Consequently, investors Richard Southgate and Marvin Hugitte selected Loveless as caretaker for their uniquely ambitious railroad/canal retreat on Little Trout Lake. They are a convenient reference for local governments, private realty, surveying companies, and the general public. Eventually, James and the children's mother, Emma Beatrice Primley, divorced . (13) Previously established logging interests and mill owners hated the new land grants, because central Wisconsin mills and loggers now had to share access to profitable government lands.(14). (70) Early, plat maps reveal multiple logging companies using the same spur lines in the Manitowish Waters area around Rest Lake. The State Historical Society of Wisconsin: Madison. 1943. Star lake country northern Wisconsin. Despite challenges, the lumber industry became the backbone of the state's economy by the middle of the century. B,M,N,A,Pk picture map Smyth Road Bridge. We arose the next morning at the usual rise in time and logging camps, 2 o'clock, and long before daylight we were ready to start. (43). April 29 at 8pm thru April 30 at 3pm . 82 https://mwhistory.org/robert-loveless-journal-1891-1925/. The lumber was then stacked outside the Mill until sold. . Most logging crews in Wisconsin operated only in the winter, taking advantage of hard, frozen ground to haul heavy loads of logs on sleighs rather than wheeled wagons. (78)(79) The construction of the Rest Lake Ranger Station and Fire Tower established a new professional forestry presence and helped launched the tradition of community environmental conservation in Manitowish Waters. Paul Brenner. In years past, this is the time when activity would once again start in the logging camps of Northern Wisconsin. Vilas County. Today, residents and visitors in Manitowish Waters can enjoy drinks and dining on the same historic logging camp property at the Pea Patch Saloon. The city is located partially within the Town of Chetek. Then the rest of the water would be deep enough that the logs would float ever so slowly. Eau Claire Marathon Road Closures on Sunday, April 30, 2023: Madison Street Bridge (6am-9:30am) Page 40. They took only the finest of pine, so light that it could float indefinitely and was called cork pine; in the winters teams and sleds pulled the newly felled timber to the icebound shores; in summer giant wheels were used. The mill was at Lac Du Flambeau which was connected by a spur to the C&NW main. Manitowish Waters Historical Society. access previously uncut hardwoods and red pines while also removing white pines too distant from river systems. Page 486. (4) By 1854, treaties had thoroughly divided northern Wisconsin into tribal reservations and government lands, all of which were to be surveyed by the mid 1860s into numerous, mostly unpopulated townships. 54 https://mwhistory.org/2016/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Forest-and-Stream-1895-logging-trapping-Buck.pdf. 40 https://mwhistory.org/wisconsin-reports-164-cases-determined-by-the-supreme-court-of-wisconsin-1916-1917-rest-lake-dam/. This undated photo shows the sturdy log cabins . Men who made it their trade to examine forest land for others were known as "land workers "or "timber cruisers." p. 43. Entire maps of Wisconsin original vegetation are available commercially or electronically at the Wisconsin Historical Society based on the original survey data.(8). p. 133. But new methods completely cleared forests of all useable trees, and even revisited areas that had already been cut over. All the hotels are small, and the bar in each is the biggest half. Retrieved 1-26-2018. p. 80-97. Below is a list of all 242 camps in Wisconsin, organized by town. 38 https://mwhistory.org/2016/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/1914-State-of-Wisconsin-Railroad-Com-Rest-Lake-Dam.pdf. Timothy Sasse. Looking back at the logging years. Skilled drivers prodded them along. Each evening the log drivers would gather at the wanigan for a hearty supper and maybe a little singing before they separated to sleep in little tents or just under the stars. The rest of the year lumberjacks who lived in long, low, log camp buildings below the dam labored to replenish the log supply held behind the dam in preparation for the next season's drive. First, creating wagon access at Woodruff in 1888, one year later. From 1909 until 1926 there were several spurs built off of Milwaukee lines in this fashion. Carson Park 5 & 10 5K course map & description. 55 http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/TURNER/. (52) The intention of writing about the darker side of logging is to cast serious doubt on the Disney version of lumberjacks being self-made men, living in a wilderness utopia, ultimately creating an egalitarian world where they live happily ever after in their own virgin forest home. Even the style of fighting (and where cheap whiskey abounds fighting must ensue) is of poor type in the pinewoods. The U.S. Government continued a systematic treaty process with the Ojibwa in the Northwoods, securing control of rich lumber and mining lands. Timothy Sasse. From the 1850s until the first documented Rest Lake dam construction in 1888 timber cruisers were moving through the region on a regular basis to give feedback to land agents who served: speculators, universities, railroads, and logging companies. Stange only needed to put together the trains for the Milwaukee to haul to Merrill. So they'd keep the gates closed on the dam until they'd get a head of water and a load of logs behind it. Empower curiosity about the people, places, and stories of our past. Please excuse the unvarnished portrayal of laborers in lumber camps, possibly undermining the romantic view of lumberjacks often shared in books and films. Retrieved 1-26-2018. The program officially ended on July 30, 1942, by which time most of its participants had enlisted to fight in World War Two or hadfound other wartime employments. Original Survey maps and note books. 6 Interview. A Fire Bell in the Night struck deep fear and was a call to action. Koller Library. News | City of Eau Claire, Wisconsin State of Wisconsin Collections. Long distances between supplies and markets, bad transportation and dangerous waterways and roads made lumbering difficult. Many lumber companies accessed their timber resources using these rail lines. See and touch history at Historic Sites, Museums and special events, Restore your historic home or property, get tax credits, renovation tips. Koller Library. Michael J. Dunn, III. State of Wisconsin Collection. After the stock market crash, the 1930s ushered in hard times for the Northwoods, but some local loggers still continued operations to fulfill local demand. Visit our other Wisconsin Historical Society websites! The men lived in close quarters, and violence of any kind could upset the peace of the bunk house., This is a great website! Page 69. 1943. "I jist sit down for wance in a woy, "said this specimen, who proved to be an Irishman. While traveling from the town of Manitowish to Circle Lily Lake to check a trap line with local guide Fay Buck, the author shares: On this first day, as we were going along the logging trail which lead out of Manitowish, we came upon a man lying on his back on the snow in the middle of the road. 80 http://images.library.wisc.edu/WI/EFacs/USAIN/RSF/RSF191112/reference/wi.rsf191112.i0011.pdf. Large corporations began investing in the virgin forests of the Pacific Northwest in the 20th century. p.61-71. Papoose Lake. 1943. 59 http://mwlibrary.blogspot.com/search/label/logging, Paul Brenner, interview continued. And at these booms then they'd make the logs into rafts. Eagle River Historical Society Museum. Dad also built a dam across the river outlet of Alder Lake. by Michael Dunn III, Michael Dunn cover letter to 2017 narratives. Wisconsin Reports 164/Cases Determined in the Supreme Court of Wisconsin 1916-1917. Cut-over land in northern Wisconsin, ca. Then Lac Du Flambeau, WI. View a 1937 guide to CCC camps in Wisconsin and a 1939 recruitment poster elsewhere at wisconsinhistory.org Rosholt, Malcolm. A look back: the 19th century and earlier. My grandparent,s met in a logging camp .grandma was a cook. In 1919 the Milwaukee Road removed its track along the north side of the chain; the spur to the C&NW was quietly taken up around the same time. Dager and his men proclaimed the Rest Lake dam site as excellent, able to hold back 25 feet of water. In 1865, a land office agent cited, One third to one half of the best pine lumber on the Chippewa had been cut off by trespassers wherever it was most accessible.(10), Competition for the newly surveyed land in the Northwoods was both intense and rigged. CL&B's headquarters camp is today the present village of Boulder Jct. Menominee Logging Museum | Travel Wisconsin I think there is no population in America of so low a grade as the riff-raff of the lumbering regions. Open Saturdays 10 a.m.-3 p.m., July and August, or by appointment, call 715-276-3505. Road access was also available to the Loveless lumber enterprise, a track systems could move logs and processed lumber overland to organized unprocessed logs and finished lumber. If you have difficulty imagining the logging era, just look at the top of the bar for dozens of images celebrating historic Manitowish Waters. Click any camp to preview a map of the camp. Fredric Jackson Turner. Explore a real logging camp, learn about the men who lived in them, and learn about the trees that build cities across the country and put Northern Wisconsin on the map. State of Wisconsin Collections. Of further interest, the U.S. Census marked 1890 as the end of a continuous frontier line, as the great American Western frontier had been tamed by the completion of railroads and settlement practices. Get a county parks department map and spend a day touring the natural wonders with intriguing names like Long Slides Falls and Veteran's Falls. Logs were rafted by steamboat and/or skidded by horses to this phase 2 railroad spur line, establishing one of the most distant spur lines from the Chicago Northwestern Railroad. Retrieved 1-27-18. View the original source document: WHI 94178. 79 https://mwhistory.org/2016/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/1921-22-Biennial-Report-State-Conserv-Com-Rest-Lake-Ranger-Station.pdf. Transporting lumber by train allowed loggers to work year-round and to cut lumber that was once impossible to float down rivers. There were several small lines in the reservation's southeast corner. The Wisconsin Logging Book, 1839-1939. Retrieved 2-7-2018, 76 http://content.mpl.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/mcml/id/3757/rec/1. Below, Michael Dunn provides an excellent overview of seasonal logging practices supporting Manitowish Waters phase 1 white pine river drive logging: The Chippewa Lumber and Boom Co. opened the logging age here. Wisconsin railroad timeline: 19th century. Lumbermen on the Chippewa. Possibly by 1888, and certainly 1892 the Chippewa Lumber and Boom Company could hold back 16 feet or more of spring runoff to drive logs. Ella Kassien. Famed historian Fredrick Jackson Turner from the University of Wisconsin suggested in an 1893 groundbreaking speech entitled, "The Significance of the Frontier in American History", that American democracy was mostly a product of the frontier experiences. 37 http://mwlibrary.blogspot.com/search/label/logging. Suggesting Vance worked for the Weyerhaeuser Pool and thereby avoided rail transport. pp 13-31. (75), At this point, the timeline of phase 2 logging in the Manitowish Waters area is mostly complete. In the early 1900s, across Alder Lake, on the west shore, a railroad spur line entered by the modern DNR campsite. Wisconsin. Sunday was the loggers day off.