138 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters. 
trips on the Upper Fox and Wolf Rivers. The number of lockages 
has increased since 1900 but this is due for the most part to pleasure 
boats, especially small gasoline launches. Although the Fox River 
has not measured up to anticipations as a highway for steamboats, 
it was important in opening up that part of the state more rapidly 
than the surrounding regions. The water power developed at the 
dams, which were necessary for locks, has been of great advantage 
in building up there a concentrated group of industrial cities not 
equaled anywhere else in Wisconsin except along the shores of Lake 
Michigan. However many of the plants in this section, and four 
of the most modern, are now using steam power only. 
Steamboat navigation on the Wisconsin has always been almost 
negligible. In the 50’s following the improvement of the: Fox River, 
two steamers were partially successful in the attempt to make regu¬ 
lar trips to carry lead from Galena to Fort Winnebago (near Port¬ 
age). 29 In 1859 a steamer made regular trips on the Wisconsin 
River between Sauk City and Portage. 30 Many are the records of 
failures in the attempt to navigate the Wisconsin except at high 
water stages. In 1868 the Wisconsin, a side wheeler drawing only 
two feet, made the attempt and met with little difficulty in the 
Upper Fox but found it almost impossible to get down the Wiscon¬ 
sin at all. Later that same year a dredge boat tried to get up the 
Wisconsin from the Mississippi but was unable to get into the Wis¬ 
consin. The boat drew 32 inches but only 24 inches of water could 
be found on the bars of the Wisconsin for six miles up from its 
mouth. In 1869 some work was done on the river between Portage 
and Sauk City and two small side wheeled steamers were enabled 
to make trips but with difficulty. 31 In 1887 the bridge tender at 
Helena on the Wisconsin River said that it had been four years 
since he had swung the draw for a river craft. He told of an at¬ 
tempt of a small steamboat to make the passage on what was then 
considered a good stage of water from Portage to Lone Rock. She 
had been two weeks making the 21 miles from Arena to Lone Rock 
and finally was abandoned on a sand bar. 32 These are but a few 
of the many attempts that might be cited. In 1916 I asked the 
superintendent of the power plant at Prairie du Sac how many 
times he had opened the gates of the dam during the year. He 
29 Whitbeck, p. 32. 
80 Warren, p. 42. 
31 Ibid, p. 59. 
82 Thwaites, Down Historic Waterways, p. 262. 
