Blanding Landing by way of New Diggings

You may wonder why we go north, south, and west, but never east. We have gone east from Rockford, but the pace of life and the values that way just don't seem to agree with our outlook. I'm sure once you get those people out of their new SUVs and foreign sports cars, take away their phones, give them some red meat and a domestic beer for lunch, they may be real nice people. But it so crowded that the roads seem like a racing game - I think sometimes that they are not necessarily so much in a hurry than they just want to be ahead of me. I find riding on the Midwest Backroads a bit more calming.

This trip once again starts at Ridott Corners Tavern. This starting point won’t work on Sunday if you want to start early – they open at noon. West again on US20 to the Lena turn off – IL73 North. Going through Lena (Where Everybody is Somebody) pick up the Stagecoach Trail going northwest.

Lena was founded by Samuel Dodds of Indiana. On his way to the area he passed through a small community where he was offered 160 acres in trade for his horses. But he turned down the deal thinking that Chicago had little to offer. They say that the land he turned down is now the Chicago Loop. Sounds like one of my brilliant financial decisions.

Samuel Dodds was not the only one to turn down the bad investment idea in a place called Chicago. Some investors went to the bank in Old Shawnee Town, Illinois, to borrow some money to establish a city on the western banks of Lake Michigan. They turned them down on the basis that there were not enough trees in Northern Illinois to make a settlement profitable. I don't think banks have changed much.

Dodds built an inn, which you can see on Stagecoach Trail, as a stop on the trail on the east side of Lena - it's the only house angled on a diagonal from the road. It is the only building in Lena that faces true north and south. Travelers would stop at the inn to rest from the five-day trip from Chicago to Galena.

The Northwest Illinois and Southern Wisconsin area is a driftless area - not to be confused with a shiftless area. Drift is the stuff that glaciers leave behind after they recede. Stuff like silt, clay, sand, gravel, and boulders. When the geologists see that there is a lack of this stuff in an area, they conclude that the glaciers missed the area. I guess they may miss the fact that these areas without drift are also quite hilly.

Hills and their corollary, valleys, are what makes this area so popular for road trips. And, of course, the back roads were never flattened and straightened like the highways so we get to go up and down and around curves. My personal favorite is the steep blind hill rising up, hiding the the two pick ups and a milk truck heading toward you, then at the top, dropping from under you into a sharp curve at the bottom with a little gravel washout on the curve.

A few miles passed Waddams Grove, take a side trip to Apple River Canyon State Park by turning onto East Canyon Road. It’s a small park with few facilities, but the trails are great. Plus the road north to Apple River is a good one. Leave the park north and stay left at the fork. In Apple River pick up the Stagecoach Trail again.

"'We don't know exactly when the stagecoach began running here, but we do know that by 1837 -- just five years after the Black Hawk War -- J.D. Winters was operating a line between Chicago and Freeport, a few miles east of Lena,’ said Connie Sorn, who directs the Stephenson County Convention and Visitors Bureau. She explained that the 40-mile trail spans two counties, Stephenson and Jo Daviess, where Galena, a few miles short of the Mississippi, is located.

"'History tells us that for a time the Winters stages would be met by stagecoaches owned by the Frink and Walker line to continue the trip to Galena,’ Sorn said. ‘But then in 1839, Frink and Walker extended their run to Chicago and put Winters out of business.’ Fifteen years later, with the arrival of the railroad, Frink and Walker's stagecoach line also came to an end, she said." From: http://www.chicagotribune.com/travel/

Leaving the Stagecoach Trail in Apple River, take any paved road north to County W in Wisconsin and turn west. When County W turns north, take Blackhawk Rd straight and hook up with County O. A lot of the County Roads in Wisconsin are no longer back roads so look for alternatives. There are many, but you never know when they are going to turn into gravel, so good luck.

Take County O north back to County W, then west on County W to New Diggings.

The settlers in this area around the early 1800’s found surface lead mines or “diggings” made by the Indians, whose title to this land was not extinguished until 20 years later. The name then became New Diggings. This lead, one of the heavy metals produced only in the forces of an exploding star, helped supply the US Army with bullets. By 1829, more than 4,000 miners worked in southwestern Wisconsin, producing 13 million pounds of lead a year. – that was 85% of the country’s lead. For a history of lead mining in SW Wisconsin: www.wisconsinhistory.org/

This site has an 1829 map of the lead and copper mines in the area along with other important features like smelting facilities and taverns.

When the miners came to SW Wisconsin to get rich in the lead mines they were in such a hurry to establish the mines that their dwellings became secondary. They would burrow in the sides of hills like badgers, hence the state nickname. There is also a story here about the miners from Illinois.

The story says that the miners from the south, probably Kentucky, Missouri, and Tennessee, coming up through Illinois considered the weather in Wisconsin too harsh for white men. They would mine in the spring, summer, and fall, then head south for the winter. This would coincide with the seasonal migration of a fish called the sucker. Illinois became the sucker state and the holes dug by these miners were called sucker holes.

The one problem with this story is that the carp we now call the sucker (due to its vacuum cleaner nature of the shape and use of its snout) does not migrate. But there are many other meanings to the word sucker.

Mining here peaked in 1840, and then started to decline very fast. The easily obtainable ore was starting to become scarce and mining became expensive. By 1850 90% of the land was free to farm.

I sat down with the current local historian in New Diggings, Johnny (JR) Rikow, to talk about the place. He told me about the mines, badgers and suckers and that he has a mine on his property. He has no idea how they got there, but a couple of old junk cars appeared in the mine one day. I asked him how he felt about all the bikers coming to New Diggings and he said they're ok, but nobody respects property anymore. Late at night drinkers going from Anton's to The General Store will relieve themselves just about anywhere.

He said he used to ride, but gave it up. When I told him I was a “weekender,” he got pissed. “That’s no way to ride. Riding around stopping in all these little towns from bar to bar, that’s ridiculous.” The more he thought about, the more upset he got at me. To him I became the symbol of all that is bad in the world.

According to old bikers, the only way to ride was to ride 11 months a year on every day that did not have snow-packed roads. They rode to work, they rode to the grocery store, they rode to church. I’m not that tough. I see guys on bikes in 20 degree weather with the weirdest effort at keeping warm, and I see them in the sleet and rain. A guy rides by our house every day at 5:00 AM on his way to work – rain, fog, snow, sleet, cold – nothing stops this guy. I just roll over and thoughts about dry, warm, heated bucket seats lull me back to sleep.

JR has a point in there somewhere about us weekenders. We see some very odd couples and groups out riding on the weekends: grown men riding with little poodle dogs, biker chic fashion girls (and guys), and biker boutique shoppers. And then there are motorcycle clubs based upon what the members do in their bedrooms, their religion, their motorcycle brand, their job, their ability (or inability) to grow hair, their race, their nationality, what they eat, and on it goes. I even saw a club for poets (must be that guy with the foo-foo dog).

One of the odder sights is when one spouse takes on the mystique and the other does not. The girl on the back will have the leather chaps and halter top, the designer do-rag (http://www.stazzon.com/), boots, chains, lanyards, and other insignia. On the other hand, the guy will be wearing jeans, Hawaiian shirt, and New Balance running shoes. It goes the other way, too – with Miss Beemer on the back and Sonny Barger driving.

Anyway, JR got so mad at me that I could tell he wanted nothing more to do with this weekender. He did tell me that the bikers started coming there when Lou bought the New Diggings General Store and Inn. "Where the Moon is Alway Full"( http://www.newdiggs.com/). Rooms upstairs are $60 for a single and $70 for a double, but don't expect to get much sleep.

Across the street is Anton’s Saloon. Macho burgers are served. JR tells me this place was made from four different barns. For music there is usually an open stage policy and a live band every once in a while (country town scheduling).

Before I left, I went back to see JR. I asked him if there was anything else he wanted to tell me about New Diggings. He squinted at me and spat, “Yeah, don’t come back.” I make a lot of friends on the road. As Abe Lincoln said after being run out of town on a rail: "If it weren't for the honor of it, I would just as soon pass."

Out of New Diggings we take County O to West Council Hill Road in Illinois. That will take you into Galena the back way. There is no reason to stop in Galena except to take in the buildings. They say that the hard times that fell on Galena after the lead was no longer profitable to mine, helped maintain the architecture in a time warp. Nobody had any money to tear them down and build new ones, so the town remained suspended in time. You will probably not find a place to park on the weekends and parking tickets are a main source of revenue, so just rubber neck and keep moving.

Greek Revival (1832-1860), Vernacular (1819 – 1848), Italianate (1848-1860), Gothic Revival (1849-1861), Queen Anne (1874-1898), along with early Howard Johnson (1955 - 1970), and IHOP Revival (2000 - 2008) are among the styles of buildings that will be seen in Galena.

Go completely through town to US20 east. At the east end of town there is a sign pointing to Blanding Landing (Blackjack Road). Take this to Pilot Knob Road on down to South River Road. The maps say that South River Road runs through to Blanding Landing, but it doesn't - a bridge is out. Somewhere before the Chestnut Mountain lifts there is a road that will get you temporarily back to civilization and Blackjack Road.

Stop in at Chestnut Mountain (www.chestnutmtn.com/), for a few minutes of normal, because the next stop may seem a little less conventional.

Out of the Chestnut Mountain parking lot turn right at the Blanding Landing sign (South Blanding Road) and take it down to Old Blanding Landing Tavern and Campground. This place is across the street from the world's largest junk yard. Some of the regulars here have opinions and are willing to express them freely to anybody who walks in. Discretion may be the better part of valor at Blanding.

Conspiracy is afoot. From the grassy knoll and UFOs to September 11th and the Federal Reserve, there are forces out there that control our lives - it's best at times to just nod your head and walk away. Heated discussions never elevate one's position or change minds - they just get loud.

Conspiracies can be developed successfully only at the very lowest levels of human organization, or by the Mob and OPEC. Only a few people - a maximum of four unaccountable people - can get together and conspire to fool other people. And that is always risky.

As the number of people and the stakes increase, conspiracies fall apart. The incentive, either for money or notoriety, is too great for some people to continue their cooperation. For "the government" to conspire with any other group or corporation to set prices is absurd.

Anyway, the Blanding Landing Tavern and Campground was made out of the old Blanding General Store and Post Office. According to the owner, folks from La Crosse, Wisconsin settled Blanding, but he does not know what attracted them there. Trips would be taken between Blanding and La Crosse by horses and wagons - three days up, three days down, and one day in La Crosse for shopping.

Camping with showers and hook ups are available here and one mile north at the government run Blanding Landing Boat Launch and Recreational area.

It's been a long trip so far, so it will end here at Blanding Landing, but there's a lot more to see around here, so that stuff is the subject of the next trip. If you are in a car (gravel road), head south along the river on Blanding Road to Hanover, Illinois. Otherwise head east to US84.

Information on the major parks, businesses, and attractions here is abundant and mainstream, and therefore, not covered here. We hope you enjoyed the account and its sarcasm, offensive opinion, and satire and take the trip. Please write me at the email in the introduction with comments and suggestions. No criticism will be accepted though, because it would certainly not be valid. Thank you for reading about this trip. I hope you enjoyed this one and will read another one.