Southwest Wisconsin – Page 2 – Adventures in Driftlessness

“Indian Park” – Part II – The cholera burial ground

(Or, the part of the story that there’s absolutely no mystery about at all! Updated January 31, 2022)

by Terry Burns, Laurie Graney and Kristal Prohaska

In the first article in this series, we raised a series of questions about this small park in the center of Platteville, Wisconsin. We noted that through this one small space runs a plethora of historic mysteries, echoing against some of the most painful times in the city’s past: the removal of native peoples, the 1850s cholera epidemic, city founder (and slave owner) John Rountree’s control of the press, and the division of people in town into pro- and anti-slavery factions.

We asked whether the small mound in the center was a Native American burial mound and if there are other mounds there; who other than 1812 veteran Thomas Aiken is buried there (and how do we know he was buried there), what is known about the “mystery stone” on the north side of the park, and what is known about the large group of native people were who gathered in Indian Park a century ago for a three-day ceremony.

Platteville’s tiny Indian Park, bounded by North Court and 4th Streets between West Dewey and Lewis Streets, seems to have been intersected by most of the major traumas of 19th-century Platteville: the removal of Native Americans, the cholera epidemic, and the legacy of the Civil War.

To answer these questions, we’ll need to also circle back through local history through several lenses. In this part of the series, we’ll look at the things we know are certain, and proceed from that to what is probable.

The first line we’ll follow is the story of War of 1812 veteran Thomas Aiken and other cholera victims. We’ll be looking at what has happened that can be locally or nationally documented. We’ll be dealing with recorded history.

The role of two 1800s epidemics (smallpox and cholera) play main roles in this story. The first World War and a third epidemic (Spanish flu) may explain why no one was much paying attention to “Indian Park” when the state, then the city, ordered bodies to be removed from the ground there in 1917 and 1918. We know for certain some of those bodies were never removed; in fact, at least one family, that of William Aiken, was prevented from removing them.

Perhaps those not directly involved were understandably focused on the draft for the Great War: stories of it dominated the Platteville Journal from March 1917 until local soldiers returned. The draft age for “young men” was about to be increased to 40 years of age just before the war ended. As soldiers returned, the “Spanish flu” broke out, and remained through 1919. One can imagine that there was little interest in digging up victims of one epidemic during another.

Let’s begin with names for the park, then move on to one family’s story.

Since the time white settlers first arrived in Plattevile, “Indian Park” has been known by various names (for a more exact reference of who called it what, and when, please see the History of Indian Park page.)

Presbyterian/Congregationalist burying ground (1847)
Hill Cemetery (1853), Hill Graveyard (1854)
Cemetery (1861)
Lots 9, 10, 19 & 20 of Covell’s Addition (1869, 1895)
— same, plus “Cemetery” (1898)
— same, plus “Presbyterian burying ground” (1901)
Public property” (1904)
“Indian Park” (from at least 1912 and multiple times since)
Cemetery Park (1918)
Rountree Park (1918)
“North Park” (1929 and multiple times through 1961)
“Children’s Park” (1938)
“Fourth Street Park (also known as North Park and Indian Park)” (1959)
“Indian Park” (current name)

Few if any current residents seem to remember any name but “Indian Park.” Long-time resident Thomas Boll told us that he and his family could not remember any name since Indian Park used since the 1940s. James Boll, who grew up next to the park, also could recall no other name. The sign says “Indian Park, Est. 1917,” though this date relates to when it became a park, not to the specific name (which by the next year, 1918, would briefly be “Cemetery Park” then “Rountree Park.”) In 1917, the state legislature under Chapter 307 granted the City of Platteville the right to “take care of the grounds therein.” From this point on, “the use of said lands for interment shall be prohibited and the title thereto shall be vested in the said city of Platteville.”

Popular books on the area invariably refer to it as a place that was once a cemetery and which still contains burials. Two such books are shown below.

Walking Tours of Wisconsin's Historic Towns — Walking Tours of Wisconsin’s Historic Towns (1998) describes the park as an “unmarked cemetery in which cholera victims were buried” (p. 72).

Two Tours of Historic Platteville, Betty Burgett’s 1986 compilation of two Eagle Scout projects one completed by James Burgett (1976) and the other by David Burgett (1984) says that this “block of land has been left unmarred by the advances of civilization because the graves must not be moved due to the fact that the victims died of cholera” (p. 7). It also mentions the marker of 1812 veteran Thomas Aiken.

Many accounts exist of the cholera epidemic that raged in Wisconsin from 1849 through 1855, and peaked in 1850.¹ Yet it seems hard to find any obituaries or church sexton records. Why? And if those records don’t exist, how do we know there were cholera burials?

The reason why there aren’t obituaries is fairly simple. The only paper in town, the Independent American started by city founder John Rountree, stopped publication during the epidemic’s peak years of 1850 and 1851.

City founder John H. Rountree encouraged settlers to “explore this section of Country;” that is, to come to Platteville. Here’s an ad he placed in a Galena advertising bulletin in 1835. As has become more common knowledge in recent times, Rountree and some other early settlers also brought slaves into Platteville, then part of the free Michigan Territory. This ad appeared as the frontispiece in Gardner, Douglas and Greens 1922 “Early Days in Platteville,” as noted below.

One may speculate why: Rountree had previously advertised in places like Galena for settlers to come to Platteville, and perhaps it was not easy to recruit people to town during an epidemic! From a practical perspective, it may also be that the manpower necessary for printing a paper was considered an unneeded luxury at that time.

What about the lack of church records? That brings us to a point we’ll explore in greater detail below: the Presbyterian church in town, associated with the fledgling Platteville Academy, had in the mid-1840s begun the unusual step of changing its governance structure. Here we see the first submerged hint of the slavery/anti-slavery factions in Platteville. The Presbyterian church nationally had taken a strong anti-slavery stance as early as 1818; city founder Rountree (and some others in town) owned slaves through the 1840s. Yet at least two other homes in Platteville or the vicinity were stops on the underground railroad, ways that sympathetic northern whites helped escaped slaves to freedom in Canada. There were also at least two free Black families in Platteville, and many more in the Pleasant Ridge community in Lancaster. Perhaps the anti-slavery/pro-slavery drama of early Grant county should be an article or book of its own, and indeed material on this subject is now available in ways it was not even a generation ago.² But let’s return to that major conflict after we follow the story of the one veteran we know is buried in the park, Thomas Aiken.

Four-year-old Mary Andrews, sister Elizabeth and mother Mary all died of cholera in September, 1850.

Miner Thomas Sprague, infant John Sprague, and seven-year-old Julia Sprague all died of cholera in June 1850.

How do we know the name of not just Aiken, but other cholera victims? First and most logically, their families knew their loved ones had died, and many of those families left written histories. In three cases, the stories are mentioned on ancestry.com or find-a-grave.com. Secondly, 1850 was a census year, and along with the census, there was, for deaths that took place during six months of 1850, the U.S. Federal Census Mortality Schedule. The church of Latter-Day Saints has digitized these records; they’re now widely available on places like ancestry.com. In this database, once can find the names of many but not all of those who died.³ Some families, like the Sprague family and the Andrews family, lost multiple members. Not all of those who died are listed: for example, Thomas Aiken and his son William’s fiance Eleanor Donelson are not. Why? Because they were still alive when the 1850 census was taken but died later on.

Remember that 1812 veteran Aiken’s marker is the one legible marker left in the park. Yet the marker is clearly not from 1850. How did it get there? That itself is an interesting story.

Thomas Aiken's headstone — Thomas Aiken’s headstone. Google maps street-view, photo courtesy of Jessie Brogley.

In 1917, when the state then later the city ordered all bodies in the park be removed, Thomas P. Aiken’s son William Aiken was still alive. He had two headstones carved, one for his father and the other for his one-time fiance, Eleanor Donelson, who had also died of the epidemic. (Years after his fiancee’s death, William Aiken married a young Swiss woman named Brugger, and many Bruggers still reside in Platteville today.) William Aiken endeavored to move his father and Eleanor Donelson to Hillside cemetery. But then he had to stop. He was told they couldn’t be moved.

Why? Because they were cholera victims, and no one knew then if exhuming the bodies would again spread the disease. There might have been a city order to remove the bodies, but not only did many people not follow it: some, like Aiken, were prevented from following it.

Let’s fast forward to 1975.

A copy of Laura Graney’s typed letter to the the Platteville Journal. A picture of the headstone William Aiken had made for his father is attached to the upper-right.

That year, William Aiken’s granddaughter Laura Graney (mother-in-law to Laurie Graney, one of the authors of this piece) saw an article in the local Platteville Journal‘s folklore column that stated many people believed there was an “Indian” buried in the middle of the park. The article also stated that “all bodies, with the exception of the Indian, were moved.” As she said, “This is not true.”

She told the story we’ve presented in abbreviated form above. To the letter, she attached a picture of the headstone that her grandfather was unable to use for his father. That stone, and the one for Eleanor Donelson, still exist on the Aiken-Graney farm, because the Graneys were never able to exhume the bodies and move them to the proposed new location. The Platteville Journal printed the letter on April 8, 1975.

The article as printed in the April 8, 1975 Platteville Journal

We owe a lot to Laura Graney and the Leo M. Kane American Legion Post #42 for what followed.

In the spirit of the U.S. Bicentennial in 1976 and with the help of Mrs. Graney and her record-keeping, Leo Kane American Legion Post #42 was able to obtain and put in an official veteran’s headstone for Thomas P. Aiken.

That’s the stone you see in the park today. The Platteville Journal article about this dedication appears below.

Platteville Journal dedication article — A July 1976 Platteville Journal article covered the dedication ceremony for THomas P. Aiken’s tombstone in Indian Park

Since that time, other articles have appeared about Aiken, such as this May 23, 2018 article by UW-Platteville archivist James Hibbard

Now that we know something about the group we know is buried in Indian Park, let’s consider another group of settlers who might be buried there: smallpox victims.

In 1835, surveying was begun to plot out the first lots and sections of the city of Platteville. Known as the “Original Plan of the Village of Platteville,” this survey was expanded the following year to include 28 more lots, including the park/cemetery. Maj. Rountree advertised in Galena papers for people to move to Platteville.

In 1837, Thomas P. Aiken was among those who arrived, traveling with his family and the Donelson family up from Illinois. In 1839, he and his family settled at the current location of the Aiken-Graney farm. That same year, the Platteville Academy (which would become the State Normal College then merge with the Mining school to become UW-Platteville) was founded. It was closely associated with the anti-slavery Presbyterian church. In fact, until 1853, the church and the Academy met in the same building. Presbyterian Rev. John Lewis and his wife Electa Lewis taught there, along with the first principle, Josiah Pickard.

But in 1843, disaster struck. Smallpox raged in Platteville from December 1843 to February 1844. The population was around 500, and 226 got smallpox, according to a Presbyterian Missionary report probably written by Alvin Dixon and extensively quoted in “Early Days in Platteville” (p. 14).⁴ There is no record of where those who died were buried, but as late as 1854 there were only two graveyards in the city, one being “Hill Graveyard,” now known as “Indian Park.” It seems logical that those who died of cholera only a few years later might be buried the same place as smallpox burials from less than a decade before. But there’s no record of this that we can find.

Similarly, there the stone we’ve come to call the “mystery stone,” located on the northern side of the park near 4th street.

What does it say? How old is it? No one we know–and two of us are life-long area residents as are our parents–has ever deciphered it.⁵ Looking closely, we have tried every name possible. Is this “Montgomery” misspelled? Are the letters above the main name Latin, or Roman numerals? We agree with Rollo Jamison Museum Director Erik Flesch, who reads the final letters as –MEEV. Is this, as he has suggested, an Eastern European, perhaps Bulgarian or Hungarian, last name, and the people or persons buried separately because of the early prejudice against Eastern Europeans? We don’t know. None of the names we could tentatively suggest match burial records or other death records… though of course, the further back in time one goes, the more likely it is for a death to be undocumented. Could this be a smallpox burial? A Menomonie name (since they tend to be very long single words, like this one)? Again, we don’t know.

That the burial stone has Roman letters at the least suggests contact with European or British Isles settlers, trappers or traders, but that could be before the town existed. This stone could be much older than the other burials in the park, as there were non-natives passing through the area long before Platteville existed. If it were the stone of someone who died and whose family or fellow trappers or traders had to continue on, it might be similar to the stone described to the left, placed alongside the Oregon Trail over the body of Plattevillian John Holman, who followed the gold rush to California along with Lewis & Clark Expedition old-timer Alexander Hamilton Willard and his family. Holman died and was placed under a large stone, perhaps like our “mystery stone,” to keep his body from being eaten by varmints.

Lancaster news article — This *Lancaster Teller* article from the early 190os reported “almost thirty bodies” buried in the land now called “Indian Park.” It also alludes to some of the other legal battles that have swirled around this small parcel of land.

So, what do we have so far? We know that the area called Indian Park was a cholera burial ground and still contains many unmarked graves. It contains a headstone that may be older that those burials, but we don’t know what that stone says. We know the terrain of the park once looked much different–a hilly area called Hill Graveyard that once contained many nearby springs.

How did this area turn into a city park? We’ve alluded to struggles between different slavery and anti-slavery factions and a plethora of deed changes and name changes. Its time to look at some of those changes and how they connect to regional history.

In the Fall of 1847 Reverend John Lewis and his family arrived in Platteville from nearby New Diggings. Rev. Lewis and Josiah Pickard are known today for their efforts in helping John Rountree found the Academy, which was the early start of the UW-Platteville. Lewis was installed as pastor of the Presbyterian Church; Pickard was the Academy’s first Principle.

On February 22, 1848, John Rountree deeded land to the Presbyterian Church to be used as a burying ground. It was to be “free to all persons to use and occupy for the purpose of interring the dead without tax assessment or charge.” Today, this parcel of land is known as Indian Park, but at that time, it became known as Hill Cemetery or Hill Graveyard (as reported in two articles, one in 1853 and the other in 1854, in the only paper in town, the Independent American, owned by John Rountree.)

Then something strange happened: the Presbyterian church that Lewis ministered at switched denominations. Lewis continued to preach there, but it was suddenly Congregationalist and he was Presbyterian.

Its easier to start a new church or to become an independent church than to shift from one protestant denomination to another. But on February 6, 1849 the Wisconsin State Legislature passed an act under Chapter 25 that authorized the Presbyterian Church in Platteville, Grant County, to change its name and form of government.⁶ The church it became, the Congregationalist Church in Platteville, has since been designated a national historic landmark, and this is an important albeit little explored part of their history.

The same year, 1849, the Presbyterian Church property was deeded to the Congregational Church for the sum of $1. The deed specifically mentions the special act of the Wisconsin State Legislature mentioned above, as well as that included with this property is a “certain one acre lot” that is “described and used as a burying ground.”⁷

How the switch and the underlying tensions between Rountree’s generosity in donating land, on the one hand, and his clear sympathies (as a slave-owner then former slave-owner) with the south as the United States moves towards the Civil War, on the other, is a topic much deserving of further exploration. Similarly, how this affects Platteville Academy, which continues to be run by those opposed to slavery connected to the Presbyterian church even as that church which it shares a building with becomes the Congregationalist church, also deserves further study. By 1853, the Academy moved to a new location, the one known today as Rountree Hall Apartments.

Platteville Academy as it appeared until 1853: A large wood framed building on Lewis Street about a block away from “Hill Cemetery.”

Platteville Academy as it appeared until 1866, at its new location. Today this is Rountree Apartments, and a historical marker in front tells its history.

The Academy’s first principle. Yes, if you are part of the UW-Platteville community, this is who Pickard Hall is named for.

The tensions over slavery in Platteville of course affected the academy, and even caused one prospective student, a “colored girl” named Ellen Woodell, to not matriculate. This incident is also much deserving of future study. At least one recent book, Slaving Zones (mentioned in note 2 below), says Woodell instead attended Rockford Seminary in Illinois, yet no record of her attendance exists at that seminary, based on the research of Laurie Graney.

At the time I entered Platteville Academy there were a number of boys and young men from Southern slave- holding families enrolled as students. They were among the popular and influential students. In course of time a refined colored girl came to town with a prominent white family and was entered as a student of the Academy. There were threats on the part of the Southern students of leaving school if that colored girl were allowed to remain. The matter was taken up by the trustees of the Academy, who decided the girl must he dismissed. Mr. Pickard, being ill at the time, gave notice to the trustees that when the colored girl was sent away they would receive his resignation as principal of the Academy
Maria Greene Douglas, “Early Days in Platteville,” Wisconsin Magazine of History Vol. 6 p. 59.

Against this backdrop, and still reeling from a smallpox epidemic, the cholera epidemic hit Platteville. The city only had two cemeteries. It’s a safe bet that those who died of cholera were all buried the same place, regardless of their view on slavery or their religious denomination. People were frightened of this highly contagious disease. Larry Butson still tells the story of a man who lived outside of town near his farm, also the farm of his ancestors: when the man died of cholera, he was left in his cabin and the cabin was burned to the ground. So frightened were people of contracting the deadly disease that they were not willing to remove the body of someone who had died of it.

The last cholera burial we have been able to find is that of Enoch Sanford, buried in the Presbyterian (Congregational) burying ground in 1855. That same year, on August 17, a warranty deed was recorded between John and Lydia Rountree and John Lewis. This warranty deed was for 21 acres that surround the area of Indian Park. A mortgage is also recorded on this date; you can find a transcription of the entire document on our admittedly dry “History of Indian Park” page right under the table that lists different names for the park and who called it what, and when. Notice that when Lewis buys this land from Rountree the one acre containing the cemetery is excluded.

It would appear that these actions concern both the denominational change of the Presbyterian church to a Congregationalist church and the 1853 change of location of Platteville Academy. It also seems that from then until Rev. Lewis’s untimely death, legal issues between the man known as “Saint John” and city founder Rountree keep shifting. Why they exist we can only speculate upon, but there’s no doubt that the legal issues between these two men, both men deeply intertwined with the city’s religious, educational and civic history, live on and have had the intentional or unintentional effect of hiding “Indian Park’s” past as a cholera burial ground and perhaps (as we’ll discuss in our final article) as a native burial ground and/or mound complex.

In 1855, the county surveyor certified that he had laid out lots in the Town of Platteville for John Lewis, E. W. Covell and John Rountree. The next year, for unclear reasons, Rountree released Lewis from the mortgage on the 21 acres surrounding Hill Cemetery (Indian Park.) Then in 1858, a warranty deed between Rountree and Lewis appeared. This deed is especially strange since it is not recorded until 1873, 13 years after Rev. Lewis died.

Rev. Lewis’ marker in Greenwood Cemetery

Rev. John Lewis died of tuberculosis on September 2, 1860, at the age of 43. Presbyterian records note that he was laid to rest on an afternoon of “autumnal splendor,” and that the entire Academy followed his casket to the cemetery. While records state that he is buried at “Hillside cemetery,” that may be an error, since that cemetery is quite a way for pallbearers to carry a casket. More likely, the procession just walked down what is now Lewis Street for a couple of blocks to Hill Cemetery. (Lewis’s headstone is in Greenwood Cemetery, which didn’t exist at the time. We speculate that the headstone was moved from Hill Cemetery to Greenwood Cemetery in 1918 when some bodies, or at the least some headstones, were removed to another location.)

After Lewis died, his wife became heir to his estate. While she moved to Chicago, she continued life-long friendships with people in Platteville, according to Josiah Pickard as quoted in her lengthy June 7, 1911 front page Platteville Journal obituary.

From 1860 and through 1904, numerous irregular events appear on the tax rolls concerning Indian Park. For instance, in 1868, 1869 Eliphalet and Rebecca Covell and Electa Lewis sign a quit claim deed for Lots 9, 10, 19 & 20 of Covell’s Addition (Indian Park) to John Rountree for $50… even though none of them have ever owned the property. (Lewis owned the 21 acres around the cemetery but not the cemetery itself, which had been a gift from Rountree to the city.)

After John Rountree died, his heirs (in 1898) attempted to sue the Presbyterian Synod to eject them from the ground and to terminate the land’s use as a cemetery… but note that Chapter 25 of the 1849 Wisconsin State Legislature says the Congregational Church is now the successor in law of the Presbyterian Church and has been sold the cemetery as well as other church property. The Congregational Church had never (and still has never) sold the land.

Court documents show that the court found that the Rountree heirs were entitled to possession of 41’ 6” on the south side of lots 10 and 19, but “the balance of lots 10, 19, 9 and 20 [of Covell’s Addition, or “Indian Park”] are for cemetery purposes.” Why this tiny strip of land was shaved off of the lot remains another mystery.

Eventually E.B. Rice, in 1901, put a lien on the property, for for compensation of materials, labor and attorney fees, (caring, upkeep and maintenance), of the “Presbyterian burying ground.” Rice, who lived right next to the cemetery in Lot 8 of Covell’s Addition, got the land and sold it to a man named Barrett; Barrett paid no taxes in 1901 or 1902 because the land was a “graveyard” . . . although taxes were earlier, and irregularly, paid on the land when they should not have been. ⁸

Then suddenly, and for no reason we can determine, the 1904 tax roll record indicates that “Indian Park” is “public property.”

For just over fifteen years, nothing happened. Then on May 29, 1917, the state legislature passed an act to “vacate” the cemetery. One can’t help but wonder why the state has even taken notice of this small piece of land. But for some reason, they have. The city is given six months from the passage of the act to “remove all remains” to suitable lots in Greenwood Cemetery. “Thereafter,” the act declares, “the use of said lands for interment shall be prohibited and the title thereto shall be vested in the said City of Platteville.”

One can’t say the City jumped right into action. It took them over ten months to do anything at all… no doubt because at the same time, the draft of young men called up for World War I was increasing and attention was focused there. Platteville City Council meeting minutes show that the council did not vote to remove the remains from the cemetery until April 3, 1918.

A 1918 map of part of Platteville. “Indian Park” was then briefly called “Cemetery Park,” and appears in Covell’s Addition just north of Lewis Street

Once this task was completed (and it clearly never was), the city council authorized and empowered the “Rountree Park Committee” to level the surface to the ground. (Apparently the name “Cemetery Park” was not a big hit, so it briefly became “Rountree Park.”)

Laurie Graney continued to read through the Platteville City Council meeting minutes for over two years from this date, and did not observe where the Rountree Park Committee reported back to the council that their task had been completed. Because of this, its not clear whether the park was leveled or not. It is clear, however, that during the preceding 90 years, someone and likely many people at different times had changed the topography of both the park and much of old Platteville. Not only is the area once called “Hill Graveyard” no longer hilly, but it no longer has springs. Elsewhere we’ve referred to a wonderful description penned by J. H. Evans in 1917, “Platteville Ninety Years Ago, as the Site Appeared to our Pioneers / Also Some Account of the Abundance of Water that Greeted Early Settlers.” Here’s how Evans described the part of land around “Indian Park”:

West of the city along the marshy ravine which headed near the present Fourth street there were many springs. First in order was the Hardnocks, then came the Doesher spring which afforded water for the cows in pastures as late as ten years ago. On the Grindell property, a spring for a time furnished water for the manufacture of brick. Further west on the H.S. Rountree lot there was a spring with a large flow furnishing abundant water for stock. Near this spring the village boys of 60 years ago (screened by abundant timber) had built a dam to impound water for a ‘swimming hole.’ For a few seasons this afforded the kids a fine bathing pool. Just on the south of Adams street, on a lot now owned by the E. H. Doescher estate, there was a spring notable in early times as a camping place of emigrants and gypsies. Further down the ravine there were springs on the Shepherd lot, the Oudyn lot, the Charles Nye lot, the Homer Perry lot, and the Carsten lot. Doubtless there were others. Some may yet continue to flow, but most of them have been drained by the shafts sunk for mining.
J.H. Evans, in the January 31, 1917 Platteville Journal

What a beautiful place that part of town must have been! The profusion of springs also starts to suggest an answer to our final mystery: whether there is an “Indian” buried in the middle of “Indian Park,” and/or whether the small rise left in the center is a Native American conical mound. That will be the subject of our final article.

If you have read this far and wonder why we have spent so much time on a small parcel of land, we’ll tell you. We want the history of this place to be recorded and remembered.

The City of Platteville’s interest in this park is seems to be periodic. Every few decades the city shows interest in re-purposing Indian Park. Along with the instances we’ve discussed above is another in the late 1950s, when the City Council explored the idea of selling off Indian Park as four buildable lots. (Attorney Block advised against this, presumably because bodies are literally still buried there, and that letter is still on file with the legal firm.)

Recently there has been talk of re-purposing it again. Why not re-purpose it to remind people here of all the historic currents running through one small piece of land?

Perhaps it is time to get the history of Indian Park carved in stone and shown its proper respect. Think of what a wonderful teaching tool it could be!

Notes

¹One that is easily accessible is Peter T. Harstad’s “Disease and Sickness on the Wisconsin Frontier: Cholera” (1960), available on JSTOR at https://www.jstor.org/stable/4633516

Book: Slaving Zones — Slave-owning in northern states is no longer the secret it once was. *Slaving Zones* is one of several recent works to address this issue.

²Along with references to Platteville in recent books such as Slaving Zones (pp. 288, 298, 306), UW-Platteville archivist James Hibbard has recently given the first of three presentations at the Rollo Jamison Museum in Platteville about slavery in the city. In 2019, students at UW-Platteville worked with historian Eugene Tesdahl to repair the headstone of Rachel, one of John Rountree’s slaves. Slavery was illegal in Wisconsin and as archivist Hibbard reported, local pressure eventual resulted in Rountree and some but not all of the Platteville slave-owners freeing their slaves, even though strong pro-slavery sentiment remained.

³For the many examples we gave in our presentation of those listed as having died of cholera, please see our History of Indian Park page. These names all were all entries in the Federal Census Mortality Schedules Index, 1850-1880 [database on-line] as transcribed by the Church of Latter-Day Saints church and made available on Ancestry.com. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 1999.

⁴“Early Days in Platteville,” by D.J. Gardner, Truman Douglas, and Maria Greene Douglas originally appeared in the WIsconsin Magazine of History Vol. VI No. 1, September 1922. It is reprinted in its entirety here: https://archive.org/details/earlydaysinplatt00gard/page/12/mode/2up

⁵The one exception we’ll talk about in our next article, but in case you can’t wait: a piece in the December 12, 1962 Wisconsin Capital-Times quoted long-time resident Harley Ritter who thought it said “Stephens.” We have never known Mr. Ritter, do not know where he came by this information, and cannot see that name on the sign. However, we will consider the reporting in this article–both what it says about this stone and about repeated Native American gatherings in the park–in our final article.

⁶February 6, 1849 the Wisconsin State Legislature passes an act, Chapter 25, that authorizes the Presbyterian Church in Platteville, Grant County, to change its name and form of government.

“Section 1. That it shall and may be lawful for the members of the Presbyterian Church in the town of Platteville, in Grant County, to change their name and form of government to that of a Congregational Church.

“Section 2. That the trustees of the aforesaid Presbyterian Church be and they are hereby empowered to sell, lease, or otherwise dispose of the property belonging to said church, and to make, execute, and deliver to the trustees of the Congregational Church, when duly chosen, deeds therefore, under their hands and seals: Provided, that a majority of the members of the said Presbyterian Church concur in such transfer by their votes cast at a meeting called for the purpose, of which public notice shall be given from the pulpit, at least two Sabbaths next preceding the time of holding such a meeting.

“Section 3. That the said Congregational Church, when formed as hereinbefore provided, shall be the successor in law to the said Presbyterian Church, and when the same shall have been duly organized as a Congregational Church, under an act of the legislature of the Territory of Wisconsin, approved February 8^th, 1847, entitled “an act to provide for the incorporation of the Protestant Episcopal Church and other religious societies in the Territory of Wisconsin,” then the property both real and personal, owned by said Presbyterian Church, shall by virtue of proper deeds of conveyance, made as hereinbefore provided, vest in the Congregational Church, so organized as aforesaid: Provided, that nothing herein contained shall be so construed as to give the trustees of the Presbyterian Church the power to sell or convey the Platteville Academy.

^{7, 8}For a list of all the deed changes which follow, see Laurie Graney’s “What I Know About Indian Park as of April 2020.” After her timeline, she has a list of tax rolls and a transcription of one of the most important deeds.

By the way, if you’d rather see this as a video, the authors did present on this at the Platteville Senior Center. That presentation is on Youtube in three parts, beginning here. The follow-up presentation, called “The Mysteries of Indian Park, Revealed,” was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and did not occur until September 10, 2020. That second presentation begins here.

What I Know About Indian Park as of March 2020

by Laurie Graney

[Introduction added February 2021]

The following contains a summary of my research into Indian Park compiled over many years time. It was the basis of the presentation by Terry Burns, Kristal Prohaska and myself on the Mysteries of Indian Park. Many of the newspaper clippings and other family information saved over the years by my mother-in-law, Laura Graney, are also included in the article, especially in Part II.

For a reference page listing non-primary resources, please see the final article in the series by Terry Burns, Kristal Prohaska, and myself.

The research here was the basis for the research we did from 2021-2022 to learn more about the park’s history.

1837 – 1839 – Thomas Paine Aiken, (buried in Indian Park), and his family arrive in the Platteville area in 1837, and they live with Thomas and Laura Donelson. Laura Donelson is Thomas Aiken’s sister. In 1839, Thomas Aiken purchases a farm homestead consisting of 80 acres in Section 2 of Platteville Township. Descendants of Thomas Aiken have lived in the Platteville area ever since. Upon Thomas Aiken’s death, his son, William Aiken, purchases the Aiken family farm homestead. Upon the death of William, the farm was then purchased by William’s son, Leslie Aiken. Leslie Aiken had one child, a daughter by the name of Laura. Laura and her mother, Sarah Aiken, were teachers by profession, and they were very well respected in the Platteville community. Sarah taught at country schools in the area for many years. Laura taught at many country schools in the area, as well as the Platteville public schools. Laura married Wilburn Graney in 1940. Upon Laura’s death in 2006, part of the family farm homestead was inherited by Richard (Dick) Graney. It should be noted that there are other Aiken family members still living in the Platteville area today. The Aiken family farm homestead is now 181 years old.
1847 – In the Fall of 1847 Reverend John Lewis and his family arrive in Platteville from New Diggings. Rev. Lewis and Josiah Pickard are known for their efforts in helping to found the Academy, which was the early start of the UW-Platteville.
1848 – Rev. Lewis is installed as pastor of the Presbyterian Church.
1848 – On February 22, 1848 – John Rountree deeds land to the Presbyterian Church to be used as a burying ground for the interment of the dead. It is to be free to all persons to use and occupy for the purpose of interring the dead without tax assessment or charge. Today, this parcel of land is known as Indian Park. This deed states that the land is to be used “for and in consideration of their respect for the Christian burial of the dead”. The deed says the land is to “forever remain a cemetery”, and that it is “not to be used for any other purpose whatsoever”.
1849 – On February 6, 1849 the Wisconsin State Legislature passes an act, Chapter 25, that authorizes the Presbyterian Church in Platteville, Grant County, to change its name and form of government.
- Section 1. That it shall and may be lawful for the members of the Presbyterian Church in the town of Platteville, in Grant County, to change their name and form of government to that of a Congregational Church.
- Section 2. That the trustees of the aforesaid Presbyterian Church be and they are hereby empowered to sell, lease, or otherwise dispose of the property belonging to said church, and to make, execute, and deliver to the trustees of the Congregational Church, when duly chosen, deeds therefore, under their hands and seals: Provided, that a majority of the members of the said Presbyterian Church concur in such transfer by their votes cast at a meeting called for the purpose, of which public notice shall be given from the pulpit, at least two Sabbaths next preceding the time of holding such a meeting.
- Section 3. That the said Congregational Church, when formed as hereinbefore provided, shall be the successor in law to the said Presbyterian Church, and when the same shall have been duly organized as a Congregational Church, under an act of the legislature of the Territory of Wisconsin, approved February 8^th, 1847, entitled “an act to provide for the incorporation of the Protestant Episcopal Church and other religious societies in the Territory of Wisconsin,” then the property both real and personal, owned by said Presbyterian Church, shall by virtue of proper deeds of conveyance, made as hereinbefore provided, vest in the Congregational Church, so organized as aforesaid: Provided, that nothing herein contained shall be so construed as to give the trustees of the Presbyterian Church the power to sell or convey the Platteville Academy.
1849 – On July 9, 1849, a deed is recorded in Grant County. This deed deeds the Presbyterian Church property to the Congregational Church for the sum of $1. This deed mentions the “special act” that was passed by the Wisconsin State Legislature, which was approved on February 6, 1849. This deed specifically states that included with this property is a “certain one acre lot” that is “described and used as a burying ground”.
1850 – On August 27, 1850, Thomas Paine Aiken and Eleanor Donelson die from cholera. Aiken and Donelson are buried in the Presbyterian (Congregational) burying ground.
1855 – Enoch Sanford dies of cholera and is buried in the Presbyterian (Congregational) burying ground. Sanford’s will is on the Ancestry website.
1855 – On August 17, 1855 a warranty deed is recorded between John and Lydia Rountree and John Lewis. This warranty deed is for 21 acres that surround the area of Indian Park. A mortgage is also recorded on this date.
1855 – The county surveyor certifies that he has laid out lots in the Town of Platteville for John Lewis, E. W. Covell and John Rountree.
1856 – A release of mortgage is recorded for the 21 acres that John Lewis bought from John Rountree.
1858 – Warranty deed – John Lewis and Electa Lewis to E. W. Covell. It is interesting to note that this warranty deed was not recorded until May 14, 1875.
1860 – On September 2, 1860, John Lewis dies at the age of 43. Lewis was very much respected and loved in the Platteville community. People referred to him as “Saint John”. Lewis was laid to rest on an afternoon of “autumnal splendor”. The entire Academy followed his casket to the cemetery.
1860 – December 10, 1860 – A certificate of probate for John Lewis’ estate is recorded. Electa Lewis is named as heir to his estate.
1861 – November 6, 1861 – Tax Deed – Ownership of the cemetery goes to Grant County. (According to Register of Deeds Marilyn Pierce, this should not have happened as the parcel is a cemetery and cemeteries were not to be taxed.) (The tax amount of $2.71 was due from the year 1857.) W. R. Beach represented Grant County in the purchase of the cemetery. It should be noted that I have tied W. R. Beach to the 1850 Beetown cholera. There is an entry about the Beetown cholera in the 1900 Holford edition of the History of Grant County Wisconsin, which ties Beach to this event. (Is it coincidental that Beach would purchase a cemetery for the county with known cholera victims?)
1868 – On May 30, 1868 Grant County quit claim deeds the Presbyterian Burying Ground to John Rountree for $3.
1869 – On July 20, 1869 Eliphalet and Rebecca Covell and Electa Lewis quit claim deed Lots 9, 10, 19 & 20 of Covell’s Addition, (Indian Park), to John Rountree for $50. (It is unknown as to why Rountree did this, as the Covells and Electa Lewis did not own and had never owned these lots, and Rountree already had a quit claim deed recorded with Grant County. ???????????? Electa Lewis had long ago left Platteville and was living in Chicago at this time.)
1875 – tax roll records show that John Rountree has ownership of lots 9, 10, 19 & 20 of Covell’s Addition.
1890 – John Rountree dies on June 27, 1890.
1895 – July 25th, 1895 – Lydia Rountree, Jennie Rountree and John S. Rountree sell Lots 9, 10, 19 and 20 of Covell’s Addition and several other parcels to Robert Spear. (Robert Spear lived in Platteville, and he is listed as a “capitalist” on the 1900 census. I also located documentation indicating that he was on the Grant County Board of Supervisors in 1898. Robert Spear’s father was John Spear. John Spear was on the Platteville City Council in 1892. The 1920 census shows John Spear was a bank president. While internet surfing I later found info showing that a John Spear was the president of the State Bank in Platteville.
1898 – Rountree heirs attempt to sue the Presbyterian Synod to eject them from the ground and to terminate its use as a cemetery. (Note Chapter 25 of the 1849 Wisconsin State Legislature says the Congregational Church is now the successor in law of the Presbyterian Church.)
1898 – Court document showing that the Rountree heirs are entitled to possession of 41’ 6” on the south side of lots 10 and 19. The balance of lots 10, 19, 9 and 20 are for cemetery purposes.
1901 – January 15, 1901 – E. B. Rice has a lien recorded at Grant County for lots 9, 10, 19, & 20 of Covell’s Addition. (The word “affidavit” is written alongside this handwritten document.) The lien is for compensation of materials, labor and attorney fees, (caring, upkeep and maintenance), of the “Presbyterian burying ground”.
1901 – January 16, 1901 –A deed is recorded at Grant County, which transfers the ownership of Indian Park/Cemetery, Presbyterian burying ground, (except for a strip of land on the south side of lots 10 and 19), to O. W. Barrett. Barrett purchases the cemetery from E. B. Rice and Della E. Rice for $500.
1901 & 1902 – tax roll records show that O. W. Barrett is the owner, but no taxes were paid as the said property is a “cemetery” and “graveyard”.
1902 – June 9, 1902 – Survey is done for Lots 10 & 19.
1903 – tax roll record line is left blank.
1904 – tax roll record indicates that the property is now “public property”.
1917 – May 29, 1917 – The state legislature passes an act to “vacate” the cemetery. The city is given six months from the passage of the act to “remove all remains” to suitable lots in Greenwood Cemetery in the said City of Platteville. Thereafter, the use of said lands for interment shall be prohibited and the title thereto shall be vested in the said City of Platteville. (Platteville City Council meeting minutes show that the council did not vote to remove the remains from the cemetery until April 3, 1918. (The April 3, 1918 date is over 10 months from the passage of this act.) Once this task was completed, the city council authorized and empowered the Rountree Park Committee to level the surface to the ground, etc.. The remains of several individuals still remain in Indian Park, as these individuals died of cholera. At that point in time, it was believed, if the remains were “dug up” the dreaded disease could once again be spread.) I continued to read through the Platteville City Council meeting for over two years from this date, and I did not observe where the Rountree Park Committee reported back to the council that their task had been completed.
1917 – Sometime around this time the Aiken family ordered grave markers for Thomas Aiken and Eleanor Donelson to be placed at the “new” cemetery where their remains were to be moved. According to newspaper accounts and what my mother-in-law told to me, the Aiken family was prevented from moving these remains, as Thomas Aiken and Eleanor Donelson had died of cholera and there was fear of spreading the cholera once again. The grave markers were found on the family century farm several years back. Laura Graney told me that she and my father-in-law, Wilburn, had buried the grave markers. She also mentioned the approximate location of them. It is possible that we might be able to locate the grave markers. Copies of the grave markers photos have been sent to the Wisconsin State Historical Society.
1918 – March 8, 1918 – City Council votes to rename the cemetery “Rountree Park”.
1918 – April 3, 1918 – City Council votes to remove all bodies found in Rountree Park and to rebury them in Greenwood Cemetery. Rountree Park Committee is then authorized and empowered to level the surface of the ground and to erect fences on the north and south sides of said park and that the expense, thereof, be borne by the city.
1919 – tax roll record line is left blank.
1920 & 1921 – tax roll records indicate “park lots 9 & 10”.
1929 & 1930 – tax roll records indicate “North Park” 9, 10, 19, 20.
1936 – tax roll record indicates “North Park” lots 9, 10, 19, 20.
1945 – tax roll record indicates “North Park”.
1951 – tax roll record indicates “North Park”.
1961 – tax roll record indicates “North Park”.
1962 – tax roll record indicates “City of Platteville”.
1959 – November 11, 1959 – Atty. Robert Block sends a letter to the city clerk that indicates the Council had authorized him to secure an abstract to the property known as “North Park”. The purpose of this was so that the city could possibly sell the property as building lots. Atty. Block states in his letter that the Grant County Abstract Company said that the abstract did not show title to any one person or group, and the property is in an uncertain state in that three different groups own some interest of record in the property. (See Attorney Block’s letter for specific details.)
1975 – April 1975 – Laura Graney writes a letter to the Platteville Journal. The letter talks about an error that had been made in the Platteville Folklore column of the paper. Her letter to the editor was then published in the April 8, 1975 edition of the Platteville Journal. Laura’s letter is in response to a Folklore Column that was published in the April 3, 1975 edition of the Platteville Journal. Of special note is the mention of one Indian Mound left in the cemetery.
1976 – April 13, 1976 – Platteville City Council approves permission for the Thomas Paine Aiken marker to be placed in Indian Park.
1985 – November 22, 1985 – City of Platteville registers the Application for and Approval of Lot Re-Division with the Grant County Register of Deeds, as the City wanted to “remove” the interior lot lines to create one lot, so that Indian Park would be only one parcel.
1986 – December 22, 1986. The City of Platteville completes an application, which is approved by Grant County, to remove the interior lot lines from Indian Park/Cemetery.

TAX ROLES

1895 John Rountree Est. 9, 10, 19 & 20.

1896 John Rountree Est. 9, 10, 19 & 20.

1897 John Rountree Est. 9, 10, 19 & 20.

1898 John Rountree Est. 9, 10, 19 & 20.

1899 John Rountree Est. 9, 10, 19 &20. (There is a note in the “by whom paid” column that says “Cemetery Illegal Account”.

1900 John Rountree Est. 9, 10, 19 & 20. (Note that indicates it is a “Cemetery”.

1901 Note that lines 3 and 4 indicate that O. W. Barrett and the John Rountree Est. are owners. 9, 10, 19 & 20….then there is a note saying 35 feet S. side Lots 10 & 19, Cemetery”. There is no tax information.

1902 O. W. Barrett is the owner listed. Lots 9, 10, 19 & 20 ex. 41 ½ ft. off S. side 19. “Graveyard”.

1903 Public Property Ex. 41 ½ ft. off S. side of 10, 19. Lots 9, 10, 19, 20. No tax information is listed.

1904 Public Property Ex. 41 ½ ft. off S. Side of 10, 19. Lots 9, 10, 19, 20. No tax information listed.

1905 Public Property Lots 9, 10, 19, 20. Ex. 41 ½ ft. off S. Side of 9, 10, 19, 20(??????) No tax information listed. Whatever information was written in the “By Whom Paid” column was erased.

1906 Public Property 9, 10, 19 and 20. Ex. 41 ½ ft. off S. side 10, 19.

1907 Public Property 9-10 and 19 and 20 ex 41 ½ ft. off S side of 10-19.

1908 Public Property 9-10-19 & 20 ex. 41 ½ ft. off S. side of 10-19.

1909 Public Property 9-10-19-20 ex. 41 ½ ft. off S. side of 10 & 19.

1910 Public Property 9-10-19-20 ex. 41 ½ ft. off S. side of 10 & 19.

1911 Unknown Owner 9-10-19-20 ex. 41 ½ ft. off S. side of 10 & 19.

1912 Unknown Owner 9-10-19-20 ex. 41 ½ ft. off S. side of 10 & 19.

1913 Unknown Owner 9-10-19-20 ex. 41 ½ ft. off S. side of 10 & 19.

1914 “Unnone” Owner 9-10-19 and 20 ex. 41 ½ ft. off S. side of 10 & 19.

1915 Unknown Owner 9-10-19 ex. 41 ½ ft. off S. side of 10 & 19. (Nothing about 20.)

1916 Unknown Owner 9 & 10-19 ex. 41 ½ ft. off S side of 10-19. (The number 20 is penciled in and a written note is made asking, “what about lot 20”.)

1917 Unknown Owner 9-10-19 ex 41 ½ ft. off S. side of 10-19-20. ( First mention of lot 20 not being a whole lot.)

1918 Unknown Owner 9-10-19 & 20 – ex. 4 ½ ft. off of S. side of 10 & 19.

1919 Unknown Owner 8, 10, 19 – ex. 4 ½ ft. off of S. side 10, 19. (No mention of 20.)

1920 Park lots 9, 10 less 4 ½ ft. of S. side of 10. (No mention of 19 & 20.)

1921 Park lots 9, 10 less 4 ½ ft. of S. side lot 10. (No mention of 19 & 20.)

1922 Park lots 9, 10 less 4 ½ ft. off S. side of 10. (No mention of 19 & 20.)

1923 Park lots 9 & 10 less 4 ½ ft. off S. side of 10. (No mention of 19 & 20.)

1924 City Park – 9, 10 less 4 ½ ft. of S. side of 10. (No mention of 19 & 20.)

1925 City Park – 9, 20 ex. 4 ½ ft. of S. side of 10. (No mention of 19.) *****

1926 City Park 9, 10 ex. 4 ½ ft. of S. side of 10. (No mention of 19 & 20.)

1927 City Park 9, 10 ex. 4 ½ ft. of S. side of 10. (No mention of 19 & 20.)

1928 City Park 9, 10 ex. 4 ½ ft. of S. side of 10. (No mention of 19 & 20.)

1929 North Park – City Park 9, 10 ex. 4 ½ ft. of S. side of 10. (No mention of 19 & 20.)

1930 North Park – City Park 9, 10 ex. 4 ½ ft. of S. side of 10. (No mention of 19 & 20.)

1931 North Park – lot 9 & S. 48 ½’ of 10 & lot 20 & S. 48 ½’ of lot 19.

1932 North Park – Lot 9T S. 48 ½’ of 10 & lot 20 & S. 48 ½’ of lot 19. (Sec. or Lot column indicates 9-10 19-20.)

1933-1954 North Park –

1955 (No Tax Role at Southwest Wisconsin Room)

1956–1959 North Park B –

1960 (No Tax Rolee at Southwest Wisconsin Room)

1961 City of Platteville / North Park

1962-1969 City of Platteville

1970 -1975 (No Tax Roles at Southwest Wisconsin Room)

1976 City of Platteville

1977-1981 (No Tax Roles at Southwest Wisconsin Room)

1982 City of Platteville – Lot 9; N 48 ½’ of Lot 10 N 48 ½’ of Lot 19; Lot 20

Tax rolls for Indian Park/Cemetery for the years 1848, 1849, 1850, 1857, 1858, 1859 and 1860. The 1849 Tax Roll indicates “Graveyard”. The 1850 Tax Roll indicates, “land in NW ¼ not included”. This is the Presbyterian burying ground. I was either unable to locate or there was nothing in the tax rolls for the Presbyterian burying ground for the tax roll years of 1851-1856. The tax rolls for 1857, 1858, 1859 and 1860 show the lot numbers, but does not show a taxed amount. The 1860 tax roll specifically says that the parcel is “exempt”.

SPECIAL NOTES OF INTEREST

1848 & 1849 Deeds – The trustees named on the 1848 Presbyterian Church deed are Josiah Pickard, Isaac Bancroft, Edward Estabrook, Joel Potter and J. W. Clark. Three of these individuals also appear on the 1849 Congregational Church deed as trustees for the Congregational Church…… Edward Estabrook, Joel Potter and J. W. Clarke. Thereby, these three individuals are now members of the Congregational Church.

Note: The E. B. Rice lien indicates that he was caring for the “Presbyterian burying ground” from May 1894 until 1901. Rice had purchased materials for repairs and fencing, and that he had “cared for said premises”. Also of special note…..the tax rolls show that Della Rice is the owner of Lot 8 of Covell’s Addition, and E. B. Rice is listed as the person paying the tax. Lot 8 is right next door to the cemetery……Lots 9, 10, 19 and 20 of Covell’s Addition. Therefore, it is very possible that E. B. Rice cared for the cemetery. The 1900 census shows that E. B. Rice’s occupation was that of a “dairyman”. Therefore it is likely that Rice did do fencing, repairs and other upkeep around the cemetery.

Note: E. B Rice and his wife, Della show up on a 1910 census, and they are living in Dubuque, Iowa. This census shows that E. B. is working for a nursery.

Note: Chapter 307 – Laws of 1917 – indicates lots 9, 10, 19 & 20 in Covell’s Addition for many years in the past and now being in ruinous and abandoned condition, and that no person or association had taken charge or care of the cemetery for the past 20 years. (This is not true, as E. B. Rice indicates in his lien that he had taken care of the cemetery until 1901. Also…..city records shows “clean up at the Old Cemetery”. It is unknown which old cemetery.)

Note: Congregational Church records indicate that Rev. John Lewis was buried at Hillside Cemetery. Lewis’ grave marker is not at Hillside Cemetery……it is at Greenwood Cemetery. An early newspaper article from 1854 calls the Presbyterian burying ground “Hill Grave Yard”. Is there confusion between the two cemeteries Hillside and Hill??? (Why was the cemetery called Hill Grave Yard? Is it because the cemetery was once a Hill, or could it possibly be because there were Indian mounds (hill(s)) in the cemetery???) City records indicate that John Lewis’ gravesite was not purchased until sometime in 1955. Was John Lewis actually buried in his own church’s cemetery? Note the possible confusion of Hill and Hillside cemeteries. It’s easy to move grave markers, but not so easy to move the remains.

Note: John Lewis’ wife, Electa Page Lewis dies, June 2, 1911, at the age of 94 in Baraboo. It was Electa’s wish to return to Platteville and to be buried next to John. Electa’s funeral service was held at the Congregational Church in Platteville.

Near John and Electa Lewis’ grave markers at Greenwood Cemetery are grave markers for Harlan Page (Electa’s brother), Fanny Lewis (John’s mother), Olive Lewis (John’s sister), and Henry McFall (Olive’s husband – Olive’s husband was a doctor). Harlan Page was once an editor for a Platteville newspaper. Harlan went on to bigger and better things….he became one of the editors for the Wisconsin State Journal. Harlan eventually had a stroke. Harlan lived in Baraboo at this time. Electa’s obituary says that she lived with Harlan for a time. I think that it is possible that she cared for Harlan after his stroke. Harlan’s wife was an accomplished opera singer. She traveled the country performing her talent. Harlan’s wife might have been supporting the family by doing so.

I have asked myself several times why Indian Park might have been called the Hill Graveyard in the 1850’s. This cemetery is not on a hill. In fact, the surrounding area can most definitely be described as being flat. Could their possibly have been someone by the last name of Hill that was buried in the cemetery, or could it be possible there were Indian burial mound(s) in the cemetery? As a child growing up in Platteville, I recall many people saying that the “hill” in Indian Park was, in fact, an Indian burial mound. I recall a teacher(s) in the 1960’s telling the students that this was an Indian burial mound and that we needed to respect it.

We have attempted to come up with pictures that were taken in and around Indian Park, but have been unsuccessful. When talking with other local citizens, we have been told they recall a wrought iron fence or some other type of fence that surrounded the Indian burial mound. When this fence was removed, it is not known.

It is a mystery to me how the Congregational Church lost ownership of the cemetery. I have yet to locate any documentation transferring the ownership of the cemetery from the Congregational Church to any other party or individual.

The Mysteries of Indian Park – Part I

by Terry Burns, Laurie Graney and Kristal Prohaska

[Note : we have added new information to this article as of January 31, 2022. That new information has been obtained as research performed as part of a Wisconsin Humanities Mini-Grant entitled “Unraveling the Mysteries of Indian Park and Developing a Vision for the Future.” We have also added a more formal separate page, “The History of Indian Park,” which includes references beyond what we refer to in this article.]

In the middle of Platteville, Wisconsin sits a small but comely green space called “Indian Park.” Unless you live nearby or have ancestors buried there, you may never have heard of it. But through this small space runs a plethora of historic mysteries, echoing against some of the most painful times in the city’s past: the removal of native peoples, the 1850s cholera epidemic, city founder (and slave owner) John Rountree’s control of the press, and the division of people in town into pro- and anti-slavery factions.

Some readers may have tripped over the line above, “unless you have ancestors buried there.” After all, this is a city park. City parks can’t be placed on top of old burial grounds, can they?

They aren’t supposed to be. That’s one of the mysteries we’ll run into over the course of this article. But there’s no question people— definitely early settlers and possibly Native Americans–are buried there. “Indian Park” is also a catalogued state cemetery.

Some wonder, for good reason, about the name. What connection does it have to the indigenous people of this area? Is that center area a burial, as some have said, or what’s left of a conical mound?

These are some of the questions about Indian Park we have explored. We’ll attempt to answer each of them before this article series finishes. Our story will also lead us through most of the great but often traumatic events of Platteville’s 19th and early 20th century history: smallpox and cholera epidemics, church schisms, a city founder who was a slave-owner in likely conflict with abolitionists and that conflict spilling over indirectly into this small parcel of land. One of those abolitionists, Josiah Pickard, was the first principal of the Platteville Academy, which after a series of mergers and name changes became what is now the University of Wisconsin–Platteville.

Let’s start with some of the most-often-asked questions, and then we’ll give you a timeline of the park/cemetery’s history.

What’s that in the center?

Many local residents remember being taken out to the park from O.E. Gray Elementary in the 1970s and being told that the sidewalk in the center was an “Indian Mound.” Was that true? Others were told that it contained a native burial.

The story is possible and plausible, but we don’t know if its true. That would require archaeological work that hasn’t been done, and invasive archaeological work is not usually permitted in cemeteries. However, there are many stories (ones we’ll get to later in this series of articles) of native gatherings in “Indian Park” as late as 1917.

What we can tell you is the reason why the story is plausible.

First of all, Southwest Wisconsin has the greatest concentration of Native American mounds in the country. Second of all, the “mound in the center” is in a likely location. It could plausibly be what’s called a conical mound.

Mound in Center — Is that circle in the center an Indian Mound? It originally rose at least two feet higher off of the ground. Some people who lived in Platteville in the late 1960s and early 1970s (including Kristal Prohaska, one of the authors of this article) remember that it was once surrounded with an iron fence. As we’ll see in part two of this series, the elevation of the park has steadily increased so that the “mound” now sits only slightly higher than the surrounding concrete.

But, as the Wisconsin Historical Society might also tell us, such a claim could only be verified by excavation or by burial records which (given that conical mounds were mainly created between 350-1300 A.D., well before the European conquest of the Americas) simply don’t exist in written format. Also, many conical mounds don’t contain burials. The main way that one might determine that a conical mound is there is through ground penetrating radar, and a study has never been done.

But is the “legend” itself likely? We will suggest that it has at least a grain of truth, and maybe more. The center of the park contains a rise that may be a conical mound, and apparently the park itself used to have more than one mound. It also used to be the highest ridge in a hilly, spring-filled area. (Here’s an old article about how Platteville looked in 1827 when white settlers arrived; it looked very different back then!)

The conical, linear, and effigy mounds in southwest Wisconsin were not made by any people who still exist, but by their ancestors. Contemporary Ho-Chunk people are among those who consider themselves descendants of these “mound builders” and are the best source of stories about their history. According to Ho-Chunk Tribal Historic Preservation Officer Bill Quackenbush, some conical mounds are burial mounds but some are not. Are there stories about this particular mound? Not that anyone is aware of, but the reason for that should be clear: the Ho-Chunk people were systematically displaced from all of their of our ancestral lands from the 1800s onward through various land cession treaties and then by forced removals to no less than four different reservation sites west of the Mississippi River. The Ho-Chunk in Wisconsin are here today because they literally bought some of their land back. Expecting a story about ancestors hundreds of years ago connected to the area of “Indian Park” is asking a bit much.

It’s plausible but not provable that the center of the park is a conical mound and plausible but not provable that is a native burial, and these are two separate issues.

But whether or not there were native people or at least one native person buried in the center of the park, its certain many early settlers were. For example, retired UW-Platteville mathematics professor Richard Graney’s great-great-grandfather Thomas Aiken is buried there, along with his son’s fiance Eleanor Donelson and other victims of the 1850 cholera epidemic. Perhaps victims of the earlier smallpox epidemic are also buried there. We will look at “Indian Park” as a cholera (and possibly smallpox) burial ground in our second article.

2. Who were the large group of native people who gathered in Indian Park a century ago for a three-day ceremony? Was this a gathering that happened more than once?

Several Platteville residents recall stories handed down by older relatives that tell of a large native gathering at the park around 1915-1917. The gathering, so the stories go, went on for three days and involved drumming late into the night. Then the native people, whomever they were, left and did not come back.

What tribal background were these people from, or were they from multiple tribes? Could the gathering have been a ceremony to say good-bye to departed loved ones, or would it have been for another reason? Do memories of this event also still exist in Wisconsin native communities (or has any non-native person ever asked native Wisconsin elders that question)? We will explore this in the third article in this series.

Father Mzzuchelli's map — An early 1800s map by Italian missionary Dominican priest Samuel Mazzuchelli, founder of the Sinsinawa Dominican Sisters. Public domain map from Father Mazzuchelli’s memoirs, p. 155, of his accounting of where different tribes in the Driftless Area lived.

3. Who else, other than 1812 veteran Thomas Aiken, is buried in the cemetery?

As mentioned, we know for certain that Thomas Aiken, an early Platteville settler and veteran of the War of 1812, is buried in the cemetery. His great-granddaughter Laura Graney, Richard Graney’s mother and the mother-in-law of Laurie Graney (one of the authors of this piece) had a headstone put there in his honor during the American Bicentennial in July, 1976. In fact, it was by comparing documented family history to other documents of the time period that Laurie Graney was able to piece together part of the history of Indian Park.

There’s also a second stone in the park, one no one so far has been able to read. When we look at the park as a cholera burial ground, we’ll explain why this stone is probably also a burial marker.

No doubt exists that Indian Park was once the cemetery for the German Presbyterian church (which, through a series of events to be discussed, became the Congregationalist church). An undated 19th century article (below) notes that at one time at there were “about 30 bodies” buried there. The park was at that time known as “Hill Cemetery or “Hill Graveyard.” It doesn’t look too hilly now, except perhaps for the low mound in the center. But as that article about how Platteville looked in 1827 when white settlers arrived explains, the area looked different then. It was a hilly ridge. Fill dirt and even old bricks have been added to the , and others may have been leveled. (See this timeline. In 1917, the city voted to level the park.) The part of the park nearest to 4th street appears to have been disturbed much less, while the area along North Court Street has definitely had fill dirt added.

Thomas Aiken and his son William Aiken’s fiancée, Eleanor Donelson both died from cholera. Others buried in the cemetery were victims of the 1849-1854 cholera epidemic, which peaked in 1850. Significant uncertainty exists about how many Platteville citizens died during the epidemic and who they were, because the only paper in town, the Independent American, shut down during this time so there are no obituaries. Sexton records of the church have not been located, perhaps because of some other unusual events happening at the time (we’ll get to those in part two). Local records shed little light on the subject, perhaps both because of the fear the disease engendered and the fact that Platteville’s mines needed workers. One might speculate that it would be difficult to recruit men to work in the mines if those men knew others in the area had died of cholera.

“Luckily,” though, 1850 was a U.S. Census year, so there is both a census list of those who lived here and a Federal Mortality Index of who died during part, but not all, of 1850. Thomas Aiken and Eleanor Donelson, both of whom are still buried there, are not listed in the mortality index; many others are listed in the mortality index but we don’t know where they are buried. Some families, like the Sprague and Andrews families, had multiple family members die of cholera in just a few short months.

4. If this is a cemetery, why and how did it become a park? (After researching this, we might add another question: Why is it so hard to trace how this property was bought and sold?)

John Hawkins Rountree, founder of Platteville and slave-owner. Public domain photo from *History of the First Methodist Church 1832-1945.*

Many “curiosities” seem to occur in the buying and selling of this property. Some of them may have concerned fear over cholera, a disease that terrified early settlers.

But its almost certain that some of the irregularities were the product of divisions between the anti-slavery and pro-slavery or “no opinion” churches. The views of city founder John Rountree, who owned slaves, were not those of all people in Platteville. While the city founder illegally owned slaves, there were others who were abolitionists including some who vehemently preached against it and who operated safe houses (at least two of them) on the “Underground Railroad.”

One who likely disagreed was the founder of the Platteville Academy, Reverend John Lewis, who was so beloved by his parishioners that some even called him “Saint John.” One of his friends, Alvin McCord, was the chief Platteville “conductor” on the “Underground Railroad.” Josiah Pickard, the first Academy principle (in the days when Platteville Academy and the Presbyterian Church shared a meeting house) also strongly opposed slavery and resigned as principle of Platteville Academy when the Board of Trustees refused to admit a young black woman because southern students objected. Yet slave-owner Rountree had founded the Academy and it was also Rountree who gave the “Presbyterian burying ground” that would become “Indian Park” to the church. The conflict between slavery/anti-slavery factions seems a submerged theme in this park’s history.

Does it account for some of the strange changes in deeds for this park? Is this also why the Presbyterian church took the highly unusual step of changing its entire governance structure and became a different denomination? The answers to these questions are both dramatic and tragic, but they do open a window to a past almost forgotten.

To attempt to answer these questions, we’ll need to circle back through local history through several different lenses: native history, mining history, the history of Thomas Aiken, and the history of a series of confusing land sales and taxes.

That will bring us forward to the area becoming a city park, at which time (1917) the bodies buried there were supposed to be removed by order of the state legislature. But all of them were not. Why?

Here’ we are fortunate to have the Aiken family history and their written record that they were not allowed to remove the bodies. Thomas Aiken’s descendants even paid for new headstones for where they planned to move Mr. Aiken and Miss Donelson. These headstones still exist, unused, on the Aiken-Graney family farm. According to the Aiken family history, the reason why the bodies were not removed is because Mr. Aiken and Miss Donelson died of cholera. Likely that was true of others as well.

Also, some of those interred at the burying grounds may have had no descendants in the area. Its certain that no notice went out in the paper. If there was no family left to dig up a grave, the grave likely remained untouched.

One may wonder why there was no legal notice given in the local paper until one remembers what was going on in 1917 and 1918, the years when the bodies were supposed to be removed. Most in Platteville and the entire United States had their focus elsewhere: on the Great War and the Spanish flu epidemic that followed it. A quick perusal of Platteville Journal articles for those two years will show you that after March 1917, the front page stories almost entirely concern the war, the draft of local boys to fight in the war, battles, and their return home. One soldier who died, Leo Kane, is the man that the Americal Legion/VFW post in Platteville is named after: the same post that worked with Laura Graney in 1976 to secure a military headstone for her great-grandfather Thomas Aiken in Indian Park.

Ready to circle through this story again in more detail? In Part II, we’ll look at Indian Park as a burying ground for cholera victims, and in Part III return to the mystery of the mound(s).

(By the way, if you’d rather see this as a presentation, the authors did present on this at the Platteville Senior Center on February 27, 2020. That presentation is on Youtube in three parts, beginning here. You can also find links to the final presentation, as well as copies of the slides of you’d rather read it than watch it, on our History of Indian Park page)

Slides for “Indian Park” presentation 9-10-2020 Download

New Glarus Oktoberfest

Editor’s Note: Yes, we know October, and fall generally, are long gone. But we still enjoy a good beer and a memory, and loved this story by local writer Justice Hendrick! Maybe you can road trip to New Glarus next fall…

Autumn. The leaves turn to tumbling amber, covering the greyish-brown landscapes with the last inklings of light and color as the winds speak in a restrained whisper with chilly tones, announcing the coming winter. One can only balk at the prospect of another chilly Wisconsin winter and pray it takes its time to arrive, but what’s the point in worrying over the inevitable when you could pass the time having fun with friends and family?

These good times are guaranteed at the annual Oktoberfest festival in rural New Glarus, Wisconsin. This festival leads attendees through a traditional Bavarian celebration of marriage, specifically the marriage of Prince Ludwig I of Bavaria and Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen (say that five times fast!) in 1810. What else could there be to do with such a joyous occasion but to participate in a merry mixture of song, drink, and dance? Despite the inevitable changes that have occurred since, the original celebration’s main features have stayed true over two centuries onward. There’s something to find for everyone, even if it’s as simple as sitting in the festival tent with friends all day, listening to music, and enjoying yourselves as the tent keeps out the weather.

Oktoberfest1 — Walking into downtown where the festival was held. I was shocked by how beautiful their downtown is!

A rural village founded by Swiss immigrants in 1845, New Glarus predates the statehood of Wisconsin itself by three years. The village has ever since prospered by continuing the traditions of its sister city and mother country, acting as a little slice of Glarus, Switzerland to those who would choose to stay a while. This emphasis on history and tradition has also translated into the design of the village, its downtown a gorgeous display of 1800s Swiss architecture that left me feeling immersed in the rustic feel of the setting as the festival ran its course. Even if you’re not an architecture buff, there’s still a lot to appreciate there, and I’d argue the village is worth visiting any time of the year just to walk through the downtown area, but we’re talking Oktoberfest here. What do they have to offer?

Standing far above the downtown is a massive cathedral, completing the appearance of a booming 19^th century city.

You won’t have to worry about packing a picnic lunch or bothering with cold cuts for your outing here: local food vendors are at the ready to provide anything from brats to homemade grandma-style pizza, massive Bavarian soft pretzels and more. Most of it is just festival food, but there are some definite standouts you’re absolutely going to want to try. Apple brats are absolutely recommended. They’re grilled over a bed of – you guessed it – apples and absorb a lot of the tangy flavor as a result. Nothing really compares to that flavor, and it’s something I’ve truly never seen offered at a festival before, especially with the vendor’s impressive selection of toppings that included 50 different kinds of mustard. If you ever wanted to try mittlescharfer, a spicy brown mustard popular in Germany, or some other variety you’ve never heard of or tried before, now’s your chance.

Some of the better dressed King and Queen’s Contest contestants. I love their outfits!

The band — The local Bavarian band that plays the festival every year. What they play has kind of a funky beat if you’re from the 1800s I guess

Events are numerous and run throughout the entire weekend. If you’re feeling bold, you can strap on your lederhosen and participate in the king and queen contest, where the best dressed attendees receive prizes and recognition for their dedication to the celebration. You can also take a comfortable tour around the village as horse-drawn carriage rides run Saturday and Sunday, free for attendees of the festival. For those rough and tumble types who love to see a good brawl, an internationally recognized tug of war goes on all of Saturday, with members hailing from all corners of the earth coming in to compete. There are many others, but my personal favorite event had to be the live music playing all day in the festival tent. In the late morning they began with some traditional Oktoberfest tunes, and transitioned over time to local Wisconsin folk and country bands. Normally I’d skip over this kind of music, but with how immersed I felt in the festival, I was happy to just let it play on.

Taking place in the heart of downtown New Glarus, you can also enjoy the best of mom and pop shopping as local businesses open their doors to attendees. From antiques to artisan cheese, there’s a shop in New Glarus’ downtown that’s sure to have what you’re looking for. In my opinion, the highlights worth seeing include anything that shares some touch of local flavor, such as the legendary Edelweiss Cheese Shop or Maple Leaf Cheese & Chocolate Haus. These stores pride themselves on selling the best in local flavors when it comes to their wine and cheese. I feel like these businesses really show a lot of pride in what Wisconsin has to offer, even Hook’s cheese, an award winner that’s made in my hometown of Mineral Point, Wisconsin. When you’re not enjoying the festivities or shopping, feel free to take a load off and enjoy an ice cold brew in the festival tent, hailing from the village’s own New Glarus Brewery. Their traditional Octoberfest Staghorn bräu is made in the spirit of this celebration, and like its namesake features a strong amber body and spiced tones to fit the turning of the seasons. If that’s not your particular flavor, don’t worry: the brewery also features most beers from their main lineup at the event. You won’t know unless you try it, of course, but I will absolutely recommend their Spotted Cow, a farmhouse ale meeting with these orange notes that really add a lot of character and flavor when they’re included.

Stein — My dad’s friend Jeff having a pint in one of the steins they sell at the festival. What an authentic way to experience it!

For those curious to see where it’s made, the New Glarus Brewery is only a couple of miles away on WI-69 S, tucked into the lovely countryside the village is surrounded by.

Nearby, you can visit the New Glarus brewery, and “drink indigenous.”

Here, you can take a free walking tour of their brewing facility, from the original fermentation to processing, bottling, canning, and more. It’s certainly something else when the machinery is all in motion, and a sight to behold. Turning away from the technical side, the beer garden is lovely to look at, with architecture that combines the gorgeous landscapes mentioned before with the still-standing walls of the old village ruins converted into areas for people to drink and be merry. Tastings run throughout the day, and if you buy a beer ticket, they’ll pour yours into a glass you get to keep when you’re finished, printed with the brewing company’s logo. On the way out, you can visit the bottling center and create your own 4 or 6 pack of any of the beers that the brewery is currently busy working on. I myself grabbed a mixture of their basic brews, but they also offer specialty brews that are hard to find anywhere else, such as the Spotted Cow (Grand Cru), an even smoother version of Spotted Cow with a more noticeable orange flavor. For anyone who loves the craft brewing scene and wants to get a look at how it’s made, it’s definitely worth taking some time out of your day out and giving it a look.

This clocktower stands proudly above the brewery’s beer garden

When it’s all said and done, I’d overwhelmingly recommend New Glarus’s Oktoberfest as one of the best festivals to attend in southern Wisconsin. The touches of personal flavor that the village provides all add to the experience feeling like more than just an excuse to get sloshed with friends and family. From its architecture to events to food and drink, the festival feels like it encompasses (for the most part) the experience one would have if they were celebrating somewhere in the Swiss countryside. No matter what day you choose to attend, there’s surely something to keep you occupied, from the tapping of the first keg to the closing ceremonies.

Will You Be Mine? (Bevans Lead Mine and the Rollo Jamison Museum)

What’s the first thing you think of when you hear the word “mine”? Is it District 12 from the book series The Hunger Games? Do you think about a cheesy phrase that some people say on Valentine’s Day? Or, by chance, do you think of the wonderful city in Southwest Wisconsin that is Platteville?

Something that makes Platteville unique to the rest of Wisconsin is its immense history with the mining industry. This city stands out with its 200+ foot high “M” on Platte Mound, and it shows miner pride through the University of Wisconsin-Platteville’s mascot, Pioneer Pete. However, perhaps one of the greatest features of this city that showcases its mining history is The Mining & Rollo Jamison Museum, a year-round tourist attraction that I had the privilege of visiting.

Told to wait a while until the tour would start, I decided to meander through the small portion of the museum dedicated to the mine. The other section, situated in the upstairs portion of the building, is the Rollo Jamison section of the museum. But I’ll discuss that topic later on in this blog post.

Railroad and sign — An informational poster titled “Rails Reach Platteville” next to a railway signal.

A visitor can see informational posters littered around the mining portion of the museum that deal with topics such as the history of Platteville, the element of zinc and its uses, early forms of mining, and transporting lead once it had been mined. Many tools, such as shovels, pickaxes, hammers, and helmets, can be found, as well as minerals from the Mississippi lead and zinc district. They are all so eye-catching that I wouldn’t be surprised if they were used in jewelry nowadays. Miniature replicas of the empire mine, the mill, and the roaster to show how they work exist here, as well. And one of the coolest relics in the museum, in my opinion, is the sextant on a tall, wooden tripod, which was used to read the stars in order to navigate. It sits in a replica of an office, possibly one used by Lorenzo Bevans, the man who founded the mine.

The mine itself is 50 feet underground, and when there has been a lot of heavy rain, it can often times flood in the lowest sections, which I got to experience. Yay, Midwest weather! The mining museum provides the hard hats.

There are no elevators to get you up or down, of course, so you have to use many many stairs to get in and out. And if you have asthma, good luck…

Into the mine — These are the many, many stairs that lead down to the mine.

Back in its hay day, the town used this big hole in the ground to mine for lead and zinc. Miners would often work in groups in order to get work done. One example is that one man would hold a large metal spike to a wall of the mine, and another man would hammer at the chisel, creating a hole in one of the walls. Once sufficiently large enough, a miner would use gun powder as a type of explosive to form an even larger hole in the wall. Before lighting the explosive, he would yell “fire in the hole,” which is where the famous phrase came from, or so I was told by my tour guide, and the other miners near him would have to get a short distance away from the explosive.

After new technology had been invented, not only did miners get to use types of drills instead of chisels and hammers to form holes in the mine walls, but they were also able to use real dynamite instead of simple gun powder. However, before lighting the dynamite, every man would have to evacuate the mine entirely, and the miner, who would actually set fire to the explosive, would have to run quickly before it exploded. After the dust had cleared, it was one man’s responsibility to go back into the mine before anyone else to move some of the smaller stones to create a path and to ensure that no other rocks would fall from the ceiling. This man was paid the most out of all the other miners because of his very risky job and the fact that helmets were not really a thing just yet.

Due to the mine’s depth within the earth, the miners came up with a few solutions to deal with scarce lighting. Originally, they tried to keep a few candles on the floor of the mine in order to see. But as they would keep moving into new spaces, they found that this did not work so well. Later, they came up with a fire hazard of a solution: attaching candles to their cloth hats. Though this was rather dangerous, it provided some light in their immediate area so that they could work. Eventually, however, lamps were invented, and they were used on the floors and hung from the ceilings, too, providing exceptionally more light for the workers.

After the tour of the mine and the mill, I explored the Rollo Jamison portion of the museum. Jamison was not the man who founded the mine, but rather he was simply a man who collected a lot of things throughout his lifetime. So the two separate museums ultimately do not have a connection beyond sharing nearly the same space.

A poster titled “Jamison’s Museum” introducing basic information about the museum’s history

Among many of the fascinating things in his museum, Jamison collected arrowheads that started his collection in 1905, a picture of the Oscar Mayer Co. workers in 1914, women’s rights posters, 19^th century bronze, Japanese horseman, medical instruments, war memorabilia, and even the famous stuffed, boxing squirrels. Additionally, in his collection is a piano that can not only be played normally, but also by pumping the pedals it plays a specific song all by itself. There are also recordings of interviews with soldiers and different musical genre records that can both be selected and played by visitors.

A picture of a very old camera taken by an iPhone camera

Even if the mine floods in certain areas and leaks from the ceiling when it rains, even if there are a lot of stairs to climb for the mine and Jamison’s museum, The Mining & Rollo Jamison Museum is a must see when you’re visiting Southwest Wisconsin.

Folklore Village: Dance Yourself into the Past

Based outside of Dodgeville, Wisconsin, what Folklore Village is can be partly deduced by the name: not a village, but a center based around folk arts and culture. Jane Farwell, a native Wisconsinite from nearby Ridgeway who specialized in Scandinavian dancing, founded the establishment in 1968. She wanted a place where she could recreate the music, dance, food, and folk customs from all over the world.

Starting with just a small one-room schoolhouse, Folklore Village has since expanded to include a large barn (named Farwell Hall after the founder), a small house, a historic church (which was moved from near Mineral Point, Wisconsin), and a shed used for blacksmithing. They offer different classes (including blacksmithing, fiddle lessons, wooden spoon carving, soap making, and more), festivals (including New Year Festivals, Scandinavian Weekend, and Cajun Music Weekend), and monthly barn dances.

“Folk dancing is one of those rare activities from which people of all ages and walks of life can readily gain a large measure of satisfaction. In the beginning, most stand outside the fringe of those who ‘belong’ until someone extends a smile and a beckoning hand… we have no chance to wonder what this power is that so swiftly makes friends of strangers, yet we have a good time and the very important feeling of really being included. We realize that the spirit of the people we are with is more important than our own skill in dancing.”

-Jane Farwell, “The Makings of a Good ‘Saturday Night’”

Although FLV was founded for all of these purposes and continues to uphold them, I want to talk about what it is underneath all of that- A place of community and acceptance. I have asked some people around me “What is Folklore Village to you?” in order to give a better understanding of just how deep the connections and sense of community goes.

What is Folklore Village to You?

My mom, Bren Radtke, stated, “Folklore Village is a community for lovers of dance and culture. It is the foundation of how my family emerged and evolved.” This statement helps to clarify my history with the place. It’s where my parents met. It’s where they got married. And it’s where they spent a good portion of time raising us.

My family has even more history embedded in FLV, though. My dad, Steve Sprain, was a member of the original performing dance group and has been attending since the first event. My grandmother was friends with Jane Farwell, and they lived right down the street from the one-room schoolhouse where it all started. On April 30^th, 1969, Jane held an open house and invited all of the immediate neighborhood to join in, and so began my family’s unwavering involvement in FLV. On several occasions in these early days, they wouldn’t have enough people to complete a square for the square-dances, and my father would walk down to his house and bring back my grandparents to finish the set. More than once, he woke them when doing so, but not once did they hesitate to get out of bed and join in.

Wedding — My parents, Steve Sprain (left) and Bren Radtke (right), on their wedding day with Folklore Village founder Jane Farwell (middle).

I was eager to hear what my dad’s first thought was when I asked him “What is Folklore Village to you?”

He told me, “It doesn’t matter what you do or who you are, when you’re there, we’re all the same. Nobody is better than anyone else; everyone is accepted for their own talents.”

FLV is a setting where people of all backgrounds and occupations come together, with no suppositions that any one lifestyle is “better than” another. People from numerous backgrounds can feel at home. There are doctors and lawyers, farmers and truck drivers, astrophysicists and machinists, TV producers and circus performers, professional musicians and those who can’t play a note. Every day we’re defined by these titles, but at FLV, they’re irrelevant.

Dancing of the Franciase at Folklore Village on New Years Eve.

Similarly, my sister Lydia responded, “A place where all are accepted to rejoice in the sound of music and art of dance.” Lydia is wheelchair-bound, and I think the fact that someone who is unable to physically dance like everyone else still feels so included really says a lot. There are simply no barriers (physical, mental, or emotional) between who is allowed to participate and who isn’t.

My brother, Micah, simply described it as, “A place where you can be you without judgement.” Micah has always been “a goofball”, and many environments tend to suppress those with silly tendencies (intentionally or not). At FLV, my brother and everyone else can feel free to be themselves without the fear of judgement or social penalty. If anything, uniqueness and creativity are encouraged, in whatever form they may come in.

Lastly, our family friend Paige Rice stated, “It’s a place where people of all backgrounds can come together and be a community. A place where different cultures and arts are appreciated and celebrated. It unites different ages, races, and backgrounds. There are times I would almost describe as magical; in its serenity and welcoming environment…Though I haven’t been going there as often as others, it has still become somewhere I cherish and keep close to my heart.” Paige was introduced to FLV through my family and is most familiar with the annual New Year Festival. I believe this is what she is mainly referring to when she describes the serenity of the place.

New Year Festival

I have been attending FLV’s New Year Festival since I was born, and I have yet to spend the holiday in any other way. This festival is a fun-filled, event-packed, 4-day celebration. Every year, the classes, workshops, skits, and food are different; but, some things stay the same. There are some traditions for the night of New Year’s Eve that are customary (and some might even argue necessary at this point).

Every year we dance The Heilsberger Dreieck (a traditional German piece) and The Francaise (a 5-part quadrille which was traditionally danced by “higher-ups” in Europe and is still danced there on New Year’s Eve today). We sing in the small church on the property, we gather around a bonfire at midnight, and we then return to Farwell Hall to bring in the new year with peace, love, and togetherness. After some time spent quietly and on reflection, we celebrate with homemade tortes (which are very rich cakes), snap-dragon (a game from the 16^th century- raisins in a bowl of brandy which is set alight, and they are eaten still flaming), and, of course, more dancing.

Barn Dances

Barn dances are held once a month. The nights begin with a potluck where everyone is invited to bring a dish to pass. These nights are often not based on a theme, but rather filled with square dances, contra dances, waltzes, and any requests one might have. An example of a request I often made as a child is the Fox Dance. This dance is a favorite of kids who frequent FLV. One person is picked as the “fox” who “sleeps” in the middle of a circle made by the other dancers. The others do a simple dance around the fox that includes taking a couple steps in and taunting the sleeping fox. After two rounds of these harmless taunts, the fox slyly “wakes up” and catches someone else to be the next fox. Although there are more complex dances (usually saved for the New Year Festival), most of the dances taught at barn dances are simple and easy to follow. This allows everyone to feel included and welcome to join in.

Sword Dance — A traditional sword dance, with Bob Walser on the accordion.

Folklore Village founder Jane Farwell passed away in 1993, but her spirit stays with the place. Her ashes are buried under the wooden star that is placed in the middle of the dance floor.

Folklore Village has a lot to offer, but it’s so much more than just classes and festivals. In one of her many diaries, my grandmother wrote, “We went to pick up Steve from Folklore. And we stayed.” Folklore Village is a lot of things- a place for dance, traditions, art, and expression; but more than all of that, it’s the type of place you can’t help but to stay.

Potosi Point

If you’re already taking a trip to Potosi, maybe to the Potosi Brewery as written about in our last article, why not keep going and drive out on to the Mississippi? I mean that literally: Potosi Point, one of my favorite places to go for some beautiful views, peace, and quiet, is less than a mile outside of town.

How do you get there from the Potosi main drag?

Just keep driving down South Main Street, and the road will literally take you out to a boat launch on the Mississippi. The trick is, you have to take a little jog in the road as it goes out of town.

You’ll see some railroad tracks running along the river, and need to take a left off of State Road 133 (which was the same as Main Street, but now separates off to the north.) Drive under a little culvert, which as you can see from the photo sometimes gets flooded) and be careful to watch for water. On the other side of the culvert, you’ll be on road that runs right out into the river.

By late fall, beavers will be building dams on either side of the road. It’s also a good place to view cranes and other sea birds.

If you follow the road to the end, you’ll be at a little boat launch and viewing spot in the Upper Mississippi Wildlife Preserve called Potosi Point.

Enf of the point — At the end of the road, you’ll be several hundred yards out into the Mississippi, near the main channel.

That’s all there is to it. Oh, and if you want some shade or forgot binoculars, there’s a nice little viewing pavillion where you can look downstream. Enjoy your trip!

The Potosi Brewery

Wisconsin is known for beer. Part of what makes our beer so great is the expertise of the brewers who came here, but, as those brewers have said in many places, another reason is the purity of the water and the way its filtered through the unique geography of the area. It also doesn’t hurt that the same properties that make the area’s rolling hills also make it easy to store and chill beer barrels in the many caves throughout the area.

We have breweries all over, but there is one that really stands out as a pillar of the community its a part of: the Potosi Brewery. that is, unless you don’t find brewing for charity, town-wide taste testing, or beer raining from the sky terribly interesting! If you’re like most Wisconsinites, I know you’ll enjoy Potosi Wisconsin and their brewery.

The brewery began in 1852 by Gabriel Hail Sr. and his sons, Gabriel Jr. and John. Though they were brewing in 1852 they didn’t have an actual brewery building until 1854 when they had one built. Potosi was a perfect place to start a brewery back before refrigerators and modern transportation for several reasons. The building was built with direct access to the inside of a cave that was naturally around 46 degrees. It was a perfect place to store the beer. Potosi also has a stream of spring water that they could use for brewing. They stopped using the spring water several years ago and then they switched back and people have said that the beer is crisper and more flavorful. In addition to all of those amenities for brewing, Potosi is also very close to the Mississippi River which allowed them to ship their beer easier back when the brewery was starting up thanks to the Potosi steamboat.

World's largest beer — The “world’s largest beer” in Potosi, Wisconsin, located across the street from the pavilion in the preceding photo.

The brewery changed owners around 1882, it was then bought by Adam Schumacher in 1886 and exploded in popularity due to his skills in brewing German lager and it officially became “The Potosi Brewing Company”. The brewery went through prohibition, and then some growth and changes until sadly in 1972 they closed their doors. That wasn’t the end however, in 2008 they reopened their doors thanks to the hard work and dedication of the citizens and now it stands as a major tourist attraction and home to the “National Beer Museum”. They also donate their proceeds to charities such as a Platteville scholarship fund, local boy scout troops, and other organizations.

A photo of my father and I before the tour started. Photo by Lauren McMicking.

One weekend this fall, I decided to invest a mere $13 to take a tour. As soon as my father heard about it I was obligated to bring him along! Then my brother heard and encouraged his girlfriend to also come with so he could have the house to himself and enjoy his new video game without interruption. So then, after having paid for both of them and myself, we set off. Lauren brought her camera and my father brought his winning smile.

Tours are every weekend and include a look at the production facility, town history, and most importantly…free beer. For the responsible adults there was a fine selection of craft beers to choose from and you could responsibly sample a few. However of course, we were irresponsible adults with no need to be anywhere for the rest of the day so we decided before we even got there that we would try everything we could see. Then we were given a free pint of whatever we wanted to take with us on the tour and they shoved us on the tour so we wouldn’t drink them dry.

Potosi’s long history meant there were plenty of fun and interesting facts. For instance, in 2007 before they reopened, they had a small but important problem. The facilities had burned down and the recipes were lost. So, the town bravely banded together and drank from batch after batch until they had settled on what they believed was the original recipe. The beer in question is called “Good Old Potosi”, which is described as “a Golden Ale with a delicate malt flavor and sweet finish. Light in body, full in flavor.”. In my opinion it’s a fairly boring beer but it tastes just like an old beer should. One of my favorites was the Steamboat Lemon Shanty which has a light color and crispy lemon flavoring.

We also learned that it wasn’t always a cake walk working in the brewery. They used to have a pipe to send the beer from the production facility to the bottling facility (both original facilities are now re-purposed for other things) and this pipe spanned over the street. However, the beer sometimes had trouble staying in the pipe. When semis rolled through town they would hit the pipe and cause it to burst, sending a shower of beer down on the town.

There’s a lot more to Potosi than just beer. There’s beautiful scenery, great people, and …. there’s wine.

A painting by a Kingfisher by Wes Hilmick.

They’re also home to the Whispering Bluffs Winery. The winery is located in what used to be the bottling plant of the old brewery before it was renovated and reopened. All their wines are made in Wisconsin, from Wisconsin grapes. All the wines are inspired by local birds. The painting on the left is the same as the picture on the bottle of wine. The painting itself was done by the owner of the winery, Wes Hilmick.

Just down the hall from winery is a woodworking shop called Bright Idea. The shop is also located in the old bottling plant. Lining the walls of the hallway between are framed articles of the local paper that tell the history of the brewery. Bright Idea is owned and operated by a father and son carpentry team, Gary and Tyler David. They sell tables, candle holders, and other beautiful work that they hand crafted themselves. They own their own sawmill and harvest all of their lumber locally. Bright Idea has a website, as well as Facebook and Instagram where they promote and sell their products as well as tell their interesting, Wisconsin grown, story.

Kingfisher wine, featuring the same painting by Wes Hilmick

Potosi is home to a brilliant brewery, winery, and a carpentry shop. In my opinion, a small town doesn’t get much better than that. They have a fun tour of the brewery where you have plenty of chances to try their specialty beers. Then you can enjoy wonderful food at the attached restaurant. The bottom line is, if you’re looking for something fun to do in Southwest Wisconsin Potosi is the place to be and best of all it’s all local, local ingredients, owners, products, and it helps Wisconsin thrive. Schedule tours or look at the craft beers here at the Potosi Website.

UW- Platteville Pioneer Football

If you live in southwest Wisconsin then you’re used to everyone asking you what there is to do or complaining about how it’s full of corn fields and nothing else, you might suspect that they’ve never been outdoors. Not only is this a beautiful place for fall sports, but there are also plenty of local teams to enjoy for a fraction of the price you’d spend in larger cities.

Although I enjoy going to numerous sporting events, the ones I enjoy the most are the UW-Platteville Pioneer Football Games. Like many Wisconsin natives, I grew up from the time I was a little girl with sports on the TV at home: mainly Packers or Brewers games, and I was lucky enough to attend a number of those growing up. It always made me sad that I wasn’t athletic enough to partake in most sports when I grew up but being able to go to these events helped fill that void. There are many great things about going to Pioneer football games, hopefully by the end of this post you’ll want to go, even if sports isn’t really your cup of tea.

Sophmore, Running Back, Evan Gates receives the handoff from Sophomore, Quarterback, Caleb Hanson. — Sophomore running back Evan gates receives the hand-off from sophomore quarterback Caleb Hanson during a fall 2019 UW-Platteville game. Photo by Grace Daehling.

The University of Wisconsin- Platteville Pioneers are a part of NCAA Division III and the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference which also includes, Whitewater, Stout, Stevens Point, River Falls, Oshkosh, La Crosse, and Eau Claire. The official season starts in the beginning of September and ends mid-November. Platteville started off the season strong with a 38-30 win against East Texas Baptist, and continued as undefeated for several games. They dominated Thomas More 41-10, then moving forward they crushed Lakeland College during their first away game, 55-28.

The team is averaged 37 points per game and this season went undefeated at home. Currently the team is led by head coach Mike Emendorfer. He is assisted by Ryan Munz, Jason Wagner, Dan Bauder, Patrick Sheehan, Donavon Nathaniel, Brody Dell, Ryley Bailey, and Justin Blackburn.

Coach Justin Wagner stands on the sidelines with the players. Photo by Grace Daehling.

There are many players making great stats this season, but football games aren’t just enjoyable because of the football. One the sideline we can find some pretty great folks cheering on our Pioneers all while they’re doing some amazing stunts. Then we look to the stands and have our fantastic marching band playing whenever they can: whether it’s during a time-out or a kick-off you can hear them doing what they do best. Then those two are joined on the field during the halftime show by the talented dance team. These halftime shows are a real treat to watch.

This year’s season is over, but hope we can see you next year!

Rugby: Something you probably wouldn’t think to do in southwest Wisconsin

You might be thinking – what is there to do around here that I haven’t already done? Well, for starters, most people in the Wisconsin area have probably not played rugby before. Along with being a great game, rugby is a sport that most people in this part of the world learn by playing (although I’ll introduce you to some of the basics in this article.) Most of the road trips I go on, especially in the fall, are to rugby competitions. But rugby, unlike a lot of other team sports, is just as much about the fraternizing afterwards as the game itself.

Interested? Then read on! First, I’ll introduce some of the basics of the game, then teach you some of our after-game songs, and after that, tell you about some of the rugby opportunities here in Southwest Wisconsin.

The 2019 UW-Platteville Men’s Rugby team (Photo: Courtesy of the Platteville Men’s Rugby Club Facebook Page)

Rugby basics and background

The Millennium Stadium during Wales' clash with Fiji — One of the most famous stadiums built for rugby is the Millenium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales. Here’s a shot from the 2015 Wales vs. Fiji Rugby World Cup. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

I like to think of rugby as the estranged love-child of the two sports, soccer and American football. Rugby has the physicality of football, with the pace and kicking skills required in the soccer realm. The goal of rugby is very similar to football and soccer, you want to score more points than the opposing team. In order to score, you have to touch the ball to the ground in the tryzone. This is called a try and is worth five points. A tryzone is like the endzone in football: there is one on each end of the field. The field is 100 meters in length and 70 meters in width. An example of how a rugby field, called a “rugby pitch” looks is shown in the photo above, from the 2015 Rugby World Cup.

Another way points are scored is by kicking the ball through the posts, centered at the beginning of each tryzone. An offensive player can kick the ball at any time during the match, if it goes through the posts they are awarded three points. However, the ball must be a drop kick that touches the ground first, before being kicked. After a try is scored, there is an opportunity to kick the ball through posts, and this attempt is worth two points.

The best way to describe a rugby ball, is to call it an undersized watermelon. Rugby balls are in the shape of an ellipse, similar to a football, but much more rounded at the points and larger overall.

Offensive players are allowed to pass, run, or kick the ball. In rugby, you are only allowed to pass the ball backwards. If you want to play the ball forwards, it has to be kicked. The opposing players defend by tackling the offensive player to the ground. In this sport there are no pads or helmets, therefore tackling rules are much stricter in order to keep players safe.

*A tackle attempt (this one is an illegal-high tackle) Photo courtesy of Kurt Kravchuk*

Once a player is tackled, the ball carrier must release the ball onto the ground or to a teammate. Offensive players form a ruck to keep possession of the ball. They form over the ball-carrier to protect him and clear any defenders off of the ball. Another offensive player, called the scrumhalf, will take the ball off of the ground and pass the ball to a teammate.

An example of a ruck (UW-Platteville vs. Northern Michigan University is pictured) (Photo: Courtesy of Kurt Kravchuk) — *An example of a ruck, from a recent UW-Platteville vs. Northern Michigan University game. Photo: courtesy of Kurt Kravchuk*.

Rugby is very similar to soccer in multiple ways as well. In contrast to football, there are no breaks between plays. Each team has 15, 10, or 7 people depending on which format of rugby you playing. 15-person rugby, or 15s, is played in two 40-minute halves, 10s rugby in two 10-minute halves, and 7s rugby in two 7-minute halves. Time only stops for injuries and certain penalties. Like soccer players, rugby personnel must be able to play most, if not all of the game. Teams cannot substitute players in and out. Once a player is substituted out, they cannot come back into the game.

Another comparison to soccer are the restarts: most breaks in play result in free kicks or penalty kicks. The ball is also kicked to start the game, after halftime, and after any scoring play. There are so many similarities between these sports that it really is as if soccer and football had a child, rugby being the offspring.

*A kickoff dropkick (the ball must touch the ground first) Photo courtesy of Kurt Kravchuk*

The most unique quality of a rugby match is the scrum. A scrum results whenever the ball is thrown or dropped forward by an offensive player and can also be an alternative to free kicks during a penalty play. During a scrum, bigger players – denoted as forwards – from both teams bind together. The ball is placed in the middle of the scrum and the objective is to drive the other team off of the ball to gain possession. This tug-of-war situation highlights which team is stronger and more conditioned, and it also highlights which team has been skipping leg day.

A scrum: players pushing against each other for possession of the ball (Photo: C

Why should you play rugby?

*Photo: Courtesy of UW-Platteville Rugby Player, Erik Wohlfiel*

I play here in southwest Wisconsin on the men’s UW-Platteville rugby team. My friend and teammate, Erik Wohlfiel, let me use one of his Instagram posts (above) . This post immediately caught my attention because it perfectly sums up why people are so drawn to the game of rugby. The main reason to play this sport for me, and my teammates, is the camaraderie.

There is honestly no other reason I would want to drive about six hours to Duluth, Minnesota on a Saturday, in a car filled with five teammates and their gear. It’s an interesting experience partaking in country-karaoke and listening to comedic podcasts with friends on these long drives to away games. Our team here at UW-Platteville is currently sponsored by Steve’s Pizza Palace. On Thursday we head over to Steve’s to participate in trivia night, which is open to anybody. It’s a good time to spend with friends, test our knowledge, and support our sponsor. We also volunteer about once a month to help out at Ruby’s Pantry, which is in association with Platteville United Methodist Church. The men and women’s clubs hold a banquet at the end of each year for the members only. This is the most formal annual event of the year where players are encouraged to bring a date and dress nicely. Player awards for achievements such as ‘hardest-hitter’ and ‘most-improved’ are handed out at the banquet as the fall-league season is celebrated and reviewed.

Group picture from the 2016 UW-Platteville Men’s Rugby banquet. Photo courtesy of Platteville Men’s Rugby Club Facebook Page.

Furthermore, the quote that Erik’s post refers to speaks about the brotherhood/sisterhood formed from playing the sport. When you go get tackled or go down in a game, you will always have a teammate to protect you and you’re your back. This bond extends off the field as well and you often build long-term friendships through rugby-related events.

You also get to visit and view many different areas of Wisconsin in the process, as well as the edges of Minnesota and Michigan. In addition, you get to interact with and meet new people from all of these areas.

What is a rugby social?

This brings me to the most unique aspect of rugby, which is the socials. A social is an after-party or a post-match gathering, if you will. Both teams just got done beating the snot out of each other for an upwards of 80 minutes, but yet we can all be friends. This is very different from other sports where competition is the most important part and in most other sports it is looked down upon to fraternize with the opposing team.

In club rugby, fraternizing is one-hundred percent welcomed. I’m not exactly sure if this happens in youth-rugby (I’ve gotten mixed signals from my teammates about this). However, in college club teams and adult leagues it is traditional for the home team to host a social after each game. It isn’t unusual for the referee or coaches to come and hang out at this event either. This is where you are introduced to the culture that is rugby and some of the activities that rugby players like to do here in southwest Wisconsin.

Some of the activities common at socials include jousting and singing round songs. Since there are adults and people of age 21 and older at these socials, rugby players of legal age like to participate in a drinking game called a ‘boat race.’ The jousting consists of two players from each team. One player from each team will be the base, and the other player will be on their shoulders holding a goal post pad used to simulate a lance. The two people at the base will start running at each other, and the top two people will try to knock each other off of the other person’s shoulders. This is a fun activity at the social where anyone can get involved or watch for some laughs.

The boat race is a beer-drinking relay race that features around four to six players from each team for participation. Each participant will have two beers, one in each hand. Each team of four to six will be seated on the ground as if they were in a row boat, close together and all facing forward. The two ‘row boat’ teams will be facing an individual who starts the race. The starter commands the teams to row and points a hand to the sky. The teams listen to the command and make a rowing motion with the two beers, making sure not to spill, because that could be a potential disqualification. They continue making rowing motions until the starter drops his hand back down to his side, signaling the start of the race. Each person in the relay drinks their first beer as fast as they can. Once, they are finished they put the empty can, or solo cup, on the top of their head to signal to the next man in the boat to start drinking his beer. This continues down the ‘row boat’. The person in the last seat of the boat finishes both of their beers and sends the relay in the opposite direction for the rest of the team to finish their second beer, down-and-back style. This is always an extra competition that both teams really enjoy. It draws the biggest crowds at the social and people will cheer on their respective teams.

Rugby Songs

The round songs follow a general format, their purpose is to generate comedic punchlines. Each verse will be sung by a soloist and then the rest of the group will join in for a refrain. Everyone at the social stands in a big circle and sings along. Anyone can sing a solo punchline, but they have to signal to the group that it is their turn to go. A soloist signals to the group by putting their hand over their forehead. The rest of the group will point with their elbow at the person who is signaling. This is the system the group has used to determine whose turn it is to sing.

One of the most popular songs we sing is called “Yogi Bear.” This the format of the song:

(Soloist)

“I know a bear that you all know!”

“Yogi, Yogi!”

(Chorus)

“I know a bear that you all know! Yogi, Yogi bear.”

“Yogi, Yogi bear—“

“Yogi, Yogi bear!”

“I know a bear that you all know! Yogi, Yogi bear.”

The soloist who signals would come up with the next punchline (sorry Chicago Bear fans).

(Soloist)

“Yogi sucks at football!”

“Chicago, Chicago!”

(Chorus)

“Yogi sucks at football! Chicago, Chicago bears.”

“Chicago, Chicago bears—“

“Chicago, Chicago bears!”

“Yogi sucks at football! Chicago, Chicago bears.”

This second song is another popular pick, it’s a comedic song that uses the idea of Jesus not having enough apostles to play 15s rugby. The song also explains why Jesus wouldn’t be able to play rugby Himself (the song is referred to as “Jesus Saves” or “Jesus Can’t Play Rugby.”)

(Soloist)

“Jesus can’t play rugby, because he only has twelve friends!”

(Chorus)

“Jesus can’t play rugby, ‘cause he only has twelve friends!”

“Jesus saves, Jesus saves!”

“Jesus saves—”

This follows the same format as the last song and a new soloist will start the next round.

(Soloist)

“Jesus can’t play rugby, because his dad will rig the game!”

(Chorus)

“Jesus can’t play rugby, ‘cause his dad will rig the game!”

“Jesus can’t play rugby, ‘cause his dad will rig the game”

“Jesus saves, Jesus saves!”

“Jesus saves—”

Then after a few rounds the song ends like this.

(Soloist)

“Jesus, we’re only kidding!”

(Chorus)

“Jesus, were only kidding!”

“Jesus saves, Jesus saves!”

“Jesus saves!”

Rugby opportunities in southwest Wisconsin

Many of the opportunities to play here in Wisconsin are in relation to the organization known as the Wisconsin Rugby Football Union. This organization hosts rugby leagues for all ages classified into three categories – youth, collegiate, and senior club. Their page has information regarding upcoming events, resources, and registered club teams. For every level the sport is easily accessible. Anyone is welcome to join these clubs, and there are plenty of schools around the state participate for middle school, high school, and college students, as well as seniors (anyone who is out of school). There is collegiate match-play every Saturday, even if you aren’t interested in playing, rugby is an entertaining sport to watch and support. You could even study up on the rule book and become a referee, if that’s something you are interested in. There are also plenty of tournaments and events where spectators are welcome to hangout, buy apparel, and get something to eat.

Popular tournaments in Wisconsin

Collegiate leagues take place in the fall from September through November. In the spring and summer, there are a lot of open tournaments that any team can register to play in, or individual players can participate in. Especially in summer, a lot of teams are lacking players and will take anyone who’s ready to go. Many tournaments we participate in don’t require a specific roster so teams are allowed to borrow players from each other if they need substitutes or don’t have enough players.

One of our favorite tournaments to participate in is Whiskey Ten’s. This is a ten versus ten tournament at the Dan Ryan Woods in Chicago Illinois. The South Side Irish rugby club has been hosting this event annually in the spring, I’m not sure when it originally started. This tournament guarantees three matches for each team. Men and women’s teams at both the senior and collegiate level participate in this tournament. The three-field area has an apparel and food tent for spectators and participants. Anyone is welcome to come watch teams play a lot of rugby. There are plaques handed out to the top-placed teams. There is a social after the tournament at Kelly’s Irish Saloon that serves dinner for the players.

Another example of a tournament is Pigfest which is hosted by the Oshkosh Rugby club. Pigfest takes place in Oshkosh, Wisconsin and is the longest running 10s rugby tournament in the Midwest. This tournament is a summer tournament, usually sometime in July. UW-Platteville won both of their games at this tournament last year, before it down-poured and the remainder of the event was called off. This even has been called Pigfest because guests are welcome to some great food. The tournament offers rotisserie pig, burgers, beer and other beverages.

Platteville’s Mudfest

Our own club team at UW-Platteville hosts an annual tournament called the Mudfest. This tournament is a 15s tournament that has been running annually for 24 years. 2020’s upcoming Mudfest will be the 25^th anniversary of the event.

*Tournament schedule for last year’s (2019) Mudfest. Photo courtes*y *Platteville Men’s Rugby Club Facebook Page*

The image above shows some of the usual teams that register for our tournament. That schedule was specifically for the Men’s college and senior bracket, women’s teams participate in this tournament as well. Rugby is the main event, where the winning team can play an upwards of five 80-minute games. This tournament is truly and iron-man competition to see who has the most conditioned and disciplined squad. In 2019, our UW-Platteville Men’s club was able to win the tournament. We won four games and only lost one match to the UW-Platteville Men’s Alumni team.

*UW-Platteville Men’s Rugby: Mudfest winners. Photo courtesy of* *Platteville Men’s Rugby Club Facebook Page*.

This event draws a large crowd each year and is celebrated by citizens in the city of Platteville. Depending on planning, there are extra events after the rugby-playing is over. In 2017, the city decided to block of sections of Mineral Street to allow for a band. This has happened numerous times over the years to allow for block parties and event participants to celebrate in an organized environment.

*Cars are lined up around the UW-Platteville Rugby Fields due to a large crowd (2015)* . *Photo courtesy of* *Platteville Men’s Rugby Club Facebook Page*.

Just like the other tournaments that were mentioned, Mudfest sells food and beverages. Last year our sponsor, Steve’s Pizza Palace, sold pizza slices at the event. Volunteer members from the WSUP radio station also participated in last year’s Mudfest by dj-ing. They played music and made announcements for the duration of the tournament.

*A UW-Platteville rugby fan/flag-runner.* *Photo courtesy of* *Platteville Men’s Rugby Club Facebook Page*.

Overall, Mudfest is a celebration of rugby and the history of Platteville. Aside from Diary Days, this rugby tournament is one of the most celebrated and long-standing events in the area.

Get Involved

I hope this has given you a better understanding of rugby and the opportunities it presents in southwest Wisconsin. If you and your friends are ever bored on a weekend or want to get involved in a new hobby, then rugby is here for you. Rugby has opportunities for everyone at varying levels of participation. I’ve definitely enjoyed my time playing for the UW-Platteville Men’s Rugby club and made numerous memories I will never forget on and off the field. Therefore, I encourage anyone who has taken the time read this – to get involved or get out and support your local rugby club!