The history of Jefferson county, Wisconsin, containing biographical sketches, Part 28

Author: Western historical company, Chicago, pub. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Chicago, Western historical company
Number of Pages: 714

USA > Wisconsin > Jefferson County > The history of Jefferson county, Wisconsin, containing biographical sketches > Part 28

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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 log- driving 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 Winne- bago. 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 the Wisconsin on one rise of water, sev- eral 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

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HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.

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 Meno- monee. 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 near 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 north- west. 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 Manufactur- ing, 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 bluffs, 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 resist- less 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,

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LUMBER MANUFACTURE.

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 full 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 forests 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 present season. 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 tim- ber in the 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 manu- factured 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

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HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.

is a subject upon which but little can be definitely said. Pine trees can not be counted ( measured until reduced to saw-logs or lumber. It is certain that for twenty years th forests of Wisconsin have yielded large amounts of valuable timber, and no fears al entertained by holders of pine lands that the present generation of owners will witnes an exhaustion of their supply. In some sections it is estimated that the destruction the standing timber by fires, which periodically sweep over large sections, is greater tha by the axes of the loggers. The necessity for a state system of forestry, for the protection the forests from fires, has been urged by many, and with excellent reason ; for no natural resourc of the state is of more value and importance than its wealth of timber. According to an est mate recently made by a good authority, and which received the sanction of many intereste parties, there was standing in the state in 1876, an amount of pine timber approximatin 35,000,000,000 feet.

The annual production of lumber in the districts herein described, and from logs floated o of the state to mills on the Mississippi, is about 1,200,000,000 feet. The following table give the mill capacity per season, and the lumber and shingles manufactured in 1876 :

DISTRICT.

SEASON CAPACITY.

LUMBER SHINGLES MANUFACTURED MANUFACTURED

IN 1876.

Green Bay Shore.

206,000,000

138,250,000

$5.400,000

Wolf River.

258,500,000

138,645,077

123,192,000

Wisconsin Central Railroad.

72,500 000

31,530,000

132.700,000

Green Bay & Minnesola Railroad

34,500,000

17,700,000

10,700,000

Wisconsin River

222,000,000

139,700,000

106,250,000

Black River

101,000,000

70.852,747

37,675,000

Chippewa River

311,000,000

255,866,999

79,250.000

Mississippi River - using Wisconsin logs ..

509,000,000

380,067,000

206,977,000

Total

1,714,500,000

1,172,611,823

782,144,000

If to the above is added the production of mills outside of the main districts and lines of rai way herein described, the amount of pine lumber annually produced from Wisconsin forests woul 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 mill requires the labor of about 18,000 men. Allowing that, upon an average, each man has a famil of two persons besides himself, dependent upon his labor for support, it would be apparent tha the first step in the work of manufacturing lumber gives employment and support to 54,00 persons. To convert 1,000,000 feet of logs into lumber, requires the consumption of 1,20 bushels of oats, 9 barrels of pork and beef, 10 tons of hay, 40 barrels of flour, and the use of pairs of horses. Thus the fitting out of the logging companies each fall makes a market fo 1,800,000 bushels of oats, 13,500 barrels of pork and beef, 15,000 tons of hay, and 60,000 barrel of flour. Before the lumber is sent to market, fully $6,000,000 is expended for the labo employed in producing it. This industry, aside from furnishing the farmer of the west with th cheapest and best of materials for constructing his buildings, also furnishes a very importan 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 brie notice. The great source of supply of white pine timber in the country is that portion of th northwest between the shores of Lake Huron and the banks of the Mississippi, comprising th

191

LUMBER MANUFACTURE.

rthern portions of the states of Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. For a quarter of a tury these fields have been worked by lumbermen, the amount of the yearly production ving increased annually until it reached the enormous figure of 4,000,000,000 feet. With all this tremendous drain upon the forests, there can be pointed out but one or two sections that : actually exhausted. There are, however, two or three where the end can be seen and the te almost foretold. The pineries of Wisconsin have been drawn upon for a less period and s amount than those of Michigan, and, it is generally conceded, will outlast them at the present portionate rate of cutting. There are many owners of pine timber lands who laugh at the spect of exhausting their timber, within their lifetime. As time brings them nearer to the end, : labor of procuring the logs, by reason of the distance of the timber from the water-courses l increase, and the work will progress more slowly.

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

BANKING IN WISCONSIN.

BY JOHN P. MCGREGOR.

Wisconsin was organized as a territory in 1836, and the same year several acts were passed the territorial legislature, incorporating banks of issue. Of these, one at Green Bay and other at Mineral Point went into operation just in time to play their part in the great panic 1837. The bank at Green Bay soon failed and left its bills unredeemed. The bank at ineral Point is said to have struggled a little longer, but both these concerns were short lived, d their issues were but a drop in the great flocd of worthless wild-cat bank notes that spread er the whole western country in that disastrous time. The sufferings of the people of Wis- nsin, from this cause, left a vivid impression on their minds, which manifested its results in the gislation of the territory and in the constitution of the state adopted in 1848. So jealous were e legislatures of the territory, of banks and all their works, that, in every act of incorporatior · any purpose, a clause wa; inserted to the effect that nothing in the act contained should be

192

HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.

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 a .. y 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 certifi- cates 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 certifi- cates 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 successfully met, 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 Wis- consin 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 less. 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 exchange :. Its right to carry on the operations it was engaged in, under its somewhat dubious and incon- sistent 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 commer- cial 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 banking 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 I een 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

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BANKING IN WISCONSIN.

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 1851, 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 only 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 Madi- son 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.

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The history of Jefferson county, Wisconsin, containing biographical sketches, Part 28

Author: Western historical company, Chicago, pub. [from old catalog] Publication date: 1879 Publisher: Chicago, Western historical company Number of Pages: 714

Author: Western historical company, Chicago, pub. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Chicago, Western historical company
Number of Pages: 714