Northern Exposure in the Hayward, WI, Region

My family has selected Hayward, Wisconsin, as our family destination for years. It was chosen for the lakes near Hayward and the picturesque scenery. Therefore, my parents loaded all six of us up in the station wagon to give us "our" northern exposure. It was our parents’ accommodation selection ( a cabin on the lake; in this case, it was Blueberry Lake) , our fishing and swimming off the docks, sightseeing and shopping in Hayward, and touring the historical St. Francis Indian Mission in Stone Lake (14 miles from Hayward) that I found endearing. And it was this endearment that I had for this area that made me continue to go there as an adult.

My most recent trip to the Hayward area was in 1986. Our log cabin was located on Chippewa Flowage. Besides fishing on the flowage, my partner (at that time) and I viewed many attractions in Hayward and the surrounding area. The attractions in Hayward, or a little outside of it, were touring the Museum of the Ojibwa Indian Nation, touring the National Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame and Museum in Hayward, dining at an eatery where the Lumberjack Bowl was located, sightseeing at Hayward’s city park, shopping at the Lumberjack boardwalk, and shopping at Windmill Square Mall (outside of Hayward). The surrounding attractions near Hayward were the St. Francis Indian Mission in Stone Lake, Wisconsin, and Al Capone’s Hideout in Couderay, Wisconsin.

All these activities were fun, but my favorite one was going to the St. Francis Indian Mission. This is one of the loveliest parishes I have ever seen. This can be mostly attributed to its pipestone exterior, the stained-glass window that has a Native-American mother and child as the subject matter, and the priest having an original Native-American tee-pee as his altar. Along with this, the nuns had the children make gorgeous souvenirs to sell to the tourists (I bought several homemade drums that were decorated with Indian decor).

Whether you want to venture to the surrounding attractions near Hayward (such as the St. Francis Indian Mission in Stone Lake, Wisconsin, and Al Capone’s Hideout in Couderay, Wisconsin) or fish, sightsee, dine, and shop in this region, this locale has some wonderful things to see and do. Therefore, you can have some northern exposure here.

Quick Tips:

I have three suggestions for you if you travel to Hayward, Wisconsin. One, rent a cabin on a nearby lake for your family instead of a hotel room in Hayward. By doing this, you have access for your family to fish, swim, and do some hiking in the wilderness. Two, venture out to other towns besides Hayward. In this way, you can see other surrounding attractions, such as the St. Francis Indian Mission in Stone Lake, WI, and Al Capone's Hideout in Couderay, WI. Lastly, if the Lumberjack Bowl is going on while you are in this region, go to it. You will be fascinated with what these lumberjack and jills can do concerning this sport (log-rolling, throwing axes from afar, and climbing the log poles).

Best Way To Get Around:

The best way to get around in the Hayward region is by car. This is because you want to see the other surrounding attractions outside of Hayward.

The National Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame is a nonprofit museum and education organization that honors the sport of fishing and the anglers. The museum has a four-building complex that has over 5,00 dated lures; hundreds of rods, reels, and fishing accessories; antique and classic outboard motors; and over 400 mounts of 200 different species of fish. The museum also has a video theater seating 35 people. The theater shows are always operating, and all-day movie shorts show educational and instructional aspects of fishing, etc. But the highlight of this museum complex is the enormous Musky structure. This structure is considered the "Shrine to Anglers." It is the size of half a city block and 4.5 stories tall. The materials used for it were concrete, steel, and fiberglass that were hand-sculpted in the likeness of a leaping Muskie. The inside of this is a museum, and the open jaw allows at least 20 people to be on the observation platform. This structure is surrounded by a pond. In addition, this fish has other fish sculptures near it. This includes walleye, salmon, small-mouth bass, rainbow trout, and perch. These are considered the "Sea of Fishes."

This museum had humble beginnings. If it wasn’t for the idea of Bob Kutz and his wife, Frannie, who developed and became managers of the project of having this museum and the Jim Beam Whiskey Distillers of Chicago and Kentucky donating profits from the collector fish decanters for several years, The Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame and the Museum Complex would not be around. Now this is self-sustaining, with public support. It has now three main sources it depends on: admissions, donations, and memberships.

When we went in 1986, it didn’t have a lot of items, such as all of the "Sea of Fishes" sculptures nor the recognition program, which was expanded to a separate category for "Legendary Guides." Also, it didn’t have the catch-and-release program to recognize angler’s accomplishments while practicing conservation of the resource. But in spite of this, we had a great time. We saw numerous artifacts concerning the sport of fishing, but my favorite was the musky sculpture itself. I think the artist did a wonderful job of reproducing such a likeness to the real musky with hand-sculpting.

The National Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame’s phone number is 715/634-4440. It is open 7 days a week from April 15 to November 1st. It is handicapped accessible. Children under 10 must go with an adult. A group of 15 or more can receive a reduced-cost schedule. The Hall visitor hours are 9:30am to 4pm. The admission for adults is $6.50, seniors ages 65-plus is $6, ages 10 to 17 is $3.25, ages 2 to 9 is $2.75, and under 2 is free.

Home of the world’s record musky, which was caught by Louie Spray in 1940s (it weighed 69 pounds and 11 ounces), and dubbed as a "Musky Factory" (because of the amount of good-sized muskies being caught here) by the 1993 Muskie Magazine (which is the official publication of Muskies, Inc.), the Big Chip caters to everyone: anglers, canoeists, campers, and natural enthusiasts. Concerning me, I have rented a cabin here at Clements’ resort (when it was in business) and I have fished here. The scenery is gorgeous.

Lake Chippewa Flowage is Wisconsin’s third largest lake. It was created 75 years ago, when the gates of the Winter Dam were closed. It is fed by the waters of nine natural rivers and has 11 natural lakes. The flowage possesses 15,000 acres of water, 140 islands, and over 200 miles of undeveloped shoreline. There is a wide diversity of animals and fish that are present here. If you take a boat ride, you will be witness to loons, herons, bald eagles, deer, and bears, and there are also muskies, walleyes, cappies, large-mouth and small-mouth bass, jumbo perch, and panfish in these waters.

And people who are winter enthusiasts can take joyrides along the 500 miles of groomed snowmobile trails that crisscross the Chippewa Flowage.

It is the Big Chip’s scenery, undeveloped wild character, serene atmosphere, and great fishing that tourists like about this region. I, myself, have my favorite resorts located here. One was Clements, but it is no longer in business due to it being sold and torn down (and supposedly a new one will take its place). However, another favorite resort of mine, in which I dined at several times in the past, is called Herman’s Landing. You pay a little more for a cabin rental (for four people in the cottage, it is $570 weekly in the summer) here, but you have a lot of amenities, which includes the restaurant. I remember that I would leave my resort to come here for breakfast. I would order the ham, egg, and hash brown platter, and it was the best home-cooked meal I had ever eaten besides my mom’s. The ham they gave you back then was a huge, a thick slice that could easily feed two people. Besides having a great restaurant, this resort is stunning.

For you campers, camping on the Big Chip is allowed at no charge on a first-come, first-served basis at 16 island sites accessible by water only. You can only camp at existing campsites, which are designated on a map (probably get through the DNR there). Thus, you can’t make your own campsites. You have your choice of having a rustic campsite to full hook-up facilities that are available at private facilities on the flowage. However, if you utilize the state sites, you have to follow various rules, such as limiting your camping to 10 days on the flowage, being considerate of other campers by keeping noise to a minimum and leaving the campsite clean.

For you boaters, you need to exercise a lot of caution when operating your boat in the Big Chip. This is due to the fact that it has stumps, logs, floating bogs, and rock bars. In addition, you must operate your boat to Wisconsin’s boating regulations, which includes operating the boat at a "speed that is no greater than reasonable or prudent." The four DNR-administered boat landings have boarding docks to ease access for everyone, which includes people with disabilities.

If you are interested in making reservations at Herman’s Landing, the address is 8255 N. County Rd., Hayward, Wisconsin, 54843-7690, and the phone number is 715/462-3626. And, if you are coming from the north, I have the following directions: Take State Road 53 South to Highway 63 North and follow it to Hayward. Turn south on Highway 27 in Hayward. Take Highway B East for 15 minutes to Highway CC, then follow CC South for 5 miles to Herman’s Landing.

Most of us have this image of Al Capone as being a notorious mobster. And this is true, but many people in the Couderay, Wisconsin, region think he was a nice man. In fact, my father met a man who had built a fireplace for him at his northern retreat, the Hideout. He told my Dad (when we vacationed as a family in the ‘70s) that Capone was a personable man that gave monies away to some poor people and Indian children. The man claimed that Capone was known to give coins to Indian children (I think $0.50 pieces). Anyway, he had a different reputation amongst some of the people that lived in the Couderay region.

Al Capone, in the 1920s, built his northern retreat. The cost at that time to build it was $250,000. This lakefront retreat has 1,100-foot frontage on Chippewa Flowage. The 90-acre lake was supposedly used by airplanes to smuggle in liquor during Prohibition. Then the Capone gang rolled barrels of booze into trucks.

In 1959, Capone’s northern retreat was turned into a restaurant and museum by a man named E.N. Houston. After owning it for over 40 years, it was sold and continues to be a restaurant and museum. Here, you can take a guided tour through Capone’s living quarters of the main lodge and around the ground’s nine additional buildings. Once you get in the living quarters, you will see that parts of it have ordinary features, such as an enormous fireplace, custom-carved spiral staircases, and deer-antler fixtures, but it still has a mobster’s touch: the house has bulletproof walls (18-inch-thick fieldstone), a secret bunkhouse for the gang, a blockhouse with a jail cell, an exercise yard, and a guard tower where guards with machine guns were on the lookout. In addition, there is a switch that Al Capone had in his bedroom that allowed him to turn on all the lights in the house. You also tour the Roaring ‘20s museum and view the recreation of the St. Valentine’s Massacre display.

The garage that was built to house Capone’s eight black limos was refurbished to a restaurant. Here you can have fine dining meals and cocktails. In addition, this place has a snack bar and a gift shop. Although we didn’t eat fine dining here, we did have an ice-cream specialty that was fabulous at the ice-cream parlor. And I did purchase a T-shirt with a character image of Al Capone with a machine gun, with words above it saying Al Capone’s Hideout Couderay, WI.

The Al Capone Hideout tour is offered from May to Labor Day on the hour from 11am to 6pm and Labor Day through October from 11am to 5pm. Concerning the restaurant and cocktails, reservations are appreciated, and it serves Tuesday through Saturday 4pm to 9pm and Sunday 12 to 7pm. It serves burgers, sandwiches, steaks, prime rib, and seafood. The snack bar is open from Memorial Day through Labor Day from 11am to 5pm daily. It serves red-hot Chicago hotdogs, pizza slices, ice-cream treats, etc. And the gift shop is open 11am to 7pm. It sells a variety of gifts, souvenirs, and antiques.

The address to the Hideout is 12101 W. County Rd., Couderay, WI 54828, and the phone number is 715/945-2746. The Hideout is located north of Highway 27-70 at Couderay, Wisconsin. Take that onto Highway CC North, 6 miles to the entrance or only 17 miles southeast of Hayward, then take Highway 8 east to Highway NN, head south on NN to Highway N, go east on N 2 blocks to Highway CC, then go east on Highway CC, where you are half a mile to the entrance.

St. Francis Solanus Indian Mission has an historical background. It is one of the earliest Ojibwa (Chippewa) Indian Settlements in Wisconsin. A French-Canadian fur trader, John Baptiste Corbine, in 1796, settled in the Stone Lake region and started a trading post. He is the one that introduced Catholicism to the Lac Courte Orielles. Consequently, Catholicism grew, and because of that, there was a need for a local church. As a result of this, the United States government gave Lac Courte Oreilles a 10-acre tract to build a church and school. It was first a small log church and school, which was named for Franciscan missionary St. Francis Solanus. But, in 1921, lightening struck and it was rebuilt with pipestone from a local quarry.

My parents always took us to this parish/school. They went because they purchased the homemade breads the nuns made and the proceeds went for a good cause - school/parish. Even though I am not a Catholic, I later as an adult went there for Mass. It is one of the prettiest parishes I have ever seen. Its outside exterior is build from pipestone. And the inside of it has decorative items in it. For instance, there is one stained-glass window that has a Native-American mother and daughter in it. And when I was there last, there was an original Native-American tee-pee that was used as the altar. Along with this, the children made Native American souvenirs to sell to the public. I purchased several homemade drums. The children used coffee cans, rubber, and string and Native-American decorations to make these. These items were gorgeous.

Besides the school and the parish being there, there is a cemetery, too. But some of the people buried had lived sad lives and died prematurely. According to the nuns, many of the young Indian girls buried there had died in childbirth. These girls were like 12 and 14 years of age.

St. Francis Solanus Parish is located at 13891 W. Mission Rd., Stone Lake, Wisconsin 54876. Its phone number is 715/865-3669. Gregory Hopefl conducts the Mass held on Saturday at 4:30pm and Sunday at 10am.