Muckle came from Minneapolis and built a car-
riage factory out on the flat south of the railroad
not far from where Ted Miller had his garage.
They built up quite a factory with a railroad spur
over to it.
(1924, as I remember) Stubbs and Big Bend was
changed so Stubbs town still had their hall in
Weyerhaeuser. Big Bend was the south end and
had their hall just south of Soft Maple Creek on
the Old Chippewa Trail. That Chippewa Trail was
just a tote road that meandered from Bruce to
Chippewa Falls and was used by the old logging
company. The old buildings that Harry Brainerd's
folks had on the river was a roadhouse for lumber-
jacks. The Chippewa Trail was replaced by 40. I
believe at that time George Nater was the first Big
Bend town chairman. That hall, clear on the north
edge of the town, was later moved down nearer the
center. By Ralph Chatfield to Eleanor Kroll
Thomas - December 1958
A BIG BEND
SETTLEMENT
KNOWN AS "EGYPT"
Now we can work our way over to Egypt, that
locality south and west of the old North Lima
school. I don't know why it was called Egypt. The
settlers came from a locality called Lima in
Richland County, so that the school became North
Lima. The year we went there the Ike Ammerman
family moved out of some cabins by the little lake,
to a large house they built out on the corner where
Paul Dzmiela lives now. This large house burnt
down soon after Paul's parents moved there. They
built the house that is there now.
Bill Fern was another old timer and ex-
lumberjack. He had worked for the lumber com-
pany. Some of the boys got a radio and took it over
to Fern's place and set it up to give Bill a treat. He
sat and listened for awhile then remarked, "You
guys think you're pretty smart, but you can't fool
me. You got something in that box." In those days
the radios were regenerative and could broadcast
to some extent as well as receive. (Pete Dzimiela
was another person who refused to believe in
radio.) The only stations were WCCO in Min-
neapolis and KDKA in Pittsburgh. Tuning in pro-
duced squeals, moans, and whines, until the radio
was tuned exactly right on the air wave.
I could go on and on with early happenings and
other - interesting people, but guess this covers
some of the highlights. By Ralph Chatfield to
Eleanor Kroll Thomas - December 1958
Additional notes by Lena Sergent Biedron

Model T Ford
1917

My father, Gregg Sergent, acquired a Model-T
about 1923. Money was always very scarce. Daddy
traded a cow, twin heifer calves, one year old, and
a dozen laying hens to Lee Wordell for that second
hand Model-T touring car. We had to stop and put
on the side curtains if we were out riding and it
began to look like rain. The Chatfields had a car
14

some years before this. I think they had the first
one in the country. I know the Shafers had a car
about 1918. We went to Bruce Christmas shopping
with horses; it became late and in one of the stores
we met the Shafers. They very gallantly offered to
take my mother and us two little girls home in
their car. Violet, 4 and I, 6. Such a ride! I am now
60, but remember that ride so well. It was muddy;
the car slid this way and that. My father was left to
drive the horses and probably got home around
midnight. Then he milked the cows; this was just
the ordinary way that people lived.
Grandpa Sergent acquired a Maxwell car about
1917. When my Uncle Thelo Kern came home
from the War, 1918, Grandpa generously insisted
that we all go to Ladysmith to meet him at the
train. Grandpa, Grandma, Aunt, Mother, Father,
Violet and I. We two little girls sat on foot stools,
placed on the floor by the back seat. Grandpa had
to step on low many times because the roads were
so bad. He was old and so slow and always had
rheumatism in his knees. I remember my father
saying, "Hurry up, pa, hurry up.", and the engine
nearly dying before Grandpa got his foot on low.
When my father got that first car, he just got in
and drove it. He always drove cautiously and he
kidded about the fact that he didn't hit any
telephone poles. Sometimes when he was in a hurry
to stop he said, "whoa." We kids always had a big
laugh when that happened.
Donald Rentz tells this: Mr. Chadderdon gave
three logs to build the Church of Christ on Bill
Kern's land. My father, Mr. Rentze, and a couple
of other men pulled sunken pine logs out of the
swamp in front of Rentz's house. Those logs were
perfect. Chatfields sawed the logs, my father
hauled them and the church went up.
TOWN OF BIG FALLS
The Town of Big Falls is located mostly on the
west side of the Flambeau River, north of
Ladysmith and Tony. A small part of Big Falls lies
east of the river by the Big Falls Dam.
Dairy Center is a name linked to Big Falls. A
lumber company stripped the land and sold it to a
Colonization Company. The company paid men
$100 to build colony houses on the land, and then
the company advertised to sell the land and houses.
There are still a few of these colony houses left.
Tony Fedyn, Gene Fedyn, Vern Chesky and Joe
Proden live in remodeled colony houses. There
were many small houses located throughout Dairy
Center and Big Falls which have since burned,
fallen down, or have been moved. A store and
school were built on land where Matt Zimmer and
some of his boys now live. The real estate firm
billed the area as a dairy center and the name
stuck. This was in 1920.
There were just a few people living in the area
prior to that, as roads were, not much, if at all. The
Jennerman and Douglas families were two families
there ahead of the store. When people started to
clear the land it was discovered that most of it had
a very healthy crop of rocks. Some families didn't
last long, but the third generation is now farming
some of the land with the fourth generation being
born.
The 8 Mile Corner School was later constructed
in the town. Some of the teachers were: Dehlia
Sybers, Audrey and Bonnie Johnson, Ilia Waller
and Margaret (Fiser) Guns. The 8 Mile Corner
School closed first and then the Dairy Center
School. Some of those teachers were: Lola Emily,
Bill Proden and Mrs. Bill Schreiber. The 8 Mile
Corner School was located on Joe Proden's corner
and the Dairy Center School was located on Matt
Zimmer's corner. After the closing of the schools,
the town became a part of the Tony district. With
the building of the Matlack bridge across the
Flambeau in 1922, closer ties were made with
Tony churches and business.
The Big Falls Dam was built in 1920 and
Boyer's Lodge and the Flambeau Lodge were built
on the flowage, as well as a few homes. Boyer's
Lodge burned down and was not rebuilt. The
Flambeau Lodge is a stopping place for people
making canoe trips down the river. The Lodge,

along with the school buildings, were hosts for
dances for people for miles around. In 1920 when
the Big Falls Dam was built, the supplies were
hauled in by rail. John Hein owned the lumber
company and the railroad ran northeast from Tony
to the north. A steam shovel worked the gravel pit
and filled small box cars which made up the
Donkey train. Vennie Sarb, Joe Posekany, Nick
Zimmer and Walter Sarb worked on the Dam. Joe
Posekany had a small canteen at the building site
which sold candy bars, socks, tobacco, gloves and
mittens. Due to deterioration from bad building
materials, in 1933 the Dam was partially rebuilt
and finished in 1934. It provided many jobs for
men during the depression. Gravel was shipped in
by rail to Tony and hauled by trucks to the dam.
The Green Barn Farm which is now owned by
Schreibers was another landmark of the town.
Many picnics were held there. The Big Falls Town
Hall was built in 1933.
Harry Baxter was the first town chairman. Ed
Sarb was then chairman for 19 years followed by
Bernard Schwartz, John Zimmer, Verlyn Fiser
and the present chairman, Matt Zimmer. Town
Clerks were: Mark Gerard, Erv Anderson, Rufus
Gerard, Bill Proden, Wilbur Adkins, Henry Guns
and the present clerk, Robert Gunderson. Town
Treasurers were: Frank Douglas, Henry Guns, and
the present treasurer, Vern Chesky.
A small community lived on the south side of the
dam for several years after the dam was built.
They even had their own school. One of the
teachers was Alice Rimert. The first manager of
the Big Falls Dam was Ralph Hoyt. Nels Madsen
and son, Robert succeeded Ralph, followed by
Martin Shimko. The present manager is Robert
Grunseth.
The Sarb brothers (Edward, Walter, Vennie)
had a threshing machine and portable saw mill
that was used on most every place in the town.
August 1, 1936, 11:45 AM a fire broke out
north of Charley Finex's on the four corners.
Cause of the fire was unknown. It hadn't rained for
a long time, and July had been a very hot, dry
month. The temperatures were above normal, July
7th - 101 degrees, July 10th - 107 degrees, July
13 - 109 degrees in the shade. By August 3rd the
fire had burned through to Vennie Chesky's farm,
now owned by Verlyn Fiser. The fire burned all
around the buildings, but none were damaged. The
fire continued to burn north. Men were hired by
the Conservation Dept. to fight the fire, and were
paid 15¢ per hour. Food was hauled from
Ladysmith and local people donated whatever food
they could. Coffee was made in 10 gallon wash
boilers. As the fire burned north, Joe Posekany and
Vern Chesky led a cat and grader through logging
roads at night with lanterns. The equipment was
used to make fire breaks, but the fire still jumped
the ditches. The fire also jumped the Flambeau
River. August 10th, men were still fighting fire on
top of Adkins' hill. August 15th - 102 degrees in
the shade. It finally started raining and the fire
was brought under control. Men still had to patrol
the area for about 2 weeks watching for flare ups.
The fire had burned over 10,240 acres.
In 1941 it rained for 3 days and nights raising
the Thornapple River above flood stage. It washed
out the small bridge south of Henry Gun's
buildings. Cars tried to pass through, but stalled
and were covered by water. The water rose to
within 1 foot of the top of Ed Sarb's bridge, and
their house was surrounded by water. Much of
Ed's lumber from his mill went down the river.
On July 4th, 1977 a severe wind storm went
through this area. It devastated the state forest
before hitting the river. A party of 20 people were
inner tubing down the north fork of the Flambeau
River when the storm hit. The party included:
Don, Coletta, Vonnie, Dennie and Bonnie Jo Fiser;
Peg, David and Amy Fiser; Vern, Betty, Karen,
Duane and JoAnne Johnson; Don, Arlene, Randy,
Mitch, Kenny and Jerry Croes; and Janilee
Chesky. Fifteen minutes after the party was on the
river the storm hit. The wind began to blow and
the water was rough. We beached at a cabin
formerly owned by William Schlomann, to await
the storm's end. A couple of the inner tubes went
up river along with trees and water. The sky was