Oak trees have been regarded for centuries as a symbol of strength, morality, and knowledge, and have been represented in different mythologies to display these attributes. The original Council Oak Tree, which grew in Eau …
Agriculture & Environment
OBJECT HISTORY: Council Oak Tree Bench
First dating from the early 1800’s, the landmark Council Oak Tree stood on the UW-Eau Claire campus for half with little to no disturbance. However, on July 10, 1966 a summer storm blew through the …
The Peshtigo Fire in Williamsville
This breastpin was used to identify a victim of the destructive Peshtigo fire of 1871.
Two Fires
This breastpin was used to identify a victim of the destructive Peshtigo fire of 1871.
Wisconsin’s Ancient History in the Kickapoo Valley
If you look closely, the landscapes around us tell stories about the past. Sometimes in the curve of a road, a line of trees, or stretch of prairie careful observers can find evidence of the …
OBJECT HISTORY: Peshtigo Fire Breastpin
This breastpin was used to identify a victim of the destructive Peshtigo fire of 1871.
OBJECT HISTORY: Pasty
The lead mining industry of the 1830s and 1840s brought miners from Cornwall, England to southwestern Wisconsin. The miners brought Cornish traditions like the pasty, a filling food for hungry miners. The availability of pasties today demonstrates the lasting traditions of early European immigrants in Wisconsin. Pasties are folded pastries filled with meat and vegetables.…
OBJECT HISTORY: Log-Marking Hammer
Between the 1840s and the 1890s, logs meant money. Wisconsin had a large supply of trees. Lumber mills made money by cutting down trees. Logging was one of the largest industries in Wisconsin. There were more than 450 lumber camps across Wisconsin. If we study this log-marking hammer and think about the people that used…
OBJECT HISTORY: Fiddle
As the lumber industry flourished in Wisconsin beginning in the 1840s, immigrants from all over Europe and Canada came to live and work in the Northwoods of Wisconsin. All winter, men called lumberjacks would cut down pine trees, preparing the timber to be used as building material, or sometimes to be turned into pulp or…
OBJECT HISTORY: Bark Spud
The bark spud is an iron tool used to remove bark from cut timber. Most bark spuds have a steel head with a hard wooden handle. The head is rounded or dish-shaped and has one cutting edge. The sharp wedge on the end of the bark spud slides between bark and wood on a log…