(Слайд 8) Wausau

Wausau, from Ojibwe “waasa”, means " a faraway place" ^[6] or " a place from which one can see far away" This area was occupied for thousands of years by succeeding cultures of indigenous peoples. The historic Ojibwe (also known in the United States as the Chippewa) occupied it in the period of European encounter. They had a lucrative fur trade for decades with French colonists and French Canadians. After the French and Indian War this trade was dominated by British-American trappers from the eastern seaboard.

It was the Wisconsin River that first drew settlers to this area originally known as " Big Bull Falls", either named by Indians or early fur traders. An 1836 treaty transferring land along the Wisconsin River from the Indians to federal ownership sent George Stevens’ lumbermen up the river two years later to find suitable places for turning the pine forests into lumber. " It is decidedly the best Mill Site I ever saw or heard of in the Union" wrote George Stevens after reaching Big Bull Falls in the Summer of 1839. By 1840, the Stevens sawmill was processing the pine forests into lumber. It was not long before other mills began springing up along the riverbanks of central Wisconsin. This was the coming of the Lumbermen. The death of the forests became the birth of a town.

By 1852, Wausau had been established as a town and continued to grow and mature. German and Swedish immigration into the area following the Revolutions of 1848 in the German states brought more people, and by 1861, the settlement was incorporated as a village. ^[6]

This unique amalgamation of Swedish and German cultures in the area created a breeding ground of new traditions, some of which are still celebrated today. The most interesting of these traditions involved a holiday surrounding the famed Wausau Icon, the VelcomGuden (pronounced like " Welcome" with a V, and " Good" with " en" at the end).

The VelcomGuden (also referred to later as " The Creature" ) was a staple in the town of Wausau during the early days of German and Swedish settlers. No one knows the exact origin of the town Icon. The VelcomGuden was a statue that stood at the entry of the main road going into the town. It was a large and bronze-tinted sculpture. The creature had the shape of a pair, a beak for a nose, and what looked like fins. Modern-day scholars have compared him to have a resemblance to Grimmace, the McDonald's character.

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