The East River (known earlier as the Devil River) is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
, accessed December 19, 2011 river in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. It is a tributary of the Fox River. The East River begins near Askeaton in southern Brown County and flows through the east side of

De Pere De Pere ( ) is a city located in Brown County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 25,410 according to the 2020 Census. De Pere is part of the Green Bay Metropolitan Statistical Area. History At the arrival of the first European, J ...

, Allouez and

Green Bay, Wisconsin Green Bay is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The county seat of Brown County, it is at the head of Green Bay (known locally as "the bay of Green Bay"), a sub-basin of Lake Michigan, at the mouth of the Fox River. It is above sea lev ...

, where it converges with the Fox River. The river runs near the

Green Bay East High School Green Bay East High School is a public high school in the Green Bay Area Public School District serving the near-east side of Green Bay, Wisconsin and parts of Bellevue and Allouez. Founded in 1856, the school has occupied its current building ...

. The school's athletic teams are the Red Devils, taking their name from the former name of the river.

History

In the river's early days, it was known as the Devil River. The Devil River played an important part in the European settlement of Brown County. When Brown County was first surveyed in 1820, the Devil River formed part of the boundary of the surveyed area. Second Lieutenant

Jefferson Davis Jefferson F. Davis (June 3, 1808December 6, 1889) was an American politician who served as the president of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865. He represented Mississippi in the United States Senate and the House of Representatives as a ...

was stationed at nearby

Fort Winnebago Fort Winnebago was a 19th-century fortification of the United States Army located on a hill overlooking the eastern end of the portage between the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers east of present-day Portage, Wisconsin. It was the middle one of three f ...

from 1829 to 1831. He went deer hunting on a boat on the Devil River and nearly drowned before his companion saved him. The settlement of

Navarino Navarino or Navarin may refer to: Battle * Battle of Navarino, 1827 naval battle off Navarino, Greece, now known as Pylos Geography * Navarino, Wisconsin, a town, United States * Navarino (community), Wisconsin, an unincorporated community, Unit ...

was established on the river's banks in 1830. During the

Black Hawk War The Black Hawk War was a conflict between the United States and Native Americans led by Black Hawk, a Sauk leader. The war erupted after Black Hawk and a group of Sauks, Meskwakis (Fox), and Kickapoos, known as the "British Band", crosse ...

of 1832, the river formed one of the defensive boundaries of American forces in Brown County.Martin, p. 128. In the early 1840s, it is alleged that Colonel

Zachary Taylor Zachary Taylor (November 24, 1784 – July 9, 1850) was an American military leader who served as the 12th president of the United States from 1849 until his death in 1850. Taylor was a career officer in the United States Army, rising to th ...

tried to cross the Devil River during a spring flood. The rushing water swept him off his horse, and he was rescued by his fellow soldiers.

References

Rivers of Wisconsin Rivers of Brown County, Wisconsin {{Wisconsin-river-stub