Michael Hetzer

The “Book of Memory” was purchased in 1969 at a cost of $546.90. Joseph and Mary Alice Shifter family of La Crosse, Wisconsin donated $425 as a memorial to their 11 year old daughter Marguerite Ella, who drowned after wading into the La Crosse River and getting swept away by the current. It was put … Read more

The Sauk Prairie Conservation Alliance, with the cooperation of the Badger landowners and in partnership with the Badger History Group, has undertaken an inventory of the historic “heritage” apple trees still found on the former Badger Army Ammunition Plant.  Many of the trees pre-date World War II.  Even though the farm buildings, schools, and churches were all removed by the … Read more

While there remains almost nothing of the 80 farmsteads that dotted the Sauk Prairie on the former Badger Army Ammunition Plant, there were a few survivors… apple trees!  Yes, some of the apple trees that had been planted by farmers in their yards prior to World War II survive to this day, representing for some local … Read more

This article was published on the UW Press Blog and is worth a read. Click here to view it.