Platte Mound M

The Platte Mound M is the letter "M" written using whitewashed stones on Platte Mound about four miles east of Platteville, Wisconsin. It is the largest letter "M" in the world.cite news |first=Dennis |last=McCann |title=What's in an M, writ large? |url=http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=584483 |publisher=Milwaukee Journal Sentinel |date=2008-03-30 |accessdate=2008-06-06 ] The letter is convert|241|ft|m high, convert|214|ft|m wide, with legs convert|25|ft|m wide.

History

University of Wisconsin-Platteville students Raymond Medley and Alvin Knoerr worked at a Colorado mine in the summer (middle) of 1936. They saw a large letter "M" on the side of a hill in Colorado which signified mining. They felt that a larger "M" should be written on the Platte Mound to represent Platteville miners. [cite news |title=Roe sponsors second step in the "M" Step Project |url=http://www.uwplatt.edu/news/2006/09/roe-sponsors-second-step-in-m-step.html |publisher=University of Wisconsin-Platteville school newspaper "Daily Pioneer" |date=2006-09-18 |accessdate=2008-06-06 ] They created the first letter on the mound that winter (late that year). They wrote the letter "M" in deep snow, and it was visible for several weeks as a cold spell had hit the area. The letter "M" was selected for the School of Mines at the university. Several students went hiking in the same spot after the snow melted, and used large rocks to build one leg of a letter "M" while resting.cite news |title=The "M" on the Platte Mound |url=http://www.platteville.com/attract.htm#m |publisher=Platteville, Wisconsin Chamber of Commerce |accessdate=2008-06-06 ] The unfinished letter was so prevalent that engineering department head H. B. Morrow declared a field day for the department personnel and engineering student to work on the "M". Seniors surveyed the letter to make sure that it was larger than the "M" at Colorado. Underclass constructed the letter using borrowed picks, crowbars, and wheelbarrows from a local CCC camp. The letter was constructed from limestone found on the mound. Morrow and other professors drove several miles away to inspect the work from a distance, and they recommended changes to counteract distortion from the slope of the mound. Work was completed about six months later for the school's 1937 homecoming celebration. The letter was celebrated at that year's homecoming on October 16 1937. The letter was lit from a torch which was relayed convert|4.5|mi|km from the school's Tech building. The illuminated letter was visible from 28 miles away.

Before 1940, the letter was only lit for homecoming. After World War II, the tradition changed to include lighting the letter on the evening of the spring Miner's Ball. The letter was neglected during World War II since few undrafted/unenlisted men were available. Female students noticed the general disrepair of the letter. This lead to a custom of cleaning the letter in the latter part of the year (fall) and a whitewashing in spring in April on the Thursday before the Miner's Ball. Life magazine reporter Francis Miller attended the April 29 1949 lighting. He witnessed 250 quart cans with corncobs lit around the outline of the letters. It took 23 minutes to relay the torch to the mound. The story appeared in Life magazine on May 23 1949.

Platte Mound is a one mile long and half mile wide mound which rises convert|450|ft|m feet above its surroundings. The college had received permission to construct the letter from property owner William Snow. A Mr. Clausen from Racine, who later purchased the land, then donated it to the Board of State College Regents. The letter has been maintained by engineering students at the university since the mining engineering department closed in the 1990s. The Theta Tau engineering fraternity receives about $2,000 each year for maintenance.cite news |first=Brock |last=Bergey |title=One Letter Stands Out in Platteville |url=http://www.nbc15.com/home/headlines/18879444.html |publisher=WMTV |date=2008-05-12 |accessdate=2008-06-06 ]

See Also

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References