A remarkable photo shows a giant balloon landing in a La Crosse farmer’s field in 1911. (Photo provided)
By Fern Eddy Schultz, La Porte County Historian
(Click to enlarge the photo above)
Much to the amazement and surprise of La Crosse residents, a giant balloon landed there Tuesday, July 11, 1911. What is the story
La Porte County Historian Fern Eddy Schulz
behind this?
Information written on the photo, which is the property of Craig Aigner, reports the pilot to have been John Berry, with P. (Paul) J. McCullough as his aide. Mr. Aigner found the location of the incident to have been where the Pennsylvania and Monon Railroads crossed. This photo copy above, along with other photographs, belonged to a relative of Aigner’s. (A copy of this photo is also on file at the La Crosse Public Library. Library information records that photograph was in the attic of the former Kosanke home east on Highway 8 and was given to the library by Les Earle. It also records this as being in “Kellar’s field and cow.” A comment on the copy at the library: “This may have been a spherical balloon.”) There are also two copies in the Library of Congress.
The written information on the photograph notes: “Copyright by L. R. Nye, La Crosse, Ind.” Lawrence R. Nye and his wife, Bertha M. Nye, are recorded as residents of Dewey Township in the 1910 Federal Census. His occupation was telegraph operator on the railroad. At the time of Lawrence Relia Nye’s death (Dec. 4, 1952), he was residing in Michigan City at 328 North Carroll Avenue. He was a retired motorman on the South Shore Railroad.
Also written on the balloon-landing photograph is “Landing of Million Population Club Balloon, La Crosse, Ind., July 11, 1911.” This club was created to promote expanding St. Louis. St. Louis and St. Louis County separated and later the population of Chicago was higher than that of St. Louis. It has been stated that the main function of this organization was to keep those who were already residents of the City of St. Louis from going away. However, it is also stated that there is no record that the club did anything to increase the population of St. Louis.
Seven or eight balloons (depending on which report is cited) started from Kansas City on Monday afternoon, July 10, 1911, in a national elimination test. The Million Population Club balloon started from Kansas City at 5:36 Monday evening. It was reported that the air in the vicinity southwest of Wanatah was “pretty well filled with dirigible balloons” Tuesday. One balloon carrying 5 passengers passed over Hebron at eleven o’clock and was also seen at Kouts. Two balloons were also seen “traveling in a southeasterly direction in the vicinity of the Spangler home at about three o’clock.” Exactly where this was is not known. One, thought to be one of the “seven,” was seen by Michigan City people, including guards at the prison, and was reported to have been the one that landed at La Crosse later in the afternoon. A fast-flying object seen in the western skies over Michigan City was reported to be either a balloon or an airship. Other reports stated “when it reached the hills, west of the harbor, it appeared more like a big box kite. It was soon lost sight of.”
First place in the race was won by the St. Louis IV, which represented the Aeronautics Corps of the National Guard of Missouri. The Million Population Club balloon that landed in La Crosse took second place. The St. Louis IV landed near La Paz, IN, in Marshall County. According to the Chicago Daily News Almanac and Year Book for 1912, the distance for the St. Louis IV was 450 miles with time in the air being 22 hours and 26 minutes. The Million Population had 415 miles with 16 hours and 26 minutes in the air.
To the two St. Louis pilots went the right to compete for the James Gordon Bennett cup (ballooning) which was the world’s largest gas balloon race. It was regarded as the “premier event of world balloon racing” according to the Los Angeles Times, and referred to by others as the “blue ribbon of aeronautics”. The first event occurred in 1906 and was sponsored by James Gordon Bennett Jr., the millionaire sportsman and owner of the New York Herald newspaper. The aim was to fly the farthest distance from the launch site. The contest ran from 1906 to 1938.
The starting point of the October 5, 1911, race for the James Gordon Bennett trophy and the Lahm cup was Kansas City. The official winner was Berlin II, with crew of Hans Gericke and Otto Duncker of Germany with time of (hh.mm.) 12.28 and distance (km) 757.84. A violent storm drove seven of the ten racing balloons that left Kansas City to earth. John Berry, a veteran of many balloon flights, went through the worst experience of his career when he attempted to bring the balloon, the Million Population Club, to the ground near Mason City, IA. The balloon anchor struck a barn and tilted the basket so P. J. McCullough, aide to Captain Berry, was thrown out. Berry saved himself by clinging to a rope as the bag, relieved of McCullough’s weight, shot upward. Dangling by the rope, Berry was carried hundreds of feet into the air, and an hour later came safely to earth several miles away. Berry did not try to anchor the aerostat and it sailed away to the southwest until lost in the darkness. Despite the rough experience, neither man was seriously hurt.
FERN EDDY SCHULTZ is La Porte County’s official Historian. For more information on La Porte County’s fascinating history, visit the La Porte County Historical Society Museum and www.laportecountyhistory.com.