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SIX HUNDRED MILES OF CANOEING DOWN THE ROCK, FOX, AND WISCONSIN RIVERS
SIX HUNDRED MILES OF CANOEING DOWN THE ROCK, FOX, AND WISCONSIN RIVERS
BY REUBEN GOLD THWAITES SECRETARY OF THE STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF WISCONSIN Other roads do some violence to Nature, and bring the traveller to stare at her; but the river steals into the scenery it traverses without intrusion, silently creating and adorning it, and is free to come and go as the zephyr.— Thoreau ; A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers. CHICAGO A. C. McCLURG AND COMPANY 1888 Copyright By A. C. McClurg and Co. a.d. 1888. This Little Volume IS INSCRIBED BY THE AUTHOR TO HIS
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PREFACE.
PREFACE.
T here is a generally accepted notion that a brief summer vacation, if at all obtainable in this busy life of ours, must be spent in a flight as far afield as time will allow; that the popular resorts in the mountains, by the seaside, or on the margins of the upper lakes must be sought for rest and enjoyment; that neighborhood surroundings should, in the mad rush for change of air and scene, be left behind. The result is that your average vacationist—if I may be allowed to coin a needed word—kno
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HISTORIC WATERWAYS.
HISTORIC WATERWAYS.
P rovided, reader, you have a goodly store of patience, stout muscles, a practiced fondness for the oars, a keen love of the picturesque and curious in nature, a capacity for remaining good-humored under the most adverse circumstances, together with a quiet love for that sort of gypsy life which we call "roughing it," canoeing may be safely recommended to you as one of the most delightful and healthful of outdoor recreations, as well as one of the cheapest. The canoe need not be of birch-bark or
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TABLE OF DISTANCES.—TOTAL, 607 MILES.
TABLE OF DISTANCES.—TOTAL, 607 MILES.
Note .—The above table of distances by water is based upon the most reliable local estimates, verified, as far as practicable, by official surveys....
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THE ROCK RIVER.
THE ROCK RIVER.
MAP OF THE ROCK RIVER to accompany THWAITES'S "HISTORIC WATERWAYS"...
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CHAPTER I. THE WINDING YAHARA.
CHAPTER I. THE WINDING YAHARA.
It was a quarter to twelve, Monday morning, the 23d of May, 1887, when we took seats in our canoe at our own landing-stage on Third Lake, at Madison, spread an awning over two hoops, as on a Chinese house-boat, pushed off, waved farewell to a little group of curious friends, and started on our way to explore the Rock River of Illinois. W—— wielded the paddle astern, while I took the oars amidships. Despite the one hundred pounds of baggage and the warmth emitted by the glowing sun,—for the seaso
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CHAPTER II. BARBED-WIRE FENCES.
CHAPTER II. BARBED-WIRE FENCES.
W e were off in the morning, after an early breakfast at the Stoughton inn. Our host kindly sent down his porter to help us over the mill-dam,—our first and easiest portage, and one of the few in which we received assistance of any kind. Below this, as below all of the dams on the river, there are broad shallows. The water in the stream, being at a low stage, is mainly absorbed in the mill-race, and the apron spreads the slight overflow evenly over the width of the bed, so that there is left a w
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CHAPTER III. AN ILLINOIS PRAIRIE HOME.
CHAPTER III. AN ILLINOIS PRAIRIE HOME.
W e had an early start from the hotel next morning. A prospect of the situation at the upper Janesville dam, from a neighboring bridge, revealed the fact that the mill-race along the left bank afforded the easiest portage. Reloading our craft at the boat-renter's staging where it had passed the night, we darted across the river, under two low-hung bridges, keeping well out of the overflow current and entered the race, making our carry over a steep and rocky embankment. Below, after passing throu
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CHAPTER IV. THE HALF-WAY HOUSE.
CHAPTER IV. THE HALF-WAY HOUSE.
T he spin down to Roscoe next morning was delightful in every respect. The air was just sharp enough for vigorous exercise. These were the pleasantest hours we had yet spent. The blisters that had troubled us for the first three days were hardening into callosities, and arm and back muscles, which at first were sore from the unusually heavy strain upon them, at last were strengthened to their work. Thereafter we felt no physical inconvenience from our self-imposed task. At night, after a pull of
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CHAPTER V. GRAND DETOUR FOLKS.
CHAPTER V. GRAND DETOUR FOLKS.
W e tramped back to the bridge in high spirits next morning, over the flower-strewn prairie. The section-man's wife was on hand, with her entire step-laddered brood of six, to see us off. As we carried down our traps to the beach and repacked, she kept up a continuous strain of talk, giving us a most edifying review of her life, and especially the particulars of how she and her "man" had first romantically met, while he was a gravel-train hand on a far western railroad, and she the cook in a por
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CHAPTER VI. AN ANCIENT MARINER.
CHAPTER VI. AN ANCIENT MARINER.
T he clock in a neighboring kitchen was striking six, as we reached the lower ferry-landing. The grass in the streets and under the old elms was as wet with dew as though there had been a heavy shower during the night. The village fishermen were just pulling in to the little pier, returning from an early morning trip to their "traut-lines" down stream. In a long wooden cage, which they towed astern, was a fifty-pound sturgeon, together with several large cat-fish. They kindly hauled their cage a
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CHAPTER VII. STORM-BOUND AT ERIE.
CHAPTER VII. STORM-BOUND AT ERIE.
W e were somewhat jaded by the time Monday morning came, for Sunday brought not only no relief, but repetitions of many of the most horrible of these "tales of a wayside inn." It was with no slight sense of relief that we paid our modest bill and at last broke away from such ghastly associations. An involuntary shudder overcame me, as we passed the head of the island at the foot of our host's orchard, which he had described as a catch-basin for human floaters. Our course still lay among large, d
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CHAPTER VIII THE LAST DAY OUT.
CHAPTER VIII THE LAST DAY OUT.
T he following day opened brightly. We had breakfast in the tavern kitchen, en famille . The husband, whom we had not met before, was a short, smooth-faced, voluble, overgrown-boy sort of man. The mother was dumpy, coarse, and good-natured. They had a greasy, easy-tempered daughter of eighteen, with a frowsy head, and a face like a full moon; while the heir of the household, somewhat younger, was a gaping, grinning youth of the Simple Simon order, who shovelled mashed potatoes into his mouth alt
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THE FOX RIVER (OF GREEN BAY).
THE FOX RIVER (OF GREEN BAY).
MAP OF THE FOX-WISCONSIN RIVERS to accompany THWAITES'S "HISTORIC WATERWAYS" View larger image...
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FIRST LETTER. SMITH'S ISLAND.
FIRST LETTER. SMITH'S ISLAND.
Packwaukee, Wis. , June 7, 1887. M y dear W—— : It was 2.25 P. M. yesterday when the Doctor and I launched the old canoe upon the tan-colored water of the government canal at Portage, and pointed her nose in the direction of the historic Fox. You will remember that the canal traverses the low sandy plain which separates the Fox from the Wisconsin on a line very nearly parallel to where tradition locates Barth's and Lecuyer's wagon-portage a hundred years ago. It was a profitable business in the
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SECOND LETTER. FROM PACKWAUKEE TO BERLIN.
SECOND LETTER. FROM PACKWAUKEE TO BERLIN.
Berlin, Wis., June 8, 1887. M y dear W—— : Packwaukee is twenty-five miles by river below Portage, and at the head of Buffalo Lake. It is a tumble-down little place, with about one hundred inhabitants, half of whom appeared to be engaged in fishing. A branch of the Wisconsin Central Railway, running south from Stevens Point to Portage, passes through the town, with a spur track running along the north shore of the lake to Montello, seven miles east. Regular trains stop at Packwaukee, while the e
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THIRD LETTER THE MASCOUTINS.
THIRD LETTER THE MASCOUTINS.
Oshkosh, Wis., June 9, 1887. M y Dear W—— : As we passed out of Berlin this morning, a government dredger was at work by the river-side. We paused on our paddles for some time, to watch the workings of the ingenious mechanism. There was something demoniac in the action of the monster, as it craned its jointed neck amid a quick chorus of jerky puffs from the engine and an accompaniment of rattling chains. Reaching far out over the bubbling water, it would open its great iron jaws with a savage cl
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FOURTH LETTER. THE LAND OF THE WINNEBAGOES.
FOURTH LETTER. THE LAND OF THE WINNEBAGOES.
Appleton, Wis. , June 10, 1887. M y dear W—— : We had a late start to-day from Oshkosh. It was half-past nine o'clock by the time we had reloaded our traps, pushed off from the railway embankment, and received the God-speed of M—— , who had come down to see us off. The busy town, with its twenty-two thousand thrifty people, was all astir. The factories and the mills were resonant with the clang and rattle of industry, and across the two wagon-bridges of the city proper there were continual strea
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FIFTH LETTER. LOCKED THROUGH.
FIFTH LETTER. LOCKED THROUGH.
Little Kaukauna, Wis. , June 11, 1887. M y Dear W—— : We took an extended stroll around Appleton after breakfast. It is a beautiful city,—the gem of the Lower Fox. The banks are nearly one hundred feet high above the river level. They are deeply cut with ravines. Hillside torrents, quickly formed by heavy rains, as quickly empty into the stream, draining the plateau of its superfluous surface water, and in the operation carving these great gulches through the soft clay. And so there are many ste
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SIXTH LETTER. THE BAY SETTLEMENT.
SIXTH LETTER. THE BAY SETTLEMENT.
Green Bay, Wis., June 13, 1887. M y Dear W——: We had a quiet Sunday at Little Kaukauna. Being a delightful day, we went with our entertainers to the country church, a mile or two back across the fields, and whiled away the rest of the time in strolling through the woods and gossiping with the farmers about the crops and the government improvement,—fertile themes. It appears that this diminutive hamlet of four or five houses anticipates a "boom," and there is some feverish anxiety as to how much
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CHAPTER I. ALONE IN THE WILDERNESS.
CHAPTER I. ALONE IN THE WILDERNESS.
O ur watches, for a wonder, coincided on Monday afternoon, Aug. 22, 1887. This phenomenon is so rare that W—— made a note in her diary to the effect that for once in its long career my time-piece was right. It was five minutes past two. The place was the beach at Portage, just below the old red wagon-bridge which here spans the gloomy Wisconsin. A teamster had hauled us, our canoe, and our baggage from the depot to the verge of a sand-bank; and we had dragged our faithful craft down through a ta
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CHAPTER II. THE LAST OF THE SACS.
CHAPTER II. THE LAST OF THE SACS.
D awn came at five, and none too soon. But after thawing out over the breakfast fire and draining the coffee-pot dry, we were wondrously rejuvenated; and as we struck camp, were right merry between ourselves over the foolish nervousness of the night. There was still a raw northwest wind, but the clouds soon broke, and when, at half-past six, we again pushed out into the swift-flowing stream, it was evident that the day would be bright and comfortably cool. We had some splendid vistas of bluff-gi
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CHAPTER III. A PANORAMIC VIEW.
CHAPTER III. A PANORAMIC VIEW.
T he fog on the river was so thick, next morning, that objects four rods away were not visible. To navigate among the snags and shallows under such conditions was impossible. But W—— closely investigated the garden while waiting for the mist to rise, and Mr. P—— entertained me with intelligent reminiscences of his long experience here. It had been four years, he said, since he last swung the draw for a river craft. That was a small steamboat attempting to make the passage, on what was considered
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CHAPTER IV. FLOATING THROUGH FAIRYLAND.
CHAPTER IV. FLOATING THROUGH FAIRYLAND.
U ndisturbed by hogs or river tramps, we slept soundly until seven, the following morning. There was a heavy fog again, but by the time we had leisurely eaten our breakfast, struck camp, and had a pleasant chat with our farmer host and his "hired man," who had come down to the bank to make us a call, the mists had rolled away before the advances of the sun. At half past ten we were at Port Andrew, eight miles below camp on the north shore. The Port, or what is left of it, lies stretched along a
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CHAPTER V. THE DISCOVERY OF THE MISSISSIPPI.
CHAPTER V. THE DISCOVERY OF THE MISSISSIPPI.
T here was fog on the river in the morning. Across the broad expanse of field and ledge which separates Wauzeka from the Wisconsin, we could see the great white mass of vapor, fifty feet thick, resting on the broad channel like a dense coverlid of down. Soon after seven o'clock, the cloud lifted by degrees, and then broke into ragged segments, which settled sluggishly for a while on the tops of the southern line of bluffs and screened their dark amphitheaters from view, till at last dissipated i
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