192 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters. 
operated by private firms or corporations, the first being that at 
Kenosha in 1840. Lumber companies in the northern part of 
the state still build and. maintain this sort of a structure and 
their piers and channels were the basis of the government im¬ 
provement at both Marinette and Pensaukee. On Lake Su¬ 
perior the private ore docks are always important factors in har¬ 
bor facilities and many channels have been dredged at private 
expense from the deeper waters to these docks. Summarizing, 
it may be said that in Wisconsin every local division has con¬ 
tributed its share in the development of the harbors, all being 
aided by the co-operation of the individual. 
Illustrative of the working out of these principles it is of in¬ 
terest to study in detail the work of these various factors in 
Wisconsin’s three oldest harbors, Kenosha,, Kacine and Mil¬ 
waukee. 
Kenosha is situated fifty miles north of Chicago and thirty- 
three miles south of Milwaukee. The first step to be taken 
towards a harbor was Delegate Durkee’s special pre-emption bill 
of 1837, which provided that the village lots should be sold by 
the government at an appraised value, fixed by its officers and 
that the proceeds, estimated at $30,000 should go to the harbor 
fund. It seems that the land was still in the hands of the gov¬ 
ernment and this way was devised of providing homes for the 
settlers and insuring their future. The bill, however, failed to 
pass Congress. A survey was conducted by the government in 
1840, but as there were several points, at which it was possible 
to locate the piers, dissensions arose and no action followed, al¬ 
though the citizens by subscription raised funds to erect a light¬ 
house. Petitions and memorials, both for appropriations and 
land grants continued to be poured in upon Congress and in 1844 
$12,500 was authorized to be spent by that body. During the 
latter forties city taxes and bonds were voted and in 1850 a 
dredge purchased out of the funds of the municipal treas¬ 
ury. Government engineers during this period frequently ap¬ 
peared before the city council to discuss plans and the two 
authorities: worked in entire harmony. Appropriations by the 
city up to 1879 reached a total of $75,000, about half of which 
was in the form of bonds. The government up to 1900 has ex- 
