Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1909-02-24
THE OLD MILITARY TRAIL.
1t is a Feature in the Proposed State
Park on the Glenn Farm.

tention when it shall be made a park,
is the old military trail. 1t p assesses
historic value that appeals to all the
people, while the matter of archaeology,
botany and geology attract mostly
students.
This old road is the one over which
early settlers bound for Iowa and
Minnesota went to the Mississippi
river. At the western terminus of
the trail was ferry by which the
would-be settlers were carried over
the river to the then great unknown
west. On the east it connected with
all the roads in Grant and the
counties to the east, and each of them
was a feeder for the old Military
trail. It was cut out of the face of
the Wisconsin river bluff, in plac es
having romantic position. 1t enters
the park tract at Walnut Eddy, a
historic place where once was a
riverman' rendezvous. Here it was
the custom of the raftsmen to tie up
their floats, get on their regular tear
and arrange for the trip down the
Mississippi. In many cases they had
to Iearrange their RATS to accom-
modate the changed conditions of cur
rent and channel.
In the early annals of this section,
yes, in the rafting history of the Wis
consin and Mississippi rivers, the story
of Walnut Eddy cannot be overlooked.
1t never was . town, as was Boyd
town and Georgetown, but it was a
very important station by reason Of
it's being the place where RATS were
overhauled and re-arranged. Rats
stayed there a longer time than at any
other station on the streams. The
old tavern was long ago removed and
it is matter of common knowledge
in that section that when the build
ing was RACED a skeleton of a human
being was found in ghe debris. In
its time it was a wild and woody
place. The location of the old tavern
is certainly weird and uncanny one.
just such place as one would select
in a search for skeleton.
From this old tavern site and its
garden lot, the Military trail takes to
the bluffs front East of there it
comes down to the river in two roads.
The Walnut Eddy tavern site is only
a few feet above high water in the
Wisconsin, and for a time the trail
runs over small foothills. But even
there it bears the mark of antiquity,
as we measure things ancient in
America. A good part of the way it
is cut out of the solid sandstone, in
places presenting an adventurous
drive with a hundred feet or more of
precipitous bluff below. From Wal
nut Eddy to the Mississippi is a dis
lance of about three miles, and we
have never seen in Wisconsin such
wild and beautiful drive. The
timber along this road is varied in
the extreme. Soft maple, ash, elm,
blackberry, hard maple, pine, cedar,
birch and a score of other varieties
make a varied flora. Then in the
spring season there are all the wild
flowers found in this latitude 1t
will early become the mecca for
botanists, for those wooded bluffs are
infinitely rich in native flowers. The
point about that is, the forests are
today as VIRGIN as they were before
the foot of white man trod them.
Over this old Military trail thou
sands of settlers passed on their way
to the great west They drove up
and down the little hills over which
the rail makes it's way, under the
dropping trees through the tangled
underbrush and vines However
practical they were, they could not
have been unconscious of the beauty
of the towering bluffs, the nature
pencilled rocks above, the stretch of
river and tree-studded bottoms. the
twist and wind of the road, the songs
of the birds in the trees above their
heads. 1t is a drive to be remember
ed lifetime Winter was on when
we made the circuit of the trail, but
it was a drive of marvellous beauty
and enhancing lnteree -Boscobel
Dial Enterprise.
a Disappointment.
"Have you done anything to popu-
lalize yourself?" EYES," answered the
youthful politician, but in vain.
can't get the public to call me by my
first name or make fun of my fancy
waistcoats."
Treatment of Guests.