Day 70 -- Lena, Illinois to La Crosse, Wisconsin -- 167 Miles

Today marks our 70th day on the road. Concetta is getting a bit antsy to be home, but I'm just loving it. We spent the entire day cruising up the east bank of the Mississippi from northeastern Illinois, to La Crosse, Wisconsin. Along the way we spent some time in the one-time hometown of General Ulysses S. Grant, visited a combination Bakery and Cheese emporium in Lancaster, Wisconsin, shot photos of this, that, and the other thing, and even managed to throw in some train-spotting.

Yesterday when we arrived in Lena, Illinois we discovered that just a short 35 miles further west from our camp was the town of Galena, the boyhood home of General Ulysses S. Grant. Since Galena was right on Illinois Route 20, our chosen route for today, we naturally had to stop in and say hello.

Many of you probably have heard the stories about General Grant, perhaps about his humble beginnings, or maybe about how he was always drunk on the job. What we've found after delving into his life just a bit on this trip, is that he was a great paradox of a man. He was never a success at anything that had to do with money, but there are few men who have been as successful as Grant on the battlefield. His rivals often invented unflattering stories about him, which often led the public and even Congress to demand his removal.

But Abraham Lincoln liked him because he got results. While timid generals like George McClellan amassed great armies, but never seemed to be ready to fight, General Grant made do with whatever forces he had. Then, even if he lost a battle, he didn't lose his nerve. The very next day he'd launch another attack and turn the tables. He'd end up losing a mind-numbing number of soldiers on the battlefield, but he always achieved his objective.

Here's the Wiki rundown on the great man and our 18th President: "Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant, April 27, 1822, graduated in 1843 from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, served in the Mexican–American War and initially retired in 1854. He struggled financially in civilian life. When the Civil War began in 1861, he rejoined the U.S. Army."

"When Grant was 17, Congressman Thomas L. Hamer nominated him to the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. Hamer mistakenly wrote down the name as "Ulysses S. Grant of Ohio", and this became his adopted name. His nickname became "Sam" among army colleagues at the academy since the initials "U.S." also stood for "Uncle Sam"."

"Grant developed a reputation as a fearless and expert horseman known as a horse whisperer, setting an equestrian high-jump record that stood for almost 25 years. He also studied under Romantic artist Robert Walter Weir and produced nine surviving artworks. He graduated in 1843, ranking 21st in a class of 39. Glad to leave the academy, his plan was to resign his commission after his four-year term of duty. Despite his excellent horsemanship, he was not assigned to the cavalry (assignments were determined by class rank, not aptitude), but to the 4th Infantry Regiment. He was made regimental quartermaster, managing supplies and equipment, with the rank of brevet second lieutenant."

"Grant's first assignment after graduation took him to the Jefferson Barracks near St. Louis, Missouri. It was the nation's largest military base in the west, commanded by Colonel Stephen W. Kearny. Grant was happy with his new commander, but looked forward to the end of his military service and a possible teaching career. He spent some of his time in Missouri visiting the family of his West Point classmate, Frederick Tracy Dent; he became engaged to Dent's sister, Julia, in 1844."

"Amid rising tensions with Mexico, Grant's unit shifted to Louisiana as part of the Army of Observation under Major General Zachary Taylor. When the Mexican–American War broke out in 1846, the Army entered Mexico. Although a quartermaster, Grant led a cavalry charge at the Battle of Resaca de la Palma. At Monterrey he demonstrated his equestrian ability, by volunteering to carry a dispatch through sniper-lined streets while hanging off the side of his horse, keeping the animal between him and the enemy."

"During this war Grant studied the tactics and strategies of General Winfield Scott and others, often second guessing their moves beforehand. In his memoirs, Grant wrote that was how he learned about military leadership, and, in retrospect, identified his leadership style with Taylor's. Even so, he believed that the Mexican war was wrong and that the territorial gains from the war were designed to expand slavery. Grant reflected in 1883, 'I was bitterly opposed to the measure, and to this day, regard the war which resulted as one of the most unjust wars ever waged by a stronger against a weaker nation.' He opined that the Civil War was punishment inflicted on the nation for its aggression in Mexico."

"Grant's mandatory service expired during the war, but he chose to remain a soldier. Four years after becoming engaged, he married Julia on August 22, 1848. They had four children: Frederick, Ulysses Jr. ("Buck"), Ellen ("Nellie"), and Jesse. Grant's first post-war assignments took him and Julia to Detroit and then to Sackets Harbor, New York. In 1852, Grant's next assignment sent him west to Fort Vancouver in the Oregon Territory. Julia, who was eight months pregnant with Ulysses Jr., did not accompany him. While traveling overland through Panama, an outbreak of cholera among his fellow travelers caused 150 fatalities; Grant arranged makeshift transportation and hospital facilities to care for the sick. He debarked in San Francisco during the height of the California Gold Rush."

"Promoted to captain in the summer of 1853, Grant was assigned to command Company F, 4th Infantry, at Fort Humboldt in California. The commanding officer at Fort Humboldt, Lieutenant Colonel Robert C. Buchanan, received reports that Grant became intoxicated off-duty while seated at the pay officer's table. In lieu of a court-martial, Buchanan gave Grant an ultimatum to resign; he did so, effective July 31, 1854, without explanation and returned to St. Louis. The War Department stated on his record, 'Nothing stands against his good name.' After Grant's retirement, rumors persisted in the regular army of his drinking. Years later, he said, 'the vice of intemperance (drunkenness) had not a little to do with my decision to resign.'"

"On April 12, 1861, the American Civil War began as Confederate troops attacked Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina. Two days later, President Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers and a mass meeting was held in Galena to encourage recruitment. Recognized as a military professional, Grant was asked to lead the ensuing effort. Before the attack on Fort Sumter, Grant had not reacted strongly to Southern secession."

"The news of the attack came as a shock in Galena, and Grant shared his neighbors' mounting concern about the onset of war. After hearing a speech by his father's attorney, John Aaron Rawlins, Grant found renewed energy in the Union cause. Rawlins later became Grant's aide-de-camp and close friend during the war."

"In 1862, Grant took control of Kentucky and most of Tennessee, and led Union forces to victory in the Battle of Shiloh, earning a reputation as an aggressive commander. He incorporated displaced African American slaves into the Union war effort."

"In July 1863, after a series of coordinated battles, Grant defeated Confederate armies and seized Vicksburg, giving the Union control of the Mississippi River and dividing the Confederacy in two."

"After his victories in the Chattanooga Campaign, Lincoln promoted him to lieutenant-general and Commanding General of the United States Army in March 1864. Grant confronted Robert E. Lee in a series of bloody battles, trapping Lee's army in their defense of Richmond."

"Grant coordinated a series of devastating campaigns in other theaters. In April 1865, Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox, effectively ending the war. Historians have hailed Grant's military genius, and his strategies are featured in military history textbooks, but a minority contend that he won by brute force rather than superior strategy."

As we learned on our recent book on tape, the largest single victory that worked mightily toward defeating the southern confederacy was Grant's capture of Vicksburg. Though it was a largely a concerted effort between Grant's army and Andrew H. Foote's gunboats on the Mississippi, it was Grant's show. Once the Confederacy was split north to south, supplies could not reach the deep south from the west. After that, starving the south into submission was all but certain.

In 1869 Grant was elected 18th President of the United States and served for two terms. Grant led the Republicans in their effort to remove the vestiges of Confederate nationalism and slavery, protect African-American citizenship, and support economic prosperity nationwide. His presidency has often come under criticism for protecting corrupt associates and in his second term leading the nation into a severe economic depression.

The house that Concetta and I toured was not U. S. Grant's boyhood home, but was the home that the city of Galena, Illinois gave to the Grants as a token of their appreciation for Grant's invaluable service during the Civil War. Grant's boyhood home, was not available to visit, though it was in the same town.

After our visit to Grant's home, we rolled out of Galena and north on Illinois Route 84 as it plunged into Wisconsin. Our initial goal for the day was to find a place to buy some Wisconsin cheese, since we only planned on being in Wisconsin for one day. By nightfall we hoped to be in Minnesota. We didn't make it to Minnesota, but we certainly did find a terrific place to buy some cheese. As an added bonus, the store was also a bakery, so we stocked up on a few goodies to make our lunches more interesting.

We also spent a lot of time today jumping in and out of the truck. There was just so many interesting things to photograph. I finally found a place I could stop and shoot a big red barn with the traditional "quilt pattern" emblazoned over the door. I've been hoping for weeks to capture one, but every time I see a great pattern and the light's just right, there's no room on the shoulder to pull over.

Wondering how barn quilts got started, I went to Barnquiltinfo.com for the information:

"The concept of barn quilts began with Donna Sue Grove's and her wish to honor her mother, Maxine, and her Appalachian heritage by having a painted quilt hung on her barn in Adams County, Ohio."

"As is often the case, good ideas fall by the wayside when work and other obligations intervene. Donna Sue mentioned the project from time to time for several years until she was encouraged by her friends to go ahead and paint that quilt square."

"Her work with the Ohio Arts Council and other community organizations inspired Donna Sue to alter her plan. Rather than creating a personal tribute, she suggested that a "sampler" of twenty quilt squares could be created along a driving trail that would invite visitors to travel through the countryside. A committee of volunteers worked together to both plan the trail and to formulate guidelines as to how the project would be managed. Several barn owners signed on, and the work began."

"So it happened that the first quilt square on the American Quilt Trail does not hang at the Groves farm. The Ohio Star was painted by local artists and installed on a building at a greenhouse nearby, a location that allowed for a public celebration of the inauguration of the quilt trail. A Snail's Trail quilt square was later painted by an artist and mounted on the barn where Donna Sue and Maxine Groves resided."

"That first quilt trail was hardly begun when a group of quilters from neighboring Brown County, Ohio started their own project. For several years, Donna Sue worked with organizations in Ohio and Tennessee to foster the growth of new trails. She also served as advisor for dozens of individuals who were either creating a painted quilt for their own property or planning a quilt trail in their community."

"Donna Sue traveled to Iowa to introduce the concept; each year more and more trails were created in that state. Kentucky was the next to join and now the Bluegrass State is home to about 800 painted quilts."

"This simple idea has spread to 48 states and to Canada, and the trail continues to grow. Over 7000 quilts are part of organized trails; dozens more are scattered through the countryside waiting to be discovered."

"I also got to shoot one of the rare Pure Oil filling stations. I learned on the web that: "By the early 1920s, oil companies, distributors, and private entrepreneurs were building new stations on spacious and prominent sites in established residential neighborhoods and in growing communities. As business increased, so did local complaints about the intrusion of gas stations into residential areas."

"In response, the industry adopted conventional forms to make their stations look less like shacks and more like houses. Often with larger customer areas, and increasingly providing public bathrooms and service bays for car maintenance and repair, these stations were more substantial structures than earlier ones. Some were unassuming with simple clapboard siding, wood sash windows, and a pitched (often hipped) roof. The only clues that such structures were gas stations were the pumps, a sign, and the increasingly popular canopy linking the pump island and the building."

"Designs based on popular domestic forms helped stations blend in with residential neighborhoods while imparting a sense of stability and permanence. Other stations reflected the period revival trend popular in residential architecture at the time. Colonial Revival gas stations sheathed in brick with white columns, pilasters, double-hung windows, and cupolas were common. Tudor and English Cottage designs featuring casement windows, arched door openings, and steeply-pitched roofs were also popular. Mission Revival stations with hipped roofs and stucco walls were developed by some companies, while others adapted Asian pagoda and temple forms."

"The move toward the house-type station was also a sign of growing competition within the oil industry as businesses worked to garner customer trust and loyalty. Companies developed distinctive brands and signature building forms. Pure Oil, for example was well-known for its English Cottage stations (first one was in Indianapolis in 1927), while Standard Oil favored Colonial Revival designs. The effort to develop iconic signage and stations foreshadowed all-encompassing branding campaigns that dominated gas station design later in the century."

So, aside from classic gas station hunting, we added in a bit of train spotting, shooting some killer architecture (photo right), and finding some great places to pull off and shoot the mighty Mississippi. We had a truly rewarding day. We only used Jezebel for the last few miles of our journey when we wanted her to steer us in the right direction to find our camp. Somehow, some way, she managed to get us here without dumping us in the River.

And when YOU venture out on the "super slab," one of these days soon, we wish you Happy Travels!"