BICYCLE TRIP to the WISCONSIN DELLS, 1942: Discovering My Parents’ Past

Postcards of Devils Lake State Park, Wisconsin, 1942.

Still going strong, Biked 40 miles yesterday and stayed at Okee last night on the Wisconsin River. Got to Devils Lake this morning and we are about to go hiking now. We’re staying at Ski-Hi Farm tonight and go to the Dells tomorrow. We’ll be back in Madison Sat. night and back to Kenosha Sun night. (Postcard from my father, Les Scheaffer to his parents in Kenosha, Wisconsin, August 1942.)

Kay and Les Scheaffer, about 1940.

In August of 1942, my parents, Les and Kay Scheaffer, than graduate students in the School of Social Work at the University of Pittsburgh, had several weeks of vacation at the end of the summer before classes began. (I was not yet born.) After visiting family in Chicago and Kenosha, Wisconsin, they took a bus to Madison to begin a four day cycling trip to the Wisconsin Dells.

Recently, in going through a box of old photos and mementos, I found their souvenirs of that trip—a map of Wisconsin, a booklet about the Dells of the Wisconsin River, a brochure and ticket stubs from the newly discovered Cave of the Mounds, their American Youth Hostel documents, postcards sent home with their reports of the trip, and a letter from Grace Sevringhams, a Youth Hostel representative in Madison with information about renting bicycles and planning the trip.

American Youth Hostel passes.

Traveling by bicycle and staying in Youth Hostels was the perfect budget vacation for my student parents. According to the Youth Hostel passbook, the overnight fee was 25 cents per person plus a fuel charge of 5 cents in summer and 10 cents in winter. There were also certain rules for behavior-- including no drinking or smoking and lights out by 10 pm. Hostels were managed by a house mother or house father, who signed the passbook at the end of each stay. My parents’ stayed four nights in hostels—in Madison, Blue Mounds, Okee, and Devils Lake—following an itinerary suggested by Grace Sevringhams in her letter.

She wrote: (1) Madison Hostel (2) Blue Mounds Cave of the Mounds, the Little Norway village with antiques, crafts products, etc. from Norway, and the Mounds Park with its spring water swimming pool, etc. The hostel is a mile from there, and the trail from Madison marked with white triangles. Tents by a spring-fed brook, or quarters in a stone, pine-paneled hostel await you. (The Madison committee rented this from a U.W. prof.) Wild and lovely. (3) Winfield Scott Hostel at Okee to climb Gibraltar Rock, row and fish on lake Wis, and visit with a dear house mother. (4)Cross by ferry and go to Devils Lake writing ahead to our discontinued hostel.  Mrs. Arthur  Bassett, Ski-Hi Farm, usually takes in hostelers who come by. (5) At Lake Deltib there are all sorts of tourist cabins, or at the Dells. Or write last year’s house mother and ask if she would take you in!

On the back of the letter, in my father’s handwriting, are notes of the expenses of one day—including 3 cents for postcards and 3 cents for stamps. A bottle of pop (soda) was 5 cents. Hotdogs, 20 cents. (All his life my father was an inveterate list maker and log keeper.)

Cave of the Mounds brochure.

After a night in Madison, their first stop on the trip was Cave of the Mounds, where they took a tour. Discovered in 1939, the cave consists of eight subterranean rooms filled with crystal wonders. Tickets were 44 cents. (40 cents plus 4 cents tax.) I remember visiting the cave fifteen years later on a family trip and learning how to distinguish a stalactite from a stalagmite. The stalactite must hang on “tight” from the ceiling, whereas the “mighty” stalagmite grows up from the floor of the cave.

Ticket stub for visit to Cave of the Mounds.

From Blue Mounds my parents rode to Okee.

We’re just starting out exploring here after lunch by the lakeside. Have had very nice places to stay- Rode 42 mi yesterday from Blue Mounds to Okee – My big sitter comes in handy. Les is saddle sore but I am not, yet! Good weather for biking but foggy today, though the sun is trying to come thru – Go to Dells tomorrow. (Postcard from my mother, Kay Scheaffer, to her parents in Chicago, August 1942.)

Note that my parents don’t agree on how far they rode. My father’s postcard (above) says the trip was 40 miles, whereas my mother’s says 42 miles--which goes to show that primary source material cannot always be relied upon for accuracy!

After spending the night in Okee, they went to Devils Lake State Park in Baraboo. On their fourth day they arrived at the Wisconsin Dells. My father’s expense list includes $3.65 for a boat trip—by far the most expensive item on the list. I’m guessing that this was a splurge, but the best way to appreciate the amazing rock formations along the cliffs filled with imaginative names like Alligator’s Head, Demon’s Anvil, Hornet’s Nest, Toadstool, Witch’s Gulch. Another item on the expense list is film—32 cents. Unfortunately, I have not found any photos they took on the trip. But they did buy a booklet filled with photos and information about the Dells, which they saved.  

Dells of the Wisconsin River booklet

The booklet about the Dells begins: The Wisconsin River in the south-central part of the state wears its way for seven and one-fifth miles through sandstone. Here the stream flows in a narrow and deep channel between steep rock walls. This water-worn canyon of fantastic rock formations is the Wisconsin Dells. Winnebago Indians named this place Neeh-a-ke-coonah-er-ah “where the rocks strike together.” Later, French trappers called it the Dalles, meaning flagstones in correct French, but in the Canadian-French of the voyageurs “a swift stream of water running between high banks.”

Postcards home. 

On their way back to Madison from the Dells, my parents stopped in Baraboo, Wisconsin, to mail their postcards home. The green one cent stamp pictures the Statue of Liberty and the words “Industry and Agriculture for Defense.” The postmark is dated August 29, 1942, 1 PM.  Although sent to family, the cards were apparently returned to them to keep with the mementos of their trip.

I remember my parents talking about their bicycle trip to the Dells when I was growing up. It sounded very exciting, but it was hard for me to imagine my parents as young people. Now, as I read their postcards and look at their souvenirs, I almost feel as if I were there too.

Dells of the Wisconsin River booklet, Pages 18-19

MADISON, WISCONSIN: The State Capitol and Monona Terrace

Capital building, Madison, Wisconsin

The last time I used the word “isthmus” was in fourth grade geography. Then I went to Madison, Wisconsin, where the local alternative weekly newspaper is called The Isthmus after the narrow strip of land between Lake Mendota and Lake Monona where the downtown is located. (Two other lakes, Lake Waubesa and Lake Kegonsa, make Madison the “City of Four Lakes.”) The trip was partly for work, but Art and I also had time to visit with relatives, who gave us a tour of the city.

Madison is a city of parks and lakes

We started with a drive around the lakes and to a nature center. It was March, so the leaves had not yet come out on the trees, but it was a beautiful sunny day. We then went to the University of Wisconsin campus for a visit to the Student Union and a brief stop at the Wisconsin Historical Society for a look at its impressive high-ceilinged reading room.

Wisconsin Historical Society

After lunch we went to the Capitol building, with its classic architecture and beautifully decorated dome.

Looking up at the dome of the capital building

On the second floor, we stopped to have our picture taken with the statue of Robert M. La Follette, a former governor of Wisconsin and United States Senator from 1906 to 1925.

On the second floor of the capital building, posing in front of the bust of Robert M. La Follette

Our final stop was at Monona Terrace, Madison’s large community and convention center overlooking Lake Monona.

Inside Monona Terrace

It opened in 1997 but was originally conceived by architect Frank Lloyd Wright nearly sixty years ago. Although it was not constructed until long after his death, it includes elements of his original design. I had forgotten Wright’s connection with Wisconsin. Madison is just 30 miles from Taliesen, in Spring Green, Wisconsin, which was Wright’s home and studio from 1928 to his death in 1959.

Pedro E. Guerrero's photographs documented Wright's public works and private life

When Frank Lloyd Wright was 72 he met a young photographer, Pedro E. Guerrero. Guerrero had a remarkable ability to catch light and space in his pictures, perfectly reflecting Wright’s Prairie style. Pedro, known to Wright as “Pete”, spent the next twenty years photographing both the works and life of the architect. A number of these are displayed inside Monona Terrace in a fascinating permanent exhibit.

Wright's Romeo and Juliet Windmill, Spring Green, Wisconsin, photograph by Pedro Guerrero. The windmill was designed by Wright in 1897 for his aunts Jane and Nell Lloyd James who ran the Hillside Home School. In 1940, Wright installed a speaker connected to a record player to broadcast Bach and Beethoven to the apprentices working outside.

Although our visit to Madison was short, it was particularly meaningful for me because of my Midwest roots. I grew up in Minnesota, but I spent my summers in northern Wisconsin at Camp Bovey near Solon Springs. This is where I learned to love nature and watching wild animals, topics I often write about in my books. As a child I also traveled every year to Kenosha, Wisconsin, on the shore of Lake Michigan, to visit my grandparents and cousins. Wisconsin has many memories for me. Now I have some new ones.