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Touch History
Mothers' Day Edition
May, 2012
Who's Next?

The Mississippi River Sculpture Park board is in the process of choosing the first statue to
start Phase II. We'll be considering a lot of factors including, of course, the input we received
from people who responded to our last newsletter.
The top vote getters included Aunt Mary Ann LaBuche, Fr. Jacques Marquette, Louis
Joliet, the Mound Builder, Fr. Samuel Mazzuchelli, and the British Redcoat who served in the
War of 1812.
The board will be considering other factors too. For instance, four of the five statues
already in the park, and three of the people on the list, lived during the 19th century. But one of
the purposes of the park is to emphasize the stretch of time that the history of the local area
encompasses. "People have been here for so long!" is the way Florence Bird puts it.
Then, of course, there are financial concerns. Which statue would draw the most interest
- from both contributors and members of the board who handle the fundraising? Would the most
attractive statue be the British soldier because 2014 will be the anniversary of the only battle he
would have fought in Prairie du Chien?
One of the first statues installed in the park was chosen from the list by a major donor.
That's always a possibility too.


10 Best Things to Do on Mothers' Day
#10. Phone home.
#9. Pay a visit
#8. Send flowers
#7 Take her to
Prairie du Chien and area antique shops
#6 Take her to an area garden center and choose plants for her
garden
#5 Take her to dinner
#4 Help her pick out a new outfit at an area clothing store
#3 Give her a gift certificate for something she's never done
before -- a massage, pedicure, or manicure. Or maybe a tattoo,
depending . . . .
#2 Take a stroll through the gardens on the island
#1 End up at

Show her the bricks around the corner from this wall, where -- thanks to you --
one will be installed in her honor. (To start the donation process, click on
mississippiriversculpturepark.com)
A Mother's Trip


Even though Indian paths and bark canoes had long since given way to riverboats and
steam locomotives, travel was still a grand adventure in the 1890's when women like the statue
park's Victorian Lady were exploring the world. In earlier days, Martha Brunson Bass, a new
mother from Prairie du Chien, had a much more difficult time. Her memoir is preserved in the
archives of the Minnesota Historical Society; the following excerpt is from a transcript provided
by the Chippewa Valley Museum in Eau Claire.
Mrs. Bass writes that her husband's mill "was ninety miles from the Mississippi where the
Chippewa [River] comes in at the foot of Lake Pepin and in the heart of Indian country, and
nothing but the mills and houses for the workmen to live in a store where they kept clothing,
tobacco, pipes and medicine and calicoes for the Indian women. There was quite a settlement of
half breeds nearby and some Indian traders, but no white families nearer than forty miles, so I
stayed with my baby [Edgar] at my mother's [in Prairie du Chien]. I did not expect father (her
husband, Jacob) down until the opening of the River in spring, but about the middle of February
he had a chance to come down with a trader. They had two sleds called trains with high stakes
on the sides to which Buffalo robes could be hung and make it very comfortable inside and
drawn by Indian ponies, and came on the [frozen] river, being the only way to get down in the
winter. As soon as he came I told my parents I was going back with him. At first they objected
very strongly, but I was determined and said if it was to be his home, and his business was there, I
should be there with him. They then said that if I could get a good experienced woman to go with
me they would consent.
My sister, Mrs. Burnett, had just such a woman living with her, who thought she would
like to go.... So in a week I left home and friends and went with husband and baby fifteen months
old (possibly less than a year - ed.) to a wilderness that you could hardly find now in the western
country. The first three days on the Mississippi River we found houses to sleep in, but when we
started up the Chippewa at the foot of Lake Pepin there was not a house until we reached the
mills and when night came we had to camp. Well, the Frenchman (traveling companion of her
husband) was a good cook and knew how to make camp comfortable. He had a man with him.
With brush piled up behind and a good fire in front and with Buffalo robes and blankets, we were
very comfortable, too. It was good winter weather. We had plenty to eat. It was ninety miles to
the mills and the snow deep and heavy loads for the ponies. We camped two nights and reached
the mills the third night. Edgar enjoyed it very much. He never cried or made a bit of trouble."
--Michael Douglass


Editor's Corner

The dedication of a new statue in the sculpture park is always a highlight of the summer.
The Ho-Chunk drummer's son interacting with Emma Big Bear was one of my favorite memories
of last year's event.
A Milwaukee friend who visited last summer asked me recently, "When is the next statue
going to be dedicated?" That's a question board members hear a lot, along with, "Why aren't
there more statues in the park?"
The answer has a lot to do with the price tag. Each statue has cost at least $80,000, for a
total value of more than $400,000 for the five already in the park.
Why so much money? Let's answer that question by looking at the history of the Emma
Big Bear statue. The more pieces that have to be cast, the more expensive the statue. If you've
visited Emma, you probably suspected that her basket and the piece that connects her to it were
cast separately.
Fifty three percent of the total cost always goes to the foundry and 26% to the artist. One
percent goes to Community Development Associates - the organization that checks get made out
to - for keeping our books and holding the certificate that makes us a non-profit organization.
Ten percent goes back to the Sculpture Park's general fund as a starting point for the next statue.
Adding statues to the park is a daunting task. But we've started the process again.
And we hope you'll join us in the effort.
--Marilyn Leys




MSRP
Mississippi River Sculpture Park
608-326-0862
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