Peggy Derrick
Catalog Number: 1974.012.01
From its very beginnings, the city of La Crosse was home to a diverse (some would say motley) assortment of settlers. While many of the first new settlers to the upper Midwest in the mid-19th century were white New Englanders, they were not exclusively so.
Even before the massive waves of German, Norwegian, and Irish immigrants later in the century, there were some interesting Europeans who were attracted to the American frontier. One European who made a mark in La Crosse County was General Gysbert Van Steenwyk, founder of Batavian Bank. His handsome, Romanesque Revival bank building still stands at 319 Main Street.
Van Steenwyk was born into an upper-class family in Utrecht, in the Netherlands, in 1814. He studied at university there and served in the Netherlands National Guard as an officer.
After emigrating in 1849 with several companions, he settled in Milwaukee and began a career of governmental and military service. In 1857 he was appointed as the Brigadier General of state troops, and in 1859 he was elected to the Wisconsin state Legislature. He was subsequently elected Bank Comptroller and helped to close the many banks that had failed in the Panic of 1857.
Van Steenwyk took the lessons he learned in that position, moved to La Crosse, and opened his Batavian Bank in 1862. He continued as president of his bank for the next 30 years, and La Crosse became his permanent home.
He may have enjoyed hunting in his free time, judging by this fine double-barreled shotgun that he owned. As an upper-class European, Van Steenwyk would have had opportunities to hunt in his native country of the Netherlands and possibly grew up enjoying the sport. Certainly, La Crosse County in the late 19th century would have offered plenty of opportunity for shooting ducks and other game birds, especially in the river bottoms and the La Crosse marsh.
A man of his financial status did not hunt out of necessity, and his shotgun is a very nice one. Made in New York state by the Ithaca Gun Company, its double barrels are Damascus steel, meaning there is a decorative patterned twist in the metal. There are engraved decorations on the trigger guard and lock, and the butt plate is embossed with images of passenger pigeons. The “wrist,” or grip on the firearm, is checkered for an improved grip.
This article was originally published in the La Crosse Tribune on November 28, 2020.
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