Published: March 16, 2016
Reliving Native American history
Horicon center to host artifacts collector
By NICHOLAS DETTMANN
Daily News
As a boy, Gary Henschel liked to wander through his family’s
farm. When he did, he often came across Indian artifacts, including arrowheads.
“When you find one, you ask all these questions,” Henschel
said. “How old it might be? Who shot it? It leads you to more questions than
answers.”
Since then, Henschel has found thousands of artifacts, which
compelled him to open a museum on the farm that has been in the family since
1849.
“I was starting to find quite a bit of artifacts, then it
grew from there,” Henschel said.
He will talk about his unique collection, among other
tidbits, at the Rock River Archeological Society’s monthly meeting at 7 p.m.
today at the Horicon Marsh Education and Visitor Center, N7725 Highway 28 in
Horicon.
“It’s probably going to be a very neat program,” said Julie
Flemming, president of the Rock River Archeological Society.
In 1979, the family started Henschel’s Indian Museum and
Trout Farm in Elkhart Lake. Since then, thousands of artifacts covering more than
10,000 years of history have been discovered, including chipped stone tools,
projectile points, ground stone tools, and bone tools, copper implements and
pottery. Bones from deer, bear, elk, fish and turtle have been found, plus
other materials from animals.
“We think we’re in a site that was really heavily populated
(about 2,500 years ago),” Henschel said.
Several historians have looked at the site, including
representatives from the Milwaukee Public Museum.
According to Henschel’s museum website, in 1996, through an
excavation by Marquette University, Henschel’s is the official location of
Wisconsin’s oldest red ochre burial site — 800 to 600 BC.
The questions continue to pique the curiosity of Henschel.
“How they lived, the struggles they must’ve gone through,”
he said when asked what fascinates him about the artifacts he has disc overed.
“How they survived is amazing. How they used these tools is amazing.”
Flemming has been equally curious.
She lives in Fox Lake and has plenty of open land around her
home, which helps aid her curiosity.
“When I stand in my backyard, I can’t help but wonder what
is down below me,” Flemming said. “What’s further down? I’ve always been
interested in archeology. When I realized this group was around, I started going
to their program.”
Started in 1998, the Rock River Archaeolo gical Society’s
purpose is to study the Native American cultural and archaeological history of
the upper Rock River area, including Horicon Marsh and extending throughout
southern Wisconsin. Through regularly scheduled meetings, field trips and
special events, members develop a better understanding and deeper appreciation
of the archaeological history and current research on Native American cultures
in southern Wisconsin.
Flemming was a librarian for more than 30 years, which is
where her curiosity started.
“I really was interested in Native Americans, the history in
this area,” she said. “So I started going to their programs and realized that I
was enjoying them, enjoying their speakers.”
On April 20, Ray Glazner will host a presentation on fur
trading between 1600 and 1840.
In May, there will be an archeology tour. Other programs the
group hosts include a kids tour.
All activities are free and open to the public.
The society meets September through April on the third
Wednesday of each month and the meetings are at the Horicon Marsh Education and
Visitor Center.
Flemming said the cost to join is less than $20, which
includes a bi-monthly newsletter.
“The programs tie into the early history of Wisconsin,”
Flemming said.
For more information, visit rockriverarch.blogspot.com or
henschelsindianmuseumandtroutfarm.com.
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