The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1893-01-15
One of the Best PiSCatOrial
Yarns Ever Told.
EVIDENCE OF ITS TRUTH.
What the Widow Schneider Saw-The
Experience of Julius Cornell and
the Queer Diet of Horse.

than by giving it in the words Of DIR. Clark
of Mayyille, Wis, from whom we first
heard II.
'These events happened before the war;
said he. "They are so singular and improb-
able that always hesitate about telling the
story You will probably laugh at me and
not believe me, yet every word Of this Is
true.
The winter of 1860 was very cold. At
that time vast lake covered the whole
ground where Horizon marsh now is. This
lake was full OF fish. and when the ice had
frozen deep over every portion Of the lake
these FISH became distressed for air. The
Rock River, as you know. is liy ely stream
here. and as you have noticed, il has
stretch OF swift water just below the great
dam at Kekoskee. This dam existed at the
time OF the story. You have looked with
your own eyes upon the very spot where
these startling incidents occurred.
1.-The fish, unable to breathe in the half
solid lake. crowded up the live channel or
the Rock River. making for the hole which
the swift water kept open in the Ice below
Kekoskee dam. Most of these fish were
bullheads, and no run of salmon ever
equaled this run of bullheads. 1t is six
miles from the lake up to Kekoskee dam,
and the ice on the river was two feet thick,
yet the whole bed Of the river. forty yards
wide. was for six miles so packed with bull
heads that the heavy covering OF tough ice
in places rolled and tossed like the waves
Of the sea, so desperate was the struggle OF
the horny host beneath it.
THE first arrival Of the run OF fish at the
open hole was marked by geyser-like erup-
ton of bulIheads ffty feet across and about
twelve feet high. The pressure OF the fish
behind vas simply enormous. The fish
could not get back in the water and so slid
out on the ice, covering it In every direction
for hundreds Of yards to depth varying
from six inches to two feet.
THE air was filled with a strange, low
murmuring sound, which could be heard
nearly a mile around. Old settlers say they
never heard such sound since. Dreadlng
some unknown calamity, they fastened to
the spot. and there, as you may suppose,
their dread was turned to joy
Before noon of that day every team of
the whole neighborhOod was at the dam
hauling bullheads. The amount of bull
heads taken from the spot l hesitate to
state. for fear you will not believe it, No
one believed it. They always laugh at US
when we tell this story and think we have
gone crazy. In Wisconsio1 the term Ike
kOskee man is used to designate one who
has wheel in his head. No Kekoskee man
has been believed on oath or admitted to
jury in Wisconsin since 1860. This I'M
earned reputation has ruined the town.
I ou see it as it is. silent, almost deserted.
few empty buildings standing as mOnu-
ments to q town martyred unto ruin by too
strict an adherence to the truth. For every
word of this story is true.
IF you will come with me about mile
out into the country Will introduce you TO
the widow Schneider, now an old lady.
| The widow Schneider will tell you, that on
| one morning she counted 900 wagon loads of
buliheads on their way from the geyser be-
low the dam. This was only one morning,
aud the run lasted for two weeks. OF
course. this number OF wagons represented
only part of those who passed, and this
was on only one road Oh several leading out
| into the country.
THE bulheads were Shoveled into the
wagons like potatoes. and the regular price
was % cents load-a nominal sum, to
cover the shoyeling only. One man who
snoyeled there bought him farm in this
vicinity with the money so earned.
''The buIheads were hauled out into the
country aud used largely for manure. There
is no richer land in Wisconsin than this has
been since 1860. All the farmers fed the
buliheads to their hogs and for two years
after that yeu couldn't get decent piece of
pork in this part of the State. 1t was all
fshy. The hogs all took naturally to worms
and liver after that, and some of them
evinced rudmentary gills behind the ears.
| Oh. don't blame you for doubling this.
| They all do.
"There was ford in the road at this point
Of the river, but the wagons could not get
| into the water After the first eruption of
bullheads had subsidized planks were laid
| across on the living pontoon bridge of fish
and on these the teams crossed.
Even after the run had subsidized very
much dogs and children were Known to run
| across the open hole on the backs OF the
| bulheads. Still later in the run, after the
| fish had thinned out great deal, man we'll
| known in this community, Ju Jus Cornell,
slipped from the Ice and fell into the hole
T1a ontttd N OF nj in m no for for tba fab
| You smile at this. / do not blame you. We
are used to X. No one ever believes this
story.
After the bullheads thinned out SO you
J could get spear through them as they lay
| in matted layer, it was discovered that
| there were layer of bass and plckere lower
| down in the water, and much sport was
| had with these later on.
"0f course. everybody that winter lived
| on bullheads, and they were ussd In many
| ways. AS l have said, the farmers fed them
| to their hogs. We had a lazy sort of express
| man here named Brush, and be owned a
fall-dOwn old horse which dated back TO the
| Mexican war and was called Santa Ana.
| Brush insisted that he was too poor to buy
| Santa Ana hay. and so he fed him bull
| heads all winter, and that was everything
| the horse had to eat for six months. Oh,
| laugh If you want to; we're used to it. But
| Pll take you out and show you Santa Ana.
| a good. healthy sort of horse to-day. Brush
| has moved to Bayfield,, but you ask any citi-
| zen of this town If Santa ana didn't live
! on bnllheads. and il he don't fell you just
! what l have I'll retTact the whole story.
| You needn't think for a minute that I'm
| talking to you out of my head. These
| things are all facts, and you can get all the
proof you want. You just go out alone :;
| don't take me along. but just stop any citi-
| zen Of Mayville you meet and ask him how
about the Kekoskee bullheads. That's all
| ask you TO do. You just sift this story and
| see ii you don't find IL true"
| We did sift the story and we did find 1t
| true. That is the singular thing about the
| story, and that Is why | call it the most
| remarkable story | ever heard. The facts
| themselves are not beyond the range Of I'm
| agiDatIop, but to have a whole community
| rise up and testify TO the truth, that proves
| that imagination had nothing to 90 with IL,
| and that the facts are facts pure and simple.
| Ordinarily one man tells fish story. Here
| 200 tell it. and tell 1t just the same. The
| evidence is legal, convincing, overwhelni-
| ing. In the total 1t makes up the grandest
| fish story ever was. l tell it here but il is
nothing No one man can tell it. 1t takes
a whole town to tell it. TO hear It Alright
| you must 60 to Mayviile. There the whole
town will tell you this story. You dare not,
cannot, doubt it. You will believe, and
sou will feel, as we did there. that the en-
tire chain OF circumstances in tins case con-
stltutes the most remarkable incident in the
history OF a lifetime.
We met +. Nj. Lawrence. leading attorney
of the town, and asked him carelessly about
this story. Mr. Lawrence was alone and
net within reach of DIR. Clark.
"Oh. about those Kekoskee bullheads ?"
said he. Yes, that was great time. The
widow Schneider, out here a mile on the
road, counted 900 wagQn-loads Of Dpllheads
go by in one morning. A dog could run
across the open hole on the backs of the fish.
Julius Cornell fell off the Ice and couldn't
get into the water for the fish. The farmers
fed bullheads to their hogs, aud one fellow
here in town, name of Brush, kept his horse
all winter on bulheads He had them
stacked up out in the yard. The horses
name Is Santa Ana. Want to see him?
Come along with me and I'll show him to
you. good many people don't believe
this story. but I'll show you the horse"