Search the Wisconsin Historical Society's collections
Filter: Categories of Odd Wisconsin Stories
| Respected Healer in Prairie du Chien |
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| Learn about Mary Ann Menard, Wisconsin's first doctor. |
| The Tragedy of January 10, 1883 |
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| Read about the tragic fire that burned down Milwaukee landmark, the Newhall House Hotel, leaving 76 dead. |
| How a New Progressive Governor Repaired the Economy |
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| Read about Governor John J. Blaine's plan to deal with the Budget Deficit of 1921. |
| Creating the Wisconsin Territory |
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| Discover the story of Wisconsin's first elections and how the state was divided into its present-day areas. |
| Discover the effects that the Panic of 1857 had on La Crosse. |
| The Rise and Fall of Private Currencies |
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| Discover the history of currency in Wisconsin, and how paper money led the state to adopt a new constitution in 1848. |
| The Midwestern Heritage of One of the 20th Century's Greatest Poetic Innovators |
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| Discover literary giant Ezra Pound's connection to the frontier wilds of Wisconsin. |
| Hero of the Confederacy |
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| Discover the story of Belle Boyd, the celebrity Civil War spy who died while performing in the Wisconsin Dells. |
| A Bizarre Story of Scientific Progress |
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| Learn the bizarre story and scientific contributions of Alexis St. Martin, the man who lived over 50 years after a shotgun blasted a hole in his side. |
| The Printer and the Priest |
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| Discover how Wisconsin got its first printing press, and the impact that a Catholic priest would have on Ho-Chunk literacy. |
| From Sacred Calumets to Ashtrays |
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| Discover the important role that tobacco and the Peace Pipe have played throughout Wisconsin's history. |
| An Old Man's Tall Tale |
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| Wisconsin pioneer Joseph Crelie was said to be 139 years old when he was exhibited to spectators in 1864. But how old was he really? |
| The Capital's First Drunkard |
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| Read the story of Madison's first and most beloved drunkard, Pinneo. |
| A Priest Follows Another Priest's 300-Year-Old Path to Death |
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| Learn how Rev. A. A. A. Schmirler traced the path Fr. Rene Menard took in 1661 down northern Wisconsin's rivers to the likely spot of his death. |
| The Story of Lost Bird |
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| Discover this harrowing story that brings together a feminist pioneer and the infant her husband found in the aftermath of Wounded Knee. |
| A Popular Swindler |
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| Read about John Till and the miraculous "medical" plaster treatment that led to his arrest by the State Medical Board. |
| How One Family Helped Build the Modern Tourist Destination |
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| Discover how Wisconsin Dells came to prominence as a Midwestern tourism institution. |
| The Antiquated Belief of a Chief Justice |
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| Discover Wisconsin Chief Justice Edward G. Ryan's opinion on women and court |
| From Whaling to Coal Burning |
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| Discover how man-made lighting has become a common part of our everyday lives. |
| How One Woman Changed Wisconsin During the Civil War |
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| Discover how Cordelia Harvey's mission to reform hospitals during the Civil War would change Wisconsin forever. |
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