Curious Case of Fabian Streiff: The New Glarus Rip Van Winkle
In 1881, a New Glarus hunter walked into the woods and disappeared. For 34 years, no one knew what became of Fabian Streiff. Then, one autumn day, a letter arrived.
On a cold Sunday morning in 1881, a young man left New Glarus carrying a gun and headed into the countryside west of town.
His name was Fabian Streiff. He was 29 years old, the son of one of the community's early settlers, and by all accounts an ordinary resident of the Swiss colony nestled among the hills of Green County. Wolves still roamed parts of southern Wisconsin in those days, and Streiff announced he was going hunting.
It was the last time anyone in New Glarus would see him for more than three decades.
As daylight faded and the hunter failed to return home, concern began to spread among family and neighbors. At first, there was little panic. Men became lost. Wagons broke down. An overnight stay in a distant farmhouse was not unheard of.
But when Streiff did not appear the next morning, the search began.
Friends and relatives combed the countryside. They followed what they believed was a promising trail through the woods. Some thought he had tracked a wolf to its den and would emerge sooner or later. Others feared something more serious had occurred. Day after day, searchers pushed farther from New Glarus, exploring ravines, hillsides and wooded areas in hopes of finding some sign of the missing hunter.
They found nothing.
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