Another Geocaching Adventure

BADUS - PIONEER SWISS COLONY

In 1877 a group of Swiss chose a point on the shore of Lake Badus for a colony. In 1878 Joseph Burkler, his family and some single men, arrived. In 1879 the colony was augmented by 11 other families who came by rail to Luverne, Minnesota and thence overland. That fall they built a school, with Theresa Schnell as the first teacher. A colony house was built; Joseph Muggli was the first storekeeper and appointed the first Postmaster of Badus in May 1879. The colony continued as such until 1886. The names of Berther, CaJacob, Cassutt, DeCurtins, Deragisch, DeRungs, Glossi, Rensch, Schnell, Tuor and Wolf are well known in Lake County, their ancestors being of the original colony.

We stumbled upon the original location of Badus on Monday while geocaching along US Hwy. 81 between Arlington and Madison.

A little google search uncovered all the information beyond what is on the one little marker.

There was a geocache on the church lot. 

In the fall of 1877, a group of Swiss colonists, who were temporarily located in Stillwater, Minnesota, journeyed to the east shore of present day Lake Badus to establish their community. The name Lake Badus was taken from a mountain of a similar name in Switzerland. The first mass was celebrated in the school house, the first building in Badus. St. Ann's was built in the vernacular-Gothic style in 1884. Although used only on special occasions, today St. Ann's stands as a reminder of what was once a thriving pioneer community and as a remembrance of the spiritual force of the immigrant families. In the late 1800s there were eighty families on the membership role at St. Ann's Catholic Church.

 
Only a small belfrey and a large sacristy were added in later years to the church. The peaceful, picturesque cemetery is located across the road west of the church on the banks of Lake Badus. Pine trees surround the cemetery. An outdoor shrine was erected in l944.

There was also a cache located in the cemetery.

Rev. Father Thomas Flynn was the first parish priest at St. Ann. In fact, he helped build the church. Father Flynn also served as the parish priest for the St. Thomas church in Madison. He is interred at St. Ann's Cemetery in Badus. Born in 1854 in Milwaukee WI, he passed away in 1922.

Today, a church and cemetery remain of what was once an active little settlement. I could not find when the settlement 'died', nor could I find the number of years the church was active and held services. I do know it celebrated 100 years in 1984. And I do know there are 105 residents in Badus Township as of the last census.

Getting Ready for Halloween

Although we won't be 'home' for Halloween, I thought Miss Willa would enjoy helping decorate for the holiday. The temperatures were nice so we hunted for the Halloween stuff.

I am not sure how many years ago we bought these two

Halloween decorations. Let's just say they are almost antiques.

But they still light. G'pa found the timer.

They welcome us at the front garage.

This wooden hanging has also been around for many years.

Miss W chose to hang it by the front door.

I saw some Halloween window clings in the grocery store last week. I thought $1.29 was inexpensive entertainment for Miss W. And entertainment it was. She moved them from the lower windows to the upper windows, from the kitchen window to the living room window. 

The windows were quite dirty on the outside before the clings were added.

The windows are now just as dirty on the inside.

No, I won't keep the little hand prints on 'til next spring.

The neighbor's grandson had pumpkins and gourds for sale. Jessie grows them in his garden each summer, then hauls some to town to sell at his G'pa & G'ma's house. Miss W and I went shopping across the street. She selected a pumpkin to decorate. Then I selected one more for her to decorate. Until we left the garage, we had 3 pumpkins and numerous gourds. 

I found the washable markers in their secret hiding place.

Miss W knows most of my secret hiding places.

She forgets nothing!

She was content to draw on the pumpkin and then the cardboard.

Easy, inexpensive entertainment.

She is a lefty. Her great G'pa E would be so excited.

None of his grandchildren are left-handed. 

Miss W's art work is displayed on the table at the back door.

We see it every time we go in or out of the house.

This is more Halloween at our house than it has been

in several years.

Thank You Miss Willa!

The Bad River

There aren't too many different ways/roads we can travel from the east side to the west side of the state, and vice versa. But the last trip home did just that. We found the Bad River Road north of Midland. The forty miles of good gravel road ended on the south end of Fort Pierre. (OK. It was just 40 miles on a different road, but it was different.)

The Bad River Road, also known as the Copperline Road and the 259th Avenue, followed the railroad more than it did the river. The Bad River Road follows one of the oldest Indian Trails and is marked with signs along the way, although some of the signs are not legible.

Some of the railroad bridges along the road were worthy of photographs. 

The Bad River

.

There was the possibility of seeing the Ted Turner

bison herd at this stop. We didn't. 

No water here.

There weren't many trees on this route so driving through

a 'tree tunnel' was rather cool. Short, but kind of neat.

Prairie dogs enjoying the sunshine on a beautiful fall day.

Near the end of forty mile road (on the east end), we 

noticed this mini-SD Badlands landscape.

I wouldn't make this road a replacement for the two lane paved

roads we usually drive in this area. But it was a very nice change

of pace with some interesting scenery and history.

Tuesday with the Grands

We have had some beautiful fall days. That is about to change later this week. The S--- word was mentioned as a possibility in parts of the state. We have decided to take advantage of the pleasant days. You know, fresh air and playing outside makes for longer naps and runny noses! 

We have been exploring the parks in our community that are 'little people' friendly. We found a new one today. We checked out three playgrounds in city park looking for 'baby' swings. We found one.

She is so photogenic when it is candid shots.

She is also a very good big sister,

helpful and caring.

He is so content and so dang cute!

It might have been after this photo that she told me

I had taken enough pictures of her!

I tried so hard to get a photo of them as they started down.

Couldn't get one as they moved too fast.

I needed another person.

I got Curt to help, but they went down side-by-side.

I wanted one of them going together.

And on that note, it was time to go home for lunch and naps!

They both took longer naps today. It worked!

Our neighbors graciously loaned their two-seater wagon

(with seat belts) to us for the week. It is AWESOME!

Neither one whined. They did not try to get out.

It is a hit!

Thanks, Todd & Lori!