Cooperating to Conserve
By Mary Jo Joyce

If those who have gone before us have any ability to check the fate of projects they began, then surely Louis Lucas is smiling.  What became of his once innovative and successful 1880 cranberry farm may surprise even those with a view from above.  His new venture brought him closer to nature and inspired those who followed to preserve Washington County’s scenic woodlands. 

Three generations of Lucas family members shared the entrepreneurial ambition and love for nature exemplified by Louis.  In May of 2003, their vision to keep a special area of section 22 in the Town of West Bend intact was embraced by state, county, city and town officials who entered into agreements with Cedar Lakes Conservation Foundation and the Girl Scouts of Milwaukee. 

Preservation of significant mid-kettle moraine property has been accomplished through a series of complex transactions and agreements of ground-breaking significance. An 80-acre farm providing the last remaining barrier between West Bend's city limits and the original Lucas property -- today known as Camp Silverbrook -- was purchased by Cedar Lakes Conservation Foundation.

Right of first refusal on the camp, now owned and operated by the Girl Scouts of Milwaukee, has been granted to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to ensure that it will never become anything other than a Wisconsin youth camp setting. 

An additional forty acres purchased by the Cedar Lakes Conservation Foundation in 1986 to spare a glorious stand of mature Beech trees from clear cutting, buffers the western edge of Camp Silverbrook.

Each of the above mentioned tracts are contiguous, and the Girl Scout property meets the southern edge of Ridge Run County Park.  Together, the quilted parcels of native Wisconsin forestland create a blanket of natural beauty and habitat stretching across 522 acres of mid-kettle moraine.  Lucas Lake, the site of the nineteenth century cranberry farm, will forever provide a fitting centerpiece to this remarkable accomplishment.  Beneath the surface of this project’s obvious significance rests an intriguing story of Washington County’s natural and cultural heritage.

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A Metalworking Pioneer

Louis Lucas, one of West Bend’s pioneering settlers, came directly to Wisconsin from France in 1852. He arrived with the talent and skills of a metal smith and machinist packed safely in body and soul, and the promise of a place called “West Bend” tucked in his spirit.  His wife, Eulalie, and two young children, Mary and Henry, also made the trip.  A third child, Edward, died in infancy before the Lucas family departed for the New World.

Time is a commodity rarely wasted by ambitious souls, and the course charted by Louis Lucas offered no exception.  Soon after arriving in West Bend, he set up the first shop on Main Street to carry out his sheet metal services.  While others were certainly practicing business in the city, none had erected an actual building or opened a shop door on the lonesome road that eventually became a bustling thoroughfare.

To stock his store, he regularly walked to Milwaukee carrying a small chair.  On return trips, with heavy sheets of metal tied to his back, the chair was put to use at resting stops. 

As his initial business began to thrive, early plans laid for the launching of a new venture set sail.  In 1859, he built the West Bend Foundry and Machine Shop on River Street.  This business formed the nucleus of what is today the Gehl Company, an international manufacturing corporation.

Two more children were born into the Lucas family during the early years; Edward, named after the deceased infant, and Louis, Jr., who died sometime in his late childhood.  While Louis continued his work in the foundry business,  he purchased a farm in section 22 in 1868 and moved with his wife and children to the country.

Hard work and ambition served the Lucas family well until his life’s love, Eulalie, died in 1873.  There is no account that can report with accuracy what must have gone through the mind of Louis Lucas.  Similarly, few records of just what Mr. Lucas did between the years of 1873 and 1879 exist. But though he must have been mourning, a man with such stamina likely did something productive and he left some clues for posterity to consider. 

The same year  his wife died he sold the foundry business to Mr. Jacob Young, and lived on the farm with his children. Edward, was just fifteen years of age. Mary and Henry had reached adulthood.

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From Manufacturer to Cranberry Farmer

New challenges for Louis Lucas seem to have included taking care of Edward and getting closer to nature.  The birth of Washington County’s successful cranberry farm is logged in the year 1880. The ingenuity required for such a successful operation suggests Louis was hard at work well in advance, studying the future crop and what would be necessary for successful cultivation in the Town of West Bend.  Every corner of his engineering mind must have been put to the test. 

He got the job done.  According to a 1937 student paper written by Frank Galler and provided by the Washington County Historical Society, Mr. Lucas had two acres planted by 1881 and approximately fifteen acres by 1890.  A small railroad engine, three or four ore cars, and about 400 yards of track were moved from one site to the next to haul sand from a nearby pit as required for soil preparation.

Applications, designs, patents, permits, and construction of a dam to flood the land at will, predate installation of cranberry bushes.  Some of the plants were imported.  Every careful step in planning and execution contributed to this third successful venture by the pioneering Lucas.  Many gained employment during planting and harvesting operations, and the farm is reported to have been productive until the death of Mr. Lucas in 1903.

Because a partnership in the cranberry business with a brother-in-law had previously dissolved, the death of Louis Lucas marked the end of production.  In 1909, Edward, who had been working as a telegraph operator in Milwaukee returned to West Bend with his  bride, a native of the city, and their six children.  While taking up the position of telegraph operator in West Bend, he put his mind to what could next be done at the farm.

By that time, many Milwaukee families had made Washington County a vacation destination as its beautiful lakes offered city dwellers a retreat to nature.  Edward’s family decided a lake resort would be the next Lucas family venture.  Preparation, which included clearing underbrush and improvement of the dam to convert the bog to a lake, was subsidized by the family’s regular musical performances at area establishments.  Silver Brook Resort began operations in 1912.

Upon Edward’s death in 1922, successful operations and expansion of the resort continued to be a family affair.  So determined were Edward’s children that they managed to purchase land formerly owned by an early partner in the cranberry business.  Edward, Jr., ran the resort during its heydays, and upon his death in 1953, Leonie (“Onie”) Lucas was faced with keeping the property intact as the only remaining family member.

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Girls Scouts to the Rescue

Word of Leonie’s desire to sell to an organization that would prevent the property from being subdivided brought the Girl Scouts of  Milwaukee Area, Inc. to the rescue.  Jo Mann, then chair of the Camp Committee for the association, participated in negotiations for purchase of the property to provide camping experience for area Girl Scouts.  It was agreed that Onie would remain living on the property for as long as she wished.  For several years, many young girls, along with camp administrators, enjoyed Onie’s company and hospitality.  Jo Mann remembers afternoon meetings when the future care of the property was discussed over tea.

A Happy Ending for All

This story has the happiest of endings.  Development headed toward the camp has been held at bay.  After purchasing the 80 acre farm, the Cedar Lakes Conservation Foundation deeded approximately 40 acres to both the City and Town of West Bend.  The City will establish a park along 18^th Avenue and the Town will create a nature preserve.  Everyone cooperated in this successful outcome.  Washington County, the Town of West Bend, and the City of West Bend each contributed $150,000 toward purchase of the land.  Wisconsin’s Department of Natural Resources awarded a stewardship grant to the Foundation for purchase of the farm, as well as a promise for the continued preservation of the Girl Scout property. 

Each careful step in this transaction consumed countless hours of thoughtful planning, meetings, and drafting and redrafting of documents.  E-mail conversations alone number 462, and final documents fill a milk crate. But, the rewards for all are many and will only multiply. Thousands of young girls will continue to have an authentic Wisconsin camping experience and the beauty of the County’s Ridge Run Park is now enhanced by a City park and Town nature preserve for the enjoyment of generations to come.

Perhaps the most valuable aspect of this transaction is the significant contribution toward preservation of our heritage, tradition, and environment completed in a fashion that provides an example illustrating the possible. 

Just as the purpose, dedication, ability, and stamina of Louis Lucas inspired his family to continue down the hard road toward eventual success, the level of leadership and commitment exhibited by those party to this transaction is worthy of replication. A template for cooperative conservation is now on file.

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