Dartt continued to trap bear in Sherwood for several years and was a curiosity to many. Remains of several large hand dug pits where he kept his bears can still be seen today. Originally the pits were seven to eight feet deep but are filling in with time. Perhaps the largest pit yet visible was the one with the log enclosure over the top of it. When Frank was ready to sell his bears live, he would load them in his iron cage mounted on top of a wagon. Then he would hitch up his horses and haul them to the nearest railroad depot. Alyce (Ferguson) Qualley, late resident of Washburn Township, Clark County, recalled that the sled he pulled behind his horse looked like an airplane.
A couple recollections from 1955 of the Hughes brothers who resided at Kurth Corners, central Grant Township, Clark County, on what is now State Hwy 10 were that Dartt used honey as bait to attract the bears into his traps. They also remembered seeing him pass occasionally, enroot to Neillsville with his burden of bear (meat and pelts) in late fall and what a thrill that was.
The #5 Newhouse double long-spring leghold trap was a type used by Dartt. The trap had a jaw spread of nearly 12 inches, weighed 17 pounds, and for most people would require a special tool to be set. A 1902 Sears Roebuck catalog sold this trap for $5.00. as well as the clamps that Myron Pickering spoke of.
NEILLSVILLE REPUBLICAN & PRESS - October 11, 1894 - "NEVINS - Rumor has it that Mr. Dartt, the bear hunter, lost a valuable lot of furs a few days ago, 6 bear hides, some coon skins, etc. There is strong suspicion resting on some parties, and the investigation is going on at present."
In January of 1898, Frank purchased an additional 40 acres from the Island Mill Lumber Company, which adjoined his original acreage on the west side. He paid $40.00 for this parcel with the stipulation that Island Mill reserved the right to enter the land and harvest all the pine timber. Due to the bear's dwindling habitat in the latter 1890's he began to concentrate his efforts on apiary. This kept Dartt occupied and gave him a good source of income for nearly twenty years. He was a very successful hunter of wild bees and sold a great deal of honey. Frank treated the children of Sherwood who dared to visit him with honeycomb and taught others the art of apiculture.
NEILLSVILLE REPUBLICAN & PRESS - January 24, 1901 - "DEWHURST News: Mr. F. Dartt returned Friday from Kingston (WI), where he had been visiting his mother, who is 93 years old and is now confined to her bed."
Dartt was a rather scary character to some. Children, in particular, were fearful of his long white beard and unkempt features. As a young girl, Alyce Qualley recalled terror in walking past the Dartt homestead when she spotted two bears penned up near the road. She, in turn, had fond memories of Frank when he would come to visit her parents, John and Esther Ferguson. Mrs. Ferguson would prepare Frank with his favorite meal of johnnycakes or corn meal mush. Alice and her sister, Louise, would fight to clean the table off when the meal was finished as Frank would always slip some change underneath his plate for the girls.
Many called Dartt eccentric, but in his later years he visited neighbors and attended the annual town meetings in Sherwood and participated in discussions. He also spent time defending his character by submitting articles to the press. After a lengthy blast in the Milwaukee Sentinel in 1898 recopied in several local newspapers Mr. Dartt had this to say.
NEILLSVILLE REPUBLICAN & PRESS - March 3, 1898 - "...From the manner in which the Black River Falls writer painted my mode of living, it would be a good thing for him to become an author of 10-cent literature of the "blood and thunder variety", as he seems to have an extra supply of imaginative ammunition.. I can say that the writer of the Sentinel article can soon eclipse the sum saved by myself, if he will devote his ability to writing up "supposed hermits." In conclusion, I think that dime museum managers could reap a handsome profit, by capturing this Black River Falls correspondent and putting him up as one of nature's greatest freaks. Yours truly, F. E. Dartt" The article inferred that Dartt had saved $10,000 from his bear trapping escapades, that his life would soon end, and be forever enshrouded in mystery.
NEILLSVILLE REPUBLICAN & PRESS - January 2, 1902 - "Some weeks ago Game Warden Geo. K. Redmond secured and confiscated the carcasses of two deer in the Town of Sherwood, through assistance of F. Dartt and H. Anderson, who followed the deer hunters, saw them hide the deer and then one of them walked out to City Point, some 8 miles, to telegraph Mr. Redmond. They are certainly enthusiastic law enforcers."
Frank also wrote a letter to the editor on the subject of timber theft and the need to mark land boundaries in the Sherwood area.
NEILLSVILLE REPUBLICAN & PRESS - March 18, 1909 - "A LETTER FROM FRANK DARTT - ...It is hard to locate different pieces of land and to find the section corners and especially when the snow is a foot and a half or two feet deep. Parties owning timber here should locate their land when the ground is bare, and where there is timber blaze the lines, so they can easily be followed; then if one is cutting timber on an adjoining piece of land he is not so apt to get over the line; but we notice very often quite a few people here get two or three miles over the line..Parties that own timber here that don't care enough for their timber to look after it and let people go on at will and cut off their green timber, I think it would be better to give it to poor fellows like myself, or those who don't own a foot of land in the world, then there would not be so many people with this terrible disorder "trespassing." This we notice is very contagious. ..I have here south of the ranch, a few green pine, five or six of them are now large enough for small saw logs. Nearly every morning when I go out I look over there to see if the tops of them are still in sight yet or not...."
PITTSVILLE RECORD - December 8, 1909 - "DEWHURST NEWS - Frank Dart is putting out poison for wolves so the people better take care of their dogs."
Frank Dartt remained a bachelor all his life and some locals maintained that he was worth a good deal of money at his passing. Their speculation was enforced by the fact that as Frank grew older he would hire locals to do chores for him. He would always ask them to return the following day for their pay and this made folks wonder if Dartt kept his money buried somewhere near his home. Paul Schwanebeck was one such hired lad. Frank hired him to assist with his bee keeping. Paul took such an interest that bee keeping proved to be one of his lifelong interests.
In May of 1918, Frank Dartt at the age of 76, died at his home. His nephew, Royal O. Dartt arrived by train from Montello, WI, to handle arrangements. Royal was sure that his uncle had left everything to him in a will. Neither the will nor Frank's life savings were ever found. To settle the estate, the land and $580. , ($400. in drafts found in Frank's shack by Town Chairman, J. R. Coulthard, plus money obtained from selling his few possessions), were to be divided eighteen ways, between nieces and nephews living in Wisconsin, North Dakota, Nebraska, and California. After funeral expenses, administrative costs, and bills from neighbors were turned in to the estate, there wasn't really any money left, just the land.
NEILLSVILLE REPUBLICAN & PRESS - May 23, 1918 - "SHERWOOD NEWS
The people of Sherwood were surprised Thursday morning to hear of the death of Frank Dartt, an old resident of this town. Mr. Dartt was an old bear hunter, trapper, and bee keeper in the pioneer days of Sherwood. He was about 79 years of age. His nearest known relative is a brother (nephew) who lives at Montello, Wis."
NEILLSVILLE REPUBLICAN & PRESS - May 23, 1918 - "DEATH OF AGED HERMIT
Franklin Dartt, an aged man, who had lived alone in a secluded place in the town of Sherwood, was found dead in his cabin one day last week. It is supposed that he died about Thursday. A nephew living near Montello received a letter from him telling that he was getting very weak. The nephew took the first train, arriving here Saturday, too late to see him alive. He had the remains prepared for transportation and taken back to Montello for burial..In former years he caught many bears. Some of these he fed in pens until very fat before killing them. He had a heavy iron cage in which he hauled some of his live bears about and sold them. Mr. Dartt was a very successful hunter of wild bees and sold a great deal of honey. While rather eccentric in his manner of life, he was a man of intelligence and was considered very upright and honest. He was reported to have considerable money some estimating that he was worth $8000 or more. At the time of his death no money could be found on or about his person. Later on a search of the premises, J. R. Coulthard, chairman of the town, reports that a sum of over $400. was found. As yet none of his papers, not even the deed to his land has been found. His nephew was under the impression that he had money loaned out in Monroe County. No doubt records of these loans if they exist will be found."
In Frank Dartt's estate inventory 50 bear traps were listed and they were sold in one bunch for $12.00 to a Sherwood farmer, Albert Gall. He also had owned a mare, an old wagon and a plow at the time of his passing. His black bear skin overcoat was sold for $5.00. Two iron bear cages were sold to a man in Colby for $6.00. Frank also left behind 275 beehives, extracting machinery, platform scales, three guns, two caldron kettles, and a silver watch. These items were all sold by the administrator of the estate from Neillsville to whomever he felt paid the best price.
Royal Dartt took his Uncle Frank's body to Montello, Wisconsin. Here he was buried in the Montello City Cemetery on the south half of a family lot. Also buried here was Royal O. Dartt's father, a Civil War veteran and cousin named Royal H. Dartt, who had been married to Frank's sister, Amanda Dartt. Royal O. still expressed dismay over his uncle's estate 22 years later, in 1940, in a letter he wrote to the Clark County Judge. He stated that Frank's money had never all been accounted for and even suggested foul play may have been involved in his uncle's death. Royal O. Dartt died in 1945. Upon visiting the Montello City Cemetery in August of 1997, there was no gravestone found for Frank or any record of his burial with the cemetery caretaker. A gravestone of the nephew, Royal O. Dartt, was found and also a stone nearby for his father, Royal H. Dartt. It is a sad case that the nephew neglected to put up a stone for Franklin Dartt.
Perhaps Franklin E. Dartt, the bear hunter of Sherwood, never had a fortune at all, but the mystery remains to this day. Upon Frank's passing, locals recalled seeing the ground surrounding his cabin disturbed. Letter from Helen Seman (age 93) written in 1997, who resided on the LaFlesh/Pickering farm many years -"It seems to me like we bought a gallon of honey from Frank Dart, never heard what he did for a living or much about him. This happened long ago - my brother, Joe, was on the town board at one time and when that party living on the road west of the town hall died, Joe went over to the place to look things over and he said the ground was all spaded up. Someone thought maybe he buried some money or something there." If a stash was found, no one told.
Upon hearing of Frank Dartt's death from friends, Myron Pickering sent a letter to the editor giving his reflections on Mr. Dartt and excerpts follow.
NEILLSVILLE REPUBLICAN & PRESS - June 20, 1918
"..I was escorted to his lodge by a neighbor, who had learned the way to his headquarters. They were located at the head of a small meadow creek with pine and hardwood growing so thickly on either side that they nearly shaded the little opening where the buildings were located. I well remember the peculiar sensations that the many sounds of animals, birds and falling acorns gave me when rising at daybreak on those September mornings to take care of the horses and bears and get ready for an early start on five miles of traps I usually watched...On one occasion I discovered a trap with the twenty-five foot sapling used for a log gone. The trail led straight into a dense thicket of saplings, blackberry briars and windfall timber, thru which I followed it at least a half a mile, expecting all the time to hear the rattle of the chain or other noise that usually accompanies such a circumstance; but nothing of the kind happened for as I opened an especially thick bunch of brush imagine my surprise to find myself facing a four hundred pound bruin almost within striking distance of my face..Evidently he was as scared as I for he allowed me to quietly back away out of reach and I hastened to report to Mr. Dartt. An hour later he, with some long, sharp stakes crept close enough to the bear to stake the ring of the chain to the ground, after which we proceeded to the caging process..Another time...after working until evening we had started for camp when I, hearing a sound much like a cow bellowing, and remarked to Mr. Dartt on the strange circumstance of a cow so far from civilization. Stopping to listen he informed me it was not a cow but a bear experiencing the first pangs of the jaws of the seventeen pound trap...Coming up to the perpetrator of the unearthly bellows in the person was a cub bear about six or eight months old; and although I was never permitted to carry my rifle with me, on this occasion Mr. Dartt had his and gave it to me to hold off the old she bear who threatened us from the brush nearby while he caged the cub...This was not the only occasion when I heard the voice of the bear for when a new recruit was added to the bear pen there was always a night of the fiercest howling and wailing..The last day of my stay with Mr. Dartt it happened that one of his bear died and he asked my assistance investigating the circumstances. The place where the bear were kept was a large log enclosure with log covering and a partition of logs making two parts with a slide door between, and the dead bear was in the back compartment which had no exit from the outside.
After an assurance that all the live bear were in the other part and the door closed, by his request I held a lamp in thru a feed hole that he might look down thru a crack from above to see the dead bear. While holding the lamp I felt something cold touch my arm and not knowing what it was, peeked into the opening only to discover the brown nose of a bear on my arm. To say the lamp was removed abruptly is saying it easy. Mr. Dartt had overlooked one bear, and she was not the kind that gets scared at a light either..They naturally display their pugilistic tendencies by striking viscously at anyone who ventured too near the cage or peep holes in the pen. Before I learned this I got a shirt sleeve torn and four deep claw marks on my arm....I often wondered that no one was seriously injured at the peep hole in the pen where visitors often looked at them.
Mr. Dartt was honest to the cent. I had reasons to believe his money was buried in the woods near his home. Taking everything into consideration, I can remember no month of my life more profitably spent than the one with the trapper and hunter, Frank Dartt."
Many years after his death, Dartt's lifestyle remained a topic of local conversation and some still ponder about Frank Dartt to this day. The Sherwood Bluff was referred to by some locals in the 1930's as Dartt Hill. It was located just one half mile south of the Dartt homestead. A logging dam and a creek, west and southwest of Dartt's land, were referred to as Dartt Dam and Dartt Creek for a time by residents.
ENJOY LIFE NOW
Some people lie, cheat and steal
And go to church on Sunday.
They feel better because they went
Then go back home and sin again.
Some people help the old and sick,
Try and make the world a better place,
But they don’t go to church on Sunday
Instead they pray at home.
Some people think they’ll go
To heaven and live forever there,
While they know others will go
To a place that’s hot and they don’t care.
Some people think they’ll just live on
In a bird, a cat, or maybe a song,
Or in the heart of another person
Who hasn’t even yet come along.
Some people have it all down pat,
Are sure they have it figured out,
They’ll live on earth in a paradise
In someone else’s house they picked out.
Some people don’t worry about it
Don’t believe in anything but now.
Perhaps they live the best way
Appreciating the here and the now.
For all we know, we really know nothing
We contemplate the why and how.
But it does no good to speculate
For t’will be what will be, enjoy life now.
