Prairie Works

Henry David Thoreau

The list of historical figures that have passed through Galena, Illinois is rather impressive. Former Presidents Ulysses S. Grant, Abraham Lincoln & Theodore Roosevelt, Mark Twain, Susan B. Anthony, Herman Melville, and Tom Thumb, just to name a few. One person that is not often mentioned, but is held in very high esteem worldwide, is Henry David Thoreau. He visited Galena in May of 1861.

Henry David Thoreau was an author, poet, naturalist, tax resister, surveyor, philosopher, and transcendentalist. He is best known for his book Walden, which has become an American classic, and his essay Civil Disobedience later influenced the efforts of Ghandi and Martin Luther King Jr. His westward trip during Spring of 1861 is important to the natural history of the Galena area and offers us an important snapshot of time from one of the world’s great thinkers.

In the spring of 1861 Thoreau was in bad health and his physician advised that he he leave Concord, Massachusetts for a different climate in hopes of recovering. A trip to Minnesota was decided as Thoreau had never been to the West and could document the quickly changing frontier. It was decided that 17-year-old Horace Mann, Jr. would accompany Thoreau and the pair left Massachusetts on May 11, 1861. They would travel through Niagra Falls, Detroit, and arrive in Chicago on May 21, where they stayed for two days. Thoreau noted in his journal that Chicago was “14 feet above the lake.”

They decided to meet a riverboat on the Mississippi River at Dunleith (now East Dubuque, IL) rather than Fulton, IL. They left Chicago on the Chicago & Northwestern train line on May 23, traveling through northern Illinois. Thoreau noted in his journal:

“Greatest rolling prairie without trees just beyond Winnebago. Last 40 miles in NW of Ill. quite hilly. Mississippi backwater in Galena River 8 miles back. Water high now flooded thin woods and more open water behind…Much pink flowered apple like tree (thorn like) thro Illinois which may be the Pyrus coronaria.”

The plant mentioned here, Pyrus coronaria, is known today as Malus coronaria, Sweet Crabapple. There are no recordings of this tree existing in Jo Daviess County today, but it might have then. Today, this species is scattered throughout the Eastern Midwest and New England. It is more likely the apple-like tree Thoreau saw was Malus ioensis, Prairie Crabapple. This species also has pink flowers that bloom in May and June, but is more widely distributed in Northern Illinois and does not exist in New England. It is also interesting to notice his description of rather treeless terrain and “thin woods” in the floodplains. This is widely assumed by restoration ecologists, however not generally accepted by the public majority. Thoreau continues:

“Distances on prairie deceptive – a stack of wheat straw looks like a hill on the horizon 1/4 or 1/2 mile off – it stands out so bold and high. Small houses – with out barns surrounded and overshadowed by great stacks of wheat straw. Some wood always visible – but not generally large. The inhabitants remind you of mice nesting in a wheat stack – midst their wealth. Women working in fields quite commonly. Fences of narrow boards. Towns are as it were stations on a RR.”

This is a very interesting take on the former landscape and opens up the reader’s imagination. Again, the observation of few trees is mentioned. His description of the wheat stacks come into perspective when he writes: mice nesting in a wheat stack – midst their wealth. Wheat was an expensive commodity at this time. These towns that he passed, as it were stations on a railroad, leads me to think of Scales Mound, Apple River, Council Hill Station and the others along the Chicago & Northwestern line. Were these small houses – without barns a description of miner’s cottages?

Only one boat up daily from Dunleith by this line – in no case allowed to stop on the way. Staphylea trifolia out at Dunleith.

This is Thoreau’s final journal inclusion before he sees the Mississippi River for the first time in his life and rides it North to Prairie DuChein, WI. The mention of Staphylea trifolia is American Bladdernut and is seemingly accurately identified. This shrub remains common in this area today.

Thoreau boarded a steamboat at East Dubuque (Dunleith), which brought him to St. Paul, MN on May 26. The Desoto House  Hotel in Galena has no record of him staying there at this time, so his lodging remains a question.

Thoreau and his traveling partner stayed a month in St. Paul, studying the natural areas of the west. The journey home brought  them to Milwaukee, Mackinac Island, Toronto, finally arriving home in Concord, MA. on July 10, 1961. Henry David Thoreau was never able to fully recover and died less than a year later on May 6, 1862. A book about this western journey was unfinished but the journal writings remain.

Please join me in campaigning for the awareness that Henry David Thoreau passed through Galena.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_David_Thoreau  Biography

http://www.walden.org/ The Walden Woods Project

http://thoreau.eserver.org/ A collection of his writings

Invasive & Weedy Species Management 101 Workshops Scheduled

Galena, IL: Prairie Works Inc., the source for ecological and landscape services in northwest Illinois, is pleased to announce that it will be hosting a series of workshops on invasive and weedy species management in cooperation with the Jo Daviess Conservation Foundation (JDCF).  The series is designed to provide education about the types and eradication of invasive and weedy species that inhabit our area, especially to individuals interested in volunteering to maintain JDCF’s public use sites. Anyone wishing to donate 10 hours of volunteer work to JDCF over the next year can attend the series at no charge.  Others are welcome at a cost of $40.00/person.

The first session will be held at 2 pm August 22^nd at the Galena Adventure Center located next to Fever River Outfitters just before the floodgates in downtown Galena.  It will be a class room setting featuring a presentation by Cory Ritterbusch of Prairie Works on invasive species management.  The following sessions will be held outdoors over the course of several months led by expert staff from both Prairie Works and JDCF.  Participants will get hands on training in dealing with a variety of species such as thistles, reed canary grass, sweet clover, garlic mustard, and poison parsnip.  A winter session will focus on tree species and forest management.  Please reserve your spot by August 14^th to the JDFC office at (815) 858-9100 or info@jdcf.org.

In a previous post, I had explained the importance historic aerial photographs serve when approaching a land restoration project. Another very important tool is analyzing the original surveyors notes from when our counties, townships and section lines were established during pioneer settlement. This occurred in this area during the 1830′s.  As the surveyors were dividing the land into checkerboard plots, they were required to note observations  of the land along the way. This typically included the type of terrain, trees types, undergrowth, indian activity and any signs of homesteading. They also provided a hand drawn sketch of each township showing waterways, areas of timber, prairie, swamps, etc. Today this is extremely interesting to study and is the oldest snapshot of the land that we have.

A portion of the present 'Galena Territory'

Here in Northwest Illinois and Southwest Wisconsin the survey was performed earlier than other areas, as a result of the lead rush that occurred in the late 1820′s. The Federal Land Survey office moved from Cincinnati to Dubuque, IA in 1839 probably due to this population boom. Today when we analyze these descriptions we see the beginning of settlement.

Ecologist can follow these descriptions and compare to modern maps to determine the past vegetation and make more detailed assumptions of what would have existed. Sometimes a young Oak tree that was described in the notes, is an old Oak tree today. Finding these is a very fun experience. 

Here are some excerpts from the notes:

Surveyors sketch of Shullsburg Township

Surveyors Description of Shullsburg Township

This township description is from Shullsburg Township as observed by famed surveyour Lucius Lyon in March of 1833. It reads: 

“The afore described township, embracing as it does, some of the oldest wrought and richest mines in the country, is generally rolling, first rate land, about half prairie and half thinly timbered with oak, with an undergrowth of hazel. Within its limits are three different settlements or towns, viz — ‘Shullsburg’ in Sections 3 & 10, ‘Gratiots Grove’ in Sections 22 and 23, and ‘White Oak Springs’ in Section 32 each of which settlements now contain about five or six families, but the two former, in the most prosperous days of the mining business, have heretofore at one time, contained not less than 40 families each. Besides these settlements, there are several farms located in different parts of the township. The mines which have heretofore been very productive are situated principally on sections 2, 3, 10, 11 and 14 but are now many abandoned as they are thought to be not worth working.”

Thankfully, Lucius Lyons was one of the most descriptive surveyors of the time. Now lets analyze Lyons description:

First, he confirms what local historians have known. Shullsburg Township was the early epicenter of lead mining in the area since Jesse Shull discovered lead ten years earlier, so scattered and abandoned mines would be expected in 1833. He goes on to write, that the land is “about half prairie and half thinly timbered with Oaks.” Ecologist now call this an Oak Savanna.  He continues to write “with an undergrowth of hazel.” This would be the shrub, Hazelnut (Corylus americana), a shrub which is commonly associated with both savanna and prairie ecosystems. He goes on to explain the three towns of Shullsburg Township and lastly the abandonment of mines, which we now know that moved towards Galena. 

Along with generalized descriptions of the township. The notes also contain detailed descriptions of the land as the surveyors traversed section lines from North to South and East to West. Each section corner included the number of feet and direction to the nearest trees.  Here is an example of the section line near my house:

North Between Sections 10 & 11

20.oo    to diggins

30.50    to a wagon road leading NW

40.00   set a White Oak post & Raised a mound of earth at that section corner

55.oo     left prairie & entered brush and scattered timber

76.50    to a creek (illegible writing) West

80.00    set a Bur Oak post for corner to sections 2 & 3 & 10 & 11

                 { Black Oak South 29 East 39 

                 { Bur Oak North 47 1/2 West 97

Land  rolling  &  first  rate (illegible writing) prairie  and  brushy  with  some  scattering  bur  &  black  oak  timber

Today, I can look at historical and modern maps and determine exactly where these descriptions are located. I can also drive a good portion of this. Our sections lines have not changed since this original surveys. Over the years historians and ecologists  have utilized these field notes for a variety of purposes. In the late 1940′s and early 1950′s geographers plotted 19th-century tree cover in Wisconsin using information from these field notes. The resulting map “Original Vegetation of Wisconsin” has become a classic research tool itself. Local historians, too, may find information found in the surveyors’ field notes especially useful in helping to understand the 19th-century landscape and patterns of early settlement.

When Lucius Lyon finished a page for the exterior survey of Township 9 North, Range 1 East and 1 West he wrote:

"Land hilly, with sand stones ledges 3rd rate, mostly B. Oak. W. Oak. U.G. of Oaks, May 3, 1839 "froze water this night"

What a grueling  job this must have been and what interesting notes to examine today. I hope you find this information as interesting as I do. 

http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/SurveyNotes/  Wisconsins highly detailed site

http://landplats.ilsos.net/ Illinois (Township Plats Only)

Recently, a bobcat was sighted within the city limits of Galena, ILL. This serves as a reflection of the status of the bobcat population regionwide. The last two decades has seen a surge in the population, especially in Northwest Illinois and adjacent Iowa.

The Bobat (Lynx rufus) was once a contemporary of bison, elk, and wolves in the wild pre-settlement times. The changing of the landscape to agriculture and bounty killings in the 1800s led to plummeting populations. High pelt prices, indiscriminate killing and little government protection in the 1900s continued this trend. In the 1980s the Bobcat was thought to be absent from the agricultural Midwest. During the late 1970s Illinois and Iowa placed the Bobcat on their lists of state-threatened species. During the 1990s sightings became more common and by 1996 92 of Illinois’ 102 counties had at least one reported sighting. The Bobcat was removed from the threatened species list in Illinois in 1999 and from Iowa’s in 2003. Iowa is currently conducting its first Bobcat trapping season this fall in over three decades. Wisconsin, always having a stable population in the Northern half of the state, is now experiencing common sightings in the Southern half.

Why is this happening? There are several reasons. First, popularity of trapping and pelting has decreased as has the pelt price for Bobcat. The average pelt price in 1982 was $70.67 in 2003 that price had dropped to $67.23. That has left little encouragement for the trapper. Secondly, several states banned the sport including Illinois, Iowa and Indiana allowing the population to rebound. Third, the threat of Bobcats to farmers has decreased as farms have become less diverse. Fourth, land use has changed as more goverment programs are available to create wildlife habitat and more recreation grounds are purchased.  Therefore, the Bobcat can increase its range.

The driftless area offers great habitat for Bobcats. Its steep ravines with small caves offer excellent den opportunities and shelter. Early winter offers the best time to see and hear Bobcats. The males begin to squall and yowl to gain attention of passing females during the night during upcoming mating season. With open woods and a cover of snow one must keep their eyes peeled to catch a glimpse of the wild cat of the Midwest.

 http://dnr.state.il.us/orc/wildlife/furbearers/bobcat.htm Illinois DNR Description

http://www.iowadnr.com/wildlife/files/bobcat.html Iowa DNR Description