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Logging History of the
Upper Chippewa River Basin
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| Winter Logging - this photo shows loggers hauling logs over frozen water bodies using oxen. Most logging was done in winter because of the ease of moving logs that snow cover provided. | |
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| Hauling logs out of the woods using teams of oxen. Oxen truly were the first skidders of northern Wisconsin's logging era. | |
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| The Wanigan and Bateaux, two of the most useful tools used in the river drive. The Wanigan (left) served as the meal wagon for the river drivers, while the bateaux (right) served as their primary means of transportation. Photo taken on the Chippewa River. | |
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| A 1899 logging camp in northern Wisconsin. The camps typically consisted of a log cabin for the crew and several outbuildings for livestock and blacksmithing operations. | |
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| A Chippewa Lumber and Boom crew driving white pine logs down the Chippewa River to sawmills in Chippewa Falls or Eau Claire. Note the large white pine log (on the far right), the species that helped make the Chippewa Valley famous. | |
Photo courtesy of the Wisconsin Electronic Reader Project.
For more information and pictures, visit the website:
Early Lumbering on the Chippewa by Bruno Vinette, from the Wisconsin Magazine of History 1926 http://www.library.wisc.edu/etext/WIReader/WER0129-1.html