I have never hit one of these...

Jeff · July 07, 2003, 06:28:20 AM

I spent an evening this past weekend visiting an old yooper friend. We were talking sawing and he dug out this old clipping that he had saved for years and let me read it. I had never heard this story before. I copied it and here it is.

THE STRANGE STORY OF THE BODY IN THE TREE

(Editors note: If you're a fan of the truth is stranger than fiction genre, you'll love this story. The following article was originally printed in a March, 1976 issue of the Pine City Pioneer by Norm Howe of Deerwood.)

An investigation is under way at the University of Wisconsin to determine the historical value of a find recently made in the woods near Ladysmith.

Two men hurried into Ladysmith, a city in northern Wisconsin, last week in the height of excitement, vowing they would return to their homes near Owen and never return to the vicinity of Ladysmith again, says the Rusk County Journal.
These two men who gave their names as A. Chapin and Walter Latsch, were sent to Ladysmith a week ago by a Chippewa falls firm which had purchased stumpage on a tract of land lying somewhere west of the Floyd Graves farm in the township of Murry.

There in a rough shanty these men had "batched" while getting out logs and cordwood for their employers. Among other trees selected, they notched a large basswood and felled it, for though it had a large hole some 30 feet above the ground, they considered it good for several-foot log.

They struck their saw into the basswood at a point where they had expected a cut would give them a 20-foot log. All went well until they were almost through the big tree when their saw evidentally struck a rock. A cautious second attempt proved futility of trying to saw through the log.

Curious to know the reason of the rock in the tree, Chapin got a "canthook." After some labor the tree trunk was turned over and a cut begun from the other side. Before long the same difficulty was encountered but by turning the trunk several times the cut was completed and the log rolled away, revealing what threw the two men in a bad fright, for there, staring up at them was the ashen face of a man.

After much deliberation and delay they finally summoned enough courage to drag the body of the man from the hollow trunk, and their worst fears verified, hastily set out for town.

At first the men's story was laughed at, but finally it got to an official who perceiving the state of "nerves" which the men displayed, decided that there must be something to their story. A party of four men was secured and made the trip to the small clearing and there what they witnessed was the ancient tragedy.

There, encased in the living trunk of a tree, was the entire body of a man, fully clothed in homespuns and buckskins that fell away when touched, and the head had been covered with a long hair which was tucked under a coon skin cap. With the mummed body in the hollow tree was an old muzzle loading pistol of fanciful design.

In the pocket of the man's clothing, which was like ashes, was found several decayed bits of paper and a few french coins, one of which dated back to 1164. The only clue to the man's identity was a scrap of official looking paper bearing the name "Pierre D'Artagnon" signed "Jacques Marquette."

For all that it seems the height of improbability, it is thought on good authority that in Rusk County has been found the body of Captain D'Artagnon, who was lost from Marquette and Joliet's party on a trip down the Mississippi in 1667. The solution to the body being found in the old basswood is advanced in the theory that D'Artagnon, pursued by the Indians, crawled into the hollow tree to hide and being unable to crawl out died there. The perculiar action of the sap of the live basswood petrified the body and preserved it for these men to discover.

The body was brought to Ladysmith where it was shipped to the state university Source: Tom Isle/Pulp & paperworkers Resource Council.

Bud Man · July 07, 2003, 07:41:08 AM

503 Year old coin, Must have been a collector-- Eh ?

Jeff · July 07, 2003, 07:58:01 AM

My Brother in law collected coins. I posed that question to him. He said it would not have been unusual for someone of that era to have and carry old coins. They all did. Coins were not struck every year as they are today. When they were made back then, they were meant to last forever. I have been trying to find information on this outside of that clipping and can find nothing.

Bibbyman · July 07, 2003, 08:07:41 AM

But how likely is a coin that had been carried some 300 years be in good enough condition to read? My mom has some old coins her dad carried - one was a copper piece about the size of a half-dollar. It's worn so much you can't tell what it was.

Jeff · July 07, 2003, 08:17:22 AM

Dunno. I guess we could all write our own scenarios. I have a lot of questions about the piece. I wish the clipping would have identified the paper. I could not tell anything from the back either. Lyle, the old yooper, could not tell me what paper the clipping actually came from.

Andre · July 07, 2003, 03:29:16 PM

After a bit of searching the only thing I can find on the web about this is here.

http://www.historybuff.com/library/refpetrification.html

Search for "Wisconsin Petrified Man" it is near the bottom of the page.

Seems it was a hoax, "Hinshaw apparently wrote the story because he needed something to fill an empty space in that weeks edition of the Journal.".

Ron Wenrich · July 07, 2003, 03:58:41 PM

What got my attention was the basswood. How big a tree would it had been after another 300 years and considering it had to be big enough to fit a man back then? Maximum has been 5'

I talked to one sawyer who hit a possum in a log. It hung the saw immediately.

Jeff · July 07, 2003, 04:12:01 PM

Good work Andre! I knew someone from Wisconsin had or would get us the scoop.

Bibbyman · July 07, 2003, 05:58:42 PM

Our local newspaper back in the 70's printed a story on April 1 all about how to recover and prepare road-kill. I can remember the picture of a lady in a trench coat, hat and sunglasses picking up a road-kill squirrel by the tail. The story gave tips on how to tell if the kill was fresh (eyes still shiny, limb joints loose, etc.) I went on to give the author's favorite recipe for possum, etc.

Got some people really upset and wrote letters to the editors. Others saw the humor right off. :D

Percy · July 07, 2003, 06:46:08 PM

Hooooboy..
This sure kicks the crap outta my BIG BULLET story :D :D :D :D 8) 8)

woodmills1 · July 08, 2003, 05:48:03 AM

man finds coin dated 50BC is it valuable?

ARKANSAWYER · July 08, 2003, 05:57:38 AM

Is you to imply that not all folks partake in the bounty the Good Lord provides on the roadways of this here Great Nation? Waste not want not!
I belive it was in "Outdoor Life" where two loggers found a coon dog in a hollow tree as I seen the photo of it mummified. I will look around and see if I can find it.
ARKANSAWYER

Bud Man · July 08, 2003, 08:50:54 AM

Was the coon inside the dog ?

Stephen · July 08, 2003, 08:54:58 AM

Must have been a log dog. ;D

Texas Ranger · July 08, 2003, 03:40:35 PM

I saw the picture of the coon dog, had his leg hiked up, musta had kidney stones :

Here's the story.

http://www.macon.com/mld/macon/4246447.htm

Another story and picture.

http://www.savannahnow.com/stories/101002/LOCmummydog.shtml

ARKANSAWYER · July 09, 2003, 05:36:29 AM

Yep! that's the hound. I have had a few that determin to get to a critter. Good hounds are worth their weight in gold. I am glad that he got a good name.
ARKANSAWYER

AtLast · July 09, 2003, 05:45:57 PM

BUMMER!!!!!! >:(..and here I thought " WOW what a cool story!!!"....I suppose its like the story of the logers that found the scuba gear in the top of a tree....oh well....perked up my attention for a bit...I figured the coin would be in such good shape cuz it wasnt handled...than thought hmmmmm wouldnt the bod still decay....than I thought...I wanna see this...than I read the story on history buff and thought....great story...what an imagination....

...than I thought..ONLY Jeff would find a story like that....than I thought...wonder what Bibbymans found in his logs.....than I thought...wonder if Tom's got any good tree goast stories??? ???....than I thought...poor fool..caught by induans ( thats the yupper pronounciation)....than I thought... still pullin on my levers waitin for my mill to lift off.....hmmm...might be best if I stop thinkin.. ;D