The Washington times., 1901-09-01
TALES OF OSHKOSH.
The wisconsin Town Advertised All
Over the World.


| Oshkosh, Wis, is one OF the most ad-
vertised places in the world. There are
other peculiarly persistent names. like
Kalamazoo or Sing Sing, which make
themselves conspicuous. but no one OF
them is so absolutely unique and unfor-
gettable as Oshkosh" Those two short
harsh syilables carry such suggestions of
| barbarism in their very sound that they
have attracted to themselves like mag
net most OF the weird tales of Western
| uncouthness and savagery that newspaper
jokers and vaudeville performers have in
vented. The result is that a great many
people to this day think that the name is
| a pure invention, and that no such place
exists, although a glance at the map of
| Wisconsin ought to disprove that impress
sion.
There is a local myth about the manner
in which so curious a name was given to
the town that is too characteristic of the
| place to be passed over. They say that
| the city fathers had a meeting in the pub
| lie tavern, that being the only available
hall. to decide upon a name. AS each man
| came in out of the bitter cold he drained
| off glass of the favorite drink of the re-
| giou at that time. hot Scotch" Before
| long the whole company began to call out
| for ~ glass around every time a newcomer
arrived, with the natural result that the
| business of the assembly did not get on
very fast. At last in walked the mayor.
who was also the Methodist parson, cry
| ing out: We'll, boys, what name have
you decided upon?" Whereupon the whole
company responded with one voice:
"Hosh Skosh! HOsh Skoshl''
The first settlers gave their town the de-
ti,rI,f full friay -fafa
About twenty miles farther SOUTH at the
bottom of Lake Winnebago, was the rival
settlement of Fond du Lac. whose French
name and former association with
French traders and missionaries gave it a
real advantage in drawing the trade of
the Indians The shrewd Yankees OF Ath-
ems determined to Offset that advantage
by an appeal to Indian vanity. At
great pow-wow of whites and redskins il
was proposed and formally voted that the
settlement should named in honor of
the great Oshkosh. chief of the Winneba-
gos.
From that time Oshkosh rapidly out
stripped its older neighbor. In so doing it
naturally drew upon itself the envy of the
citizens of Fond du Lac, who have ever
since been bitter against their stronger
rival. 1t was the imaginative editor of a
Fond du Lac paper who first drew atten-
ton to the possibilities i'll the word "Osh-
kosh." and who first started many of the
wild tales about that city. This editor
once solemnly asserted in his paper that a
Methodist minister, riding into Oshkosh
one Sunday morning, met one cf his par
ishoners coming out with his clothes torn.
his hat gone, his arm in sling. his nose !
smashed in, and part of one ear bitten
out
What's the troubIe?" asked the min |
lister.
''Oh. just been over to Oshkosh havin |
some fun with the boys"
why. my dear fellow, what will Your |
wife say when she sees your? |
Say, parson.' said the fellow. in n con- |
fidential whisper. he pulled out of his |
pockets part of finger and various ether |
bloody pieces of human anatomy. what |
do you s'pose this felIers wife Will say |
when she sees him."
That yarn was reprinted everywhere, |
and made Oshkosh widely known as the |
place to go to Ito have some fun with the |
boys" To this day. whenever a Fond du |
Lao man sees the story he smiles broadly |
and thinks his beloved town is being |
avenged 1t is no wonder that such tales
make people refuse to believe that there
is any such city.-New York Times