Historic Hayward and Sawyer County Sketches

By Patricia Lacey

History can really be a lot of fun. Especially when Author Patricia Lacey combines both her love of history with her love of muskie fishing. The book contains sketches about wardens, gangsters, and muskie fishermen coupled with a chronology of the historic eras that effect the way we live in Sawyer County today. The sketches found in this book touch upon impactful events, from the arrival of the Ojibwe Indians, the logging era and how the landscape was drastically changed, the building of the Chippewa Flowage and how Resort Era tourism saved the day.

The sketches on gangsters demonstrates how Chicago’s gangsters loved to come to Sawyer County to rest, recreate and fish, taking a break from bootlegging, prostitution and gambling. However, they still broke the law, fishing and hunting illegally which required game wardens to protect both fish and game. Even a legendary crime that was brutally carried out in Chicago, was hatched right here in Sawyer County.

Finally, the muskie fishing angle, after all Hayward, Wisconsin is the muskie capital of the world. More world record muskies have been caught here in our lakes than anywhere else in North America. Through her sketches, Patricia introduces us to three muskie legends, highlighting their lives, exploits and catches.

The closing chapter is a sketch about the Mighty Muskie. The fish of 10,000 casts! The story of this behemoth lurking beneath the water will leave you with a greater understanding about why a 143 foot long muskie monument was built in Hayward. The book is a fun read and may lead you to discover something new about the history of Hayward and Sawyer County.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Feb 21, 2023
• ISBN: 9781669867609

Patricia Lacey

Author Patricia Lacey has always been interested in American history, which is what motivated her to become a National Register Nomination consultant in 2000 authoring over forty successful listings, including one in Sawyer County. Her other passion is fishing. Muskie fishing is what brought Patricia and her husband, Michael, to Sawyer County. When Michael retired in 2016, they purchased a home next to their favorite fishing hole, the Chippewa Flowage. Having a passion for history and fishing, it seemed only logical to incorporate both into a book, which is collection of historical sketches from Sawyer County

Book preview

Copyright © 2023 by Patricia Lacey. 850482

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Xlibris

844-714-8691

www.Xlibris.com

Rev. date: 02/21/2023

Dedication

I am dedicating this book to my father, Martin Greenwald, who shared his love of fishing with me so many years ago. Thanks, Dad!

Chronology of Sketches

In the Beginning

Who Lived in These Forests?

The Arrival of the Ojibwe

Treaties Changed Life for the Ojibwe

The Logging Boom, Then Bust, Then What?

First a Dam Then a Huge Body of Water: The Infamous Chippewa Flowage

The Resort Era

Moody’s Camp

Treeland Resort

Indian Trail Resort

Gangsters, Wardens, and Muskies

Gangster Joe Saltis

Gangster Al Capone

Louis Spray and Gangster Joe Aiuppa

The Burmek Brothers

The Mighty Muskellunge

In the Beginning

Ten thousand years ago, when the glaciers receded from northern Wisconsin, the surface of earth was left with kettle depressions and ridges. The rolling low-rounded hills displayed end and ground moraines with some pitted outwash and bedrock-controlled areas. The retreating glaciers gouged out clear lakes, and the melting ice formed fast-moving rivers. A thick mantle of sandy loam soil (Kennan soil)¹ was deposited over a layer of existing bedrock. Somewhat poor in nutrients and prone to drought, this soil was the perfect environment for the growth of the mighty pine.

Many years later, prior to the great westward migration, the northern mesic forests covered a massive area. Richard Louis Griffin reminisced in 1930 about his first view of the forests of northern Wisconsin and Minnesota in 1890. Griffin spoke of what he saw from atop a hill and the impact that it had upon him: One of the grandest sights I ever looked upon was in view, a veritable ocean of pine. One could see for miles and miles in nearly every direction over the tops of the tall waving forests of virgin pine and a variety of other trees. I will never forget that sight or the impression it left upon my mind as I stood there, gazing upon this wonderful forest. Inexhaustible, enough to last for ages as I thought at that time, yet within the course of a very few years, this great forest was laid bare.²

The Northern Forest contained large white pine, red pine, hemlock, and hardwoods in a high-density, closed forests. Malcolm Rosholt spoke in his 1982 book, Lumbermen on the Chippewa, of historic photos showing pine trees standing one up against the other, so thick that no daylight could penetrate between them.³

Who Lived in These Forests?

The Paleo-Indians were the first inhabitants of northern Wisconsin (8500 BC–4000 BC). Their habitation was widespread throughout America at the end of the last glacial period. They migrated from Siberia to Alaska approximately 17,000 years ago, filtering south over the North American continent.⁴ They utilized stone and bone tools and produced chipped stone points (arrowheads). Archeological sites discovered in Wisconsin show that the Paleo-Indians hunted the mastodon for food with primitive bone tools.⁵

The archaic period, from 4000 BC to 1000 BC, saw the disappearance of the wooly mammoth and the mastodon. The loss of this important food source required the Wisconsin Indian to embrace a new way of life. They began living in larger groups, and although they maintained their hunter-gatherer lifestyle, they became less nomadic and began to cultivate plants (corn) in order to supplement their food supply. The use of stone and bone tools continued, but they began to fashion projectile points, knives, fishhooks, and harpoons out of float copper (deposits of float copper were found on the surface of the soil).⁶ The copper was melted and poured into primitive molds and then finished by hand. They also wove baskets and nets out of natural materials.

The Woodland period, from 1000 BC to AD 1500, saw the continuation of hunter-gathering as well as the cultivation of crops. Due to the cultivation of corn, beans, and squash, the Woodland Indians were not as mobile as their predecessors. The Woodland Indians lived in well-defined structures and settlements and created a social and political structure. This period saw the introduction of pottery vessels, leather crafting, textile manufacturing, gill nets, and the bow and arrow. An expansive trading network was developed between tribes.⁷ Late in the Woodland period, the Indians began complex ceremonies surrounding death and burials. They began building ceremonial effigy mounds, many in the shape of animals. Most mounds functioned for religious purposes, although some were used for burials.⁸

The Arrival of the Ojibwe

⁹

Centuries before Columbus discovered America in the fifteenth century, the fierce Iroquois Indian tribes, located on the east coast, drove their enemy, the Sioux Indians, westward. The Iroquois were motivated by the struggle for natural resources. The Sioux tribes of the Winnebago and Dakota eventually settled in Wisconsin where game, fish, and wild rice were plentiful. The Winnebago settled in the eastern region along the west shore of Lake Michigan and the Dakotas settled in the Chippewa River Valley. Both tribes flourished in Wisconsin relatively undisturbed for four hundred years.¹⁰

In the early 1500s, the Neshabek people, who were located at the mouth of the St. Lawrence River in southern Canada, were experiencing the same pressure from the Iroquois Indians. They, too, chose to migrate westward. Traveling up the St. Lawrence River along the shores of Lake Huron and Lake Erie, they arrived in Sault Ste. Marie where they split into three groups: Ojibwe, Odawa (Ottawa), and Bodewadmi (Potawatomi). These closely related peoples were known as the Council of the Three Fires.¹¹ The Ojibwe and Ottawa Indians continued their journey along the shore of Lake Superior, settling in the area of La Pointe, Wisconsin, near Ashland.¹²

For one hundred years, the tribes hunted and fished in northern Wisconsin. However, due to their dependence on nature (the Great Spirit) to provide food, they utilized a seasonal cycle of food gathering. In spring, the tribe would convene in maple stands. A maple tree was struck with an axe and thin sap then flowed into birchbark baskets. From here, the sap was deposited into larger vessels, and hot rocks were dropped in to bring the liquid to a boil. The Ojibwe cooked the sap until it was very dark and thick. When eaten, the moist, solid maple sugar (sissibakwud) was used to flavor soups and stews. It was also used to create a sweet drink.¹³ As the waters of the many lakes began to warm in spring, walleyes arrived in the shallows to spawn. Easily taken with a spear, the fish provided a high protein diet for several months. Every fall, the tribe would pilgrimage south to the wild rice fields of the upper Courte Oreilles watershed. Here they gathered the wild rice by knocking the seeds off the overhanging plants into the bottom of birch bark canoes. They would remain in the area of Lac Courte Oreilles for the winter where they hunted deer, moose, and elk for meat and clothing. Fur-bearing animals were trapped, and their pelts were used for trading with other tribes and French fur trappers for supplies needed by the tribe.

In early spring, the tribe would return to their Lake Superior encampments. These excursions came with the threats of attacks from Sioux (Dakota) war parties, so a permanent camp was never established in the Lac Courte Oreille area. The control of the Lac Courte Oreilles wild rice fields as well as the wild game located in the area was a valid reason for warfare between these two opposing tribes.¹⁴

According to an inspiring story passed down by the Ojibwe, while on one of these excursions in 1740, a small child died. The child’s family was part of a hunting party that was camped on the shores of Lac Court Oreilles. The child was buried by the lake and his broken-hearted parents returned with the hunting party to Lake Superior. The devastated parents came back the next summer to be with their child. Unable to tear themselves away again, they built a home in the woods near the grave site. One would have thought that they would have been vulnerable to a raiding Dakota war party. The Dakotas allowed the parents to remain unmolested, respecting their grief.¹⁵

Over time, more and more Ojibwe families chose to remain by the shores of Lac Courte Oreilles. Great battles ensued for a hundred years between the Ojibwe Indians and the Sioux (Dakota) Indians before the Dakota tribes were driven west of the Mississippi River.

During this period, opposing Dakota and Ojibwe tribal parties inadvertently stumbled upon one another. The young braves welcomed the opportunity to exhibit bravery while engaging in battle. One such story exists about a small Ojibwe raiding party of about twenty-three braves led by one chief. While traveling alongside the Chippewa River, the party stumbled upon a band of Dakota Indians. Not knowing how many braves were in the party, they edged closer and peered through the brush. Much to their dismay, they saw two hundred Dakota Indians in the band and realized that they were hopelessly out numbered.

Unfortunately, the opportunity to engage the Dakota and take back home a tale of bravery was much too overwhelming for these young braves. They fired a volley of shots into the group, killing three or four of the Dakotas. The Ojibwe braves quickly turned and fled on foot. Their chief had a hard time keeping pace, so the party kept stopping to allow him to catch up. Concerned his whole party would be slaughtered, the brave chief insisted that they leave him behind.

When the enraged Dakotas caught up to the Ojibwe chief, they found him sitting on a hummock in a meadow. He was smiling and calmly smoking