The Wisconsin River is a
tributary
A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drai ...
of the
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem), second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest Drainage system (geomorphology), drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson B ...
in the
U.S. state of
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 ...
. At approximately 430 miles (692 km) long, it is the state's longest river. The river's name, first recorded in 1673 by
Jacques Marquette
Jacques Marquette S.J. (June 1, 1637 – May 18, 1675), sometimes known as Père Marquette or James Marquette, was a French Jesuit missionary who founded Michigan's first European settlement, Sault Sainte Marie, and later founded Saint Ign ...
as "Meskousing", is rooted in the
Algonquian languages
The Algonquian languages ( or ; also Algonkian) are a subfamily of indigenous American languages that include most languages in the Algic language family. The name of the Algonquian language family is distinguished from the orthographically simi ...
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", and so it appears on
Guillaume de L'Isle
Guillaume Delisle, also spelled Guillaume de l'Isle, (; 28 February 1675, Paris – 25 January 1726, Paris) was a French cartographer known for his popular and accurate maps of Europe and the newly explored Americas.
Childhood and education
Desli ...
's map (Paris, 1718). 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
forest
A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...
s of the
North Woods 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 through
Wausau,
Stevens Point, and
Wisconsin Rapids. In southern Wisconsin it encounters the
terminal moraine formed during the last
ice age
An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gre ...
, where it forms the
Dells of the Wisconsin River
The Dells of the Wisconsin River, also called the Wisconsin Dells (from Old English �dæle��, modern English “dale”), meaning “valley”, is a 5-mile (8-km) gorge on the Wisconsin River in south-central Wisconsin, USA. It is noted for its ...
. North of
Madison Madison may refer to:
People
* Madison (name), a given name and a surname
* James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States
Place names
* Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...
at
Portage
Portage or portaging (Canada: ; ) is the practice of carrying water craft or cargo over land, either around an obstacle in a river, or between two bodies of water. A path where items are regularly carried between bodies of water is also called a ...
, the river turns to the west, flowing through Wisconsin's hilly
Western Upland and joining the Mississippi approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) south of
Prairie du Chien.
The highest waterfall on the river is
Grandfather Falls in
Lincoln County. It creates the borders between Adams, Juneau, Columbia, Sauk, Dane, Iowa, Richland, Grant, and Crawford Counties, creating the only natural county borders within the state (excluding the Mississippi River and the Great Lakes).
Geology
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. The lower reach of the river is narrower than its upstream valley, leading to the suggestion that the upper portions of the ancestor of the river flowed east before the
Pleistocene
The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological Epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fina ...
. 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 the glaciers which covered northern Wisconsin during the
Wisconsin Glaciation. As the glaciers retreated further northward, the river also grew in that direction. South from Stevens 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
The Dells of the Wisconsin River, also called the Wisconsin Dells (from Old English �dæle��, modern English “dale”), meaning “valley”, is a 5-mile (8-km) gorge on the Wisconsin River in south-central Wisconsin, USA. It is noted for its ...
and joined the upper stretches of the river with the pre-existing lower river valley that today flows from Portage to Prairie du Chien.
History
In the summer of 1673, French missionary
Jacques Marquette
Jacques Marquette S.J. (June 1, 1637 – May 18, 1675), sometimes known as Père Marquette or James Marquette, was a French Jesuit missionary who founded Michigan's first European settlement, Sault Sainte Marie, and later founded Saint Ign ...
, French-Canadian explorer
Louis Joliet, and their crew of five
Metis
Metis or Métis may refer to:
Ethnic groups
* Métis, recognized Indigenous communities in Canada and America whose distinct culture and language emerged after early intermarriage between First Nations peoples and early European settlers, primar ...
arrived near the headwaters of the Fox River. From there, they were told to portage their two canoes a distance of slightly less than two miles through marsh and oak plains to the Wisconsin River.
The first documented exploration of the Wisconsin River by Europeans took place in 1673, when Jacques Marquette and
Louis Jolliet of
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
canoed from
Lake Michigan up the
Fox River until they reached the present-day site of Portage in early June. At this location the Wisconsin and Fox rivers are only 2 miles (3.2 km) apart, so the explorers could
portage
Portage or portaging (Canada: ; ) is the practice of carrying water craft or cargo over land, either around an obstacle in a river, or between two bodies of water. A path where items are regularly carried between bodies of water is also called a ...
from the Fox to the Wisconsin River. They then continued downstream 200 miles (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, formed a major transportation route between the
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...
and the Mississippi River.
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
Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...
. The dams also spurred tourism, creating reservoirs such as
Lake Wisconsin
Lake Wisconsin is a reservoir on the Wisconsin River in southern Wisconsin in the United States. It is located in Columbia and Sauk counties, approximately southeast of Baraboo and NNW of Madison. Today it is home to the Wisconsin wine appe ...
that are popular areas for recreational boating and fishing. Today the Wisconsin River is the hardest working river in the nation. There are 25 operating Hydroelectric Power Plants on the Wisconsin River. The "hydros" harness 645 feet of the rivers fall to generate nearly one billion kilowatt hours of renewable electricity a year — enough energy to supply the residential needs of over 300,000 people without creating any pollution.
Despite this, a 93-mile (150 km) stretch of the Wisconsin between its mouth and the
Prairie du Sac Dam 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 to preserve its scenic integrity.
File:WisconsinDells02.jpg, Dells of the Wisconsin River, May 2002.
File:WisconsinRiverDamStevensPoint.jpg, A dam in Stevens Point
File:WisconsinRiverBridge.WIS82.jpg, Highway 82 bridge over the Wisconsin River
File:WisconsinRiverBoating.jpg, Boating on the Wisconsin River
File:WyalusingStateParkWisconsinRiverIntoMississippiRiver.jpg, Delta at the Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem), second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest Drainage system (geomorphology), drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson B ...
, seen from Wyalusing State Park
Wyalusing State Park is a Wisconsin state park at the confluence of the Mississippi and Wisconsin rivers in the town of Wyalusing, just south of Prairie du Chien.
Wyalusing means "home of the warrior" in the Lenape language spoken by ...
Navigable river of the United States
The Wisconsin River is a "navigable river of the United States." This designation primarily means that the federal government has jurisdiction for dams on the river. Dams that include hydropower facilities are regulated by the
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Courts have ruled that despite the fact that the river lies entirely in one state, it nevertheless historically carried goods to markets in other states and therefore is subject to the
commerce clause of the
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven articles, it delineates the natio ...
. Courts have also ruled that raw logs, even if merely carried via log drives to mills within the state, constitute commerce. On the basis of these judgments, the Wisconsin River is considered a navigable waterway throughout its entire length. This designation does not generally have bearing on recreational use of the river. Boat registrations and fishing licenses are obtained through the
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, for example.
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. It extends from
Sauk City to the point where the Wisconsin River empties into the Mississippi, about south of the city of
Prairie du Chien. The
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources manages protected lands of over , including the river itself, islands, and some lands adjacent to the river. In 2020 the riverway was designated as a protected
Ramsar site.
There are no dams or man-made obstructions to the natural flow of water between the hydroelectric dam just north of Sauk City and the confluence of the Wisconsin and the Mississippi. This long stretch of free-flowing river provides important natural habitats for a variety of wildlife, including
white-tail deer,
North American river otters,
beaver
Beavers are large, semiaquatic rodents in the genus ''Castor'' native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. There are two extant species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers a ...
s,
turtle
Turtles are an order of reptiles known as Testudines, characterized by a special shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Cryptodira (hidden necked t ...
s,
sandhill cranes,
eagle
Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, j ...
s,
hawks, and a variety of fish species.
Recreational opportunities on the lower Wisconsin River range from fishing and canoeing to tubing and camping. Canoe camping is particularly popular because of the abundance of suitable sandbars along the riverway and because no permits are required. On summer weekends,
naturists
Naturism is a lifestyle of practising non-sexual social nudity in private and in public; the word also refers to the cultural movement which advocates and defends that lifestyle. Both may alternatively be called nudism. Though the two terms ar ...
can be found on
Mazo Beach
Mazo Beach is the colloquial name for Mazomanie Bottoms State Natural Area, located in Sauk County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Property along the river was acquired in parcels by the State of Wisconsin since the 1950s to provide a full range ...
which is north of the village of
Mazomanie. According to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, two thirds of river users can be found on the stretch between Prairie du Sac and
Spring Green.
Cities and villages along the river
*
Biron
*
Boscobel
*
Brokaw
*
Eagle River
*
Kronenwetter
*
Merrill
*
Merrimac
*
Mosinee
*
Muscoda
*
Nekoosa
*
Okee
*
Plover
Plovers ( , ) are a widely distributed group of wading birds belonging to the subfamily Charadriinae.
Description
There are about 66 species in the subfamily, most of them called "plover" or "dotterel". The closely related lapwing subf ...
*
Port Edwards
*
Portage
Portage or portaging (Canada: ; ) is the practice of carrying water craft or cargo over land, either around an obstacle in a river, or between two bodies of water. A path where items are regularly carried between bodies of water is also called a ...
*
Prairie du Sac
Prairie du Sac is a village in Sauk County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 4,420 at the 2020 census. The village is surrounded by the Town of Prairie du Sac, the Wisconsin River, and the village of Sauk City; together, Prairie du ...
*
Rhinelander
*
Rothschild
Rothschild () is a name derived from the German ''zum rothen Schild'' (with the old spelling "th"), meaning "with the red sign", in reference to the houses where these family members lived or had lived. At the time, houses were designated by sign ...
*
Sauk City
*
Schofield
*
Spring Green
*
Stevens Point
*
Tomahawk
*
Wausau
*
Whiting
*
Wisconsin Dells
*
Wisconsin Rapids
See also
*
List of Wisconsin rivers
References
External links
River Alliance of Wisconsin
Wisconsin's Name: Where It Came From and What It Means, Wisconsin Historical Society
Lower Wisconsin State Riverway BoardPictures and Information of the Northern Stretch of the Wisconsin RiverCurrent Wisconsin River ConditionsLower Wisconsin River Maps and Mileage*
* Kent, Paul G. and Dudiak, Tamara A
''Wisconsin Water Law: A Guide to Water rights and Regulations, Second Edition''(University of Wisconsin Extension, 2001).
{{authority control
Rivers of Wisconsin
Tributaries of the Mississippi River
Driftless Area
Bodies of water of Wood County, Wisconsin
Rivers of Grant County, Wisconsin
Rivers of Lincoln County, Wisconsin
Rivers of Sauk County, Wisconsin
Rivers of Columbia County, Wisconsin
Bodies of water of Portage County, Wisconsin
Rivers of Oneida County, Wisconsin
Rivers of Marathon County, Wisconsin
Mississippi River watershed
Ramsar sites in the United States