Civil War enthusiast Gustave F. Clark has run Dells Mill since 1964,
conducting tours for about 44 years.

Gustave F. Clark was born in Eau Claire in 1943 on Good Friday.   Dells Mill Pond in Augusta has been his lifelong home.   He describes growing up on Dells Mill Pond as excellent, saying, “There’s nowhere else in the world I would fit in but right here.”   He graduated from Augusta High School and proceeded to take over the milling operations afterward.  

With encouragement from his sister, Gustave wrote a book that was recently published, The Civil War to America’s Health Care War: 150 years, detailing the history of Dells Mill Pond as well as his difficulties as an uninsured patient.  

Dells Mill has gone through a whirlwind of ownership beginning when two men, Stephen Marston and William T. Weber, bought the site around 1864.   Later, Gustave Clark’s grandfather bought the property.   Sadly, it was foreclosed in 1925, but not long after, the bank itself went bankrupt, and the Clark family was able to buy the property back.   When Gustave’s father died in 1964, Gustave took on the responsibilities of the mill at the age of 21.   Gustave says that because of the state of the economy and the politics of the time, the only reason he can see that the mill survived is that it was “an act of God that is still here.”

Rather than attempt to continue to have the mill be a functional business, Gustave decided to go the route of historical preservation.   Dells Mill Historical Landmark and Museum opened its doors to the public on May 1, 1968.   Gustave wanted to connect the mill with the Civil War time period and began to collect many artifacts.  

The mill began to be well known by the public and even seen in publications.   It is said that Dells Mill is the most photographed property in Wisconsin.   According to Gustave, the old mill stands as a monument to industry, agriculture, energy, water power, privatization, work ethic, and the pioneers that tamed the wilderness to farm the land.

Gustave now lives alone at the mill and has been conducting tours mostly on his own for 44 years.   Dells Mill is open for tours every day between May 1 and October 31, from 10 am to 5 pm.   Two different tours are available for guests: a one hour tour guided by Gustave or a slightly less expensive, non-guided tour that can be as long or short as desired.   As an extra benefit, Gustave sings two country songs on his handmade banjo for all the guests that come through his doors.  

In the second part of Gustave’s book, he details his long fight with the health care industry.     Gustave believes that many comparisons can be made between our present political arena and the political issues of one hundred fifty years ago.   He thinks that the industry needs reform, stating that “going to the doctor should be no more stress than going to get groceries.”   For some procedures that he needed on his heart, he was charged about $31,000, and he had no insurance at the time.   This spurred him to begin writing letters to people in legislation because he thought the bill amount was unfair.  

During a five-year period, he sent a total of twenty letters in all to the Wisconsin Attorney General’s office, but was told they could not help him.   During the last seven years from now, he has fired off over one hundred letters, even sending one to President Obama.  

If you’ve got a hankering for history, stop by Dell’s Mill next summer.   You won’t regret it. And if you want to know more details, check out Gustave’s book.