Not exactly your typical legislative history. Odd Wisconsin gives us another tale of bloodshed – this time from Wisconsin’s own territorial legislature.
Frustration and animosity is said to be running high among legislators these days, but at least they’re not shooting each other. That’s what happened on February 11, 1842, during a dispute in the territorial legislature between representatives Charles Arndt and James Vineyard. When Arndt accused Vineyard of… well, read the gory details for yourself in our new Museum Object of the Week feature where you can even see the vest that Arndt was wearing that day, complete with bullet hole. You can also read an account of the affair by a Madison resident who appeared on the scene the following day.