The Jordan Buck

The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls. ~ Pablo Picasso

Rubas and the Jordan Buck Statue.

 

Gentle Readers and Loved Ones,

The Gadabout returns to the notion of a travelog this post.  I’ve often written about our cabin in Wisconsin in Burnett County, near Danbury.

Danbury, Wisconsin is fairly old by American standards... established back in the 1800s. It sits on the confluence of the Yellow and St Croix Rivers and is the last town in Wisconsin as you proceed west across the St Croix into Minnesota.  It was settled long ago by the St Croix Chippewas.  Yes, there is a casino on the reservation in Danbury.  Pretty nice one.

The railroad ran through Danbury and was a stop on the haul from St Paul up to Duluth.  The tracks were long ago removed and the railroad bed turned into a bicycle and snowmobile trail – the Gandy Dancer Trail.

But back in 1914, it was different.  The train still ran.

On Nov 20, 1914, on the trestle crossing the Yellow River just south of Danbury, the second largest deer to ever be harvested in the world was shot by James Jordan.  The Jordan Buck story is interesting.  Mr. Jordan knew he shot a big buck but never knew how big.  It wasn’t certified until after his death.

The Wikipedia story is here.  I highly encourage you to click that link and read it.  Like all Wiki stories it leaves you wanting to know more.

Here is another account.  It is fascinating.  

Governor Walker officially proclaimed Nov 20 Jordan Buck Day back in 2014.  This year, Danbury installed the Jordan Buck Statue in the center of town just off the Gandy Dancer Trail and only a few yards north of the trestle where Jordan shot it. Sept 25 will be the official ‘unveiling’ of the statue, but it’s been right there by the side of the road for weeks now. 

The reason for all this is that old friends of the family came up to visit last week. Kate’s college room-mate, her hubby and three kids.  We fired up the Polaris Ranger, Sylvan Assault Vehicle (SAV) and Michael and the two older kids loaded up for a trip into town to get stuff and to tourist around.  It resulted in the wonderful picture of the kids and the Jordan Buck Memorial Statue.

I do not know how the number of legs the statue has off the ground applies to the Jordan Buck.  Evidently it means shot twice by a small caliber rifle.....

On that happy note, I remain,

Dad/Geoff

ps, we drove across another trestle north of town that crosses the St. Croix into Minnesota.  Where we saw a coyote running up the Gandy Dancer.  Sadly, there are no pictures of the dawg.