During the early years when Fosterville and Winegar were lumber company towns, there was no cemetery in the Presque Isle/Winchester area. An area of land was chosen near where current Highway W ends in Highway B, up the hill from the mill. Some of the first people to be buried there were a group of orphans who worked for the lumber company who died when their shanty caught fire. Locals who died from natural causes and lumberjacks who died from injuries were also buried here until the town built a new cemetery along Highway W. Few families could afford a headstone, so white wooden crosses were used to mark gravesites. The area became known as "Widowmaker Hill" from the logging term that took the lives of many lumberjacks.Eventually the cemetery fell into disrepair, and the town of Presque Isle with the American Legion fixed it up. According to Michael Dunn and the Lakeland Times, the town held a contest for North Lakeland Elementary School students to name the cemetery. Early lumberjacks were known as Shanty Boys because they lived in small shanties that could be moved around easily. Drawing inspiration from them, the spot was named "Shanty Boy Hill." There are four specifically marked stones in the cemetery: Joseph Grogg, Arthur Peterson, Oliver Jakeway, and one reading simply "Hovde." Arthur Peterson was 24 when he was crushed by some logging cars. It is unknown what happened to the others named on stones, however there is a record of people who were buried in Winegar and are presumed to be at this spot. Lumberjacks Mrs. Gosh, Mr. Hanson, Mr. Hoffman, and Mr. Dufor were all killed in tree mishaps. A man named Gallager supposedly die after drinking too much moonshine. A man named Sprangeal died after attempting to use dynamite to bust up a stump and instead he "dynamited his eyes out and his scalp off" (Dunn).

Hidden behind the ball fields, down a path lined with raspberry bushes, lies a small cemetery; a relic from the logging heyday in Fosterville/Winegar/Presque Isle.To find this cemetery, park behind the Presque Isle Town Hall located at 8306 School Loop Road, walk down between the ball fields, and take the path to the right once you hit the woods. Down a path lined with raspberry bushes, you'll find a sign constructed from a saw from the original mill and the story of the Shanty Boys that reads, "As lumbermen they lived inshanties in the woods. They were the workers who cut our forests, rode the logs, broke the jams, and, often died doing these things."

Shanty Boy Hill

Director

Welcome to the Northern Wisconsin Heritage Council's Logging Clio Tour.  Clio allows you to explore fun and historic destination using any digital device.  Just click on an entry and explore our amazing logging heritage.  Please enjoy all the themed tours and join us in preserving our history for future generations.

The Turtle Lake Lumber Company chose to name its company town after their principal investor, Walter Winchester. Mr. Winchester was known as a very kind and orderly man, often referred to as “The Man With the Shiny Shoes” due to his tidy appearance. The Company Town that bore his name had very similar qualities. Boardwalks were built connecting all the houses so people could stay out of the dust and mud. A beautiful two room schoolhouse was built for the education of the local children. Raised runways allowed timber to be stored stories high, out of the snow and mud. Over fifty company houses were built in neat six square blocks. Over time multiple boarding houses operated for those that could afford it as well. People who could not afford permanent housing or a room at a boarding house could stay in “Tar Town”, now the Town Park. People there lived out of tents and simple shelters made out of tar paper and scrap wood. Native American seasonal workers were employed to scrape bark off of logs, they camped on the hill next to where the lumber was stored. A Community Building was also erected and served as a town meeting place, polling place, dance hall, event center, barber shop, ice-cream parlor and tavern before eventually burning down. Mobile horse stalls in the form of modified box cars ensured the ability to care for and move horses anywhere. Everything was painted white per Mr. Winchesters wishes. Each house came with a set of tools so the residents could do their own up keep and an apple tree to provide food for either people or livestock. A company store provided for all their other needs. At one point it was known as the most picturesque Lumber Town in Wisconsin. At its peak, the company town of Winchester boosted over 500 men working in the mills and camps, their families, a few railroad employees and multiple farms.Railroad bridges crossed South Turtle Lake in two places, a foot path existed between North and South Turtle Lake and another Rail Bridge crossed the creek connecting North Turtle Lake and Rock Lake. There was also a rail line running south west to Mercer. Railroad tracks serving the Mill ran across south Turtle Lake and along the western shore where most the buildings were. The main mill was located across from the northernmost island in south turtle lake. Power was supplied with a steam engine, housed in a building rightly named “The Engine Room”. The town was supplied with power from 8am to 8pm every day. To let people know the power was going out the conductor of the engine room would dim the lights a bit before 8pm to give people a warning. When someone gave birth or died, it would also be communicated with the lighting. One flicker meant someone died, two meant someone was born. Excess steam from the engine room would be pumped through a pipe into the lake creating a hot pond between the shore and island through which logs could be stored year-round. A giant coal stack was in the center of the mill site towering over the area. Wood and coal smoke was prevalent in Winchester from the operations at the mill and hearth/wood stoves in town.The Company Town was not meant to be a permanent sustainable community. Investors made decisions based on profit and available resources. When the available resource had dwindled to the point that it was no longer profitable to sustain the saw mill it was shut down. The day this happened was celebrated as the progress of man. This happened to Winchester in 1926. The town threw a parade through the streets and people came out of their homes to cheer and bang pots and pans when the last piece of lumber was milled. The Investors of Turtle Lake Lumber Company also owned the Presque Isle Mill and no longer felt having two large operations so close together was good for the bottom line and decided the Turtle Lake mill would be the one to close.

The Turtle Lake Lumber Company named their company town after their principle investor, Walter Winchester. When the mill closed the economy revert back to tourism, but lasting impacts on the land, water and people remain. The Stueben Outdoor Company bought much of the property and describe Winchester as follows in their brochure. “Winchester is in the Manitowish Country, right in the heart of the big north woods and this location was chosen because a chain of lakes, streams and rivers led right up to it. Winchester was a lumber mill town and water was the means of transportation.As great trees were felled and their branches lopped off they were floated down to the chutes of the mills of Winchester where they were sawed into boards and shipped to lumber markets.”

Winchester Townsite

At the turn of the 20th century, logging interests were racing to the Manitowish Waters region to harvest some of the last large stands of timber in the Northwoods. In 1905, south of the Manitowish Waters chain of lakes, the Chicago Northwestern railroad ran lines to both Winchester's Turtle Lake Lumber Company and Winegar's (Presque Isle) Vilas Lumber Company. In 1905, north of the Manitowish Waters chain, the Milwaukee Road railroad pushed to Rest Lake's Riley Hoist and the logging community and mill of Busswell on Papoose Lake. The rail line to Rest Lake was a spur operated by the Yawkey-Bissell Lumber Company, which also charged other loggers like Brooks and Ross Logging Company to use the rail.Riley was a former sheriff from Eau Claire and moved to Rhinelander to explored new logging ventures across the Northwoods. His work on Rest Lake began as soon as railroad construction was completed in 1905. Working with the Brooks and Ross Logging Company, Riley operated from the river drive camp at Rest Lake Dam (Pea Patch today) that was being phased out as Frederick Weyerhaeuser was shifting operations to Washington State. With most of the river drive white pine gone, loggers like Brooks and Ross were concentrating on hardwoods, softwoods and red pine. Red pine was plentiful and profitable, and the competing hoists on Rest Lake and Little Star Lake emerged as critical staging areas for railroads. Red pine did float, but not nearly as well as white pine. Pioneers like George LaPorte suggested that millions of feet of lost timber remained on the bottom of the Manitowish chain because loggers tried to float logs that were not suitable for water navigation.In the early days, activities around the Riley Hoist were intense. Setting pylons into the lake bed, creating loading docks to receive the brailed rafts of logs while dealing with mechanics of the hoist and trains had to be challenging. The newly created Wisconsin Forestry Department rated the local railroad engines as in poor or fair condition. Just before the Riley Hoist strikes the shore of Rest Lake, the rail bed expands in size with enough room to accommodate two sets of tracks. By backing up the train engine and rail cars, hoist operators could move empty and loaded rail cars with the additional rail space near the lake shore. Deadlines, equipment failures, mishaps and other challenges pushed loggers to move logs at a frenetic pace. Historian Paul Brenner reported that the tugs ran day and night to keep pace with schedules and save timber that quickly became waterlogged.Other regional logging companies using the Milwaukee Road railroad lines near Riley's Hoist included the Stange Lumber Company operating along Papoose Creek and Buswell Lumber Company on Papoose Lake. In 1905, Buswell was a larger Northwoods community of several hundred people that had a sawmill to complement their logging operations. Sadly, in 1910, the community of Buswell was destroyed by one of the forest fires that plagued the Northwoods during the cutover era.Those wishing to observe Riley Hoist’s remaining Lake bed pylons may consider a visit to the site in mid October-April when water levels are lowered three feet or more.

During the cutover of Wisconsin's Northwoods, both river drive and and railroad hoists brought millions of board feet of lumber to market each year. Along the Manitowish chain of lakes, loggers used steamboats to move rafts of brailed logs to Riley's Hoist. The lakes became much larger as water was raised by as much as 16 feet to facilitate steamboat operations up creeks and into bays to retrieve logs decked along the shorelines. Riley occupied the old Mississippi River Logging Camp at Rest Lake Dam to house his lumnerment and conduct operations.Today, Riley's Hoist is on state forest land and can be accessed from Serbin Park by following the shoreline west. Private property marks the end of the Riley Hoist area and should not be entered. It is illegal to dig, metal detect, or take artifacts on public lands without a permit from the DNR Archaeologist and State Archaeologist. Riley's Hoist is a cultural site recorded in the Archeological Site Index and protected by state law. Observing, taking photos and sharing stories around this exciting destination are encouraged.When visiting the site, do not contribute to the bank erosion by walking down to the water or climbing the hill. Just stay on the extra wide railroad grade and observe. Riley's Hoist is about 120 years old and visitors being good stewards will ensure others can enjoy this unique cultural destination for generations to come.

Riley's Hoist 

The most defining feature in the community of Manitowish Waters is the Rest Lake Dam. Discover the origins of the Rest Lake Dam and the large river drive lumber camp that was located at the inlet to Vance (formerly Dam) Lake. In 1902, the sprawling lumber camp was the site of the largest river drive ever conducted on the Chippewa River. Imagine 150 "River Pigs," drinking to celebrate this historic event before ushering millions of board feet of logs to Chippewa Falls. From the Army Corps of Engineers' surveys of 1878 until today, the location and operation of the dam has been debated. For over 130 years, dams between Vance Lake and Rest Lake have created one of the finest Northwoods impoundments for both early logging and long-term recreation.

Mississippi River Logging Camp and Rest Lake Dam 

Most logging practices used in Wisconsin were developed in New England. Logging companies and logging families followed the timber west along the Great Lakes. Wisconsin's dense and far-reaching stands of timber were prized by land companies, speculators, loggers and even universities. Most folks do not realize that much of New York's Cornell University was initially paid for with profits from white pine logs along Wisconsin's Chippewa River. The Morrill Land Grant Act of 1862 gave agricultural universities (like Cornell) land to help develop agri-science programs. Cornell used shrewd business tactics to acquire 499,000 acres of prime white pine lands that stretched up the Manitowish River.Modern scholars divide logging and lumber industries into three different phases:1) river drives of white pines2) railroad logging and harvesting the remaining white pines, red pine, hardwoods and other trees; and3) post-WWI small logging camps, using trucks and tractorsThe log boom on Sturgeon Rapids was created to facilitate Phase 1 white pine logging. Log drives were notorious for losing logs along the drives. White pines, sometimes referred to as "cork pines," were the only Northwoods species of trees that would float through the entire downstream journey. Even experienced log drivers, called "River Pigs," lost at least 10 percent of their logs along the journey. Log drives ranged from small family operations to huge corporate projects. Frederick Weyerhaeuser and his syndicate of corporations dominated river drive logging along the Manitowish River. In April of 1901, the largest log drive ever on the Chippewa River began at the Rest Lake Dam under Weyerhaeuser's leadership. That drive saw 150 River Pigs and support staff push 75 million feet of timber downstream. Imagine the challenges that Sturgeon Rapids and the doglegs in the river posed. It took the winters of 1900 and 1901 to cut and stage the white pines.By 1915, river drive logging had become rare, and railroads were mostly in charge of moving timber to market. The DNR removed the old remnants of the logging boom from the Manitowish River by the 1970s. Logging heritage is strong in the Manitowish Waters area representing all three phases of Wisconsin logging. Sturgeon Rapids remains a unique logging heritage site that is easily accessed by water or trail.

Just above Sturgeon Lake, the Manitowish River narrows into a shallow rapids that proved vexing to river drive loggers from the 1880s until about 1910. Each spring. the mighty force of the waters behind Rest Lake Dam were released to move white pine logs hundreds of miles to massive sawmills. After the ice melted in April, paddle boats rafted logs to just above Rest Lake Dam, and when the sluices on the dam were opened, millions of feet of fresh cut timbers were sent down stream. Unfortunately, the first mile of the Manitowish River below Rest Lake has several dogleg turns and rapids that frequently created troublesome jams. Ultimately, logging companies installed a log boom on Sturgeon Rapids to easily separate white pine logs before they jammed; otherwise, dynamite on a stick was the typical solution..This important site can be accessed by water or on state land to the north of the Manitowish River. The land to the south of Sturgeon Rapids is private, which should be respected by all travelers. The North Lakeland Discovery Center maintains a trail under a DNR Land Use Agreement that connects hikers, bikers, skiers and snowshoers to the high bank right above Sturgeon Rapids. In the winter, the water stays open and attracts eagles, swans and other wildlife. Evening hikers following the trail downstream can also enjoy the sunset.

Log Boom on Sturgeon Rapids

Benson Lake has a unique geomorphology, marking the transition of the Manitowish River as a stream running through a highlands with many lakes to a meandering stream with more lowlands and sedges. The inlets of the Manitowish River into Vance, Sturgeon and Benson lakes all show the impacts of rushing water and erosion from river drive logging. In Benson Lake's inlet, a large sandbar was pushed into the lake. For context, well before the Rest Lake Dam, A. B. Gray in 1846 described the lakes and Manitowish River, "although the stream curved around in every direction, occasionally opening into small and picturesque lakes, surrounded by high land, with excellent pineries, and narrowing again to a width barely sufficient for the passage of a canoe." Today, the river channels are much larger on Benson Lake due to logging practices.Early historians suggested river drive logging around the Manitowish chain began in the late 1870s or early 1880s. But, the 1862 land surveys documented white pine ready for market at the inlet of Rest Lake and the north shore of Benson Lake near the outlet: “There is in this township a large amount of pine timber much of which is valuable and will very soon be taken to market by floating down the streams which are sufficiently large and are well adapted to the running of lumber.” Since this land survey was ongoing, the timber cited by the surveyors was most certainly plundered. Before surveyor documents could be recorded with the government, private timber cruisers had previously conveyed to clandestine loggers the rich timber resources of our community. Importantly, Manitowish Waters’ excellent river driving conditions for Phase 1 logging were obvious to early explorers. Even more notable, the alleged trespassing and timber stealing occurred while the United States was shifting human resources to fight the Civil War, limiting enforcement of timber trespass laws. These timber abuses did not go unnoticed by anxious land agents, speculators, logging interests, universities and out-of-state (absentee) capitalists. 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.” The timber along the Manitowish and Benson Lake was very accessible.During Phase 2 railroad logging, Manitowish Waters transitions to a secondary logging area that was only accessed by tertiary rail routes and logging spurs. Access rail lines to Manitowish Waters were near or at the very end of distant railroad lines. 20th century logging first depended on the Chicago Northwestern Railroad (C&amp;NW) to reach the spur to Benson Lake. The rail line through the Powell Marsh area to Little Star Lake was owned by Flambeau Lumber Company, which owned several spurs off of the C&amp;NW Ashland Division main line. It was contracted by the federal government to the Lac du Flambeau Indian Reservation, although the company had timber located off of the reservation as well. This rail spur would ultimately connect to Benson Lake. Numerous other logging companies like Brooks and Ross paid to use the rail spur to remove timber.

Benson Lake is located on the western most part of the Manitowish chain and flows into the Flambeau and Chippewa rivers. A mix of public and private land surrounds the 28-acre lake. The inlet of Manitowish River is wide, shallow and sandy due to repeated logging drives from over 100 years ago. Original survey notes from 1862 suggest that Benson and Rest lakes were logged during the Civil War. River drive logging remnants rise out of the 15-foot-deep lakebed and are still visible as deadheads. Just up the hill of Benson Lake's southern shore marks the termination of a railroad logging spur operated by the Lac du Flambeau Lumber Co. Red pines and hardwoods were moved to mills by numerous logging companies using that railroad spur.

Benson Lake's Logging Traditions

Earlier river drive era logging camps are also present on the Camp Mercer trail. Michael Dunn, Manitowish Waters’ historian, documented, “George LaPorte and his dad logged in 1910-1911 as contractors on 3 forties-- camp where CCC camp was in the 1930. They put the logs into the river, boomed them to Manitowish, loaded them on rail cars to go to Scott &amp; Howe, Ironwood.”  Berms along the logging road west of the old baseball field corroborate the claims of Dunn and mark the site of the LaPorte camp. Members of the LaPorte family were ambitious itinerate loggers who had been in the area since the late 1880s. As river drive logging was coming to a close, the LaPortes settled near the Manitowish River. Dunn further reports that the next year, “George [LaPorte] in 1911-1912- logging -built camp 1 mile west of Manitowish in fall 1911.- one big building 50 feet long with root cellar at one end and a 16 foot addition at on end for sleeping quarters.” The LaPorte camp has an interpretive sign marked 21 that overlooks the main cabin.The LaPorte's logging camp and log drive was the last on the Manitowish River, and it was much shorter than the earlier log drives that pushed logs 200 miles or more to large mills near Chippewa Falls, Eau Claire and even as far as the Mississippi River. The earlier logging camp marked as 25 on the trail map would have operated around 1880-1901. The blacksmith shop and small cabin suggest a smaller logging crew and operation. This logging group would have operated in the winter, felling timber in the woods, skidding logs with horses or oxen to deck logs along the banks of the Manitowish River, and waiting for April when the Rest Lake Dam released its water.Research revealed the land for Camp Mercer and the two logging camps were purchased by Cornell University under the Morrill Land Grant Act of 1862. Interesting, railroad land grant property is also noted on the plat map just a mile down river from Camp Mercer and the logging camps. Cornell University acquired 499,000 acres of Wisconsin pine lands on the Chippewa River and its tributaries, like the Manitowish River. Railroads acquired even more land in Wisconsin than universities to offset their construction costs. In Wisconsin, UW Madison, UW River Falls and UW Platteville were land grant colleges promoting agri-sciences.

Two different river drive logging camps are located along the Camp Mercer Interpretive Trail. Logging camps are marked on the trail map as signs 21 and 25. The LaPorte logging camp is located at sign 21. The LaPortes were among the earliest pioneers and noted for their logging expertise. Louie LaPorte lived in the cabin after the logging job was completed in 1911. The logging camp located at number 25 has no sign because scholars are still debating the status of the camp. The camp located by number 25 is on a trail loop and very easy to identify. Sadly, some of the cabin structure and most of the blacksmith shop have been looted by modern treasure hunters. It is illegal to dig or take artifacts from public lands without a permit. Camp Mercer and other cultural sites like the logging camps are even more protected because they are recorded on the Wisconsin Archaeological Site Inventory. Observing, taking photos and sharing stories around the logging camps are encouraged.The logging camps are on public land and can be accessed by river or by the bike trail and the Manitowish River Access Road. Following the markers on the Camp Mercer Trail maps is the most efficient way to get to these sites.

River Drive Logging Camps

For thousands of years, the Manitowish River served as a highway for transport. River drive loggers used rivers like the Manitowish to move white pines downstream to sawmills. Ultimately, the pines near rivers were exhausted, and loggers needed to reach several miles inland to harvest, transport and deck white pines along rivers. Loggers sought flat land for the heavy sleds. The lowlands around the Manitowish River were perfect for an ice road that reached north into the highlands near Mercer. Loggers would create road grades and even dig muck out of swamps to build a road grade. The sloppy road grades would firm up with cold weather and became stable for log transport preparation.Once the ice road grade was established, sled tankers were filed with Manitowish River water, using a hoist and barrels. The wooden sled tankers poured water on the road grade when temperatures were very cold. After a few water applications, the ice roads were firm and then needed to have a rutter sled carve groves in the ice road for the logging sled runners or skids. The system worked well after every sled trip over the ice road drove the frost further into the road grade. The lowlands of the swamp and river area were flat, but when the ice road moved up hill in the highlands around Mercer, precautions were necessary. Hay or marsh grass was placed in the ruts of the ice road to add resistance on sled runners when on grades. A runaway ice sled with logs was avoided by skilled loggers.Today, some of the ice road has been disrupted by later logging and homesteaders, but the swamp ice road grade remains as a remnant of Northwoods ingenuity from over 100 years ago.

Along the river a mile below the town of Manitowish marks a massive logging landing. During the winter, sleds moved white pine across a massive swamp to the northern bank of the Manitowish River. Logs were then unloaded and decked next to the Manitowish River to be rolled into the river in April. Rest Lake Dam provided the power for river drives by releasing its waters. Paddlers along the Manitowish River and hikers following Murray Landing Road will have no problem identifying the landing area for the ice road. Acres of dense buckthorn outline the decking area for the white pines. Along the river, buckthorn reaches off of the bank and threatens canoers and kayakers who venture too close to shore. Massive disruptions of soils from decking and driving logs created a perfect environment for invasive species like buckthorn.It is illegal to dig or take artifacts on public lands without a permit from the DNR Archaeologist and State Archaeologist. Manitowish River Ice Road and other cultural sites like 6 Pause Portage are even more protected because they are recorded on the Wisconsin Archaeological Site Inventory. Observing, taking photos and sharing stories around the logging ice road are encouraged.The ice road is mostly on public land and can be accessed by river or by Murray Landing Road.Those who wish to hike the Manitowish River Ice Road on a guided tour should check the events calendar at the North Lakeland Discovery Center (NLDC). A link for the NLDC events calendar is provided below. The hike needs to be in winter and is about two miles. Snowshoes and hiking poles are often needed to navigate the swampy areas, which will be frozen, just like the historic ice road.

Manitowish River Ice Road

Trout Lake was initially logged as part of first phase or river drive logging of white pines. These “cork pine” logs could float for months or years. River drive loggers did their cutting in the winter and would harvest several miles around Trout Lake and its tributaries. The white pines would be carried by sleds to the water’s edge so in the spring the pine could begin their downstream journey to mills along the Chippewa or Mississippi rivers.Yawkey-Bissell Lumber Company had mills all across the Northwoods that processed logs from its camps into a variety of products. The mills in Arbor Vitae and Hazelhurst likely processed the wood cut around Trout Lake. Under second phase or railroad logging, camps and mills were linked by rail. Timber such as red pine, maple, oak, cherry, birch, basswood, tamarack as well as white pines too distant from strong flowing streams were selected for the mills. Railroads made year-round logging possible, and the pace to harvest trees grew.Images of the Trout Lake logging camp reveal a robust camp and railroad. In 1903, Yawkey-Bissell railroad spurs reached Trout Lake, and those harvested logs were hauled through camp and along the east side of the lake to their mills. Northwoods historian Michael Dunn shared, “Yawkey-Bissell closed its mill in 1912 and sold its land to the department of forestry for a dollar and one quarter per acre. The Cathedral Pines and pretty road along the shore of Trout Lake are part of the legacy here.” Importantly, Yawkey-Bissell spared the cutting of trees in the area of Cathedral Point, leaving a magnificent area of old growth timber to be part of the Wisconsin Department of Forestry headquarters.Yawkey-Bissell remains a Wisconsin classic logging story. Early Northwoods operations began as, “…1888 construction was begun on a line extending southeast from Hazelhurst by the Yawkey &amp; Lee Lumber Company. This line was not a common carrier. It was referred to as the Lake Catherine and Southeastern. In 1892, Yawkey &amp; Lee became the Yawkey-Bissell Lumber Company.” Just before its Northwoods mills and logging operations ended in 1912, Yawkey-Bissell helped transport the first seedlings to the new Trout Lake tree nursery. This generous donation of rail support and delivery to the Wisconsin Department of Forestry helped launch a new tradition of reforestation and scientific management aimed at creating sustainable forests for future generations.Timothy Sasse cites, “The Trout Lake Railroad was sold to the Milwaukee Road on Aug. 29,1913 for $10,000. This gave the Milwaukee a shortcut from Arbor Vitae to Boulder Junction and allowed it to abandon most of its line between Cutler Jct and Star Lake.” In the end, Yawkey-Bissell lines improved access and timber hauling, and linked Trout Lake and the Wisconsin Department of Forestry more closely with the community of Boulder Junction.

Prior to Wisconsin’s newly formed Department of Forestry setting up their headquarters on Trout Lake in 1912, numerous lumber companies had been logging the region for decades. Yawkey-Bissell Lumber Company had a logging camp on North Trout Lake and operated a rail line that would ultimately be linked to Boulder Junction in 1913. The Yawkey-Bissell logging camp and railroad provided important logistical support for the fledgling Department of Forestry.Yawkey-Bissell operated a classic Northwoods second phase or railroad logging operation until 1912. The old logging camp, railroad and cutover land soon became part of Wisconsin’s Forest Reserves and ultimately the Northern Highland American Legion Forest.No real remnants of the Yawkey-Bissell logging camp remain, but the site of the camp is the current parking lot for North Trout Lake boat landing and the campground entrance.

North Trout Lake Yawkey-Bissel Logging Camp and Railroad

Round Lake Logging Dam at the Doering TractAs the treaties of 1837 and 1842 forced the Ojibwe to relinquish control of their lands, and the 1854 treaty established reserved lands assigned to the various bands, the loggers began their acquisition of pine lands. The Morrill Act of 1862 and the Wisconsin Central Land Grant of the 1870s were the vehicles of transfer of public lands to private ownership. As reported by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1879: “The lumbermen (loggers, properly speaking) have been in the habit, for years, of building dams at will upon the tributaries and the main streams as well, many of the dams are permanent in nature and erected at great cost…” So it was that earlier in 1876, Black River Falls lumberman William T. Price had crews operating on the South Fork of the Flambeau. In that year, he directed his crews to construct a flooding and driving dam at the outlet of the South Fork at Round Lake, a 170-foot structure that would raise the the water six feet. Two years later, Eric MacArthur and Henry Hewitt were granted authorization in Wisconsin Law Chapter 272 to construct a dam at the site of the original W.T. Price dam. It is believed that the dam was rebuilt to hold a 10-foot head of water. John N. Vogel concluded that Joseph Viles, a noted builder of dams and owner of the property, was most likely the one to direct the rebuild. So for the next 28 years, the dam served several owners, including the celebrated Frederick Weyerhaeuser. In 1906, the dam and property was sold to Menasha Woodenware Company, at one time owned by none other than Henry Hewitt. The company ran the last log drive through the dam in 1909, although the Patterson Brothers ran a limited drive in the spring of 1923. From 1910 through the 1950s, former Sears, Roebuck &amp; Co. vice-president Otto C. Doering purchased the cutover lands, including the dam, and brought the property back from destructive forest practices.The private estate comprising 2,800 acres was sold to the United States Government in 1968, thus completing a full circle back to public ownership. Placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1981 and completely rebuilt in 1995, the Round Lake Logging Dam sits on land owned by the United States Government designated as the Round Lake Recreation Area. This 3,600-acre tract is comprised of several stands of virgin hemlock and second-growth white pines as well as plantation stands of red pines. Non-motorized and open year-round to hikers, hunters, fishermen, naturalists and silent sports enthusiasts, this gem in the Chequamegon offers true wilderness experience for all ages.

Discover a cultural gem within the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest! Located at the idyllic headwaters of the South Fork Flambeau River on the Pike Lake Chain, one of the last artifacts of the the fabled pine logging days of the late 19th century is available for public exploration. Hiking and interpretive trails with picnic areas in the Doering Wilderness Study Area presents a visit to the past in a pristine setting. Visitors will experience the dam that was rebuilt in 1995, according to authorized specifications of 1878 with the original 1876 iron equipment in place. Quite a unique living history adventure!Round Lake Dam is a four-season destination to see the natural beauty of a significant historical site.

Northern Wisconsin Logging

Shanty Boy Hill

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources