Wisconsin herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1846-1849, 1846-04-04
COMMUNICATIONS.
For the Herald.
The Country North of the
Wisconsin.

, iect, beg 10 call your attention 10 the
imnrovemeps of some of our rivers, for
NAVIGATION. The first we shall notice
lis the pack River. This stream, from
the oils to the Mississippi will proba-
~ average 100 or $50 yards in width
and at its lowest stage is of sufficient
depth to float RATS of eight or ten
courses of boards, except at point
where its waters divide into several
mouths. And at a higher stage, having
several feet water, small steamboats,
might ascend it to the falls, with but
little difficulty. The distance from the
mouth to the falls has been variously
estimated, of from seventy to ninety
miles by the river.
AT point some three or four miles
from the Mississippi, in the wet bot
toms of that river, the Black River
divides into two principal and sever
al smaller branches. One of these
branches runs directly into the Mis-
sissippi, by short route, and with a
sufficient depth of water to carry boats
or RATS at any ordinary stage of water
But this channel is INSTRUCTED by a
raft of drift wood, which could be re-
moved by the expenditure of few
hundred dollars.
The other principal branch where
RATS and boats are now obliged to go)
turns to the south, and after running
through a Lake and several miles Of
dead water, empties into the Mississip-
Ipi at Prairie La Cross, some IS miles
from the point of division. But sand
bar at the point OF division, allows,
often, in low stage, not more that 10
or IL inches of water. And the Diff
Guilty Of getting in and out of this
mouth, is very great. But BY opening
the other mouth, by removing the raft,
and by throwing dams across the heads
of the other sloughs, and thereby con-
timing the waters of the river within
one channel, the whole expense of
which would not probably excede one
or two thousand dollars, the river would
be rendered navigable at most seasons
of the year, when not INSTRUCTED by
ice.
The object to be obtained by this
improvement IS to let out the vast
amount of lumber now and hereafter
to be made, upon the waters of that
stream. The river heads at what the
Indians call the Mountain of the
lStars'-said to be about 30 miles in
circumference-and from which also
issues the La Clear and Yellow River
branches of the Chippewa, and two
branches OF the Wisconsin,. These Gro
streams, issuing from this mound, run
through vast forest of pine, a good
share of which is on the Black river
and its tributaries. The amount of
lumber annually fioated out of this
river at this time, including boards and
timber, is probably three millions of
feet. Much Of the soil within the
valley of this river is not good 70.
farming. There are some tamerack
swamps, cranberry marshes and ex-
tensive sand plains, often of low, wet
land but affordiDg much pine and
other timber. But still some excellent
farming land can be found and espe-
cially on the extensive prairies of La
Cross and st. Trompaleau, which bor-
der upon the river near the mouth
The valley of Black River, contains
more poor land than any portion Of the
country through which l passed, of the
same extent. But this valley IS not in
the Chippewa country" nor yet in the
country between the Kickapoo and
Mississippi" but between the two.
The next river that we shall notice,
as requiring improvements is the Chip
pewa. At the mouth of this river a
sand bar usually exists in low stage
Of water, owing to the action of the
two currents meeting at that place. In
some instances men have waded across
on this bar at less than knee deep, and
yet, such is the movable character OF
the sand, that RATS have been worked
through it when the water was but a
lew inches above the sand. This OBJ
structlon, it is believed, can be re-
moved by stopping the outlets to the
several channels that occur in the first
fifteen miles up the river. The river
for this fifteen miles will probably
average 300 yards wide. but has more
islands and sand-bars than any other
portion Of it. The La Beat slough,
which DIVORCES from the main channel