Today while planning some of my Illinois bicycling destinations, I came across a mention of a man from Carroll County who claimed to have been a captain of a company of volunteers in the Black Hawk War — The White Oak Springs Volunteers. I have found references to such a company, but so far have found no evidence that this man had that role or even was a member of it.
But I’m still working on it. In their later years it was not uncommon for participants to exaggerate their roles, but not to make such things up out of nothing.
But one thing I do now have is an excuse to ride to White Oak Springs. It is not actually in Illinois. It’s just across the border in Wisconsin. In September 2004 I did a ride to the Black Hawk war zone that took me near White Oak Springs. It was marked on my maps then, too. But it was on the last day of my tour, and I ran out of time to include that destination.
I had to check my photos to refresh my memory about it, so I’ll post a few of them here. The one above was taken in Hazel Green. It may have been while I had stopped at this intersection to take the photo that a motorcycle pulled up next to me. The man and woman asked if I knew the way to New Diggings. I wasn’t sure, but I told them I was headed there myself and was planning to try the road to the right.
This is a photo along the way. I’m not sure if that is Blue Mound in the distance, or another of the mounds that form landmarks that can be seen many miles away.
There were several motorcycles on the road that day, a Sunday. I could see why they like it. Instead of straight-line roads, there are gentle hills and curves to make it interesting.
I suppose some of the roads go back to the 1820s, before the surveyors came and put their straight lines on the landscape. This area was part of the lead mining district of which Galenda, Illinois was the transportation and commercial hub. Places like New Diggings and White Oak Springs were part of the network.
New Diggings is just ahead in this photo. It was a warm day and I didn’t have enough to drink with me. I had been hoping to find something in New Diggings. But when I got there, it looked like the only place was the bar that one can see at the end of the road.
There were a lot of motorcycles in the parking lot — definitely not a bicycling type crowd. But I went in anyway.
As soon as I walked in I was surprised to be greeted by the couple who had passed me back in Hazel Green. They and the bartender had a few good-natured jokes about bicyclers pedaling away on the roads. I declined to join them for a beer. I have never tried mixing beer drinking and riding and didn’t think a hot day like that was a good time to start. But I did want something to drink, and ended up with an ice cold lemonade. They all had questions about bicycle touring, and I had questions about their motorcycling outings. I stayed quite a bit longer than I had intended, but left before my new friends did. A few miles down the road, on the way to Shullsburg, they caught up with me again, beeping and waving as they passed.
Now I’m glad to be reminded that there are nearby destinations I missed that time. I look forward to going back there again. It’s pretty country, as is all of the Rock River country. Those motorcyclers had good taste in roads and scenery, and I’d be glad to enjoy it with them again.
YTD mileage: 747
My relationship with motorcycle riders has generally been pretty good. They’re pretty much all doctors and lawyers now, anyway.
Back in the late 60s, though, there was a band of outlaws who would terrorize small towns in Ohio.
I was working as a newspaper photographer when the local cops got word that the band was going to be passing through (hopefully) our county.
The sheriff’s office was going to escort them through to let them know they were being watched and to try to get ‘em gone as quickly as possible.
They were about half-way through, when I heard someone come over the police radio, “Tell that rookie you don’t stop the LEAD motorcycle. If you have to start arresting folks, you pick ‘em off at the back and work forwards.”
Doctors, lawyers and teachers. A couple of Sundays ago after church I was recommending this road to a retired school principal, who is also a motorcyclist. He’s a Wisconsin native and knows a lot of the roads I know there (and more) but he didn’t know about this one. He was interested. He wasn’t so sure about mixing beer drinking and motorcycling, though. And it’s not often that you’ll find a German Lutheran from Wisconsin who will pass up on a beer opportunity.