An Advisory Group was formed by the KVA and the Monroe, Vernon and Crawford County historical societies to provide various perspectives and concerns as historical information was gathered.  Dale Muller and Jeanne & Bernard Smith represented La Farge on the 10-member advisory group for the history project.  Working with a staff of people hired to conduct the history project, the members of the advisory group provided insight to various avenues to pursue for the project.  The staff and advisory group met regularly during 1978 and 1979 as the history project was unfolding.

The Local History Project included a number of endeavors to collect and share the unique history of the people of the Kickapoo Valley.  A “Study Unit Project” was developed for schools and teachers to use in presenting local Kickapoo Valley history in their classrooms.  After the unit was developed, a seminar was held on the UW-Richland campus to introduce the concept and materials to area teachers.  Eventually, the unit was distributed to all the schools in the Kickapoo Valley area.  Margaret Lee of La Farge headed up the study unit project.

A documentary film was also produced.  Under the leadership of Frances Burton, the 16mm color documentary, “The Land of The Crooked River” was eventually completed and released.  The fifteen-minute film is a classic in presenting the unique nature of the Kickapoo Valley and its history.

A history textbook was also a part of the KVA Local History Project.  The textbook would include all of the information gathered in the different aspects of the local history project.  Although the history textbook was never published, much of the research, collected materials, and even the preliminary organization have been done, and that awaits an energetic crew to complete.

At the heart of the Local History Project was an effort to collect local history by conducting oral history interviews.  At the same time, an ear was tilted towards the collection of folk history and tales through the interviewing process.  As the local and folk histories were being gathered during 1978-79 there was also an effort to share some of that information with the public.  This was accomplished through the publication of the “Kickapoo Pearls” newspaper-magazine.  The first issue of the “Kickapoo Pearls” was published in June 1979 and subsequent issues were released in July, August and September (the “Harvest Moon” edition) of that year.  Each publication of the “Kickapoo Pearls” had a printing of 2,500 copies and as the news and excitement about the publications spread, the tabloids soon were in short supply.  People were excited to learn about the lore and legend of the winding Kickapoo!

Kickapoo Oral Histories

I see that fellow Kickapoogian Josh has checked out this blog. Josh and Kelle are working on an oral history project based in Crawford County, Wisconsin. They are interviewing "back-to-landers", who came to the Kickapoo Valley in the 1970's. (Still referred to as "Hippies" by some locals.) For more information on that project, go to josh@backtothelanders.com. I have been involved with an oral history project that was run through my Local History class at La Farge High School back in 2000-01. It focused on interviews with people involved with the La Farge Dam Project and eventually led to the book, "The People Remember" published by the Friends of the Kickapoo Valley Reserve. Another great oral history was done in 1978-79 as part of the Kickapoo Valley Project. Over 150 people were interviewed Valley wide and part of their stories ended up in the "Kickapoo Pearls", a book on Kickapoo history, which was recently republished by the KVR Friends. Those interviews from that 1970's era project are being digitally reworked by the Wisconsin State Historical Society at this time. This past summer, Chuck Hatfield and I led a group of Wisconsin teachers in a class based at the Reserve called "Making It Home on the Kickapoo". That class, sponsored by the Wisconsin Humanities Council, focused on using oral histories in the classrooms in a variety of ways. That class will be repeated next summer, so we have quite a bit of activity here in the Kickapoo on telling our stories and getting them saved.