🌳🌲If These Woods Could Talk, they mightmake a big scene and then just sort of…fade away🌲🎆

In Chapter 6, I sit down again with Doug and Kate to discuss the end of the story to the best of our knowledge. The family is through with their escapades. We follow them through the rest of their lives and discuss if it’s possible to tell a true crime story in a respectful way. We also hear from Harrison at the Library of Congress’ Recorded Sound Research Center.Thanks for listening to the Donnerstag Family of Woodboro series, produced by the Rhinelander District Library. You can follow If These Woods Could Talk on facebook and instagram, youtube, and most podcast platforms.

If you’ve enjoyed this series, please consider donating to the Rhinelander District Library Foundation’s building fund. Information can be found at the link below:

https://rdlfoundation.org/library-capital-campaign/

🌳🌲If These Woods Could Talk, they might have a hard time readjusting to the outside🌲🛣️

Chapter 5 brings us to 1908, with Hugo fresh out of the pen. He returns to the family home with his mom, his brother Albert, his sisters Clara and Emma, and older brother Rudolph just a few miles away on his own homestead. With Louis out of the picture, Hugo needs to find a way to make some money.

Listen as the Donnerstag saga reaches a bloody (and often cartoonish) crescendo.

This chapter is told with returning friends Katie, Kerry, and Stevie.

Got questions? Leave them in the comments, and I’ll try to answer them next week.

If you’re enjoying this series, please consider donating to the Rhinelander District Library Foundation’s building fund. Information can be found at the link below:https://rdlfoundation.org/library-capital-campaign/

🌳🌲If These Woods Could Talk, they might threaten your life day after day🌲😠

After last week’s interlude, Chapter 4 of the Donnerstag Saga picks back up where Chapter 2 left off: Louis is out of prison and back at the family home on Manson Lake. We will finally address the news article teased in Chapter 1 and discuss the truth behind the headline, “Suicide at Manson.”

This episode contains some graphic depictions of violence.

Featuring my friends Doug and Kate.

Got questions? Leave them in the comments, and I’ll try to answer them next week.

If you’re enjoying this series, please consider donating to the Rhinelander District Library Foundation’s building fund. Information can be found at the link below:https://rdlfoundation.org/library-capital-campaign/

🌳🌲If These Woods Could Talk, they might keep their secrets all the same🌲🤫

In Chapter 3 of the story we take a slight departure from the main plotline and do a little world-building while exploring a couple of mysteries that befuddled and confounded me. Historical research–especially when it concerns people who were just, well…people–can be difficult and frustrating. I speak with a few friends about those struggles and tell a couple of stories from the Northwoods around the turn of the 20th century, including an investigation into Bessie Harris, the former family friend who testified against Louis in last week’s episode.

Visual aids will be available on the If These Woods Could Talk facebook page

Do you have lingering questions? I want to answer them next week. Please leave them in the comments.

🌳🌲If These Woods Could Talk, they might tell you about grudges and blood in the streets🌲🔫

We’re back again with Anita, Dan, and Lily. Chapter 2 picks up in 1891 where we meet Sherman A. Merritt, a railroad conductor in Tomahawk whose first run-in with the Donnerstags left him with a lasting bad impression that grew into a feud.

Do you have lingering questions? I want to answer them next week. Please leave them in the comments.

🌳🌲If These Woods Could Talk, they might tell you about the 1880s influx of European immigrants who hacked and sawed their way ever northward, creating the Wisconsin we know today 🌲🪚

Meet the Donnerstag family of Woodboro! In this, the first chapter of the story, we follow Louis and Johanna Donnerstag from German Bohemia to the United States, to Wisconsin, and to Marathon County and further north.

This six part series tells the true story–largely lost to time–of a troubled family that once terrorized the Northwoods and almost earned notoriety akin to the James or Dalton gangs.

Chapter 2 will be released in a week.

If These Woods Could Talk is bringing the true story of a criminal family that you've probably never heard of before.

Episode 1 coming Wednesday, August 19. Listen as I sit down with friends you'll know from the community to discuss this fascinating bit of history the Northwoods forgot.

🌳🌲If these woods could talk, they might advocate for their own conservation and protection in perpetuity🌲🌱

Fortunately, they have today’s speakers to do the talking for them. The Northwoods Land Trust is turning 25 years old this summer. Three of their board members, all experts in their respective fields, came to the library to discuss the land trust, easements, and the history of land conservation in Northern Wisconsin.

Conservation outreach specialist John Heusinkveld came along with Bob Martini (who has spoken with us before), author and naturalist John Bates, and ecologist Ron Eckstein to share lifetimes’ worth of knowledge.

Link to the Land Trust's website:https://northwoodslandtrust.org/and to their facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/NorthwoodsLandTrust

🌳🌲If these woods could talk, they might tell you stories from other places, too, because they’re actually more well-traveled than you might expect…🗺️🌳

Mark Miazga is back with a new book barely a year after the last one. This book is not a fourth volume of Miazga’s Tales of the Northwoods series. This time, his research has taken him all over the globe on a hunt for instances of the hodag through time.The book will be released Saturday, May 16th at the Hodag Heritage Festival at Pioneer Park. Swing by to meet Mark and buy a copy of The Hunt for the Hodag in History.

🌳🌲If these woods could talk, they might need to tell you a few stories before they can properly tell you the story they wanted to tell you in the first place🐦🌳

A recent donation to the Historical Society catalyzed this conversation. A pair of snowshoes once belonging to Stewart “Jumbo” Lester led Rhinelander Historical Society president Bill Vancos to contact Greg Umland, Bill’s old classmate whose father used to hunt with Stewart, for some information. The two of them sat down with me here at the library to record some memories. What followed was a wayward conversation that wended its way through decades of Rhinelander history, businesses, names, landmarks, events, deaths--and even a little bit about Mister Lester.

Stewart and his friend Victor Umland were recognized in the area for their hunting prowess. Through his life, Stewart also ran a service station and bar, drew people in as a musical performer, and worked as a carpenter. I’ll let Greg take it from here.

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