Puckety Chute
Early in the twentieth century, community leaders in the small towns along the border between Sauk and Richland Counties banded together to build a railroad that would connect them with the outside world. Little did they know that it would be plagued by bankruptcies, accidents, and natural disasters. Despite near-constant challenges over its thirty-two-year existence, the hard-luck railroad—known at different times as the Lone Rock and La Valle, the Cazenovia and Sauk City, and finally the Cazenovia and Southern Railroad—became the pride of the region, celebrated for its endurance and survival.
Railroads were essential to life in the early twentieth century. Local businesses could bring in goods from the outside world. Travelers embarked on day trips to larger cities. Farmers more effectively brought their produce and livestock to market. By road, a traveler had to cover 125 miles to get from Ironton to the county seat of Baraboo, but a rail line shortened the journey to only twenty-three miles.
In the early 1870s, the Chicago and Northwestern (C&NW) Railroad built a line through Sauk County. Crossing the Wisconsin River at Merrimac, the line cut through the northern townships of the county, passing through Baraboo, Rock Springs, North Freedom, Reedsburg, and La Valle. Each town blessed with a depot thrived. Baraboo in particular flourished, becoming a division headquarters for the railroad, complete with engine repair shops as well as one of the largest C&NW depots in the state. The railroad enabled other developments for the city as well, including a large woolen mill and the ever-growing winter quarters of the mighty Ringling Bros. Circus.
The villages along the border between Richland and Sauk Counties had been talking about building a railroad since the early 1880s. Several efforts were made to convince one of the two nearby established lines—the C&NW and the Minneapolis and St. Paul, which ran through Spring Green—to run a short branch line through the region. When both efforts failed, talk shifted to building an independent line. Leaders from Lone Rock and Plain contemplated a route extending south from La Valle. Business and community leaders at Cazenovia considered a similar line between La Valle and their village. Apparently, both groups were unaware of the existence of the other.
Cazenovia was a booming community of about four hundred residents, and a railroad could only take it to new levels. The village had two general stores, a hardware store, a furniture store, a drug store, a shoe store, its own bank, a creamery, a post office, saloons, two hotels, two churches, several secret societies, a school with about one hundred students, and a grist mill. The mill also generated electricity, giving Cazenovia bragging rights about its electric lights. Yet it was still a distinctly rural community. One newspaper reporter described the area as “a rich valley dotted with fine farms, creameries, cheese factories, small villages,
