DAIRYLAND DRIVING CLUB, INC.
proudly presents:
September 8-10, 1998
| * | COMMEMORATING CARRIAGE TRANSPORTATION UNDER THE 30TH STAR |
* |
This project is funded in part by the Wisconsin Sesquicentennial Commission with funds from individual and corporate contributors and the State of Wisconsin.
Our activity will be highlighted by a three day, 120 mile coach run beginning at the Capitol Square in Madison and finishing at the historic Villa Louis site in Prairie du Chien. Along the route, to help connect the past with the future, stops are scheduled at nursing homes where children will be present for intergenerational sharing.
Several teams of four horses will draw handsomely restored carriages driven by accomplished "whips", attended by sounding of coach horns and the flash of perfectly maintained harness with polished brass fittings. Following the coaches will be a variety of vehicles pulled by singles and pairs. Many of these types of vehicles are the same as those that were the backbone of transportation 150 years ago. Indeed, without these vehicles there would have been no ready means of communication. Approximately every ten miles, which was a normal "stage" or the distance a team of horses could reasonably haul a heavy load at a brisk pace, special demonstrations involving normal care and maintenance of horses and equipment (shoeing, grooming, etc.) will be offered in conjunction with the changing of the horses. We have arranged with the US Postal Service to have mail canceled with our special commemorative stamp at seven post offices along our route.
Beginning in the days when our flag had only 30 stars and continuing right up to the addition of the 50th star, horse drawn vehicles have played a major role in Wisconsin. An important adjunct of our project is to educate young and old about an important portion of Wisconsin history and our local heritage. Many people today have little appreciation of the importance of horse drawn vehicles to the building of roads and the development of our great State (For more on this see our section on Historical Significance.)
Schools and teachers are invited to participate in the preparation and excitement of the event. A Discovery Kit containing portions of the classic reader Singing Wheels and suggested student activities will go to participating schools. (Interested teachers are asked to contact us.)
The official kickoff of the Coach Run took place April 17-19 at the MIDWEST HORSE FAIR in the Dane County Coliseum. The Dairyland Driving Club booth, which won the top booth award, was decorated to represent a mid-1800's coach stop (stage) where travelers could rest their weary bones, partake of home-cooked food, and even stay the night. A newly constructed Concord Stagecoach added greatly to the attraction of our booth! Our coach-hornsoundiing contest was won by 15 year old Carrie Schutte from Spring Green. Carrie's prize is a seat on a coach for one stage of the Coach Run. Parents were encouraged to bring their children by to enter our coloring contest. Selected entries will be used for local advertising along our coach route in September.
Dairyland Driving Club (DDC) was founded in 1983 for the purpose of involving families in the joy of driving-horse activities, with emphasis on education and safety. Besides periodic drives at many lovely sites, since 1989 DDC has held yearly safety clinics open to all comers. Members of DDC have compiled and published the Wisconsin 4-H Horse and Pony Driving Manual, which is now being disseminated throughout the United States. DDC members have supplied pairs and teams of horses, as well as carriages, for various dignitaries in the Great Milwaukee Circus Parade, Dean House Winter Sleigh Rally, Midwest Horse Fair, Madison Park System’s Centennial Celebration, parades, etc., etc….
With the tremendous and rapid population growth in the Wisconsin Territory after 1830 came the demand for transportation options which would link farm with city, hamlet with hamlet. Agricultural and military supplies, crops, families, and mail all required regular movement. By 1848, when Wisconsin became a State, almost 250 roads had been officially authorized. Expenses for these roads, all but 14 of which were to be located south of the Fox and Wisconsin rivers, were borne by the localities they served or by private parties.
Settlers during the 1840’s and 1850’s, unwilling to paddle canoes or carry packs though the woods, demanded plank roads, such as those then common in Europe. Before the Civil War ended, charters had been granted to 135 road building companies. The stagecoach reached its’ zenith at this time, with owners selling space to passengers and contracting with the federal government to carry the mail. Stage drivers quickly established reputations as a courageous and mischievous set of Wisconsinites, and included Jerry Rusk who was later governor of the State.
As the stagecoach system reached to all areas of Wisconsin, inns and hotels sprung up along the routes and, consequently, Wisconsin villages are frequently spaced about one "stage" apart. Many coaches announced their approach with blasts on the coach horn, with special calls for a change of horses, need of refreshments or lodging. These "post" houses became one of the social institutions of the period for travelers and locals alike.
Meanwhile, families drove to church in surreys and two-spring phaetons. Men of business traveled about in democrat wagons and gigs, while boys raced their buckboards and two-wheeled carts. Doctors commonly made visits in a buggy that is even today known as a "doctor’s buggy". Every store had its’ own hitching rail and by 1900 the State of Wisconsin ranked number four in the nation in the manufacturing of carriages with 436 such concerns! Whenever a group of farmers or town folks gathered to chat, they were almost sure to boast of owning a "Clark" carriage from Oshkosh, a "Stratman" from Dodgeville, or a "Mandt" from Stoughton.
Bridges were built, including those across the Wisconsin River (along our planned coach route) at Helena, Muscoda, Boscobel, and Bridgeport. Businesses which kept both horse and buggy in running order proliferated. In the 1840’s Roasaline Peck, Madison’s first settler, describes obtaining "livery conveyance" for a trip back to Madison from Baraboo.
The possession of quality horses and equipment, ones skill as a driver, and the pursuit of leisure were as important to coaching as was travel. In the same way that the shiny, fast automobiles of the 1990’s represent more to our modern psyche than simply transportation, the sleek, beautiful carriage horse and coach of the 19th century was a statement of the Victorian’s sense of well -being.
One can not imagine a more delightful sight than that of splendidly turned out horse-drawn vehicles, expertly driven through our lovely Wisconsin countryside on a crisp day in Fall. The coach run will lead up to the 1998 Villa Louis Carriage Classic, one of the largest and most prestigious horse-drawn carriage shows in North America.
Suzanne Gillespie
Tel: (608)764-5507
Fax: (608)764-5329
E-mail: kirkg@itis.com
or
Carol Pasbrig
Tel: (414)593-5612.
