Through the last couple of weeks, I have been researching the Paul Bunyan Camp located in Carson Park. Before researching in the archives, I have never even heard of it. Through the archives in the library however I was able to learn quite a bit about this wonderful camp. I discovered that the camp was not always located in Carson Park, and I also figured out why it was moved to Carson Park.

I am coming near the end of my research. With my main topic question answered, I still need to figure out how the city was able to fund such a massive relocation. The problem now is trying to sum up all of my research into one exploratory essay. Trying to figure out what to include and what not to include is the real challenge. There is so much information I wish to mention in my essay that it could easily top the one hundred page mark.

I am still eager to research more into the camp. I know I have not learned all there is to learn yet. Before the end of the semester I plan to visit it. After talking to students around campus they say it’s a cool place to visit sometime, and that it would be worth my time to spend a day there. Eau Claire’s logging past offers so much to learn about and this camp won’t be the last thing I look into about this city’s past.

Searching through more of the library’s excellent archives I was thinking to myself, why did they decide to move the location of the camp, who would fund such a project, and how did they fund such a project? While looking through all the letters and news articles there was one in particular that caught my eye. A proposal letter from the Kiwanis Club to the Hobb’s Foundation.

The letter first starts out talking about the Kiwanis Club’s interest in the operation, and how they would try to fund the project. They suggested getting more clubs involved in the funding of the project. Then in the third paragraph of page one, one of my questions had finally been answered. The author writes “The Kiwanis Club has allocated $5,000 to be used in obtaining schematic drawings of the proposed layout, which is to be located next to the Chippewa Valley Museum.” I have finally found a reason to why the camp was moved to Carson Park. With the camp placed next to the Chippewa Valley Museum, it gave tourists much more convenience, but yet there are still some unanswered questions. Who and how the camp was funded for relocation.

The letter was written by the club leader, Henry Strand, and as the letter continues he describes the costs of what the project would cost. He totaled an estimate around $110,000. A considerable amount of money, but there has been more expensive projects in the area. He also states an approval list for which they have already received approval to move the camp from The Citizens Advisory Committee for Parks, Recreation and Beautification, The Board of Directors of the Chippewa Valley Museum, The Eau Claire City Council, and The Eau Claire City Planning Commission.

The final part of the letter goes on to discuss how they would try to raise some of the money they need to raise. Their first idea was a community wide raffle where they plan to give away a trip to Hawaii, a color TV, and a 10-speed bike. They also got the donation from a famous Minnesotan artist of a wonderful painting and they are hoping to run an auction on the piece.

The letter was written by the leader of the Kiwanis Club, Henry Strand, and he used very good rhetorical distance while writing his letter. By using little intimacy he made himself seem very credible and made this such a helpful source for my use. So many of my questions have been answered through this one source, it was like finding gold at the end of the rainbow, but I don’t quite have the full story yet. There is no way a painting or two, or a city wide raffle is going to fund such a large project. I still have to find an answer to how they funded this massive relocation.