Hardware Along the Yellowstone Trail
Oshkosh, Wisconsin: Weird Statues and Oddball Art Junk
The route of the Yellowstone Trail can still be found on Highway S, near Butte des Morts. This trail is a historic motor route that went across Wisconsin from 1918 to 1930. The Wisconsin portion of the Yellowstone Trail is 406 miles long, starting at the state line south of Kenosha and going north, and then west to Hudson. The Wisconsin segment is just a part of one of America’s first transcontinental auto routes, a 3,754-mile long road that started in Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts and went to Puget Sound, Washington.
More information on the Yellowstone Trail, including maps can be found at (http://www.yellowstonetrail.org/id18.htm)
In the 1920's many towns along the Yellowstone Trail had a representative known as a “Trailman”, whose duties included providing information to travelers along the way. In the 1919 Yellowstone Trail route folder, Trailmen were described as being “…businessmen of standing in their communities, and will always be glad to welcome tourists and serve them in any reasonable manner.”
Now take this route and discover the coolest or perhaps strangest hardware store in existence. Ever wondered where all the giant attractions sprinkled across the Midwest come from? M. Schettl Sales Inc has two sites full of over-sized kitsch. One warehouse and "park," easily visible off Hwy 41, features acres of creatures for sale: bison, tigers, elephants, dinosaurs, fish, birds, mosquitoes, gun-toting elk, flamingos, moose, etc. You might even see Elvis!
According to the staff, this ain't no museum - most of the stuff is for sale. Some of the stuff is new, most is old, and some is just old junk collected in front of the store, including several rusted old cars. Need a dummy dive-bomber bomb for the backyard? Only $350 takes it home.
You will find this cache at N44 33.ABC W90 00.DE8
A = One warehouse and creatures are easily visible off Hwy 4A.
B = True = 4 False = 5 The Wisconsin portion of the Yellowstone Trail is over 500 miles long.
C = In the 1C20’s the trail had local Trailmen to assist travelers along the route.
D = Take the number of years this route was active across Wisconsin minus 9.
E = The number of letters in the first word of trail name minus 11.