by Robert Root
Potawatomi State Park, 142
Potawatomi tribe, 199, 201
Powell, John Wesley, 149
Prairie du Sac, 83, 84, 85, 88. See also Sac Prairie
Prairie Schooner (journal), 90
Prairie Time (Ross), 46, 54–55, 57
Prairie-Forest Floristic Province, 14
Prairieville. See Waukesha (city)
“Process of Renewal, The” (Derleth), 105
Rendezvous in a Landscape (Derleth), 103
Report on the Disastrous Effect of the Destruction of Forest Trees, Now Going On So Rapidly in the State of Wisconsin (Lapham), 160
Return to Walden West (Derleth)
focus of, 101
passages from, 113, 114–115, 116, 117
sense of harmony in, 110–112
themes of, 110–113
Thoreau comparison, 113–115
See also Derleth, August; Walden West
Retzer Nature Center, 133–134, 135
Reuss, Henry, 143
Rhodes, David, 51
rivers, importance to communities, 147–148, 205–209
Root, Lilly (granddaughter), 133
Root, Louie (grandson), 134
Root, Robert
boyhood home, 158–159, 166
comes to Wisconsin, 187
connection with Derleth, Lapham, Leopold, Muir, 158–159, 166, 231–232
connection with nature, 4, 44, 166, 171, 185
family of, xiii, 133–134
glacial geology studies, 141, 152, 153, 162, 166, 192–194
as Ice Age Trail volunteer, 144
journal of, 187, 188 (see also Root’s journal passages)
literary influences on, 12, 27, 46, 53, 61, 187
philosophy of time, terrain, transition, 230–233
Wisconsin landscape, early impressions of, 28
Root, Sue (wife), xiii, 150, 171, 179
Root, walking Derleth’s home ground challenges to, 84, 86
insights gained, 97, 106, 109–110, 119–120, 129
nature observed, 82–87, 95–96, 118–119, 121–129
Walden West books as source, 91–97
See also Derleth, August
Root, walking Ice Age Trail
insights gained, 150–151, 162–167, 169, 172–173, 180–182
Lapham Peak tower, 136, 157–158
nature observed, 137–141, 145–152, 156–158, 162–165, 167–171, 173–178
Root, walking Leopold’s home ground
insights gained, 51, 57, 65, 73, 76–78
nature observed, 45–51, 71–73, 76–78
See also Leopold, Aldo
Root, walking Muir’s home ground
insights gained, 13, 28, 40–41
nature observed, 7–12, 36–40
See also Muir, John
Root, walking Root’s home ground
before Wisconsin, 43, 222
developing sense of, 150–152, 157–158, 163, 179–182, 189
history of, 193, 198–205, 207, 216–217
insights gained, 223, 227, 230–233
learning about, 135, 183–187, 192–198
location, 142, 194–196, 206–207
nature observed, 3–5, 42–43, 79–81, 183–185, 190, 191, 195, 197–198, 212–226
philosophy of time, terrain, transition, 230–233
Root’s journal passages, xi–xii, 3–5, 42–44, 79–81, 133–135, 183–185, 189–191, 197–198, 224–227, 229–230
Root’s philosophy of time, terrain, transition, 230–233
Root’s sense of place
glacier’s impact on, 52–53, 135, 141–144
mixed with time and transition, 230–233
walking Derleth’s home ground, 87
walking Ice Age Trail, 141–144, 177, 179–182
walking Leopold’s home ground, 51
walking Muir’s home ground, 13, 17, 40
Root’s sense of time
geological time, 52
mixed with terrain and transition, 230–233
present mixed with past, 166, 218, 220, 230
walking Ice Age Trail, 141, 153
walking Muir’s home ground, 12–13, 38, 40
Ross, Beth, 57
Ross, John, 54–55, 57
Round River (Leopold), 64
Rumford fireplaces, 70
Sac (Sauk) Indian tribe, 88
Sac Prairie
burial mounds of, 200
Derleth returns to, 92
Derleth’s home ground, 89–90, 94–96, 100
Derleth’s sense of change in, 111–113
Derleth’s sense of place, 105–106
description of, 86–88, 119–121
population size, 221
Sac Prairie Journal (Derleth), 90–91
“Sand Counties” (Leopold), 59, 60, 61
Sand Country of Aldo Leopold, The (Flader), 53, 57
Sand County Almanac, A (Leopold)
importance of, 35, 51, 232
land ethic explained, 60, 67, 232
passages from, 56, 57, 58–59, 62, 65, 66, 75
reviewed by Derleth, 100, 102
reviewed by Tallmadge, 73–74
See also individual essays
sandhill cranes, 36, 41, 42–44, 46, 74, 122, 168, 226
Sauk City, 83–85, 88, 103, 104, 147.
See also Sac Prairie
Sauk (Sac) Indian tribe, 88
Schmitz, Archie, 34
Schroeder, Frieda, 93–94
Schurz, Carl, 137–138, 140
Schurz, Margarethe, 137
Scuppernong Creek, 153, 162–163
Scuppernong River Habitat Area, 177
Scuppernong Springs, 166, 167
Scuppernong Trail, 165
sedge meadow, definition of, 16
settlers and settlements. See land, transformation of
Sierra Club, 32, 36, 69, 164
Simpson, John Warfield, 21, 31, 33, 207
Simpson, Susan, 138
“Sky Dance” (Leopold), 60, 72
Southeastern Wisconsin Till Plain, 14
Spring City’s Past, 208
Spring Slough, 86, 87, 108
Springs Era, 208–209
St. Aloysius Cemetery, 85
St. Croix River, 142
state parks. See individual state parks
Story of My Boyhood and Youth, The (Muir)
boyhood on Fountain Lake
Farm, 19, 21, 23–27
drawing of lake, 8
moves away from Fountain Lake Farm, 33
passages from, 20, 24, 25, 26, 29–30
Studying Wisconsin: The Life of Increase Lapham (Bergland, Hayes), 161
Tallmadge, John, 73–74
Tekiela, Stan, 183
terrain. See land, transformation of; Root, walking Derleth’s home ground; Root, walking Ice Age Trail; Root, walking Leopold’s home ground; Root, walking Muir’s home ground; Root, walking Root’s home ground
“Thinking Like a Mountain” (Leopold), 66
This Tender Place: The Story of a Wetland Year (Lawlor), 61, 187
Thoreau, Henry David
death of, 97
influence on Derleth, 84–85, 92, 103–105, 112–115
influence on Leopold, 66, 74, 97
influence on Muir, 97, 103
influence on Root, 12
Walden Pond quote, 117
Thousand-Mile Walk to the Gulf, A (Muir), 36
Thwaites, Reuben Gold, 147
Trails (journal), 90, 103
transformation of land. See land, transformation of
Travels in Alaska (Muir), 36
Trees of Wisconsin Field Guide (Tekiela), 183
Tripp Memorial Museum, 83, 84, 86
Turner, Frederick, 97
University of Wisconsin, Madison
Derleth as graduate, 98
Leopold as professor, 34, 67, 74
Muir as student, 33, 97
ownership of Lodde’s Mill Bluff, 124
; Village Year: A Sac Prairie Journal (Derleth), 87, 90–91, 101, 103
volunteers (people). See Ice Age Trail Alliance
Walden Pond: Homage to Thoreau (Derleth), 103, 104
Walden West (Derleth)
description of Sac Prairie, 87–88
focus of, 101
nature vs. social segments, 106–107
passages from, 92, 95, 108, 109
review of, 96
themes of, 105, 108, 109
Thoreau’s spirit in, 105
See also Derleth, August; Return to Walden West
Walden Pond (Thoreau), 117. See also Thoreau, Henry David
Walworth County, 61, 149, 153, 164, 187
Washington County, 137, 158, 207
Waukesha (city)
economy of, 205, 207–211
history of, 193, 199–206
pollution of, 210–211
waukesha (little fox), 189
Waukesha County
Green Bay Lobe and, 141–142
Ice Age Trail portion, 171–173
Lake Michigan Lobe and, 141–142
settlement of, 207
Springs Era, 208–209
Waukesha Freeman (newspaper), 210
Waukesha Springs Park, 208, 217
wet-mesic prairie, definition of, 16
white oak trees, description of, 183–184
Wilson, Alexander, 18, 20
Wisconsin Country: A Sac Prairie Journal (Derleth), 90–91, 101
Wisconsin Dells, 88
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, 7, 176
Wisconsin Glaciation, 52, 88, 138–139, 141–143, 153, 163, 192–193
Wisconsin Glacier National Forest Park, 143
Wisconsin Historical Society, 33, 103
Wisconsin: Its Geography and Topography, History, Geology, and Mineralogy; Together with Brief Sketches of Its Antiquities, Natural History, Soil, Productions, Population, and Government (Lapham), 159, 201
Wisconsin River
forms Glacial Lake Wisconsin, 54, 88
and Leopold Reserve, 49
viewed from Cactus Bluff, 83
viewed from Ferry Bluff, 82
Wisconsin: River of a Thousand Isles, The (Derleth), 98
Wisconsin River Trestle Bridge, 120
Yearning for the Land (Simpson), 21, 31, 33, 207
Zillmer, Ray, 143
About the Author
PHOTO BY SUSAN ROOT
ROBERT ROOT has long been immersed in the nonfiction of place. He is the editor of Landscapes with Figures: The Nonfiction of Place and The Island Within Us: Isle Royale Artists-in-Residence 1991–1998, and the author of Recovering Ruth: A Biographer’s Tale, named a Michigan Notable Book in 2004, Following Isabella: Travels in Colorado Then and Now, and Postscripts: Retrospections on Time and Place. His writing for radio includes the collection Limited Sight Distance: Essays from Airwaves and contributions to Wisconsin Life. Other books include the memoir Happenstance, and the craft studies E. B. White: The Emergence of an Essayist and The Nonfictionist’s Guide: On Reading and Writing Creative Nonfiction.
Root teaches nonfiction in Ashland University’s MFA Program in Creative Writing and for the Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis. He and his wife live in Waukesha, Wisconsin. This is his twentieth book.