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Touch History
April, 2011
You are cordially invited
to the Royal Wedding
The social event of the year will also be observed at the Historic Dousman House on St. Feriole
Island in Prairie du Chien. On Friday, April 29, 2011 the Mississippi River Sculpture Park will hold a
reception for Prince William and his bride, Kate Middleton, starting at 4:30 a.m. We will be watching the
procession, wedding, and the parade back to Buckingham Palace with all its grandeur. We will be
watching via ABC News.
We will be serving English fare of assorted finger foods, including Prince William's favorite cake,
Chocolate Biscuit Cake, one of the two wedding cakes also being served in England. Also included at our
reception are assorted hot teas and coffee. After the wedding there will be a champagne toast at an
additional cost .
Tickets are on sale now for $10.00 each at three stores in Prairie du Chien: Hare Magic, 129 W.
Blackhawk Ave.; Monkey Tales, 214 W. Blackhawk Ave., and Windy Cove Treasures, 108 E
Blackhawk Ave. If you're not planning to be in town until the big day, tickets are also available from
Cathie Nelson at pdcnellie@centurytel.net.
Guests are asked to dress for the hour and for an English wedding, which can include a proper hat
that will sport the traditional feather addition. Prizes will be given.
Monies will be given to the Mississippi River Sculpture Park for the Emma Big Bear Statue that will
be place in the park this summer. Thrivent Insurance Company will be matching funds on the reception.
If high water on the Mississippi makes our version of high tea impossible at the Dousman House, the
event will be moved to the Amercinn's lobby and meeting room.

Friday, April 29, 2011
starting at 4:30 a.m., CDT
Historic Dousman House
(River permitting)

Sculptor's Corner
Emma Big Bear Travels to the Foundry
Late in February I was able
to take the completed life size clay
sculpture of Emma Big Bear to the
foundry in Milwaukee to begin the
process of lost wax bronze
casting.
I was pleased with the way
she came out. It felt like I had
come to know Emma as a good
friend while I worked on her
wizened face, a face that had seen
many years and many hardships.
Her story is long and full of
triumphs and tragedies. She
stayed by her beloved river,
refusing to be moved to tribal
land. She experienced two
marriages and the death of her
daughter, yet became a familiar
part of this area, sitting in the park
or on her front porch weaving her
baskets and making beautiful
beaded jewelry.
Emma died in 1968. She
was 99 years old.
More of her story will come
when the life size bronze sculpture
is completed and we celebrate her
142
nd
birthday this coming July.
Save the date of July 16,
2011 for a day of celebration at
the Mississippi River Sculpture
Park on St. Feriole Island, Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin.
The installation of Emma Big Bear will signal the completion of Phase One of the overall development
of the sculpture park. The sculptures are grouped into phases showing more of the deep history and
prehistory of this remarkable area where the Wisconsin and Mississippi Rivers join.
-- Florence Bird

Hidden Treasures
Eagle Watching Close to Home
Emma Big Bear (c. 1958),
used with permission of Joan
Liffring-Zug Bourret
The Mississippi River Sculpture Park on St. Feriole Island in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin is located
in one of the most naturally-inspiring and historically-significant parts of the Driftless Area and Upper
Mississippi river valley. The Mississippi River and her surrounding bluffs and valleys create the perfect
habitat for many hundreds of birds, fish and wildlife. Occasionally we may see from a distance majestic
bald eagles soaring overhead. But have you ever seen one or its 6' x 6' x 4' and 1,000 pound nest up close
and personal? Well, here's the chance to have one sitting "live" right in your living room.
People have viewed over 32 million times and been fascinated watching the 24 / 7 live feed of the
"nestcam" at http://www.ustream.tv/decoraheagles. They've watched the father eagle and mother eagle
taking care of their new family throughout the cold winter in their nest atop a cottonwood tree near the
Decorah Fish Hatchery in extreme northeast Iowa. The mother eagle laid her first egg on February 23,
2011. The first hatch occurred on April 1, followed closely by the second and third hatches on April 3 and
April 6. The father and mother take turns keeping the eaglets warm by sitting on them, foraging for food
and returning to feed their family. Later this spring or summer, you may witness the parents teaching their
eaglets how to spread their wings and leave the nest.
Look on the website for more detailed information, raptor facts and archived video clips of this
eagle family's milestones.
Many thanks go to the Raptor Resource Project for bringing the Decorah Eagles to us and the
world. RRP's mission is to preserve and strengthen raptor populations, to expand participation in raptor
preservation, and to help foster the next generation of preservationists. RRP's work deepens the
connection between people and the natural world, bringing benefits to both. Introduce your family and
friends to this worthwhile project, so the next generation knows the importance of preserving and
protecting nature in our Driftless Area.

--Rogeta Halverson



Marquette-McGregor Challenge



The last two places Emma Big Bear called home were the sister-
communities of McGregor and Marquette, Iowa, just across the river from
Prairie du Chien. For years, Emma Big Bear lived her life by the traditional
Ho-Chunk means along the waterfronts of the towns, the same way her
ancestors had done before her.
Emma Big Bear also gratefully took help from the generous and kind
townspeople of McGregor and Marquette. In the winter, she would skin
muskrats and raccoons for trappers, keeping the meat and earning a little
money. Boys from Marquette and McGregor could earn a few quarters for
splitting her firewood.
As Emma grew older, it was more difficult for her to support herself in
her traditional manner and she had to rely more on the goodwill of her
neighbors. The consistent waterfront flooding wiped out Emma Big Bear's tent
home along McGregor's waterfront and she moved into a house on Marquette's bench. Her last home was
located in downtown Marquette, where her home and a small private museum are now part of the local
winery.
When the development committee of the Sculpture Park board was discussing fundraising
potential, everyone felt these two fine towns might feel honored to help memorialize Emma Big Bear with a
life-sized bronze sculpture. So a direct challenge was made to McGregor and Marquette. If each resident
gives even a small donation, thousands of dollars can be raised to help meet the $90,000 fundraising goal.
With only about $18,000 left to raise, the board is hoping that Marquette and McGregor will again
pull through for Emma Big Bear to posthumously come to her aid and give her a new home in the park.
Checks should be made out to Mississippi River Sculpture Park or MRSP. Write "Emma Big Bear" on the
check's memo, and mail it to MRSP c/o Community Development Alternatives, P. O. Box 395, Prairie du
Chien, WI 53821. Donations will be accepted April through mid-May. Donation bricks memorializing
Emma from residents of Marquette and McGregor will be placed around the sculpture's base.
To find out more about the life and times of Emma Big Bear, go online to www.big-
river.com to read the July-August, 2008 "Emma Big Bear - Ho-Chunk Basket Maker and Local
Legend."


Donations Close to Matching Challenge
It's hard to believe Emma Big Bear was seven years old at the time of Custer's Last Stand. It's
even harder to believe that many of us folks in the community remember seeing her weaving her baskets.
Emma Big Bear is one of the more-contemporary sculptures artist Florence Bird's envisioned and
the local connection to her is very strong and real.
The board wishes to thank everyone who donated to date to Emma Big Bear's sculpture fund. We
would also like to single out Patrick and Janet Leamy for their generous gift of a $25,000 match
contribution in the form of a challenge. The board accepted the match challenge and with the help of so
many donors are close to accomplishing that goal. As of March, 2011, the board has collected gifts or
pledges totaling $72,000 of the $90,000 sculpture cost. Our next newsletter will list more of the
contributors. And, by that time, Emma Big Bear's installation into the park will be a reality, not just a
dream.
Some of the local lead gift givers are:
Frank Tiller
Jack Howe Estate
Peoples State Bank
Rotary Club of Prairie du Chien
Women's Civic Club of Prairie du Chien
Prairie du Chien JayCees
Citizen's Bank of Prairie du Chien
When completed as planned, the Mississippi River Sculpture Park will have 26 life-sized bronze
sculptures in the park to tell the stories of the past 12,000 years of history in this northeast Iowa and
southwest Wisconsin region. To learn more about the sculpture park, please visit:
MississippiRiverSculpturePark.com or call the artist at (608) 326-5333.
Pig in the Park patrons share the Voyageur's shade.

Voyageur's Shade is a Voyageur Tree


When Florence Bird planned the park, included in the plan was placement of
the sculptures and ideas of greenery as she saw them.
When the Leamys donated the money for the Voyageur, Janet asked that it be placed in a different
spot in the park. She wanted it near one of the trees that was already growing.
In the area that was chosen is an old Eastern White Cedar tree. Now the Voyageur rests beneath
the tree. What was not realized at the time is that this kind of tree was very significant in the life of the men
who paddled the fur traders' canoes.
The Eastern White Cedar is common in the bogs and swamps along the rivers where voyageurs
traveled. It's a slow growing tree with a very long life and can last over 700 years. It is also known as the
Eastern Arborvitae. Arborvitae means "tree of life". The term may have come from the French voyageurs
who used the white cedar to treat scurvy, a disease resulting from the lack of vitamin C. The lightweight
wood was also used for canoe frames.
Besides the location of the statues, historical values were important to the sculptor. But the
significant location of the Voyageur was just a matter of luck.

Editor's Corner
A.M.?
One of an editor's jobs is to check facts. So when Cathie Nelson sent me the news about the reception
for William and Kate, I immediately e-mailed back, "4:30 A.M.? REALLY?
But then it struck me: I was planning to wake up and watch the wedding in real time anyway. Wouldn't
it be more fun to watch in a crowd, with maybe some memorable hats and outfits adding color to the
scene? Besides, I'd been wondering what chocolate biscuit cake tastes like ever since I first read about it,
and the committee was planning to provide other goodies too, undoubtedly a lot fancier than I would be
capable of making for myself that early in the day. Plus COFFEE. A big plus at that hour.
Besides, the 4:30 a.m. starting time was only mandatory for the committee. The ceremony would
undoubtedly last for hours, so if I overslept, I could still join the celebration.
Having company to watch the royal wedding has come to sound like a good idea to me. And
contributing to the addition of Emma Big Bear to the Sculpture Park might be an even better idea.

--Marilyn Leys

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