Wednesday, January 14, 1998
1:40 P.M.
Ninety-Third Regular Session
The Assembly met in the Council House at the First Capitol Historic Site in Belmont, Wisconsin in commemoration of the Sesquicentennial of Wisconsin's statehood.
Speaker Jensen in the chair.
The prayer was offered by Father Brian Bricker.
Representative Gronemus led the membership in reciting the pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.
Representative Judy Klusman led the membership in singing the "Star Spangled Banner".
The roll was taken.
The result follows:
Present - Representatives Ainsworth, Albers, Baldwin, Baumgart, Black, Bock, Boyle, Brandemuehl, Carpenter, Coggs, Cullen, Dobyns, Dueholm, Duff, Freese, Gard, Goetsch, Green, Gronemus, Grothman, Gunderson, Hahn, Handrick, Hanson, Harsdorf, Hasenohrl, Hebl, Hoven, Huber, Hubler, Huebsch, Hutchison, Jeskewitz, Johnsrud, Kaufert, Kedzie, Kelso, Klusman, Kreibich, Kreuser, Krug, Krusick, La Fave, Ladwig, F. Lasee, Lazich, J. Lehman, M. Lehman, Linton, Lorge, Meyer, Murat, Musser, Nass, Notestein, Olsen, Ott, Otte, Ourada, Owens, Plale, Plouff, Porter, R. Potter, Powers, Reynolds, Riley, Robson, Ryba, Schafer, Schneider, Seratti, Skindrud, Springer, Staskunas, Steinbrink, Sykora, Travis, Turner, Underheim, Urban, Vander Loop, Vrakas, Walker, Ward, Wasserman, Wieckert, Wood, L. Young, R. Young, Ziegelbauer, Zukowski and Speaker Jensen - 93.
Absent with leave - Representatives Foti, Kunicki, Morris-Tatum and Williams - 4.
Vacancies - 42nd and 82nd Assembly Districts - 2.
Speaker Pro Tempore Freese in the chair.
__________________
LEAVES OF ABSENCE
Speaker Pro Tempore Freese asked unanimous consent for a leave of absence for today's session for Representatives Foti, Kunicki, Morris-Tatum and Williams. Granted.
__________________
Speaker Pro Tempore Freese introduced Former Chief Justice Nathan Heffernan, who addressed the members on the history of the First Capitol Site at Belmont.
__________________
Speaker Jensen introduced Governor Tommy G. Thompson, who addressed the members on Wisconsin's Sesquicentennial.
"Speaker Jensen, members of the State Assembly, Justice Heffernan, distinguished guests, and ladies and gentlemen.
It is a pleasure to return to Belmont and Wisconsin's first territorial capitol building. I moved state government to Platteville in 1991 and held a cabinet meeting in this very room.
I had the good sense, however, to convene the meeting in august -- not in the dead of winter.
No matter the temperature, this is a glorious and historic day for the state of Wisconsin.
Traveling by carriage in the middle of January to this historic location conjures up images of Asaph Whittlesey, the founder of Ashland.
It was January 1860, and armed with a pistol, a pair of goggles and a burning desire to ensure the northland's voice was heard in the state legislature, Asaph Whittlesey set out on snowshoes from Ashland to the nearest train station located in Sparta -- a 240 mile trek.
Upon entering a Sparta tavern, Whittlesey was warmed by the same Wisconsin hospitality that continues to greet travelers today. Trading in his buckskins and goggles for a suit donated by the men in the tavern, he boarded a train to represent the lake superior country in Madison.
Whittlesey braved bone-chilling winds, and persevered against below zero temperatures and blinding snow to take part in the greatest human experiment ever devised....democracy.
If anyone ever deserved to collect a per diem, it was Asaph Whittlesey.
Mr. Speaker, I refer to Asaph Whittlesey because of his dogged determination to do the people's work, but equally for his penchant to carry a firearm.
A478
Given the rambunctious and often partisan nature of this house, I hope no one gets too involved in the spirit of the event and brandishes a pistol to reenact the Vineyard-Arndt shooting of 1842. At least while I'm here.
Besides the period clothing, then-Governor James Doty and I have something else in common following the assassination -- not one but two open seats in the legislature -- and both of them vacated by Democrats.
The carriage ride and the beauty of the Belmont area made it easy to drift further back in time as Wisconsin took many different shapes before statehood.
In fact, if it wasn't for the determination of Ohio to have access to the Great Lakes, the upper peninsula may have become part of our territory -- an expanse that stretched from the Dakotas to Missouri's northern border and encompassing all of Iowa and Minnesota.
Prior to gaining territorial status, we bounced from the Indiana Territory, to the Illinois Territory and finally the Michigan Territory.
To exclude Wisconsin in their future plans was shortsighted.
While the Colts, Bears and Lions are sitting home a week from Sunday, the Green Bay Packers will be in San Diego capturing yet another Super Bowl Title.
It is with that same championship enthusiasm that I address this distinguished body in this venue.
Our presence today in Belmont, the site of Wisconsin's first territorial capitol, reflects the monumental significance this site holds on a historic journey that began long ago.
If only these walls could talk. These walls would tell us fascinating stories of true trailblazers. For it was here in Belmont, in this very building, that Wisconsin's founding fathers charted a course for Wisconsin's future.
And it is here that we gather, in the year of our sesquicentennial, to begin a celebration of the fortitude that culminated in the formation of our great state...the Wisconsin Spirit.
On the eve of statehood, J. McMullen, a settler from Sheboygan put pen to paper and conveyed to an eastern companion the destiny of America's newborn.
On May 2, 1848, he wrote: "The people have adopted a constitution and in a few months Wisconsin will take its place among the glorious states of our republic. It will by no means be an insignificant one.
With her green ocean-like prairies, the unequalled fertility of her soils, and facilities for commerce, she will become not only the `Garden of the West,' but also the richest, fairest land in our broad country from the Atlantic to the Pacific."
Uncommon words from the common man. They are a settler's thoughts, his dreams and his visions of the Wisconsin that was yet to be.
His excitement was indicative of the people that inhabited this land. They were true leaders. Pioneers who not only tamed the forests and tilled the soil, but pioneers in education and public policy, commerce, agriculture, transportation, the arts and sciences, and sports.
So as we celebrate 150 years of Wisconsin statehood, we must also celebrate 150 years of Wisconsin leadership.
Leaders like Alexander Gallagher of Oshkosh, who in 1878 raced his way to fame between Green Bay and Madison in the first automobile race in history.
Although Gallagher traveled at the blinding speed of 6 miles per hour, Wisconsin was certainly going places.
And there was Ole Evinrude of Milwaukee, who was so upset over his ice cream melting while rowing to his favorite picnic site, he invented the first gasoline powered outboard motor in 1910.
Ole's motor made it possible for Louis Spray to land the world record 69 pound 11 ounce muskellunge caught on the Chippewa flowage in the Musky Capitol of the World.
Wisconsin's great outdoors are enjoyed by sportsmen and nature enthusiasts alike due to the advocacy of people like Aldo Leopold and John Muir.
Our long and proud tradition of conservationism includes America's first environmental program designed to purchase and manage natural areas for research, education and preservation.
We also have the distinction of the first state in the nation to ban DDT and enact a comprehensive recycling law.
While you're vacationing in the majestic northland, stop and relax with a hamburger, which first tickled taste buds in Seymour. And wash it down with a malted milk, first blended in Wisconsin in 1883.
Our records of achievement have been chronicled for posterity due to the ingenuity of Christopher Latham Sholes, who invented the first typewriter in 1869.
The Milwaukee Public Museum kindly lent us a model of Shole's first typewriter for display at today's event.
