Baraboo, Dells, and Devil's Lake Region Part 5

Artist's Glen, on the right, is one of the most beautiful retreats of the Dells.

Sliding Rocks, at the edge of the water, are so named from their peculiar formation, apparently sliding inward and throwing the water to the center of the stream.

The Ancient River Bed is seen on the left. In an early day a portion of the river flowed through the now deserted channel, entering the main stream near the Dell House site and forming an island.

Coldwater Canyon is one of the grand features of the Dells. This is a rocky defile with frowning crags and perpendicular walls.

The Devil's Jug, thirty-five feet across at the bottom and seventy feet high, is a never-ending wonder.

The Devil's Arm Chair is submerged.

The Clam Banks are just above, a place in name only.

The Ruffle Rocks adorn the side of the stream.

Chameleon Cave, with beautiful changing mosses, is near Steamboat Rock.

Steamboat Rock, without smoke-stack and wheel-house, challenges attention.

Roods' Glen is on the right.

Honey Bee Spring is submerged.

Arch Cove gives a view of the river above.

Witches' Gulch is of rare interest and extends for three-quarters of a mile from the sh.o.r.e.

Above Witches' Gulch are the Hornets' Nest, Luncheon Hall, Stand Rock, Demon's Anvil, Louis Bluff and Elephant Back. All around is a panorama of beauty.

Jefferson Davis at Dells

In pioneer times, before the day of the tourist, with each returning vernal season a procession of rafts pa.s.sed through the Dells. There was no dam below in those days and the surging waters carried more than one raft to destruction and more than one raftsman to his doom. Among the first timbers to be floated through the gorge was lumber for the building of Fort Winnebago at Portage, cut on the Yellow River by Jefferson Davis and a detail of soldiers. It is said the future president of the Southern Confederacy rode one of the rafts through the surging waters to its destination many miles below.

Other Attractions

Besides the Dells there are other places of interest at beautiful Kilbourn.

The hydro-electric dam and power station is within easy walking distance of the boat landing.

There is a small museum in the library building, which is situated a short distance east of the business section of the village.

One block east of the library and one block to the right a number of deer may be seen in a park owned by J. Wirtz.

Miss Anna Kriegel, taxidermist, has a collection of birds of the region. Her home is a short distance north of the fairground.

Taylor Glen and Tunnel, Rocky Arbor, and Indian Cavern are within easy reach.

In the Kilbourn State Bank may be seen a collection of Indian relics, the property of L. N. Coapman, the cas.h.i.+er.

Grave of Rebel Spy

The grave of Belle Boyd, the noted Rebel spy, is in the Kilbourn Cemetery, her resting place being south of the center and near the Maybee monument. She was born in Martinsburg, West Virginia, in 1846.

When a girl she heard the federal troops were threatening her "beloved south" and galloped at night to Stonewall Jackson to convey to him the news. Soon after she was captured and taken to Was.h.i.+ngton where she became a favorite through her charming manners. After being in prison for a time, she was exchanged for Colonel Michael Cochoran of the Irish Brigade.

Not long after her boldness brought her into the custody of the federal troops again and this time she was ordered to be shot, but was banished. Once more she was captured, once more ordered shot, and once more ordered banished by President Lincoln. Then she went to London where she married Lieutenant Harding who had once caused her capture, creating an international sensation. After his death she married again and after the demise of her second husband wedded Mr. High at Detroit.

While with a theatrical company in Kilbourn in 1900, death unexpectedly came and now with each returning Memorial Day flowers are placed upon her tomb by Northerners--those whom she risked her life to oppose.

Indian Mounds

About three miles southeast of Kilbourn where the highway crosses the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad tracks, there are a number of Indian mounds. The first of these, the Crossing Group, consists of six conical mounds on an elevation near the road at the river crossing.

Across the creek to the south and near the highway is a conical mound and along the river bank, quite close to it, other mounds may be seen, the last holding a commanding view on the high bank. The cultivated land between the farm house and railroad track shows evidences of having been a village site.

Rattlesnake Rock is a high crag on the left.

In the woods east of the Crossing Group are fifteen earthworks, two effigy, three linear, and ten oval or burial mounds. These are known as the Gale Group, for Miss Hattie Gale of Kilbourn.

Partly in a cultivated field and partly in the woods to the northeast may be seen the Bennett Group, named for the late H. H. Bennett of Kilbourn. He it was who made the Dells widely known through his wonderful photography. Of these Indian memorial the most striking mound in the group is a bird (north side of the woods) having a wing spread of 295 feet.

Between the Crossing Group and Kilbourn are two mounds on the Ole h.e.l.le place.

Murder In the Highway

Early one morning in the autumn of 1869, the body of Schuyler S. Gates was found under the trees by the side of the highway, about forty rods from where the Lyndon road leaves the highway leading to Baraboo, less than a mile southeast of the railroad structure over the river at Kilbourn. The spot is just east of the bridge which spans the little creek flowing through the valley into the Wisconsin below the dam. The killing of Gates was laid at the door of Pat Wildrick, a notorious desperado of the neighborhood, then confined in jail. His pal, Perry Richardson, twenty-seven years afterward, was arrested for the shooting of Gates, but he was not tried because there were no witnesses to appear against him. Not long after the cruel murder of Gates, while Wildrick was confined in the jail at Portage, a band of men one night gained entrance by a ruse and the next morning, as expressed by J. C.

(Shanghai) Chandler, the prisoner was hanging from a tree in such a way that he could not wipe his nose.

CHAPTER V

Lower Dells--Site of a Deserted Village--Indian Earthwork--Where They Danced--Woodland Walk

Not so picturesque as the Upper Dells, nevertheless interesting, the Lower Dells extend two or three miles below the hydro-electric plant at Kilbourn. The river is broader and the rocks have been cut away to a greater extent, leaving them hollowed and worn into many shapes. The most fantastic forms are far down the stream. The Lower Dells may be visited by boat or may be carefully examined by walking along the sh.o.r.e in the vicinity of the deserted village of Newport.

In the order of their appearance, the objects of interest are met, as one descends the river, as follows:

Echo Point is where Taylor's Glen is crossed by the railroad and, standing at the mouth of the tunnel, one may hear his voice come back as a boomerang out of s.p.a.ce.

Bear's Cave is a recess a little lower on the same side of the river.

Chimney Rock much resembles the one in the Upper Dells, except for size, and is located just below Bear's Cave.