Marathon County, Wisconsin - Chapter 30, 1913

Chapter 30

Wausau is a city where sport in the best sense of the word, as an amusement or recreation, and as part of the physical cuhure is fostered and has its adherents by the hundreds or thousands. In early years, when the population was small and the village scattered through the woods, there was of course no chance for sport. Work was too exacting to leave much desire for play ; rest was the greatest enjoyment, no doubt heightened by occasional visits or evening talks, with a dance or two in a year thrown in as the height of social pleasure.

The first sport indulged in was horse racing. After a part of the fair grounds was cleared, a race course was laid, where it still exists, cleared of logs and stumps and somewhat smoothed, of course not rolled, and in September, 1868. the people were treated to a gentlemen's horse race, the first ever held in Marathon county. It was a running race between W. D. Mc- Indoe's filly and August Kickbusch's colt Prince, Otto Kickbusch being the rider. There was no grandstand, no grandstand play, no entrance fee charged, no purse except the wager of the two owners themselves. It was won by Mclndoe's filly after an exciting race.

In a few years afterwards a "Driving Park Association" was formed, all Wausau people, which gave many trials of speed, the races being trotting races almost exclusively. The Driving Park Association was not very prosperous, and when, with county fairs and premiums for speed, better or faster horses, whose owners made it a business to go to fairs, appeared, the Driving Park Association disappeared.

A "Sharpshooters' Society" was organized, that is, without much of an organization some lovers of the sport secured a place where to shoot, and

And Representative Citizens 459 Turn Society

Next a "Turn Society" was formed with John C. Gebhard as principal organizer, and in 1887 the State Turn Festival was held here, the first of a state meeting of any kind.

Militia Company

A militia company, named the "Germania Guard," was formed about that time, with Captain Rehlitz as first captain. This company disbanded near the year 1890.

In the decade from 1880 to 1890 base ball began to be played by volunteers, young business and professional men, and the game was then quickly picked up by Young Wausau.

With the growth of the population, the establishment of the high school and high school scholars, came basket ball, foot ball, and the last sport indulged in was golf.

In the last twelve years the high school of Wausau had its regular tournament with the schools as far south as Oshkosh, and they always had an honorable place. The game which had the greatest adherents, howe\er, was which has become an established institution in Wausau. It has a park in the city limits easy of approach by the street railway line on the northeast side. This city has been a member of interstate league, the "Wisconsin-Illinois League," since 1904, which league is composed of the following cities : Wausau, Oshkosh, Fond du Lac, Green Bay, La Crosse, Beloit, Madison and Freeport. In the following year Beloit dropped out of the league and Eau Claire was substituted.

The Wausau players, nick-named "Lumber Jacks," took the pennant in 1908, and won second place in 1907, much to the disgust of other clubs, because Wausau was much smaller than the other cities in this league, and in the year 1909 Wausau was dropped from this league, and Appleton admitted in its place. It has always been claimed by the "fans" that it was thrown out for its supposed presumption to play good ball and win the pennant against cities twice its size.

Not discomfited by this treatment, Wausau entered the Minnesota- Wisconsin League from 1909 to 191 1, playing with Eau Claire, Red Wing, La Crosse, Rochester, Duluth, Superior City, and Winona, again playing good ball and keeping in the first division.

In 1912 it again took its place in the A\'isconsin-Illinois League, consisting of Green Bay, Appleton, Beloit, Aurora, Madison, Racine and Oshkosh, with good chances for first or second place, when three members of the team were injured in a railroad wreck at Lyndhurst, when only twelve more games were to be played, which virtually broke up the team work for the season. The club has already organized and will take a good record in 191 3.

This society existed a long time as a voluntary association, but elected officers regularly since 1873. It incorporated under the laws of Wisconsin in 1903. It is a member of the Wisconsin Union since its existence and a member of the Central Union since 1895. It has a long lease for twenty acres land joining the fair grounds, where it has its shooting cottage, a fine building, ten targets, and the land not used for practice is a fine park, where people hold their picnics in the summer. This society is distinguished for the utmost harmony which prevails and the friendship bet^veen its individual members.

At the international competitive drill of all the militia companies at Chicago, Illinois, in 1888, Company G, Third Regiment, Wisconsin National Guard, the Wausau Company, commanded at that time by Captain Womer, won first prize as the best drilled militia company in the United States. Private Edw. Fitzgerald of the same company won first prize as the best drilled militia private.

The Central Sh.Arpshooters' Union

consists of the states between the Alleghanies and Rocky Mountains, to wit : Illinois, Iowa, Ohio, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, Indiana and Wisconsin, and since 1895 ^^e Wausau society is a member of this union. On the fourth tournament of this union, at St. Louis in 1903, W. R. Koppa, from the Wausau society, won first prize on Stich target.

At the match held in Davenport in 1906, and again at the next match shooting of this union, Otto Mueller won the championship. At the last tournament for the champion shot held in Chicago, Illinois (the best one hundred shots), held in 1912, Paul W'einkauf of the Wausau society won the championship.

The Wausau society won so many honors and stands so well that the union of this eight states has voted to hold the next champion tournament in 1913 in Wausau.