Calendar of EventsOrchardLawn2019-03-23T20:44:06-05:00
The Mineral Point Historical Society is Up to
Something!
2019 Upcoming Events
March
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***Reminder of Sunday’s Event***
“Henry Dodge in the Wisconsin Lead Mine District” by Tracey Lee Roberts |
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3rd and final Lyceum of the Season – Sunday, March 24th @ 2PM at First United Methodist Church in Mineral Point.
Our speaker will be Tracey Lee Roberts, Senior Lecturer Emeritus, recently retired from
the History Department at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. She has been
researching and writing about the Lead Mine District for three decades. Tracey is
currently writing a book on the life of Henry Dodge in the Upper Mississippi Valley.
Henry Dodge is a familiar name in Wisconsin and in the annals of history along the
upper Mississippi River corridor. He was instrumental in the frontier development of
the Ste. Genevieve District in Missouri, having been appointed sheriff by the infamous
James Wilkinson. When his fortunes ran dry in Missouri in 1826, Dodge removed to a
lead mining compound in Southwest Wisconsin.Despite defying the laws and treaties with the Ho-Chunk nation, Dodge became the
Governor for the newly created Wisconsin Territory. He was lauded for defeating
Blackhawk and his band of Sauk and Mesquakie warriors in the bloody regional battles
during the summer of 1832. While he rallied for the rights of the miners against
regulations the federal government imposed on the lucrative lead mine trade, he was
also the upholder of the law as Governor and Indian Agent.
Tracey will offer a deeper and more nuanced understanding of a man whose name is
known, but his beliefs, his allegiances, and his losses have been obscured by lionizing
narratives of glory.
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The event is free and open to all. Refreshments and conversation will follow the
presentation. Please join us!
Hope to see you in 2019 with NEW
exhibits!

World War I Exhibit featuring Dr. Homer D. Ludden
In 2006, an old Army trunk in the attic of a Mineral Point home was opened, revealing artifacts from World War I. These items, seldom seen in nearly 100 years, provide a fascinating glimpse into the life of a Mineral Point surgeon’s life on the front lines of France in 1918. The items included over 200 letters written by Dr. Homer D. Luddenback to his wife in Mineral Point, detailing the fierce fighting and unimaginable conditions of a medical unit during a war in which the new killing technology far outpaced the existing medical technology. Dr. Luddenreturned from the war and continued his medical practice in Mineral Point, making house calls, delivering babies and operating on farmhouse tables. Dr. Luddenbecame one of Mineral Point’s most beloved citizens. The Mineral Point Historical Society has developed an engaging exhibit called, “Dr. Homer D. Ludden, Mineral Point Doctor, Soldier, Citizen.”
