Something Different, Old Abe!!!

On my Case Tractor the log is of Old Abe, a real life eagle who was the mascot (yes, she went into battle with the Wisconsin Regiment during the civil war and the Rebels shot at her, but never hit her.) of the Wisconsin Volunteer 8th Regiment, Company C.

A Native American of the Lac Du Flambeau Ojibwa tribe captured her (Flambeau Red later became the color of Case Tractors) and she was sold to a

farmer for a bushel of corn and then sold by the farmer to the soldiers for $2.50.

Company C made a special perch for Old Abe and she went into every battle, including the battle of Corinth where half of the 8th regiment was killed. She would spread her wings and screech as they charged into battle and the Rebels hated it shooting at her and calling her that damned Yankee Buzzard!

Several of the carriers of her perch were killed under her and while her feathers were grazed by bullets, Old Abe made it through without a wound. She was so respected that when General Grant, Sherman and Rosecrans passed by they took off their caps in respect.

Old Abe retired to the Wisconsin State Capitol after the war yet made many appearances such as the 1880 Grand Army of the Republic Convention and the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia.

Old Abe became the insignia for the famed 101st Airborne, still one of the most feared fighting units of the US Army, she is the team namesake of several high school football teams and in 1869 she became the Logo of the Case Threshing Company, later the JI Case Company who now is merged with International Harvester and New Holland into the biggest agricultural company in the world. Case retired Old Abe in 1969 after 100 years as the Logo.

Old Abe passed away due to smoke inhalation in a fire at the Wisconsin State Capitol in 1881. She was preserved and mounted in the capitol as the main centerpiece until 1904 when another fire at the State Capitol burned her remains and most of the Capitol building down.

Named after Abraham Lincoln, Old Abe lived up to her symbol as the official bird of USA on the National Seal as a true friend in peace and a fierce warrior in battle.

Below is her picture…

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Living by a River we have Eagles fly over and we think of Old Abe when they do….. *Salute*  Here is Rutherford B. Hayes(who is named after a President who was also a war hero in the Civil War watching a bird fly over) .

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Here is Old Abe as the Case Company Logo on the side of a Flambeau red Case Tractor….. This logo is stamped on almost every part on my Case Tractor……, there is no mistaking who made the tractor for Case made sure it was everywhere and to this day it is in farm country one of the best known logos although out of use for over 40 years.

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