Buz Swerkstrom

Did Adam and Eve Live in Wisconsin?: Pieces of Wisconsin History Buz Swerkstrom

Publisher Marketing: The 50 pieces in this collection range from the mirthful (mythical creatures, a 19th Century preacher's theory the Garden of Eden was in western Wisconsin) to the dramatic (a case of frontier crime and punishment straight out of the Wild West) to the thoughtful (youthful sports champions look back at their triumphs decades later). Beginning with the geologic and glacial shaping of the landscape, the pieces proceed through time to Wisconsin's earliest inhabitants, the Woodland Indian period, the fur trade and logging eras, to 20th Century events. There are pieces about writers (Hamlin Garland, Ray Stannard Baker, humorist Bill Nye), baseball players (Roy Patterson, Hall-of-Famer Burleigh Grimes), animals (Ice Age mammals, Civil War eagle mascot Old Abe), striking structures (round barns, a filigreed steel railroad bridge), and even a potential saint (Father Solanus Casey). There is a piece about Bob Dylan's summer camp (near Webster), a piece about how bratwursts came to baseball parks, a piece about the creation and development of the Duncan Yo-Yo, and a 1979 interview in which Earth Day founder Gaylord Nelson talked about how his Clear Lake boyhood shaped his conservationist views. Some of the stories are pure narrative while others report on research conducted by archeologists, geologists, professors and others. Many of the pieces about 20th Century events use extensive direct quotations from people who participated in those events.