USA > Wisconsin > An illustrated history of the state of Wisconsin : being a complete civil, political, and military history of the state, from its first exploration down to 1875 > Part 2
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Agriculture is and must continue to be the chief object of industry, and the foundation of mueh of the wealth of the people of the State ; but we have said so much on this great and leading industry in the county sketehes, in the latter part of this volume, that a lengthy notice of it in this place is made superfluous.
Manufacturing, and particularly lumbering, constitute the second great industry of the State. In fact, lumbering has so thoroughly entered into the history of the State, that, did we not make some mention of its rise and progress in this Introduction, the following chapters would seem, at least in this respect, void of that complete- ness demanded. Mr. Augustin Grignon, in his "Seventy-two Years' Recollections of Wisconsin," published in vol. iii. of the Collections of the State Historieal Society, says, that the earliest mill in the present State of Wisconsin was ereeted by Jaeob Franks, about the year 1809. He first built a saw-mill, and then a grist-mill. They were located on Devil River, two or three miles east of De Pere, in the present county of Brown, and were erceted for Mr. Franks by an Ameriean named Bradley. In 1813 a brother of Mr. Grignon ereeted a grist and saw mill on Reaume's Creek, on the west side of Fox River, about four miles above Green Bay. In 1816, after the Ameri- cans had taken possession of that place, the government, having use for a large quantity of lumber for buildings in the garrison and other
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fort purposes, caused a saw-mill to be built on the Fox River, at the Little Kankalin.
The next attempt to erect a saw-mill was made by Col. John Shaw, who, in the year 1819, proceeded up Black River to the first fall, about six feet in descent, and erected a mill on the south-eastern bank of the stream. He had scarcely succeeded in getting it fairly in operation, when hundreds of Winnebagoes came there in a starving condition, and importuned him for every thing he had for eating or wearing purposes. And he was soon left without supplies, and returned to Prairie du Chien. The next spring he went up there again, and found the Indians had burned the mill. Mr. Shaw then rafted down a quantity of pine-logs he had cut the previous year. This is believed to be the first saw-mill erected in Western Wisconsin. During the same year, Wilfred Owens of Prairie du Chien, then con- nected in business with the late Gov. McNair of Missouri, associated with two other men by the name of Andrews and Dixon, built a saw- mill on Black River, and commenced sawing lumber ; but, before they had done much business, the mill was burnt, supposed to have been set on fire by the Winnebagoes. The mill was not rebuilt, owing to the declared hostility of the Winnebagocs to it.
The next effort at lumbering, as far as can be ascertained, was made in the year 1822, when a man by the name of Harden Perkins, from Kentucky, came to Prairie du Chien for the purpose of building a saw-mill in the Indian country, and obtained permission from Major Taliaferro, then agent for the Sioux Indians, with the consent of the Indians, to erect a saw-mill on their land on the Chippewa River and tributarics ; but Perkins not having the capital to carry out his project, or sufficient influence to obtain the permission of the Indians to erect this mill, solicited Joseph Rolette and J. H. Lockwood of Prairie du Chien to join him, which they did, and contracted with Wabashaw's band of Sioux, who claimed the Chippewa country, for the privilege of erecting a mill, and cutting timber for it, paying them about one thousand dollars per year in goods, and furnished Perkins the necessary means for the purchase. He proceeded to the Menomo- nee River, and on a small stream running into that river, about twenty miles above its mouth, erected a saw-mill, and had it so near completed, that he expected to commence sawing in a very few days, when one of those sudden freshets to which hilly countries arc sub- ject came upon him, and swept away the dam, mill, and appendages ; and Perkins returned to Prairie du Chien with his family and hands.
Owing to ill-feeling manifested by Col. Snelling at Fort Snelling, against Mr. Perkins in his efforts to crect and carry on his mill, and
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a hostile feeling to Mr. Rolette entertained by the colonel, Mr. Per- kins concluded not to rebuild until he could be authorized by the authorities at Washington. In the year 1829 permission was received from the secretary of war to erect mills, &c., provided the consent of the Indians could be obtained. The contract with the Indians was renewed, and in May, 1830, a mill-wright, superintendent, and a proper force to build on the Chippewa River, were procured. The first site was selected on the Menomonee River, and a canal dug across a point of land from what is known as Wilson's Creek. The owners had much difficulty with some of their employees, and with the In- dians, who were very troublesome. The mill was ready to commence in March, 1831, and, by the 1st of June following, had sawed about a hundred thousand feet of lumber.
Judge Lockwood, in his paper on Early Times and Events in Wis- consin prepared for the Historical Society, gives a full account of the difficulties encountered by those who began the lumbering business in the State.
Prior to the efforts made in lumbering by Perkins, and in 1829, Col. Z. Taylor, commandant at Prairie du Chien, sent a body of men to the pineries of Menomonee River to cut logs, hew square timber, and to make plank and shingles to be used in the construction of the fort and its defences. The party left in seven Mackinaw boats, with ten men in each boat, and were officered by Lieuts. L. Gale and Gardenier, Sergeant Melvin, and J. H. Fonda of Prairie du Chien as pilot. The latter person has given a full account of this expedi- tion (Historical Society Collections, vol. v.). The party returned with the timber to Prairie du Chien, after enduring much suffering from cold weather and want of suitable provisions. Another party, in 1829, under the charge of Lieut. Jefferson Davis, was detailed to ascend the Mississippi in birch-bark canoes. They proceeded to the mouth of the Chippewa River, which stream they ascended until they came to the mouth of what is now called the Red Cedar, and ascended some forty miles. At this point, where the thriving village of Menom- onee now stands, and where the mammoth mills of Knapp, Stout, and Company, are located, they disembarked and went into camp, and began their work. The required amount of timber was cut, however, rafted, and floated down to Prairie du Chien, and was used in the con- struction of Fort Crawford. The following summer, it became neces- sary to use a larger amount of timber and lumber at the fort. A similar expedition was fitted out, except on a much larger scale ; and it was provided with every thing necessary to build a small saw-mill ; and Lieut. George W. Garey was put in command. The party arrived
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early in the season, and stopped a month at what is now called Gilbert Creek, where they built a dam, and erected a saw-mill. This was known as the Government Saw-mill. It was on a small scale, having but a single sash-saw, and a capacity of about one thousand feet per day. The return of the party in the fall of 1830, and the reports of the superior pine-forests on the banks of the Chippewa and its tri- butaries, created much interest ; and Mr. Lockwood and his associates commenced their operations as before referred to. The government expedition, as far as we have knowledge, was not annoyed by the Indians as those that followed, which were private enterprises.
The mill at Gilbert's Creek, previously referred to, was placed in charge of George Wales, an ex-lieutenant of the regular army, who continued to conduct the business for the company until 1835 ; and, in the mean time, the same parties had caused to be erected another mill at Gilbert's Creek, about a mile from the mouth. In 1835 Messrs. Street and Lockwood sold both these mills to H. S. Allen, with the permit of the Indians. Lieut. Wales, before referred to, passed over to Eau Galle, and built a mill on the site where the pres- ent mill of Carson and Rand now stands. In 1837, after the treaty at Fort Snelling, and the cession of these lands by the Indians, a number of persons connected with the American Fur Company, including H. L. Dousman, Gen. Sibley, Col. Aiken, and Lyman Warren, fitted out an expedition to erect a saw-mill at the Falls of the Chippewa. The work of building the mill progressed slowly. A great many unexpected obstacles impeded the undertaking. Owing to the intense hardness of the rock in excavating the race, the mill was a costly enterprise to all who had an interest in it.
In 1839 H. S. Allen built another saw-mill on the west side of the Red Cedar, two miles below Gilbert's Creek, which was rebuilt in 1841. This was the third mill owned and run by him at the same time. In the year 1827 Col. Ebenezer Childs, with Judge J. Parnett, received permission from the secretary of war to build a saw-mill on the Indian lands, provided the principal Menomonee chiefs would give their consent. This was obtained on the chiefs receiving three bar- rels of flour per annum for the privilege. They commenced the erec- tion of a mill twenty-six miles below Fort Howard, on the west of Green Bay ; the partners making a contract with a party to put up the mill, and erect a dam. When the mill was completed, word was sent to the owners to come down and receive it. On arriving at the building, they found the doors and windows barred and bolted, and were told that the Indians had threatened the lives of themselves and party, and declared they would burn the house and mill; and the
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whites had to keep guard all the time to prevent the Indians from burning the property. They succeeded, however, in making friends with them by feeding them when hungry, and treating them kindly.
In 1826 pine-timber was made into boards, with whip-saws, by the United States soldiery at the building of Fort Winnebago, from timber cut on a small island about ten miles above the Wisconsin portage.
In the winter of 1827-28 Daniel Whitney obtained permission of the Winnebagoes to make shingles on the Upper Wisconsin. He employed twenty-two Stockbridge Indians, and one white man to superintend the party; and Col. Childs was engaged to take the party up the Wisconsin, and supply them with provisions. He con- veyed them to the mouth of Yellow River, where he left them. On his return, subsequently, he was informed by Major Twiggs, com- manding officer at Fort Winnebago, that Whitney's men must be sent out of the country, and, if he went up the river, he would get into trouble. Disregarding all the advice of Twiggs, Childs went up to where the men were at work. They had made about two hundred thousand shingles. Major Twiggs, not long after, sent up the Wis- consin, and took away a part of Whitney's shingles, and burnt the balance. Mr. Whitney is said to have lost not less than a thousand dollars by his shingle-operation, all through Twiggs's malice. Mr. Whitney, in the year 1831, obtained a permit from the war depart- ment to erect a saw-mill, and cut timber on the Wisconsin, and built the first mill at Whitney's Rapids, below Point Bausse, in 1831-32. Messrs. Grignon and Merrill obtained a similar permit, and put up a mill at Grignon's Rapids in 1836. These two establishments were the pioneers in the lumbering business on the Wisconsin River. In 1836 Gov. Dodge made a treaty with the Menomonee Indians at Cedar Point, on the Fox River ; and the Indian title was extinguished to a strip of land six miles wide, from Point Bausse, forty miles up the stream. This was done specially to open the country to the lumber- men. The high price and great demand for the article quickened the business ; and the river was explored from Point Bausse to Big Bull Falls that year ; and the occupation and claiming of the most eligible sites quickly followed. Two mills were soon established at Grand Rapids, one at Mill Creek, and others on same stream; one at McGreer's Rapids, on the Plover; one at Conant's Rapids (these were built in 1837). In 1839 one at Big Bull Falls, and one at Little Bull Falls, were put up. The Indian title to the Indian land was extinguished in 1848. This opened the whole Upper Wisconsin coun- try to the settler.
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Such is a brief sketch of the early efforts in the lumbering business in Wisconsin, which might be brought down to a later period ; and it may be proper to say the timber of Wisconsin consists of white, yel- low, and Norway pine, rock and soft maple, nearly all the varieties of oak, balsam-fir, white and red cedar, spruce, hemlock, ash, pop- lar, basswood, hickory, &c. The most northern portion abounds in those varieties most essential to the use of man ; and such is the sit- uation of the country with respect to water-communication and rail- roads, that nearly all parts of it may be supplied with pine-lumber at a moderate price. The home-demand, however, is but an insignifi- cant part of what is used, as the markets of all the States west of the Mississippi are dependent for their supplies upon this State.
The pineries of Wisconsin may be divided into four distinct sections. A large amount of lumber in the north-west part of the State finds its way out through the Chippewa, the Black, the St. Croix, and other rivers flowing into the Mississippi. The " Wiscon- sin Pinery," so called, lies along the Wisconsin River, in the central part of the State. The lumber from that region also goes out mostly to the Mississippi market. The Wolf-river Pinery lies in the valley of the Wolf and its tributaries. By the construction of new lines of railroads, its lumber is now sent to the interior of the State on the cars. The Green-bay Pinery includes all that region extending from De Pere seven miles up to the Fox River, along both shores of the bay, northward to the upper waters of the Esconawba, which flows into Bay de Noquet, at the northern extremity of Green Bay. Of this particular pinery, Hon. C. D. Robinson says, -
"Its principal lumbering-points, where mills are located, are at De Pere and Green Bay City on the Fox River; Big Suamico, Pensaukee, Oconto, Peshtego, Menomonee, Ford, and Cedar Rivers, on the west shore; Bay de Noquet, at the northern extremity of the bay; Little and Big Sturgeon Bay, on the east shore; and Chambers Island on the Bay. The whole number of mills at these points in the year 1800 was about forty; having a total sawing-capacity of about one hundred and thirty millions of feet per year. For several years previous, the aggregate sawing has averaged about eighty millions of feet."
The limits of the Wisconsin land district are, Township Fifteen to the State line, Range Two to Eleven east inclusive. The highest estimate of the number of acres of pinelands within the area mentioned does not exceed two millions. The Wausau District comprises at least one-fourth the pinelands of the State ; and, allowing two millions of acres within that district, we. have a total of eight millions of acres. Average pine yields five thousand feet to the acre. As a grand total, then, of the stumpage of Wisconsin, we have forty billions.
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This estimate includes a vast amount of pine-timber that can never be utilized. And it is thus demonstrated that the entire pineries of the State will last at least fifty years.
The city of Oshkosh is extremely well situated for the various lum ber-interests that concentrate there. The Wolf River, with its tribu- taries, extending through and into the counties of Oconto, Shawano, Marathon, Waupacca, Outagamie, and Winnebago, drain a territory of not less than three thousand square miles in extent, embracing one of the finest pineries in the West. A gentleman who visited that place in 1873 states the machinery then in use was capable of cutting annually three hundred millions of feet of lumber. At that time, the mills were running at about one-half their actual capacity, while the shingle-mills were doing proportionally a much larger business. The year 1873 was an unfortunate one for the lumbermen; and the amount cut and manufactured was much reduced.
One of the important mills located in the Chippewa country is that of the North-western Lumber Company, having a paid-up capital of four hundred thousand dollars. This company was organized for the facilitating and carrying-out their immense business, and is composed of first-class business-men. The office of the company is at Eau Claire.
The size of their present lumber-mill (1873) is fifty-four by a hundred and thirty-six feet, two stories high, with engine and boiler rooms twenty-three by thirty-six feet, using four boilers and three engines. One hundred thousand feet of lumber, thirty thousand feet of lath, and fifty thousand shingles are cut daily. During the run- ning-season of six months and a half, fifteen million feet of lumber are cut ; two circular and one gang of saws doing all the work, and giving employment to a hundred and twenty men. The shingle-mill is three stories high, and is one of the most unique and convenient mills in the State.
The La Crosse Lumber Company have a building eighty-six by a hundred and fifty-six, with a capacity of manufacturing two hundred thousand feet of lumber, sixty thousand shingles, and fifty thousand lath in ten hours. They cut fifteen million feet of lumber per year. The machinery is operated by two engines of six hundred and one hundred horse-power respectively.
Reference has been made to the firm of Knapp, Stout, and Company. This firm have three mills at Menomonee, and one at Downsville ; own a foundery and machine-shop, several grist-mills and stores, three steamboats. Their hog-pen costs them fifteen thousand dollars. Twelve hundred men were on their pay-roll in 1874; and instead of
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the single saw, with which they first commenced business, they have now about a hundred and fifty running in their four mills. The com- pany own a hundred and fifteen thousand acres of the choicest pine and hard wood lands, and thousands of acres of farming-land. Sixty million feet of lumber, twenty-five million shingles, and twenty million lath and pickets were manufactured 1873-74 by the com- pany.
The Eau Claire Lumbering Company own four mills, besides grist-mill, store, shops, &c. They manufactured (1873) forty-five million feet of lumber and twelve million shingles. They own three steamboats, and give employment to about eight hundred men. Their retail sales are about five hundred thousand dollars yearly. The capital stock of the company is two millions of dollars.
The saw-mill of the Union Lumber Company of Chippewa Falls is claimed to be the largest of its kind in the world ; that is, capable of sawing more lumber than any other mill. The building is wooden, fifty feet wide by one hundred feet long. There are four gang-saws, each containing twenty-four saws, and capable of sawing a log a foot and a half square into twenty-three boards in four minutes ; three rotary saws, each of which will saw a board in a minute ; one muley, for sawing joist ; five sets of edgers, eight trimmers, two lath-mills, one picket-mill, one header, and three slab-grinders : the latter are used for grinding all the slabs and waste material into sawdust. The mill has a capacity of sawing a hundred and eighty thousand feet of lumber per day, or fifty-five million feet per year. This year (1875) only about thirty million feet will be sawed. Now only a hundred and sixty men are employed in running it ; but when in full running-capacity (night and day), three hundred men are employed. The mill is run by water-power, ten water-wheels being used. The lumber is rafted on the Chippewa River to the Mississippi, and distributed at points along the river at the principal cities. Shingles are also manufactured to a large extent. The boom-works of the company extend up the river a distance of six miles : here the logs are assorted, the Union Company retaining its own, and letting the logs of the other companies pass down the river. One hundred men are employed in the sorting of logs. The capital stock of the com- pany is $1,500,000. Hon. Thaddeus C. Pound is president ; D. M. Peck, vice-president ; and N. Pierce, secretary. S. Bernard of New York, Senator Wallace, and F. Coleman of Pennsylvania, are direc- tors. In the winter, the mill is idle; and all the men go up the river to the logging-camps, and sufficient timber is cut for the next season.
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Among the other mills in this section may be mentioned one of Stanley Brothers, on the Chippewa, above the falls, who manufac- ture eight million five hundred thousand feet of lumber, and one mil- lion five hundred thousand lath yearly. They have, also, a grist-mill and a large store, employing about a hundred men. Jackson Phillips has a mill at Jim's Falls, above Chippewa Falls, cuts about five mil- lion feet of lumber, and employs about fifty men. John Robinson's mill is about three miles below Chippewa Falls. He cuts about four- teen million feet annually, and four million lath, and employs a hun- dred and fifty men. The French Lumbering Company has a mill situated farther down the river, and six million feet of lumber, and two million of lath are manufactured ; employs fifty men ; office at Chippewa Falls. Ingram and Kennedy operate five saw-mills, and cut last year (1873) twenty-six million feet of lumber, eight million shingles, and three million two hundred and fifty thousand lath. They own a large store ; and their retail sales amount to over three million dollars. They give employment to about four hundred men, and own two steamboats. D. Shaw and Company cut thirteen million five hundred and eighty-four thousand feet of lumber, three million two hundred and fifty thousand lath, and three million one hundred and ten thousand shingles. They own a store and shops, and a fine grist-mill. They employ two hundred men. Carson and Rand of Eau Galle cut, last season, eleven million feet of lumber, and will soon close operations, as the lumber on the stream is exhausted.
To sum up the business : in the valley of the Chippewa, for the year 1873-34, there was cut by the mills in the valley 297,759,000 feet of lumber, 82,900,000 Iath, and 72,600,000 shingles. About $4,470 were received by these men, whose wages will range from twenty-eight dollars to a hundred dollars per month, and will average about forty dollars, board included.
" The Wisconsin Lumberman" of February, 1875, gives the fol- lowing statistics for the year 1874: "Chippewa River, - lumber manufactured, 278,000,000 logs ; cut into shingles, pickets, and lath, 86,910,000 feet. Black River, - lumber manufactured, 60,500,000 feet. Wolf River has fifty-nine saw-mills; of these, Oshkosh has twenty-two, and five shingle-mills. Fond du Lac has eleven saw- mills : lumber and shingles manufactured in 1874, 152,600,000. Wisconsin River manufactured 119,600,000. Menomonee River manu- factured 128,837,535 feet. Oconto River manufactured 50,000,000."
From what has been written, the reader can form some idea of the business of lumbering as now carried on in this State. Capital has not been spared in introducing new improvements in machinery ; and
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the business has been so great, that the greatest inventive talent has been called into requisition to provide machinery to simplify and ex- pedite the work required at the mills. Those who were familiar with the simple machinery that was used in the manufacture of lumber some twenty-five or thirty years since would be surprised, indeed, to see to what extent improvements have been made, and how much more work can be performed, in a given time, by improved facilities. Few States have the same valuable resources as Wisconsin. Her agricultural products are equal to any ; her lead mines inexhaustible ; and her lumbering facilities adequate to supply the wants not only of her own people, but of those States to whom Nature has withheld this valuable product.
Other manufacturing interests of the State might be mentioned, outside of that of lumbering ; but this is the most important, and demands a conspicuous place in this volume.
But Wisconsin has a history of progress in her educational and moral departments, as well as in her material resources. Perhaps no State in the Union, in respect to population and resources, has ex- pended as much money in the way of permanent improvements for benevolent, educational, and charitable institutions, as the State of Wisconsin. These improvements have been carried forward in an enlightened public spirit; and those of her citizens who have, by misfortune, lost their reason, eye-sight, or been deprived of the organs of speech, can have all such assistance as may be needed for their improvement, furnished gratuitously, with the aid of experienced and qualified persons.
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