Photographed September 15, 2013
Erected 1968 by Wisconsin Historical Society
Erected 1968 by Wisconsin Historical Society
River Falls, St. Croix County, Wisconsin
44° 54.702′ N, 92° 33.504′ W
EDGAR WILSON NYE
1850-1896
"Bill" Nye, journalist, lecturer, author, and humorist, grew to manhood in this quiet valley of the Kinnickinnic, which flows southwesterly through River Falls. The tall-tales of frontier humor were popular regionally before 1860. Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) and Bill Nye widely popularized similar exaggerations until they were considered typically American. In the country church, three-fourths mile eastward, Bill Nye practiced public speaking to empty pews. He was then a student at River Falls Academy, now State University. The family homestead is three-fourths mile south of the church. He delighted his audiences by referring to it as "a hundred and sixty acres of beautiful ferns and bright young rattlesnakes." Ferns are few, and the snakes are gone if they were ever there.
Wikipedia: Edgar Wilson Nye
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Signage leading to marker location.
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