Big Bend Village

Wisconsin Raileoads

1864 congress made a grant of land to the state of Wisconsin to aid in the construction of a railroad from Berlin, Doty's Island, Fond du Lac, or Portage, by way of Stevens Point, to Bayfield or Superior, granting the odd sections within ten miles on each side of the line, with an indemnity limit of twenty miles on each side. The legislature of 1865 failed to dispose of this grant, but that of 1866 provided for the organization of two companies, one to build from Portage City by way of Berlin to Stevens Point, and the other from Menasha to the same point, and then jointly to Bayfield and Lake Superior. The former was called the " Winnebago and Lake Superior Railroad Company," and the latter the " Portage & Superior Railroad Company." In 1869 an act was passed consolidating the two companies, which was done under the name of the " Portage, Winnebago & Superior Railroad Company." In 1871 the name of the company was changed to the "Wisconsin Central Railroad Company." The Winnebago & Lake Superior company was organized under Hon. George Reed as president, and at once commenced the construction of its line of road between Menasha and Stevens Point. In 187 1 the Wisconsin Central consolidated with the " Manitowoc & Mississippi Railroad Company." The articles of consolidation provided that Gardner Colby, a director of the latter company, should be president, and that George Reed, a director of the former, should be vice president of the new organization; with a firrther provision that Gardner Colby, George Reed, and Elijah B. Phillips should be and remain its executive committee.

In 1-871, an act was passed incorporating the " Phillips and Colby Construction Company," which created E. B. Phillips, C. L. Colby, Henry Pratt, and such others as they might associate with them, a body corporate, with authority to build railroads and do all manner of things relating to railroad construction and operation. Under' this act the construction company contracted with the Wisconsin Central railroad company, to build its line of road from Menasha to Lake Superior. In November, 1873; the Wisconsin Central leased of the Milwaukee & Northern company its line of road extending from Schwartzburg to Menasha, and the branch to Green Bay, for the term of nine hundred and ninety-nine years, and also acquired the rights of the latter company to use the track of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul company between Schwartzburg and Milwaukee, and to depot facilities in Milwaukee. The construction of the land grant portion of this important line of road was commenced in 187 1, and it was completed to Stevens Point in November of that year. It was built from Stevens Point north one hundred miles to Worcester in 1872. During 1872 and 1873, it was built from Ashland south to the Penoka iron ridge, a distance of thirty miles. The straight line between Portage City and Stevens Point, authorized by an act of the legislature of 1875, was constructed between October i, 1875, and October, 1876, seven'i.y-one miles in length. The gap of forty-two miles between Worcester and Penoka iron ridge was closed in June, 1877. E. B. Phillips, of Milwaukee, is president and general manager. This line of road passes through a section of our state hitherto unsettled. It has been pushed through with energy, and opened up for settlement an immense region of heavily timbered land, and thus contributed to the growth and prosperity of the state.

The " Racine, Janesville & Mississippi Railroad Company " was chartered in 1852,10 build a road from Racine to Beloit, and was organized the same year. The city of Racine issued its bonds for $300,000 in payment for that amount of stock. The towns of Racine, Elkhorn, Delevan and Beloit gave f igo,ooo, and issued their bonds, and farmers along the line made liberal subscriptions and secured the same by mortgages on their farms. The road was built to Burlington in 1855, to Delavan early in 1856, and to Beloit, sixty-eight miles from Racine, during the same year. Failing to meet the interest on its bonds and its floating indebtedness, it was sur- rendered by the company, to the bond-holders in 1859, who completed it to Freeport during that year, and afterward built to the Mississippi river at Savannah, and thence to Rock Island. The bond-holders purchased and sold the road in 1866, and a new organization was had as the " Western Union Railroad Company," and it has since been operated under that name. In 1869, it bu'ilt a line from Elkhorn to Eagle, seventeen miles, and thus made a connection with Milwaukee over the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul line. The latter company owns a controlling interest it its line. Alexander Mitchell is the president of the company, and D. A. Olin, general superintendent.

The lands granted by congress in 1856 to aid in the construction of a railroad in Wisconsin, from Tomah to Superior and Bayfield, were disposed of as mentioned under the history of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul company. The La Crosse company, as we have seen, prevailed in the legislature of 1856, and secured legislation favorable to its interests; but it failed to build the line of road provided for, and forfeited its right to lands granted. In 1863, the " Tomah & Lake St. Croix Railroad Company " was incorporated, with authority to construct a railroad from some point in the town of Tomah in Monroe county, to such point on Lake St. Croix, between townships 25 and 31 as the directors might determine. To the company, by the act creating it, was granted all the interest and estate of this state, to so much of the lands granted by the United States to the state of Wisconsin, known as the St. Croix grant, as lay between Tomah and Lake St. Croix. A few months after its organization, the company passed substantially into the hands of D. A. Baldwin and Jacob Humbird, who afterward built a line of road from Tomah, via Black River Falls, and Eau Claire to Hudson, on Lake St. Croix, one hundred and seventy-eight miles. Its name was afterward changed to the "West Wisconsin Railroad Company." In 1873, it built its road from Warren's Mills via Camp Douglass, on the St. Paul road to Elroy, and took up its track from the first-named place, twelve miles, to Tomah. A law-suit resulted, which went against the railroad company, and the matter was finally compromised by the payment of a sum of money by the company to the town of Tomah. The road was built through a new and sparsely settled country, and its earnings have not been sufiScient to enrich its stock-holders. It connects at Camp Douglass with the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul road, and at Elroy with the Chicago & Northwestern railway company's line, which gives the latter a through line to St. Paul. It is operated in connection with the Chicago & Northwestern railway, and managed in its interest. It is now in the hands of Wm. H. Ferry, of Chicago, as receiver ; H. H. Potter, of Chicago, as president'; and E. W. Winter, of Hudson, superintendent.

In 1870, the "Milwaukee, Manitowoc & Green Bay Railroad Company " was chartered to build a road from Milwaukee to Green Bay by way of Manitowoc. It built its line from Milwaukee to Manitowoc in 1873, when its name was changed to " Milwaukee, Lake Shore & Western Railroad Company." Under a decree of foreclosure, it was sold Dec. 10, 1875, and its name was changed to " Milwaukee, Lake Shore & Western Railway Company," by which name it is still known.

In 1866, the " Appleton & New London Railroad Company" was incorporated to build a road from Appleton to New London, and thence to Lake Superior. A subsequent amendment to its charter authorized it to extend its road to Manitowoc. It built most of the line from Appleton to that city, and then, under legislative authority, sold this extension to the Milwau- kee, Lake Shore & Western railroad company. The last-named company extended it to New London, on the Wolf river, twenty-one miles, in 1876,1 where it connects with the Green Bay & Minnesota road. It now operates one hundred and forty-six miles of road, extending from Milwaukee to New London, passing through Sheboygan, Manitowoc and Appleton, which includes a branch line six miles in length from Manitowoc to Two Rivers. F. W. Rhinelander, of New York, is i'ts president, and H. G. H. Reed, of Milwaukee, superintendent.

The line of road operated by this company extends from Fort Howard to the Mississippi river, opposite Winona, Minnesota. It is two hundred and sixteen miles in length, and was built through a sparsely settled and heavily timbered section of the state. It began under most discouraging circumstances, yet was pushed through by the energy of a few men at Green Bay and along its line. It was originally chartered in 1866 as the "Green Bay & Lake Pepin Railroad Company " to build a road from the mouth of the Fox river near Green Bay to the Mississippi river opposite Winona. But little was done except the making of preliminary surveys in 1870. During 1870 and 187 1, forty miles were constructed and put in operation. In 1872, one hundred and fourteen miles were graded, the track laid, and the river reached, sixty-two miles farther, in 1873. In 1876, it acquired the right to use the "Winona cut-off " between Winona and Onalaska, and built a line from the latter point to La Crosse, seven miles, thus connecting its road with the chief city of Wisconsin on the Mississippi river. The city of La Crosse aided this extension by subscribing $75,000 and giving its corporation bonds for that amount. Henry Ketchum, of New London, is president of the company, and D. M. Kelly, of Green Bay, general manager.

The " Wisconsin Valley Railroad Company " was incorporated in 1871 to build a road from a point on or near the line of the Milwaukee & La -Crosse railroad, between Kilbourn City and the tunnel in said road to the village of Wausau, in the county of Marathon, and the road to pass not more than one mile west of the village of Grand Rapids, in the county of Wood. The road was commenced at Tomah, and graded to Centralia in 1872, and opened to that village in 1873, and during 1874 it was completed to Wausau, ninety miles in its whole length. Boston capitalists furnished the money, and it is controlled in the interest of the Dubuque & Minnesota railroad, through which the equipment was procured. The lumber regions of the Wisconsin river find an outlet over it, and its junction with the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul road at Tomah enables a connection with the railroads of Iowa and Minnesota. It gives the people of Marathon county an outlet long needed for a large lumber traffic, and also enables them to receive their goods and supplies of various kinds for the lumbering region tributary to Wausau. Jaraes F. Joy, of Detroit, is president, and F. O. Wyatt, superintendent.

The " Sheboygan & Mississippi Railroad Company " was incorporated in 1852, to build a road from Sheboygan to the Mississippi river. It was completed from Sheboygan to Plymouth in 1858, to Glenbeulah in i860, to Fond du Lac in 1868, and to Princeton in 1S72. The extension from Fond du Lac to Princeton was built under authority of an act passed in 187 1.

Under a foreclosure in 1861 the line from Sheboygan to Fonddu Lac was sold, and the name of the company changed to " Sheboygan & Fond du Lac Railroad Company." The length of the line is seventy-eight miles, and it passes through a fertile agricultural country. The city of Sheboygan, county, city and town of Fond du Lac, and the towns of Riverdale, Ripon, Brooklyn, . Princeton, and St. Marie, aided in its building to an amount exceeding $250,000. D. L. Wells is president, and Geo. P. Lee, superindendent.

The " Mineral Point Railroad Company " was chartered in 1852, to build a road from Mineral Point, in the county of Iowa, to the state line, in township number one, in either the county of Green or La Fayette. It was completed to Warren, in the state of Illinois, thirty-two miles, in

1855, making a connection at that point with the Illinois Central, running from Chicago to Galena. Iowa county loaned its credit and issued its bonds to aid in its construction. It was sold under foreclosure in 1856. Suits were brought against Iowa county to collect the amount of its bonds, and judgment obtained in the federal courts. Much litigation has been had, and ill feeling engendered, the supervisors of the county having been arrested for contempt of the decree of the court. Geo. W. Cobb, of Mineral Point, is the general manager.

The Dubuque, Platteville & Milwaukee railroad was completed in July, 1870, and extends from Calamine, a point on the Mineral Point railroad, to the village of Platteville, eighteen miles, and is operated by the Mineral Point railroad company

The legislature of 1855 chartered the " Sugar River Valley Railroad Company " to build a road from a point on the north side of the line of the Southern Wisconsin road, within the limits of Green county, to Dayton, on the Sugar river. In 1857 it was authorized to build south to the state line, and make its northern terminus at Madison. In 1861 it was authorized to build from Madison to Portage City, and from Columbus to Portage City, and so much of the land grant act of

1856, as related to the building of the road from Madison, and from Columbus to Portage City, was annulled and repealed, and the rights and privileges that were conferred upon the LaCrosse company were given to the Sugar River Valley railroad company, and the portion of the land grant, applicable to the lines mentioned, was conferred upon the last named company. Under this legislation about twenty miles of the line between Madison and Portage were graded, and the right of way secured for about thirty of the thirty-nine miles. The LaCrosse company had done considerable grading before its right was annulled. In 1866 the company was relieved from constructing the road from Columbus to Portage City. In 1870 the purchasers of that part of the Sugar River Valley railroad lying between Madison and Portage City were incorporated as the " Madison & Portage Railroad Company," and to share all the rights, grants, etc., that were conferred upon the Sugar River railroad company by its charter, and amendments thereto, so far as related to that portion of the line.

Previous to this time, in 1864 and 1865, judgments had been obtained against the Sugar River Valley company ; and its right of way, grading and depot grounds sold for a small sum. James Campbell, who had been a contractor with the Sugar River Valley company, with others, became the purchasers, and organized under the act of 1870, and, during the year 1871, completed it between Madison and Portage City, and in March, 1871, leased it to the Milwaukee & St. Paul company, and it is still operated by that corporation. In 1871 the Madison & Portage company was authorized to extend its road south to the Illinois state line, and north from Portage City to Lake Winnebago. The same year it was consolidated with the " Rockford Central

Wisconsin Eailroads. J83

Railroad Company," of Illinois, and its name changed to the "Chicago & Superior Railroad Company," but still retains its own organization. The Madison & Portage railroad company claims a share in the lands granted by acts of congress in 1856, and have commenced proceedings to assert its claim, which case is still pending in the federal courts.

The "North Wisconsin Railroad Company" was incorporated in 1869, to build a road from Lake St. Croix, or river, to Bayfield on Lake Superior. The grant of land by congress in 1856, to aid in building a road from Lake St. Croix to Bayfield on Lake Superior, under the decision of the federal court, was yet at the disposal of the state. This company, in 1871, built a short section of its line of road, with the expectation of receiving the grant. In 1873, the grant was conferred upon the Milwaukee & St. Paul company, but under the terms and restrictions contained in the act, it declined to accept it. The legislature of 1874 gave it to the North Wisconsin company, and it has built forty miles of its road, and received the lands pertaining thereto. Since 1876, it has not completed any part of its line, but is trying to construct twenty miles during the present year. The company is authorized to construct a road both to Superior and to Bayfield, but the act granting the lands confers that portion from Superior to the intersection of the line to Bayfield upon the Chicago & North Pacific air-line railroad. This last-named company have projected a line from Chicago to the west end of Lake Superior, and are the owners of an old grade made through Walworth and Jefferson counties, by a company chaitered in 1853 as the "Wisconsin Central," to build a road from Portage City to Geneva, in the county of Walworth. The latter company had also graded its line between Geneva and the state line of Illinois. This grade was afterward appropriated by the Chicago & Northwestern, and over it they now operate their line from Chicago to Geneva.

This is a line two miles in length, connecting Prairie du Chien in Wisconsin, with McGregor in Iowa. It is owned and operated by John Lawler, of the latter-named place. It extends across both channels of the Mississippi river, and an intervening island. The railroad bridge consists of substantial piling, except a pontoon draw across each navigable channel. Each pontoon is four hundred feet long and thirty feet wide, provided with suitable machinery and operated by steam power. Mr. Lawler has secured a patent on his invention of the pontoon draw for railroad bridges. His line was put in operation in April, 1874.

This road was built in 1874, by a company organized under the general law of the state. It is eleven miles in length, and connects the " Falls " with the West Wisconsin line at Eau Claire. It was constructed by the energetic business men and capitalists of Chippewa Falls, to afford an outlet for the great lumber and other interests of that thriving and prosperous city. The road is substantially built, and the track laid with steel rails.

The " Galena & Southern Wisconsin Railroad Company " was incorporated in 1857. Under its charter, a number of capitalists of the city of Galena, in the state of Illinois, commenced the construction of a narrow (three feet) gauge road, running from that city to Platteville, thirtyone miles in length, twenty miles in Wisconsin. It runs through a part of La Fayette county to Platteville, in Grant county, and was completed to the latter point in 1875. Surveys are being made for an extension to Wingville, in Grant county.

The " Fond du Lac, Amboy & Peoria Railway Company " was organized under the general law of the state, in 1874, to build a narrow gauge road from the city of Fond du Lac to the south line of the state in the county of Walworth or Rock, and it declared its intention to consolidate with a company in Illinois that had projected a line of railroad from Peoria, in Illinois, to the south line of the state of Wisconsin. The road Is constructed and in operation from Fond du Lac to Iron Ridge, a point on the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railway, twenty-nine miles from Fond du Lac.

The "Pine River & Steven's Point Railroad Company" was organized by the enterprising citizens of Richland Center, and has built a narrow gauge road from Lone Rock, a point on the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul road, in Richland county, to Richland Center, sixteen miles in length. Its track is laid with wooden rails, and it is operated successfully.

The '- Chicago & Tomah Railroad Company " organized under the general railroad law of the state, in 1872, to construct a narrow gauge road from Chicago, in Illinois, to the city of Tomah, in Wisconsin. Its president and active manager is D. R. Williams, of Clermont, Iowa, and its secretary is L. M. Culver, of Wauzeka. It has graded about forty-five miles, extending from Wauzeka up the valley of the Kickapoo river, in Crawford county, Wisconsin. It expects to have fifty-four miles in operation, to Bloomingdale, in Vernon county, the present year (1877). The rolling stock is guaranteed, and the president is negotiating for the purchase of the iron. South of Wauzeka the line is located to Belmont, in Iowa county. At Wauzeka it will connect with the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul line.

The public-spirited citizens of Necedah, in Juneau county, have organized under the general Jaw of the state, and graded a road-bed from their village to New Lisbon, on the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul company's line. The latter company furnish and lay the iron, and will «(perate the road. It is thirteen miles in length.

The railroads of Wisconsin have grown up under the requirements of the several localities that have planned and commenced their construction, and without regard to any general system. Frequently the work of construction was begun before adequate means were provided, and bankruptcy overtook the roads in their early stages. The consolidation of the various companies, as in the cases of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul, the Chicago & Northwestern, and others, has been effected to give through lines and the public greater facilities, as well as to introduce economy in management. At times the people have become apprehensive, and by legislative action prohibited railroads from consolidating, and have sought to control and break down the power of these corporations and to harmonize the interests of the companies and the public. - The act of 1874, called the "Potter law," was the assertion, by the legislative power of the state, of its right to control corporations created by itself, and limit the rates at which freight and passengers should be carried. After a long and expensive contest, carried through the state and federal courts, this right has been established, being finally settled by the decision of the supreme court of the United States.

Quite all the railroads of Wisconsin have been built with foreign capital. The plan pursued after an organization was effected, was to obtain stock subscriptions from those immediately interested in the enterprise, procure the aid of counties and municipalities, and then allure the farmers, with the prospect of joint ownership in railroads, to subscribe for stock and mortgage their farms to secure the payment of their subscriptions. Then the whole line was bonded and a mortgage executed. The bonds and mortgages thus obtained, were taken to the money centers of New York, London, Amsterdam and other places, and sold, or hypothecated to obtain the money with which to proseciite the work. The bonds and mortgages were made to draw a high rate of interest, and the earnings of these new roads, through unsettled localities, were insufficient to pay more than running and incidental expenses, and frequently fell short of that. Default occurring in the payment of interest, the mortgages were foreclosed and the property passed into the hands and under the control of foreign capitalists. Such has been the history of most of the railroads of our state. The total number of farm mortgages given has been 3,785, amounting to $4,079,433 ; town, county and municipal bonds, amounting to $6,910,652. The total cost of all the railroads in the state, as given by the railroad commissioner in his report for 1876, has been $98,343,453.67. This vast sum is, no doubt, greatly in excess of what the cost should have been, but the roads have proved of immense benefit in the development of the material resources of the state.

Other lines are needed through sections not yet traversed by the iron steed, and present lines should be extended by branch roads. The questions upon which great issues were raised between the railway corporations and the people, are now happily settled by securing to the latter their rights ; and the former, under the wise and conciliatory policy pursued by their managers, are assured of the sa;fety of their investments. An era of good feeling has succeeded one of distrust and antagonism. The people must use the railroads, and the railroads depend upon the people for sustenance and protection. This mutuality of interest, when fully recognized on both irides, will result in giving to capital a fair return and to labor its just reward.

Lumber Manufacture

Foremost among the industries of Wisconsin is that of manufacturing lumber. Very much of the importance to which the state has attained is due to the development of its forest wealth. In America, agriculture always has been, and always will be, the primary and most important interest; but no nation can subsist upon agriculture alone. While the broad prairies of Illinois and Iowa are rich with a fertile and productive soil, the hills and valleys of northern Wisconsin are clothed with a wealth of timber that has given birth to a great manufacturing interest, which employs millions of capital and thousands of men, and has peopled the northern wilds with energetic, prosperous communities, built up enterprising cities, and crossed the state with a network of railways which furnish outlets for its productions and inlets for the new populations which are ever seeking for homes and employment nearer to the setting sun.

If a line be drawn upon the state map, from Green Bay westward through Stevens Point, to where it would naturally strike the Mississippi river, it will be below the southern boundary of the pine timber regions, with the single exception of the district drained by the Yellow river, a tributary of the Wisconsin, drawing its timber chiefly from Wood and Juneau counties. The territory north of this imaginary line covers an area a little greater than one half of the state. The pine timbered land is found in belts or ridges, interspersed with prairie openings, patches of hardwood and hemlock, and drained by numerous water-courses. No less than seven large rivers traverse this northern section, and, with their numerous tributaries, penetrate every county, affording facilities for floating the logs to the mills, and, in many instances, the power to cut them into lumber. This does not include the St. Croix, which forms the greater portion of the boundary line between Wisconsin and Minnesota, and, by means of its tributaries, draws the most and best of its pine from the former state. These streams divide the territory, as far as lumbering is concerned, into six separate and distinct districts : The Green bay shore, which includes the Wisconsin side of the Menomonee, the Peshtigo and Oconto rivers, with a number of creeks which flow into the bay between the mouths of the Oconto and Fox rivers ; the Wolf river district ; the Wisconsin river, including the Yellow, as before mentioned ; the Black river ; the Chippewa and Red Cedar ; and the Wisconsin side of the St. Croix.

Beginning with the oldest of these, the Green bay shore, a brief description of each will be attempted. The first saw-mill built in the state, of which there is now any knowledge, was put in Operation in 1809, in Brown county, two or three miles east from Depere, on a little stream which was known as East river. It was built by Jacob Franks, but probably was a very small affair. Of its machinery or capacity for sawing, no history has been recorded, and it is not within the memory of any inhabitant of to-day. In 1829, John P. Arndt, of Green Bay, built a waterpower mill on the Pensaukee river at a point where the town of Big Suamico now stands. In 1834, a mill was built on the Wisconsin side of the Menomonee, and, two years later, one at Peshtigo. Lumber was first shipped to market from this district in 1834, which must be termed the beginning of lumbering operations on the bay shore. The lands drained by the streams which flow into Green bay are located in Shawano and Oconto counties, the latter being the largest in the state. In 1847, Willard Lamb, of Green Bay, made the first sawed pine shingles in that district ; they were sold to the Galena railroad company for use on depot buildings, and were the first of the kind sold in Chicago. Subsequently Green Bay became one of the greatest points for the manufacture of such shingles in the world. The shores of the bay are low, and gradually change from marsh to swamp, then to level dry land, and finally become broken and mountainous to the northward. The pine is in dense groves that crowd closely upon the swamps skirting the bay, and reach far back among the hills of the interior. The Peshtigo flows into the bay about ten miles south of the Menomonee, and takes its rise far back in Oconto county, near to the latter's southern tributaries. It is counted a good logging stream, its annual product being from 40,000,000 to 60,000,000 feet. The timber is of a rather coarse quality, running but a small percentage to what the lumbermen term "uppers." About ten per cent, is what is known as Norway pine. Of the whole amount of timber tributary to the Peshtigo, probably about one third has been cut off to this date. The remainder will not average of as good quality, and only a limited portion of the land is of any value for agricultural purposes after being cleared of the pine. There are only two mills on this stream, both being owned by one company. The Oconto is one of the most important streams in the district. The first saw-mill was built on its banks about the year 1840, though the first lumbering operations of any account were begun in 1845 by David Jones. The business was conducted quite moderately until 1856, in which year several mills were built, and from that date Oconto has been known as quite an extensive lumber manufacturing point. The timber tributary to this stream has been of the best quality found in the state. Lumber cut from it has been known to yield the extraordinarily high average of fifty and sixty per cent, uppers. The timber now being cut will not average more than half that. The proportion of Norway is about five per cent. It is estimated that from three fourths to four fifths of the timber tributary to the Oconto has been cut away, but it will require a much longer time to convert the balance into lumber than was necessary to cut its equivalent in amount, owing to its remote location. The annual production of pine lumber at Oconto is from 50,000,000 to 65,000,000 feet. The whole production of the district, exclusive of the timber which is put into the Menomonee from Wisconsin, is about 140,000,000 feet annually.

The Wolf river and its tributaries constitute the next district, proceeding westward. The first saw logs cut on this stream for commercial purposes were floated to the government mill at Neenah in 1835. In 1842, Samuel Farnsworth erected the first saw-mill on the upper Wolf near the location of the present village of Shawano, and in the following spring he sent the first raft of lumber down the Wolf to Oshkosh. This river also rises in Oconto county, but flows in a southerly direction, and enters Winnebago lake at Oshkosh. Its pineries have been very extensive, but the drain upon them within the past decade has told with greater efiFect than upon any other district in the state. The quality of the timber is very fine, and the land is considered good for agricultural purposes, and is being occupied upon the lines of the different railways which cross it. The upper waters of the Wolf are rapid, and have a comparatively steady flow, which renders it a very good stream for driving logs. Upon the upper river, the land is quite rolling, and about the head-waters is almost mountainous. The pine timber that remains in this district is high up on the main river and branches, and will last but a few years longer. A few years ago the annual product amounted to upward of 250,000,000 feet; in 1876 it was 138,000,000, The principal manufacturing points are Oshkosh and Fond du Lac ; the former has 21 mills, and the latter 10.

Next comes the Wisconsin, the longest and most crooked river in the state. It rises in the extreme northern sections, and its general course is southerly until, at Portage City, it makes a grand sweep to the westward and unites with the Mississippi at Prairie du Chien. It has numer. ous tributaries, and,' together with these, drains a larger area of country than any other river in the state. Its waters flow swiftly and over numerous rapids and embryo falls, which renders logdriving and raft-running very difficult and even hazardous. The timber is generally near the banks of the main stream and its tributaries, gradually diminishing in extent as it recedes from them and giving place to the several varieties of hard-woods. The extent to which operations have been carried on necessitates going further up the stream for available timber, although there is yet what may be termed an abundant supply. The first cutting of lumber on this stream, of which there is any record, was by government soldiers, in 1828, at the building of Fort Winnebago. In 1831, a mill was built at Whitney's rapids, below Point Bass, in what was then Indian territory. By 1840, mills were in operation as high up as Big Bull falls, and Wausau had a population of 350 souls. Up to 1876, the product of the upper Wisconsin was all sent in rafts to markets on the Mississippi. The river above Point Bass is a series of rapids and eddies ; the current flows at the rate of from 10 to 20 miles an hour, and it can well be imagined that the task of piloting a raft from Wausau to the dells was no slight one. The cost of that kind of transportation in the early times was actually equal to the present market price of the lumber. With a good stage of water, the length of time required to run a raft to St. Louis was 24 days, though quite frequently, owing to inability to get out of thei Wisconsin on one rise of water, several weeks were consumed. The amount of lumber manufactured annually on this river is from 140,000,000 to 200,000,000 feet.

Black river is much shorter and smaller than the Wisconsin, but has long been known as a very important lumbering stream. It is next to the oldest lumber district in the state. The first saw-mill west of Green Bay was built at Black River Falls in 1819 by Col. John Shaw. The Winnebago tribe of Indians, however, in whose territory he was, objected to the innovation of such a fine art, and unceremoniously offered up the mill upon the altar of their outraged solitude. The owner abruptly quitted that portion of the country. In 1839 another attempt to establish a mill on Black river was more successfully made. One was erected at the same point by two brothers by the name of Wood, the millwright being Jacob Spaulding, who eventually became its possessor. His son, Mr. Dudley J. Spaulding, is now a very extensive operator upon Black river. La Crosse is the chief manufacturing point, there being ten saw-mills located there. The annual production of the stream ranges from 150,000,000 to 225,000,000 feet of logs, less than 100,000,000 feet being manufactured into lumber on its banks. The balance is sold in the log to mills on the Mississippi. It is a very capricious river to float logs in, which necessitates the carrying over from year to year of a very large amount, variously estimated at from 150,000,000 to 200,000,000 feet, about equal to an entire season's product. This makes the business more hazardous than on many other streams, as the loss from depreciation is very great after the first year. The quality of the timber is fine, and good prices are realized for it when sold within a year after being cut.

The Chippewa district probably contains the largest and finest body of white pine timber now standing, tributary to any one stream, on the continent. It has been claimed, though with more extravagance than truth, that the Chippewa pineries hold one-half the timber supply of the state. The river itself is a large one, and has many tributaries, which penetrate the rich pine district in all directions. The character of the tributary country is not unlike that through which the Wisconsin flows. In 1828 the first mill was built in the Chippewa valley, on Wilson's creek, near its confluence with the Red Cedar. Its site is now occupied by the village of Menomonee. In 1837 another was built on what is the present site of the Union Lumbering Company's mill at Chippewa Falls. It was not until hear 1865 that the Chippewa became very prominent as a lumber-making stream. Since that date it has been counted as one of the foremost in the northwest. Upon the river proper there are twenty-two saw-mills, none having a capacity of less than 3,500,000 feet per season, and a number being capable of sawing from 20,000,000 to 25,000,000 The annual production of sawed lumber is from 250,000,000 to 300,000,000 feet; the production of logs from 400,000,000 to 500,000,000 feet. In 1867 the mill-owners upon the Mississippi, between Winona and Keokuk, organized a corporation known as the Beef Slough Manufacturing, Log-Driving and Transportation Company. Its object was to facilitate the handling of logs / cut upon the Chippewa and its tributaries, designed for the Mississippi mills. At the confluence of the two rivers various improvements were made, constituting the Beef Slough boom, which is capable of assorting 200,000,000 feet of logs per season. The Chippewa is the most difficult stream in the northwest upon which to operate. In the spring season it is turbulent and ungovernable, and in summer, almost destitute of water. About its head are numerous lakes which easily overflow under the influence of rain, and as their surplus water flows into the Chippewa, its rises are sudden and sometimes damaging in their extent. The river in many places flows between high bluff's, and, under the influence of a freshet, becomes a wild and Unmanageable torrent. Logs have never been floated in rafts, as upon other streams, but are turned in loose, and are carried down with each successive rise, in a jumbled and confused mass, which entails much labor and loss in the work of assorting and delivering to the respective owners. Previous to the organization of the Eagle Rapids Flooding Dam and Boom Company, in 1872, the work of securing the stock after putting it into the river was more difficult than to cut and haul it. At the cities of Eau Claire and Chippewa Falls, .where most of the mills are located, the current, under the influence of high water, is very rapid, and for years the problem was, how to stop and retain the logs, as they would go by in great masses and with almost resistless velocity. In 1847 is recorded one of the most sudden and disastrous floods in the history of log-running streams. In the month of June the Chippewa rose twelve feet in a single night, and, in the disastrous torrent that was created, piers, booms, or " pockets " for holding logs at the mills, together with a fine new mill, were swept away, and the country below where Eau Claire now stands was covered with drift-wood, saw-logs, and other debris. Such occurrences led to the invention of the since famous sheer boom, which is a device placed in the river opposite the mill boom into which it is desired to turn the logs. The sheer boom is thrown diagonally across the river, automatically, the action of the current upon a number of ingeniously arranged '"fins" holding it in position. By this means the logs are sheered into the receptacle until it is filled, when the sheer boom, by closing up the " fins" with a windlass, falls back and allows the logs to go on for the next mill to stop and capture its pocket fall in like manner. By this method each mill could obtain a stock, but a great difficulty was experienced from the fact that the supply was composed of logs cut and owned by everybody operating on the river, and the process of balancing accounts according, to the "marks," at the close of the season, has been one prolific of trouble and legal entanglements. The building of improvements at Eagle Rapids by the company above mentioned remedied the difficulty to some extent, but the process of logging will always be a difficult and hazardous enterprise until adequate means for holding and assorting the entire log product are provided. Upon the Yellow and Eau Claire rivers, two important branches of the Chippewa, such difficulties are avoided by suitable improvements. The entire lumber product of the Chippewa, with the exception of that consumed locally, is floated in rafts to markets upon the Mississippi, between its mouth and St. Louis. The quality of the timber is good, and commands the best market price in the sections where it seeks market.

West of the Chippewa district the streams and timber are tributary to the St. Croix, and in all statistical calculations the entire product of that river is credited to Minnesota, the same as that of the Menomonee is given to Michigan, when in fact about one half of each belongs to Wisconsin. The important branches of the St. Croix belonging in this state are the Apple Clam, Yellow, Namekogan, 'Totagatic and Eau Claire. The sections of country through which they flow contain large bodies of very fine pine timber. The St. Croix has long been noted for the excellence of its dimension timber. Of this stock a portion is cut into lumber at Stillwater, and marketed by rail, and the balance is sold in the log to mills on the Mississippi.

Such is a brief and somewhat crude description of the main lumbering districts of the state. Aside from these, quite extensive operations are conducted upon various railway lines which penetrate the f6rests which are remote from log-running streams. In almost every county in the state, mills of greater or less capacity may be found cutting up pine or hard-woods into lumber, shingles, or cooperage stock. Most important, in a lumbering point of view; of all the railroads, is the Wisconsin Central. It extends from Milwaukee to Ashland, on Lake Superior, a distance of 351 miles, with a line to Green Bay, 113 miles, and one from Stevens Point to Portage, 71 miles, making a total length of road, of 449 miles. It has only been completed to Ashland within the last two years. From Milwaukee to Stevens Point it passes around to the east and north of Lake Winnebago, through an excellent hard-wood section. There are many stave mills in operation upon and tributary to its line, together with wooden-ware establishments and various manufactories requiring either hard or soft timber as raw material. From Stevens Point northward, this road passes through and has tributary to it one of the finest bodies of timber in thfe state. It crosses the upper waters of Black river and the Flambeau, one of the main tributaries of the Chippewa. From 30,000,000 to 50,000,000 feet of lumber is annually" manufactured on its line, above Stevens Point. The Wisconsin Valley railroad extends from Tomah to Wausau, and was built "to afford an outlet, by rail, for the lumber produced at the latter point. The extent of the timber supply in this state has been a matter of much speculation, and is a subject upon which but little can be definitely said. Pine trees can not be counted Or measured until reduced to saw-logs or lumber. It is certain that for twenty years the forests of Wisconsin have yielded large amounts of valuable timber, and no fears are entertained by holders of pine lands that the present generation of owners will witness an exhaustion of their supply. In some sections it is estimated that the destruction to the standing timber by fires, which periodically sweep over large sections, is greater than by the axes of the loggers. The necessity for a state system of forestry, for the protection of the forests from fires, has been urged by many, and with excellent reason ; for no natural resource of the state is of more value and importance than its wealth of timber. According to an estimate recently made by a good authority, and which received the sanction of many interested parties, there was standing in the state in 1876, an amount of pine timber approximating 35,000,000,000 feet.

The annual production of lumber in the districts herein described, and from logs floated out of the state to mills on the Mississippi, is about ] ,200,000,000 feet. The following table gives the mill capacity per season, and the lumber and shingles manufactured in 1876 :

Shingles

If to the above is added the .production of mills outside of the main districts and lines of railway herein described, the amount of pine lumber annually produced from Wisconsin forests would 'reach 1,500,000,000 feet. Of the hard-wood production no authentic information is obtainable To cut the logs and place them upon the banks of the streams, ready for floating to the mills" requires the labor of about 18,000 men. Allowing that, upon an average, each man has a family of two persons besides himself, dependent upon his labor for support, it would be apparent that the first step in the work of manufacturing lumber gives employment and support to 54,000 persons. To convert 1,000,000 feet of logs into lumber, requires the consumption of 1,200 bushels of oats, 9 barrels of pork and beef, 10 tons of hay, 40 barrels of flour, and the use of 2 pairs of liorses. Thus the fitting out of the logging companies each fall makes a market for 1,800,000 bushels of oats, 13,500 barrels of pork and beef, 15,000 tons of hay, and 60,000 barrels of flour. Before the lumber is sent to market, fully $6,000,000 is expended for the labor employed in producing it. This industry, aside from furnishing the farmer of the west with the cheapest and best of materials for constructing his buildings, also furnishes a very important market for the products of his farm.

The question of the exhaustion of the pine timber supply has met with much discussion during the past few years, and, so far as the forests of Wisconsin are concerned, deserves a brief notice. The great source of supply of white pine timber in the country is that portion of the northwest between the shores of Lake Huron and the banks of the Mississippi, comprising the northern portions of the states of Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. For a quarter of a century these fields have been worked by lumbermen, the amount of the yearly production having increased annually until it reached the enormous figure of 4,000,000,000 feet. With all of this tremendous drain upon the forests, there can be pointed out but one or two sections that are actually exhausted. There are, however, two or three where the end can be seen and the date almost foretold. The pineries of Wisconsin have been drawn upon for a less period and less amount than thqse of Michigan, and, it is generally conceded, will outlast them at the present proportionate rate of cutting. There are many owners of pine timber lands who laugh at the prospect of exhausting their timber, within their lifetime. As time brings them nearer to the end, the labor of procuring the logs, by reason of the distance of the timber from the water-courses, will increase, and the work will progress more slowly.

In the future of this industry there is much promise. Wisconsin is the natural source of supply for a very large territory. The populous prairies of Illinois and Iowa are near-by and unfailing markets. The broad plains of Kansas and the rich valleys of Nebraska, which are still in the cradle of development, will make great drafts upon her forests for the material to construct cities in which the first corner-stone is yet unlaid. Minnesota, notwithstanding the fact that large forests exist within her own confines, is even now no mean customer for Wisconsin lumber, and the ambitious territory of Dakota will soon clamor for material to build up a great and wealthy state. In the inevitable progress of development and growth which must characterize the great west, the demand for pine lumber for building material will be a prominent feature. With the growth of time, changes will occur in the methods of reducing the forests. With the increasing demand and enhancing values will come improvements in manipulating the raw material, and a stricter economy will be preserved in the handling of a commodity which the passage of time only makes more valuable. Wisconsin will become the home of manufactories, which will convert her trees into finished articles of daily consumption, giving employment to thousands of artisans where it now requires hundreds, and bringing back millions of revenue where is now realized thousands. Like all other commodities, lumber becomes more valuable as skilled labor is employed in its manipulation, and the greater the extent to which this is carried, the greater is the growth in prosperity, of the state and its people.

Banking In Wisconsin

Wisconsin was organized as a territory in 1836, and the same year several acts were passed by the territorial legislature, incorporating banks of issue. Of these, one at Green Bay and another at Mineral Point went into operation just in time to play their part in the great panic of 1837. The bank at Green Bay soon failed and left its bills unredeemed. The bank at Mineral Point is said to have struggled a little longer, but both these concerns were short lived, and their issues were but a drop in the great flood of worthless wild-cat bank notes that spread over the whole western country in that disastrous time. The sufferings of the people of Wisconsin, from this cause, left a vivid impression on their minds, which manifested its results in the legislation of the territory and in the constitution of the state adopted in 1848. So jealous were the legislatures of the territory, of banks and all their works, that, in every act of incorporation for any purpose, a clause was inserted to the effect that nothing in the act contained should bs taken to authorize the corporation to assume or exercise any banking powers ; and this proviso was even added to acts incorporating church societies. For some years there can hardly be said to have been any banking business done in the territory ; merchants and business men were left to their own devices to make their exchanges, and every man was his own banker.

In the year 1839 an act was passed incorporating the " Wisconsin Marine and Fire Insurance Company," of Milwaukee. This charter conferred on the corporation, in addition to the usual powers of a fire and marine insurance company, the privilege of receiving deposits, issuing certificat'J of deposit and lending money, - and wound up with the usual prohibition from doing a banking business. This company commenced business at once under the management of George Smith as president and Alexander Mitchell as secretary. The receiving deposits, issuing certificates of deposit and lending money, soon outgrew and overshadowed the insurance branch of the institution, which accordingly gradually dried up. In fact, the certificates of deposit had all the appearance of ordinary bank notes, and served the purposes of an excellent currency, being always promptly redeemed in coin on demand. Gradually these issues attained a great circulation all through the west, as the people gained more and more confidence in the honesty and ability of the managers ; and though " runs '' were several times made, yet being successfullymet, the public finally settled down into the belief that these bills were good beyond question, so that the amount in circulation at one time, is said, on good authority, to have been over $2,000,000.

As the general government required specie to be paid for all lands bought of it, the Wisconsin Marine and Fire Insurance company, by redemption of its '' certificates of deposit," furnished a large part of the coin needed for use at the Milwaukee land office, and more or les!5 for purchases at land offices in other parts of the state, and its issues were of course much in request for this purpose. For many years this institution furnished the main banking facilities for the business men of the territory and young state, in the way of discounts and exchanges. Its right to carry on the operations it was engaged in, under its somewhat dubious and inconsistent charter, was often questioned, and, in 1852, under the administration of Governor Farwell, some steps were taken to test the matter ; but as the general banking law had then been passed by the legislature, and was about to be submitted to the people, and as it was understood that the company would organize as a bank under the law, if approved, the legal proceedings were not pressed. While this corporation played so important a part in the financial history and commercial development of Wisconsin, the writer is not aware of any available statistics as to the amount of business transacted by it before it became merged in the "Wisconsin Marine and Fire Insurance Company's Bank."

In 1847, the foundation of the present well-known firm of Marshall & Ilsley was laid by Samuel Marshall, who, in that year, opened a private banking office in Milwaukee, and was joined in 1849 by Charles F. Ilsley. This concern has always held a prominent position among the bankirig institutions of our state. About this time, at Mineral Point, Washburn & Woodman (C. C. Washburn and Cyrus Woodman) engaged in private banking, as a part of their business. After some years they were succeeded by Wm. T. Henry, who still continues the banking office. Among the early private bankers of the state were Mr. Kellogg, of Oshkosh ; Ulmann and Bell, of Racine; and T. C. Shove, of Manitowoc. The latter still continues his business, while that of the other firms has teen wound up or merged in organized banks.

In 1848, Wisconsin adopted a state constitution. This constitution prohibited the legislature from incorporating banks and from conferring banking powers on any corporation; but provided the question of " banks or no banks " might be submitted to a vote- of the electors, and, if the decision should be in favor of banks, then the legislature might charter banks or might enact a general banking law, but no such special charter or general banking law should have any force until submitted to the electors at a general election, and approved by a majority of votes cast on that subject. In 185 1, the legislature submitted this question to the people, and a majority of the votes were cast in favor of " banks." Accordingly the legislature, in 1852, made a general banking law, which was submitted to the electors in November of that year, and was approved by them. This law was very similar to the free banking law of the state of New York, which had then been in force about fifteen years, and was generally approved in that state. Our law authorized any number of individuals to form a corporate association for banking purposes, and its main provisions were intended to provide security for the circulating notes, by deposit of state and United States stocks or bonds with the state treasurer, so that the bill holders should sustain. no loss in case of the failure of the banks. Provision was made for a bank comptroller, whose main duty it was to see that countersigned circulating notes were issued to banks jonly in proper amounts for the securities deposited, and upon compliance with the law, and that the banks kept these securities good.

The first bank comptroller was James S. Baker, who was appointed by Governor Farwell. The first banks organized under the new law were the " State Bank," established at Madison by Marshall & Ilsley, and the "Wisconsin Marine and Fire Insurance Company's Bank," established at Milwaukee under the old management of that company. These banks both went intooperation early in January, 1853, and, later in that year, the " State Bank of Wisconsin " (now Milwaukee National Bank of Wisconsin), and the " Farmers' and Millers' Bank " (now First National Bank of Milwaukee), were established, followed in January, 1854, by the "Bank of Mil. waukee " (now National Exchange Bank of Milwaukee). From this time forward banks were rapidly established at different points through the state, until in July, 1857, they numbered sixty - with aggregate capital, $4,205,000; deposits, $3,920,238; and circulation, $2,231,829. In October, the great revulsion and panic of 1857 came on, and in its course and effects tried pretty severely the new banks in Wisconsin. Some of them succumbed to the pressure, but most of -them stood the trial well.

The great source of loss and weakness at that time was found in the rapid decline of the market value of the securities deposited to protect circulation, which were mostly state bonds, and largely those of the southern states; so that this security, when it came to be tried, did not prove entirely sufficient. Another fault of the system, or of the practice under it, was developed at this time. It was found that many of the banks had been set up without actual working capital, merely for the purpose of issuing circulating notes, and were located at distant and inaccessible points in what was then the great northern wilderness of the state ; so that it was expensive and in fact impracticable to present their issues for redemption. While these evils and their remedies were a good deal discussed among bankers, the losses and inconveniences to the people were not yet great enough to lead to the adoption of thorough and complete measures of reform. The effect of these difficulties, however, was to bring the bankers of the state into the h^bit of consulting and acting together in cases of emergency, the first bankers' convention having been held in 1857. This was followed by others from time to time, and it would be difficult to overvalue the great good that has resulted, at several important crises from the haru.onious and conservative action of the bankers of our state. Partly, at least, upon their recommendations the legislature, in 1858, adopted amendments to the banking law, providing that no bank should be located in a township containing less than two hundred inhabitants ; and that the comptroller should not issue circulating notes, except to banks doing a regular discount deposit and exchange business in some inhabited town, village, city, or where the ordinary business of inhabited towns, villages and cities was carried on. These amendments were approved by the people at the fall

Banking matters now ran along pretty smoothly until the election in i860, of the republican presidential ticket, and the consequent agitation in the southern states threatening civil war, the effects of which were speedily felt; first, in the great depreciation of the bonds of the southern states, and then in a less decline in those of the northern states. At this time (taking the statement of July, i860,) the number of banks was 104, with aggregate capital, $6,547,000; circulation, $4,075,918; deposits, $3,230,252.

During the winter following, there was a great deal of uneasiness in regard to our state currency, and co.itinuous demand upon our banks for the redemption of their circulating notes in coin. Many banks of the wild-cat sort failed to redeem their notes, which became depreciated and uncurrent; and, when the rebellion came to a head by the firing on Fort Sumter, the banking interests of the state were threatened with destruction by compulsory winding up and enforced sale at the panic prices then prevailing, of the securities deposited to secure circulation. Under these circumstances, on the 17th of April, 1861, the legislature passed " an act to protect the holders of the circulating notes of the authorized banks of the state of Wisconsin." As the banking law could not be amended except by approval of the electors, by vote at a general election, a practical suspension of specie payment had to be effected by indirect methods. So this act first directed the bank comptroller to suspend all action toward banks' for failing to redeem their circulation. Secondly, it prohibited notaries public from protesting bills of banks until Dec i, 1861. Thirdly, it gave banks until that date to answer complaints in any proceeding to compel specie payment of circulating notes. This same legislature also amended the banking law, to cure defects that had been developed in it. These amendments were intended to facilitate the presentatton and protest of circulating notes, and the winding up of banks failing to redeem them, and provided that the bank comptroller should not issue circulating notes except to banks having actual cash capital ; on which point he was to take evidence in all cases ; that after Dec. i, 1861, all banks of the state should redeem their issues either at Madison or Milwaukee, and no bonds or stocks should be received as security for circulation except those of the United States and of the state of Wisconsin.

Specie payment of bank bills was then practically suspended, in our state, from April 17 to December i, 1861, and there was no longer any plain practical test for determining which were good, and which not. In this condition of things, bankers met in convention, and, after discussion and inquiry as to the condition and resources of the different banks, put forth a list of those whose issues were to be considered current and bankable. But things grew worse, and it was evident that the list contained banks that would never be able to redeem their circulation, and the issues of such were from time to time thrown out and discredited without any concert of action, so that the uneasiness of people in regard to the financial situation was greatly increased. The bankers finally met, gave the banks another sifting, and put forth a list of seventy banks, whose<circulating notes they pledged themselves to receive, and pay out as current, until December I. There had been so many changes that this pledge was thought necessary to allay the apprehensions of the public. But matters still grew worse instead of better. Some of the banks in the " current " list closed their doors to their depositors, and others were evidently unsound, and their circulation so insufficiently secured as to make it certain that it would never be redeemed. There was more or less sorting of the currency, both by banks and business men, all over the state, in the endeavor to keep the best and pay out the poorest. In this state of things, some of the Milwaukee banks, without concert of action, and acting under the apprehension of being loaded up with the very worst of the currency, which, it was feared, the country banks and mercbants were sorting out and sending to Milwaukee, revised the list again, and