Lumbering in Wisconsin
Logging was initially carried out on a small scale around Prairie du Chien, Portage, and Green Bay, but after 1836, when the Menominees were forced to cede much of central and eastern Wisconsin, white settlers began to actively develop the lumber industry. Forests in three main regions were exploited: the Wisconsin River valley in the center of the state, the Wolf River in northeastern Wisconsin, and the watersheds of the Black and Chippewa Rivers in the northwest. Enough pine was harvested from the Black River Valley alone to build a boardwalk nine feet wide and four inches thick around the entire world.
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