FOREST EESOURCES OF WISCONSIN. 531 



change from marsh to swamp, then to level dryland, and finally become 

 broken and mountainous. The pine is in dense groves that crowd 

 closely upon the swamps that skirt the bay, and reach back among the 

 hills of the interior. They are interspersed with hard timber. The 

 rivers tributary to the bay are the Escanaba, Cedar, Menominee, Pesh- 

 tigo, Oconto, Pensaukee, Little and Big Suamico Rivers, and the Fox. 

 The first two have but little lumbering. The Menominee is by far the 

 most important, and the mills are chiefly at Menominee on the north 

 or Michigan side, and at Marinette and Menekaune on the south or 

 Wisconsin side. The main boom is just above the rapids, where a dam 

 sets the waters back a long distance, the pressure of the logs being 

 partly borne by piers and lines of piles set at short distances over the 

 pond. The river is the only limit to the capacity of the boom. 



From an article on the timber lands of the Northwest,* the following 

 statement is given of the timber resources of Wisconsin : 



1. That district embracing waters of Lake Michigan, south of the Menominee, the 

 Fox River, the Pike, Pine, Peshtigo, and other small streams, all have been occupied 

 for years, supporting an important lumber traffic, and supplying to a great extent the 

 demand of Chicago. The timber of this region, particularly that upon the Wolf and 

 Fox Rivers, embraces some of the best timber of the State. 



2. The Wisconsin River district extends from south to north, and embraces, along 

 the waters of the river, very large tracts of timber, reaching to the Menominee waters, 

 and overlapping the Wolf and Fox Rivers districts. 



3. T]ie Chippewa River and its waters. — A very extensive district, embracing the whole 

 of the central portion of the State, and extending from near the waters of Lake Supe- 

 rior to the Mississippi. The remarkable water facilities of this stream will be observed 

 by reference to the map. The Wisconsin Central Railroad [recently completed] pene- 

 trates a large portion of the pine region tributary to this stream. 



4. The Saint Croix River district embraces the western portion of the State, and ex- 

 tending north and south between the Mississippi and Lake Superior. 



5. The Lake Superior district, embracing the slope on the border of Lake Superior, 

 from the Montreal River to the western boundary of the State ; all tributary to Du- 

 luth, Superior City, and Ashland. This district is drained by numerous streams, which 

 have sufficient capacity for floating logs. At Ashland the Wisconsin Central Railroad 

 has its terminus. 



The lumber and timber resources of this State will be given under the 

 general article entitled "Lumber Interests of the Northwest." 



Pro])osed Wisconsin State park. 



The late Hon. Increase A. Lapham, of Milwaukee, suggested the 

 formation of a State park, embracing some forty townships, or 1,440 

 square miles, around the headwaters of the Wisconsin, Chippewa, and 

 other rivers, and bordering upon the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. 

 This region abounds in lakes, and besides being an agreeable place of 

 resort by sporting parties, it affords an opportunity for maintaining 

 reservoirs for equalizing the flow of waters, by saving the excess of the 

 winter and spring seasons for the wants of summer and autumn. No 

 action has, however, been taken toward securing this end. 



Similar conditions are presented around the headwaters of the Mis- 

 sissippi, in the State of Minnesota, which may hereafter claim the atten- 

 tion of the public in that State. 



MINNESOTA. 



The first report of the Commissioner of Statistics of this State (1860) 

 gives the following account of the natural distribution of its timber : 



The Great Coniferous District. — The elevated and broken region north of latitude 46° 

 and east of the meridian of the outlet of Red Lake may be described in general terms 



1 Written by George S. Frost, and published in the Lumber Trade and Manufacture, 

 1874, p. 46. 



