LeClaire ex-landmark remembered

The Green Tree was a giant elm that stood near the banks of the Mississippi River, providing shade for so many river pilots and other river folk (who often were sleeping off the prior night's carousing) that it earned the name the Green Tree Hotel. Dutch Elm disease claimed the tree in the '60s, but its memory lives on.

``At one time, LeClaire had more river pilots per capita than any other town along the Mississippi,'' said D. R. Peterson, owner of the Green Tree Emporium. ``They were there because the rapids were so treacherous that only experienced pilots could get through them. The pilots would help other boats get through the rapids, so many of them lived in LeClaire."

Ms. Peterson moved to LeClaire from Kalamazoo, Mich., with her husband, retired attorney Doug Peterson. ``I grew up in Davenport, and when he retired, I wanted to come back to the river,'' she said. ``We started looking in Bellevue. We wanted, originally, to find someplace where we could live upstairs and have a shop downstairs."

The Petersons didn't find precisely such a building, but, with help from a local Realtor, they bought the house of William Rambo, an early river captain.

The Italianate house built in 1855 was definitely a fixer-upper, but its history interested the Petersons, who have thrown themselves into the renovation as they have their new hometown.

``When we moved here, I didn't know my husband would be on the city council or so involved with establishing a library," said Ms. Peterson.

"The river is what it's all about. When I was young, we used to ride the W. J. Quinlan, (the old steamer ferry that ran between Davenport and Rock Island until it was retired more than 50 years ago). I can still hear the squealing sound the ropes made as they tightened," Ms. Peterson said. ``Every place I ever lived after that, there was a spot where the river ought to be, but it wasn't there."

In LeClaire, the river is right where it ought to be -- just outside the door of the Green Tree Emporium.

The emporium, as the name suggests, holds an array of interesting objects.

``I have antiques, but not everything in the shop qualifies as an antique,'' Ms. Peterson said. ``I have lots of books. Actually, I have quite a collection of children's books. I started collecting them years ago. Now I'm trying to organize them.''

The emporium also boasts a collection of old aprons, old linens and old (and not-so-old) kitchen things.

Ms. Peterson is an artist, and most of her business experience came from a studio gallery she once owned in Lawrence, Kan. Her artistic eye helps the eclectic mix offered at Green Tree Emporium stay interesting.

``I tend to pick up things that speak to me. I had to learn little by little, since my only experience came from my own collecting,'' Ms. Peterson said. ``It's a learning process, like a treasure hunt, and it's fun when you find out what something is really worth.''

For more information about the Green Tree Emporium, call 289-9954.

-- By Catherine Guy