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William T. Evjue was born in 1882 and grew up in Merrill. He lived most of his adult life in the Madison area and became a powerful voice for progressive causes in the state capital, but he always found a way to return to his Northwoods birthplace, particularly at Christmas. When the holiday season of 1938 arrived, Evjue, like so many other Northwoods natives, packed up his family and began the trek northward to spend the holiday with his elderly parents in Merrill.
By 1938 automobiles were the preferred means of travel for most people as they allowed convenience of scheduling and avoided the awkwardness of lugging suitcases and Christmas packages onto crowded trains. However, the wide four-lane highways we enjoy today did not exist in 1938, and the narrow two-lane roads of the 1930s could be treacherous when the weather turned bad.