F 582 .S19 Copy 1 THE STORY OF THE FOX-WlSCONSlN RIVERS IMPROVEMENT BY JOHN BELL SANBORN, PH. D. From Proceedings of The State Historical Society of Wisconsin, IS99 1 >L\DISON State Historical Society of Wisconsin 1900 THE STORY OF THE FOX-WISCONSIN RIVERS IMPROVEMENT JOHN BELL SANBORN, PH. D. ( rroiii I'Kiceediiigs <»f Tho State Historical Society of Wisconsin. iSug 1 MADISON Sl-ATK IIlSlOlilCAI. SOCIKTY or WISCONSIN 1900 THE STORY OF THE FOX WISCONSIN RIVERS IMFROVEMEXr T'.Y .TOIIX BELL SANBOKN^ PH. D. Before an audience in the city of Green Bay it will probably be considered snperflnons to more than refer to the character- istics of the water ronte between the Great Lakes and the Mis- sissippi, formed by the Fox and Wisconsin rivers. To the In- dian and the explorer, it seemed the one especially marked by nature for passage from Lake Michigan to the Father of Waters. The portages around the rapids and across the plain at Fort Win- nebago were of small moment to the navigators of light canoes, and the natural state of the rivers sufficed for the needs of early travel and transportation." But advancing civilization demanded larger vessels for the carrying of the heavier freights from the interior of Wisconsin and the states west of the Mississippi. And the route \vhich at once suggested itself, Avhen a connection between the Mississippi and the Lakes was desired, was the Fox-Wisconsin. To make the route available for this new^ commerce, it was necessary tliat extensive improvements be carried on, and I wish to give this morning a brief account of the efforts made by this State and the United States to render the rivers navigal)le for the 2:)urposes of ^Address delivered before the Wisconsin State Historical Conven- tion at Green Bay, September 7, 1899. ^Ascending Fox River from Lake Michigan to Lake Winneljago, there is a rise of about 170 feet; from Lake Winnebago to Portage, a further rise of about 65 feet, the navigation below Lake Winnebago being in- terrupted by rapids. After a portage of about a mile, to the Wiscon- sin River, the descent to the Mississippi is about 200 feet. FOX- WISCONSIN IMPROVEMENT. 187 modern transportation ; efforts extending" over three-quarters of a century and crowned with very small success. The story of this improvement has, I think, an interest both general and special. General, because it is an important example in American indus- trial history, showing attempts to carry on an enterprise first by a state, then by a corporation, and then by the general govern- ment. Special, because the prosperity of the country adjacent to the Fox and Wisconsin rivers has been in a large measure af- fected by this project. The Wisconsin of territorial days had no capital to invest in the improvement of its rivers and so looked to Congress for aid in this enterprise. In 1829 a meeting was held in this city for the purpose of arousing interest in the matter and a memorial was sent to Congress asking that a canal be constructed at the portage between the rivers.^ Congress was very slow to respond to this request and to requests for the improvement of the whole length of the Fox-Wisconsin route, but the territory continued to invoke public aid rather than move in the matter itself. We do, indeed, catch a glimpse of private enterprise in an act of 1834 by which the territorial council of Michigan incorporated the Portage Canal Company, with a capital stock of $50,000. But this company seems to have begun and ended its existence with this act. In 1839 the first evidence of national interest in the improve- ment plan appeared in the form of a survey made under the di- rection of the war department by Captain Cram.^ This was fol- lowed by the more substantial aid of la gTant of lands, made in 1846. This grant was for the specific purpose of improving the rivers and constructing a canal between them, and consisted of one-half of the land for three miles on each side of the canal, the Fox River and the lakes through which it passed.^ The ^Wis. Hist. Colls., xi, p. 414. ' I have been unable to find the original report of Captain Cram, and so have used the abstracts from it in the report of the committee on internal improvements, Assemb. Journ., Wis., 1848, p. 65-69. ' Statutes at Large, ix, p. 83. 188 WISCONSIN HISTORICAL SOCIETY. grant was made in alternate sections, according to the principle universally adopted by our government in its grants in aid of canals and railways, with the price of the land remaining to the government doubled so that there would be no loss to the treas- ury.^ ^Vhen the State government was organized a bill was intro- duced in the legislature accepting the grant. The assembly committee on Internal Improvements, to which the bill was re- ferred, made a report which is a curious example of financial reasoning. They wished to show that the value of the lands was enough to enable the State to carry out the improvement without the appropriation of money. They did it in this manner : The estimate of the cost by Captain Cram was $448,470. This was too high for the committee's purposes so they reduced it by 30 per cent on account of the more settled condition of the country,, and because it was well known that it was too high. This made the estimate $313,920. But Captain Cram had based his esti- mate on an assumed length of the Fox River of 166 miles. The committee, however, after reducing his estimate of the cost, in- creased his estimate of the length of the river to 200 miles, which would make the grant 384,000 acres, worth $480,000 at the reg- ular price of $1.25 an acre." From the above convincing reas- oning they found that the grant was much more than ample for the proposed work. This optimism concerning the ability of the State to do this work is the more peculiar when we remember the recent failures of the other western states to construct in- ternal improvements, and that the State constitution just adopted prohibited the incurring of any debt on such behalf. The State law accepting the grant provided for a board of five members, elected by the legislature for one year, and called the Board of Public Works. They were directed to build the canal ^ See Sanborn, "Congressional Grants of Land in Aid of Railways," Bulletin of the University of Wisconsin (Economics, Political Science and History series), ii. No. 3, pp. 348, 349. ^ Assemb. Jotirn., Wis., 1848, pp. 65-69. FOX- WISCONSIN IMPROVEMENT. ^gQ first and then to proceed with the improvement of both rivers at once, except that the work on the rapids below Lake Winnebago might begin at any time.^ For a couple of years the prospects for the speedy completion of the contemplated work seemed bright. A steam dredge was constructed and put to w^ork on the Upper Fox. Contracts were let for the canal and locks at Portage, and for the improvement at Rapide Croche. At De Pere it was found that Joshua F. Cox was so anxious that the work should be done on the east side of the river that he was willing to undertake it for one dollar ; while Curtis Reed was to pay five thousand dollars for the privilege of building the northern channel at Winnebago Rapids. Sales of land had in 1849 amounted to $59,500 and in 1850 to $53,161.- But the next year told a different story. The land sales seemed to have reached their limit and as this was the only source of revenue from which the board could meet its expenses the work at Grand Chute and Cedar Rapids had to stop for lack of funds. With liabilities of $75,000 and only $8,000 in the treasury affairs may well be termed in bad shape. This much we learn from the report of the Board.'^ Rumors of mismanagement of the trust reposed in the Board of Public Works were probably rife throughout the State, and the legislature requested a statement from Caleb Croswell, a member of the Board, of his reasons for withholding his signature from the report. His reply showed that he had not agreed with the way affairs had been conducted, and, finding himself out- voted, had not wished to approve the acts of the majority.'* The legislature agreed with Croswell's view of the case and elected a new^ board in which he seems to have had practical control. The next year an investigating committee found that the affairs ^Laws of Wis., 1848, pp. 58-68. ^Assemb. Journ., Wis., 1850, pp. 551, 559. Ud., 1851, pp. 1005-1015. *Ibid., pp. 1035-1046. 190 WISCONSIN HISTORICAL SOCIETY. of the Board had been poorly managed but attributed this to the lack of experience of its members and political pressure brought on them to have work done in certain districts.-^ But the problem which presented itself was not how the work had been done in the past but how should it be done in the fu- ture. There was land in large quantities but no money could be obtained from it. At this juncture Morgan L. Martin came forward with a proposition by which the improvement could soon be finished. His offer was as follows : He would do the remainder of the work at the same rate as the contract price for that at Cedar Rapids, to be paid for out of the sales of the lands^ or if these proved insufficient, the deficit was to remain as a debt against the improvement, bearing interest at twelve per cent, to be paid whenever the State wished." This plan was ap- proved by the legislature and a contract entered into with Mar- tin.3 When Governor Farwell came into office the next year he stopped the issue of scrip to Martin, some $26,000 of which had been paid, giving as his opinion that the contract was both con- trary to the granting act, because it anticipated the sales of the lands, and contrary to the State constitution, because it created a debt for an internal improvement.'* As he refused to issue further scrip to Martin the legislature passed an act directing the secretary of state to do so.° This Governor F-arwell refused to sign^ but the legislature, with the support of a favorable opin- ion from the attorney general. Experience Estabrook,^ passed the act over the veto. Governor Farwell was not over-fond of the whole improve- ment scheme, and in a special message to the legislature in 1853 '^Report of Joint Select Committee (Madison, 1852), pp. 4-6. ' Senate Journ., Wis., 1851, pp. 77-83. ^ Laics of Wis., 1851, p. 191. * Senate Journ., Wis., 1852, pp. 15-16. ° Gen. Laws of Wis., 1852, ch. 340. * Senate Journ., Wis., 1852, pp. 591-99. '' Assemb. Journ, Wis., 1852, App. pp. 47-50. FOX-WISCONSIN IMPKOVEMENT. iQl he advised that it be turned over to private parties.^ The show- ing of the results up to that time was certainly such as to call for some action, with the estimated cost of the completion of the im- provement $500,000 and the estimated value of the unsold lands only $230,000.^ In accordance with the Governor's ad- vice the Fox and Wisconsin Improvement Company was incor- porated and all of the rights of the State in the improvement and all unsold lands were conferred on it. The State, however, retained the right to purchase the improvement at any time after twenty years at its actual cost over the value of the lands.^ The State had not received the entire amount of land contem- plated in the original act as many of the alternate sections cov- ered by the grant had been previously disposed of by the gov- ernment. So in 1854 the passage of an act was secured au- thorizing the selection from any public lands in the State then subject to entry at $1.25 an acre, of enough to make good this deficiency. The selection was to be made on the same principle as under the grant to Indiana for the Wabash and Erie canal.* Xow the grant for this canal had been for five miles on each side and the claim was at once set up that the intention of Con- gress had been to increase the Fox-Wisconsin grant to an equal amount. It is difficult to see such an intention in the act but the next year CongTess declared by a resolution that the act of 1854 had given Wisconsin land "equal mile for mile of its im- provement" to that granted Indiana.^ To whom did this increase in the gTant belong? It was, of course, claimed by the Fox and Wisconsin company under the act of incorj)oration. But the State also set up a claim to it on the ground that only the lands then granted to the State had ^ Assemb. Joitrn., Wis., 1853, pp. 188-201. = IMd. = Gen. Laws of Wis , 1853, pp. 92-98. * Statutes at Large, x, p. 345. 'IMd., p. 724. 192 WISCONSIN HISTORICAL SOCIETY. been conferred on tlie company.^ In a controversy of this sort the State had the upper hand and in 1856 the company was re- quired to reconstruct a portion of the improvement, and the im- provement itself, as well as the lands then unsold, was placed in the hands of trustees who were to pay the indebtedness which the^tate had already incurred, and after that the bonds of the compan}'." Under these conditions, and with its capital stock increased to $250,000, the company went on with the work. But the avail- able capital in the young State was insufficient to carry on the enterprise. xlssistance from Xew York was requested, and prominent capitalists, including Horatio Seymour, Erastus Corning, and Hiram Barney, gave their support to the work. This aid, however, proved too much for our native financiers. The affairs of the company were soon in such a condition that the trustees were forced to sell the improvement and the remain- ing lands, which passed into the hands of the iSTew York capital- ists.^ The sum received from the sale was sufficient to pay the expense which had been incurred in the execution of the trust, the indebtedness which was then outstanding against the State, and to leave an amount equal to the estimated cost of the re- mainder of the improvement."' The State thus retired from the field without financial loss, even if it had but little to show for twenty years of effort. Those who had purchased at the sale organized as the Green Bay and Mississippi Canal Company. The sincerity of their in- tentions to carry on the improvement may well be doubted. At any rate the work did not long remain in the hands of the com- pany. The interposition of Congress was secured and an ap- praisal ordered of the improvement, water power and lands of ^Report of Select Committee (Madison, 1856), pp. 37-44. See also communication of Theodore Conkey, Assemb , Journ., Wis., 1856, pp. 179- 30. - Gen. Laws of Wis.. 1856, pp. 123-31. ' See statement of Mr. Martin, Wis. Hist. Colls., xi, p. 413. * Blue Book, Wis., 1870, p. 385. FOX- WISCONSIN IMPEOVEMENT. ^93 the company. The board appointed for this purpose found that there had been expended on the work in the twenty-five years since the land grant had been made, over two million dollars. The value of the property of the company was fixed at $1,048,070, and the law directed that there be deducted from that the amount raised from the sale, of lands, or $723,000, leav- ing $325,000 to be paid the company. But it was further pro- vided that the secretary of war might elect to purchase the whole property, or either the water power, the improvement or the per- sonal property. The secretary decided that only the improve- ment should be bought and for this $145,000, the sum fixed by the appraisers, was appropriated by Congress.^ The Fox-Wisconsin improvement thus passed into the hands of the federal government, and since that time has been treated as any other piece of river improvement. Very considerable sums have been appropriated for the work, the greater part of which seems to have gone for damages to the property holders along the river. Work on the Fox River, particularly the part below Lake Winnebago, still continues, and additional appropri- ations have recently been made by Congress. But the particular interest in the story of the improvement has ceased. Six hundred and eighty thousand acres of land, nearly two million dollars of private capital and as much more in public money expended on the two rivers, and with what result ? Much has indeed been accomplished, particularly on the Lower Fox, where great water powers have been developed. But the result is hardly commensurate with the expenditure. That three sep- arate agencies have tried their hand at the work, suggests that perhaps the forces of nature are here much more powerful than the originators of the scheme ever dreamed, and that we should be slow in blaming those who have had the work in charge. Such is the story of the Fox-Wisconsin improvement. The route of the fur-trader was also to be that of modern commerce ; ^House Exec. Docs., 2nd sess., 42nd cong., No. 185. ;1^94: WISCONSIN HISTORICAL SOCIETY. the waters which had carried the canoe were to bear the steam- boat. But the task of effecting this change proved far greater than the early settlers had anticipated ; and before further re- sources could be summoned to the work, the conditions had changed. The railroad superseded the canal, and transportation by water fell into abeyance. ISTow the conditions seem to be again changing, and perhaps the future may see the revival and continuance of the old Fox and Wisconsin improvement. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 016 091 080 P