While doing some research on local Native American mounds that have long since disappeared, I came across a set of articles detailing the seedy waterfront businesses of the Pioneer Days here in the city of La Crosse. Amid the stories of bar owned prisons in the basement, brothels with ladies of the night, rowdy riverboat workers, and lots and lots and lots of booze, this paragraph stood out:
That article was in a 1912 La Crosse Tribune archive on found on Newspapers.com. To be honest, I had never heard of this bit of local history before. I asked a local bar owner who has ties to the history folks of the area if he had ever heard of this story before, and he had not. Yet he too was intrigued. Not as much as I was, but definitely very intrigued… so I thought, “Hey, this sounds like a Hattie and Dad weekend adventure.” Or more appropriately, “This sounds like some #weekendengagement fun,” and so we were off.
Using some free time at work, I did quite a bit of prep work for this adventure last week. The image below was my starting point, and taken from a map made of the area in 1867.
Don’t mention that "prep at work thing" to my five bosses, please. From the paragraph above from the 1912 La Crosse Tribune, I knew I had to figure out where three things were in the La Crosse of yesteryear:
- Where the hotel was that the James Brothers / James Gang allegedly stayed at
- Where the bank was the James Brothers / James Gang allegedly planned to rob
- Where the ferry service was located that Jesse James deemed to be too inconsistent to a) flee the bank post robbery and b) flee across the Mississippi River to Minnesota
Thanks to the Google Machine, I put a plan together for Hattie and me. Here we go!
The Hotel
As you can imagine, with any old riverfront area in this part of the world, most original buildings are long, long gone. From what I’ve read, the area here in La Crosse was quite wild back in the "good old days." I believe it.
The hotel mentioned in the newspaper article above was located at “the old La Crosse Butter and Ice Cream Factory.” Further research surmised that that facility was located at the corner of Front Street and State Street. With that in mind, we found the location; the hotel and Ice Cream Factory have long been torn down, but in it’s place was a WA Roosevelt Headquaters that the city has since saved. It’s now the headquarters for a regional investment firm; it’s quite a beautiful building, too.
The Bank
The bank is a beauty. The currently standing building was built in 1888, but older papers suggest another building stood here beforehand. I believe Jesse James was thought to have been killed in the early 1880's, but I've read books to the contrary. The Batavia Building, however, was a cornerstone of the early La Crosse pioneer community, and was founded by Dutch capitalist Gysbert Van Steenwyck. Later, it was actually a Federal Reserve printing bank...you can still spend some sought after dollar bills printed from La Crosse:
Today, it’s used as an escape room type of setting for group meetings. I will work on getting an invite into the building for a future post. Something tells me the interior design of the building is worth getting on the blockchain for some historical entertainment value.
The Escape
Last but not least, where was the ferry that Jesse James and company needed to get to? Thanks, yet again, to that old map, Hattie and I found this spot the previous week. The original bridge is since long gone, but a renovated train bridge still stands that now serves as a footbridge for some trails in the area.
Here was Hattie looking toward the old area with ice on the river.
The ferry buildings are long gone, too, but it's still a beautiful area. Especially if you think about the James gang running through here some 150 years ago.
The Adventure Begins
With the trail set, we began the staking and potential robbery of the old Batavia Bank over 100 years ago. With stroller in hand, and Hattie already bored out of her mind and wanting to go to a park, we begin the journey. My thinking is Jesse would have a) gone down Front Street until Main Street, b) moved East up on Main Street until the bank, c) robbed the bank however they robbed banks, d) escaped on hourse and e) fled out the back, through the alley, and ran their horses to the ferry. Of course, this is all speculation, but let’s pretend anyway. Here is the map with our course plotted.
It's tough to write with that Snipping Tool, let me tell you...
We start at the old hotel. The building is still a beauty; Hattie is not impressed.
We move down Front Street as the James gang would have.
To the left of the picture above was a tavern called the Olde Style Inn. In the basement of the tavern was a prison cell for rowdy and drunk patrons; that too is long gone, but the memories no doubt still persist to someone yet.
We then turn up to Main Street.
This used to be the center of town, but now it’s an odd mall that leads to a little water way. There was a young kid ahead of us doing bike tricks; Hattie was still not impressed, but the young guy on the trick bike has caught her attention for a few seconds.
We continue to move up Main Street; side note, it’s the day after St. Patrick day celebrations here in La Crosse. We are seeing lots of wounded soldiers and half finished cocktails on the sidewalks. Hattie is now curious what is going on; I tell her it’s colored water...we move on.
Finally, we make it to the Batavia:
I took a few photos of the front of the building and it’s facade, but we’re more interested in the back of the building. Hattie and I investigate. The alley behind the building is very old; my guess is that the bricks were put in place early 20th century/late 19th century. Still, it’s a cool piece of area in town, with history no doubt rich. I’m more worried about Hattie not picking up broken glass shards, however.
The Escape Part II
With bank now "robbed," and getting to a proper park with swings and slides now an urgent priority, we flee down the alley and back toward the hotel/now historic old building.
Across the way from our last vantage point would be where the old footbridge/wood bridge would have been.
I wanted to return to the last point of escape, for one last picture, where Jesse ultimately thought the plan would not have worked. Hattie thought otherwise. So we got back into the car, I got Hattie had a pouch for a snack, and away we fled to the nearest park.
And so the adventure ended. As I had mentioned earlier, I wanted to do more historic blog posts for the #weekendengagement group. This area is rich with history, and I find it fascinating to read about and see it in person. So with some luck, more to come!
Thanks as always for reading! Drop a line (or two); I always love feedback!