Grandad’s Bluff, La Crosse’s Geographical signature since the town’s birth, was threatened by near extinction until 1909 by quarrymen who had little regard for its rugged beauty. How much stone was quarried from Old Grandad will never be known, but it probably could be measured in the tens of thousands of tons.

The stone was used to pave La Crosse streets and to build foundations for many of the city’s older homes and buildings, including the post office.

La Crosse’s people have always considered Grandad as their own special landmark, and attempts were made periodically to have the city purchase it. It was not until the Meade Rock Co. started to blast away at Grandad’s southern side that La Crosse people realized it could be destroyed.

On Dec 9, 1909 a deed was passed from Mrs. Ellis B. Usher to Joseph Hixon. It conveyed Grandad Bluff to Hixon to be held by him until it could be transferred to the city. Led by the generous Mrs. Gideon P. Hixon, who contributed $12,000 to the purchase fund, La Crosse residents quickly raised the additional $3,000 needed to buy Old Grandad, as well as $2,000 for building a road to the bluff and other improvements. With the bluff went an adjoining piece of property at Grandad’s north base, to become known as Hixon Forest. (A beautiful place to hike, bike and relax or just enjoy the beauty of the area.)

The last owner was granddaughter of Henry Bliss, who had a cottage atop the bluff, Bliss, a civil engineer and railroad builder, settled in La Crosse in 1878. It was he who built the road to the top of Grandad, called Bliss Road. Besides being one of the favorite picnic spots of La Crosse and area families, Grandad annually draws thousand of tourists.

Besides being a thing of perpetual beauty, this guardian of the city also contains a five million-gallon reservoir which helps maintain the water pressure throughout the city and provides an excellent reserve in case of a major fire. It’s the largest single bluff in the chain that borders the Upper Mississippi River. The elevation above sea level of Grandad Bluff, established by the US. Geological Survey and engraved in the base of the flagpole atop the bluff, is 1,183 feet. It towers 600 feet above Main Street.

There is a Winnebago Indian legend about a Sioux Warrior, Kit-Ka-Ha, who fell in love with He-Nun-Ka-Ha, daughter of a minor Winnebago chief and the belle of the Winnebago Tribe. She returned his love. The legend goes that Kit-Ka-Ha kidnapped He-Nun-Ka-Ha on her wedding day, and the Winnebagos, outraged gave pursuit. The enamored couple made their way to the top of Grandad Bluff and there, pursued and surrounded by He-Nun-Ka-Ha’s kinsmen, the lovers threw themselves down the bluff to their death. There are those who say, even to this day, that on a certain morning in August, just as the sun starts to drive away the night, the spirits of Kit-Ka-Ha and his pitiful little sweetheart return to the scene in each other’s arms outlined against the sky over Grandad.

Portions of Information obtained from the La Crosse Tribune, Sunday, March 10, 1974. 

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