History Mystery Tour & Box Lunch
Buried Tales in Kenosha County Cemeteries

Saturday September 24, 2011 - 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. $35 Join Kenosha historian Don Jensen for a great day of fun, and history, the latest edition of the popular History Mystery Tour. This year's tour will explore some of the tales buried in the county's rural cemeteries. Focusing mostly on little known folks who lived, and died here, the tour again will be led by local historian Don Jensen, who will spin his historical yarns as we travel comfortably through Kenosha County's early autumn countryside. At the cemeteries, talented re-enactors will tell their "own" graveside stories. You'll learn of the blacksmith who met an untimely death. You'll hear the story of the mailman whose biggest fear was ravenous wolves nipping at his heels. Then there is the Kenosha calvalry trooper who battled real Indians, and master showman Buffalo Bill, whose visit here offered a fake version of the Old West. History Center Director Tom Schleif will point out some of the more fascinating gravestones and explain the often puzzling symbolism behind them at cemeteries in Pleasant Prairie, Brighton and Wilmot. Midway, we will stop for a box lunch picnic at a shady spot offering a vista of a rural countryside seemingly little changed since the 1840's. The tour will leave the Kenosha History Center, 220 51st Place on Simmons Island at 10 a.m. and return by mid-afternoon. A tasty box lunch and beverage are included in the price. Reservations are required. Tickets will be available at the History Center or by calling (262) 654-5770 and payable with cash, check or Visa/Mastercard.