WXPR A Northwoods Moment In History

On July 26th, 1956, a small delegation of women’s groups and community organizations gathered at the Rhinelander-Oneida County Airport to meet an incoming flight. When the Douglas DC-3 landed, out stepped one of the most recognizable advertising characters in America. Aunt Jemima had arrived in the Northwoods.

In 1905, a young papermaker named William Eibel arrived in Rhinelander to become superintendent of the Rhinelander Paper Company. Coming here from the Tomahawk Pulp and Paper Company, Eibel was only about 32 years old, but within a year he would develop an improvement in Rhinelander that changed papermaking across the country.

Alex Bobidosh was born September 9, 1890, at Lac du Flambeau, and his life would end up touching some big moments in American history, all while staying connected to the Northwoods of Wisconsin where he was born and raised.

Rhinelander’s connection to Hodags begins over 130 years ago in 1893 when lumberman and surveyor Eugene Shepard wrestled a lumberjack tall tale out of the logging camp bunkhouse, and introduced the creature to the public in an article about the attempted capture of a Black Hodag.

The 8th Wisconsin carried him into more than thirty battles and skirmishes. Amid gunfire and chaos, Old Abe would spread his wings and let out piercing cries. He became a living symbol of the regiment.

The Sylvania Wilderness area is tucked into the south-western edge of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, near Watersmeet, just north of the Wisconsin line.

After a few mild years, this winter of 2025/2026 has reminded the Northwoods who’s boss; mother nature.

Long before flashing lights, diesel engines, and steel blades scraping asphalt, winter travel in the Northwoods of Wisconsin was a slower, tougher proposition

Local libraries have always been more than buildings with books, they’re the beating heart of a community. They preserve our stories, protect our history, and give every generation a place to learn, gather, and grow.

The Northwoods of Wisconsin, with its rough logging boom towns and frontier justice, saw its own share of gun smoke and violence in the early 1900s.