Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1922-02-16
SHIP Alloy.

SHIP Alloy!
Last Monday the steamer
Marathon passed thru the
rapids on her way to the
Wolf river where she will ply
between New London and
Shawano. She has been run
ming between Mosinee aid
Wausau, but drew too much
water at low stages. 1t is the
first steamer that ever
went through the rapids
There was no damage done
to the boat. Mr. McAuley was
the pilot.
John Rablin, now deceased, who
came to Grand Rapids in 1856, built a
steam single mill on the east side
near the first island below the lower
terry landing in section Is and also a
line of piers in the river extending
up the river from the mill to the west
bank near Mrs Lytle's home. This
mill was only operated tive or three
summers.
About 1871 my father and an attor-
ney, Levi P. Powers, now deceased,
of this city, commenced to cultivate
the wild cranberry marshes running
from the Wood road and west of the
Lutheran Church northwest to Lynn
creek. They built house and dug a
ditch from the river where the paper
mill now is up to the Lynn creek
and built a dam across the creek to
turn the water down the ditch. Pow
ers and Wood leased a part of the
marsh of Mr.. Strong. This cranberry
venture was not a success as fire de-
stroyed the marsh and buildings and
the venture was finally given up.
worked on the marsh several seasons
at that time.
[ do not know the year that the two
steamboats, operated on the Wisconsin
between Pointe Bosse and Prairie du
Chen.
Beavers made their homes in the
vicinity. In 1871 when we commenced
operations to build the cranberry
marsh we found very substantial
beaver dam sixty or seventy rods long
near the west end of where the rail-
road loop in the village now is. Near
ly all the land in the extensive wood
yard of the Paper Company and west
Of the Lutheran Church was where we
picked our cranberries.
Most of the freight for Grand Rapids
and vicinity from 1857 to 1872, was
hauled from New Lisbon forty-four
miles, thru the sand by four horse
teams on two inch tire wagons, one
Of the Lisbon roads passing through
what is nov Nekoosa. The Green Bay
and Lake Pepin, now Green Bay &
Western was completed to Grand Ra-
Ipids in November 1872 and the Wis
consin Valley Railroad, now the c. NJ
& St. T., was built in June 1878.
VIM. C. Trayhern, now deceased,
hauled lumber from his sawmill at
Elm Lake on sleighs across country to
the Wisconsin river and piled it on
the right bank just below the tail race
of the paper mill. This was about 1870
After the failure of the Nekoosa
LAUNDERING Company the town was
dead and the leading store building at
Pointa Bosse, was torn down and
made into raft and run down the
river to Lone Rock, Wisconsin and
made into a hotel.
The plat of the first survey shows
that Amable Grignon had a saw mill
on Ten Mile Greek near Lyman HAM
monds on SW Sc Sec. 26-21-5. The
Ten Mile Greek is marked on the plat
as Iron Creek"
The first lumber sawed at Port Ed
wards was in 1897. The Barnum saw
mill on the Wisconsin, in Adams Coun-
ty, sawed it's last lumber in 1876 and
was burned in November the same
year.
When the Nekoosa Paper Company
first began to build it's paper mill,
the dam and town, in March, 1898.
there was not an acre of ground i'm
proved or building on the vast side
Of the river between Moccasin Creek
and the Manz farm at the lower ferry
a distance of two and one-half miles.
Mr.. Strong told me the Indians called
the Whitney Rapids" Nekoosa mean
ing Swift Running Water"
10 show you the price lands in that
territory before the mill was built the
following are some of the prices:
On November p, bought part of
lot Z, and the SW NV and the NV SW
all in section 1928 for five hundred
dollars. On November l, 1890, / bought
the NV Sc and the S1a of the Sc in
Sec. for two hundred dollars and on
January 3, 1893 | bought the whole
SWA of Sec. for two hundred fifty
dollars and on April 10, 1897 the whole
of the NEA of Sec. 9 for six hundred
dollars. On October 7, 1897 nv broth
er, Frank, and |, bought so forties of
land at S1.25 per acre. Thirty-three