Wisconsin River

Wisconsin River
Physical characteristics
Mouth	Mississippi River near Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin
Length	430 mi (692 km)

Dells of the Wisconsin River, May 2002.

A dam in Stevens Point

Highway 82 bridge over the Wisconsin River

Boating on the Wisconsin River

The Wisconsin River is a tributary of the Mississippi River in the state of Wisconsin in the United States. At approximately 430 mi (692 km) long, it is the state's longest river. The river's name, first recorded in 1673 by Jacques Marquette as "Meskousing", is rooted in the Algonquian languages used by the area's American Indian tribes, but its original meaning is obscure. French explorers who followed in the wake of Marquette later modified the name to "Ouisconsin". This was simplified to "Wisconsin" in the early 19th Century before being applied to Wisconsin Territory and finally the state of Wisconsin.

The Wisconsin River originates in the forests of the Lake District of northern Wisconsin, in Lac Vieux Desert near the border of the upper peninsula of Michigan. It flows south across the glacial plain of central Wisconsin, passing Wausau and Stevens Point. In southern Wisconsin it encounters the terminal moraine formed during the last ice age, where it forms the spectacular Dells of the Wisconsin River. North of Madison, at Portage, the river turns to the west, flowing through Wisconsin's hilly Western Upland and joining the Mississippi approximately 3 mi (4.8 km) south of Prairie du Chien. Although the river was originally navigable up to the city of Portage, 200 mi (320 km) from its mouth, it is now considered non-navigable beyond the lock and dam at Prairie du Sac.

Geology

Geologists say that the modern Wisconsin River was formed in several stages. The lower, westward flowing portion of the river is located in the unglaciated Driftless Area, and this section of the river's course likely predates the rest by several million years. Curiously, the lower reach of the river is narrower than its upstream valley, leading to the suggestion the upper portions of the ancestor of the River flowed east previous to the Pleistocene. The remaining length of the river was formed gradually as glaciers advanced and retreated over Wisconsin. The stretch of river from Stevens Point north to Merrill was a drainage route for meltwater flowing away from glaciers which covered northern Wisconsin during the Wisconsin Glaciation. As the glaciers retreated further northward, the river also grew in that direction. South from Steven's Point, the meltwater would have flowed into Glacial Lake Wisconsin, a prehistoric proglacial lake that existed in the central part of the state. As temperatures warmed around 15,000 years ago, the ice dam holding the lake in place burst, unleashing a catastrophic flood that carved the Dells of the Wisconsin River and joined the upper stretches of the river with the preexisting lower river valley which today flows from Portage to Prairie du Chien.

History

The first documented exploration of the Wisconsin River by Europeans took place in 1673, when Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet of France canoed from Lake Michigan up the Fox River until reaching the present day site of Portage in early June. At this location the Wisconsin and Fox rivers are only 2 mi (3.2 km) distant, so the explorers could portage from the Fox to the Wisconsin River. They then continued downstream 200 mi (320 km) to the Wisconsin's mouth, entering the Mississippi on June 17. Other explorers and traders would follow the same route, and for the next 150 years the Wisconsin and Fox rivers, collectively known as the Fox-Wisconsin Waterway, would form a major transportation route between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River. (See: French colonization of the Americas).

Industry began to form on the Wisconsin in the early 19th Century, as loggers started using the river to raft logs downstream from northern forests to sawmills in new cities like Wausau. By the 1880s, logging companies were damming the river to ensure the river had enough capacity for the logs being floated downstream. Later, at the start of the 20th Century, more dams were constructed to provide for flood control and hydroelectricity. The dams also spurred tourism, creating reservoirs such as Lake Wisconsin that are popular areas for recreational boating and fishing. Today the Wisconsin is impounded in 26 places and has been called "the hardest-working river in America."

Despite this, a 93 mile (150 km) stretch of the Wisconsin between its mouth and the hydroelectric dam at Prairie du Sac is free of any dams or barriers, and is relatively free flowing. In the late 1980s, this portion of the river was designated as a state riverway, and development alongside the river has been limited so as to preserve its scenic integrity.

Lower Wisconsin River state riverway

The Lower Wisconsin River State Riverway is a state funded project designed to protect the southern portion of the Wisconsin River from Sauk City, Wisconsin about 93 miles all the way to the point where the Wisconsin River joins up with and empties into the Mississippi, about 10 miles south of the town of Prairie du Chien. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources manages protected lands of over 75,000 acres, including the river itself, islands, and some lands adjacent to the river.

There are no dams or man made obstructions to the natural flow of water from the hydroelectric dam just north of Sauk City all the way to where the Wisconsin River joins the Mississippi. This long stretch of free flowing river provides important natural habitats for a variety of wildlife including white tail deer, otter, beaver, turtles, sand hill cranes, eagles, hawks, and a variety of fish species.

There are many different recreation opportunities on the lower Wisconsin River from fishing and canoeing, to tubing and camping. Some of the towns along the river that provide access to the river, in addition to the above mentioned include Arena, Spring Green, Lone Rock, Boscobel, Muscoda, and Blue River.

Cities and villages along the river

Okee Merrill Merrimac Mosinee Muscoda Nekoosa Plover

Port Edwards Portage Prairie du Sac Rhinelander Rothschild Sauk City Schofield

Spring Green Stevens Point Tomahawk Wausau Whiting Wisconsin Dells Wisconsin Rapids

See also

• List of Wisconsin rivers

External links

• River Alliance of Wisconsin
• Report on the Wisconsin River by Mark Morgan
• Wisconsin's Name: Where It Came From and What It Means, Wisconsin Historical Society
• Lower Wisconsin State Riverway Board