USGS Water Power in Northern Wisconsin 1906-Regional dams and basin data
Click on the link below to review excerpts from the USGS Water Power in Northern Wisconsin 1906. This report illustrates the conflict and competing interests of logging, hydropower, railroads and landowners regarding dams. This document foreshadows the Wisconsin State Supreme Court case on the water levels of the Rest Lake Dam.
There are great citations on the shift from river drives to railroads for log transport and the relief this change in transport brought to the river basins. Further, the dam sites and gradients of the Manitowish River are documented with great detail. Rest Lake, Boulder Lake (County Highway K) and Fish Trap Dam (northeast of Boulder Lake) are cited by township, range and section number. Interesting, no mention of the 1899 approved dam on the upper Trout River is present in this 1906 document, suggesting that the dam may not have been necessary due to railroad development.
A limited, but identical document was also published by the state of Wisconsin, further illustrating the importance of water rights and use during the turn of the century.
