Wayside: Sowing a Life

"Sowing a Life" wayside sign at the Fredrick & Frederike Dechow Farm in Port Oneida

Quick Facts

Location:

44° 56' 8.928" N, 85° 56' 12.312" W

Amenities

1 listed

Audio Description

Main Exhibit Text

What made a successful Port Oneida farm? The Dechow family bought this land in 1857. They were lucky. Their soil was fertile. They planted and tended fruit orchards, berry patches, and vegetable gardens. Canning fruit and vegetables insured food throughout the winter. Men cut fence posts and lumber from timbered areas, and in March, maple sap was boiled into syrup. Dairy cows provided milk, cream, and butter; chickens furnished meat and eggs. Many neighbors’ farms had poor soil, and they struggled to survive. Some farmers worked seasonal jobs to make ends meet. Burfiend, Miller, Kelderhouse, Olsen, Thoreson, Basch, and Dechow are just a few of the farm families that labored to make a life here. Neighbors became friends and family. They struggled alongside one another, and celebrated the farming community they created.

Image Descriptions

Background Image

The background of this exhibit is a sepia-colored historic photograph of a farm. There are four adults and three children working in a field. Two horses are harnessed to farm equipment. Throughout the field are piles of harvested grain. In the back of the photo are multiple farm buildings, another crop separated by a fence, and a tall windmill.

Caption

Around Port Oneida there were multiple related families. The John and Elleanora (Shalda) Dechow family harvested grain on a farm near here.

Historic Photograph (left)

On the left side of the exhibit is a black and white historic photograph of people preparing syrup. The photo shows a large pot, with a cloud of steam billowing above. A man dressed in a light-colored shirt and dark vest, sits next to the pot with a dog by his side. To the right is a man standing in dark clothing, holding an axe over his shoulder. The background of the image is a forested hillside, with bare trees and leaves covering the ground.

Caption

Just like their Anishinaabek neighbors, farmers headed to the maple groves in early spring. They tapped trees, hung buckets, collected sap, and then boiled it over a hot fire until most of the liquid was gone, leaving sweet syrup and sugar.

Historic Photograph (top right)

In the top right corner of the exhibit is a black and white historic photograph of two adults and three children standing in a potato field. Harvested potatoes lay in the crop rows.

Caption

Potatoes grew well in the area’s sandy soil.