Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a mapped river in the YearMaps hydrographic index. River courses organise settlement, agriculture and frontier-making more durably than any political boundary, and this reach is indexed against the dams, lakes and cities within its catchment.
- Feature Class
- River
- Coordinates
- 44.30°, -89.90°
About Wisconsin
The Wisconsin River is the longest river in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, at approximately 430 miles (692 km) long. As a tributary of the Mississippi River, it is part of the Mississippi River System. The river's name was first recorded in 1673 by Jacques Marquette as "Meskousing" from his Indian guides - most likely Miami for "river running through a red place."
The river has been used for transportation, hunting, and fishing since prehistoric times. In the lumber industry, loggers used the upper reaches of the river and its tributaries to drive logs to their sawmills and the lower reaches to float rafts of sawn boards to markets as near as Portage and as far as St. Louis. Today, it is source of energy and tourism: dams along the river generate hydroelectric power, and people fish, boat, water-ski and sight-see on the river. It is home to many species of fish and other wildlife.
Encyclopedic summary adapted from Wikipedia: Wisconsin River (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Wisconsin in Depth
Geography
The Wisconsin is the longest river in the state, arising at the Michigan border in the northeast and emptying into the Mississippi River far to the southwest near Prairie du Chien. It originates in the forests of the North Woods Lake District in Lac Vieux Desert on the border with the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. It flows south across the glacial plain of central Wisconsin, passing through Wausau, Stevens Point, and Wisconsin Rapids. In southern Wisconsin, it encounters the terminal moraine formed during the last ice age, where it flows through the Dells of the Wisconsin River. North of Madison at Portage the river turns to the west, flowing through Wisconsin's hilly Western Upland and joining the Mississippi approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) south of Prairie du Chien.
History
Native Americans had long used the Wisconsin as a highway through the forests, canoeing and fishing it, living along its banks and burying their dead there. At times they fought, but they also met to trade, and several tribes could share the same hunting grounds.
In 1673, French missionary Jacques Marquette, French-Canadian explorer Louis Joliet, five voyageurs, and two Miami guides arrived near the headwaters of the Fox River - modern-day Portage. From there, they portaged their two canoes slightly less than two miles through marsh and oak plains to the Wisconsin River. They then continued downstream to the Wisconsin's mouth, entering the Mississippi on June 17.
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Wisconsin River (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Wisconsin: Key Facts
| Length | 692 km |
|---|---|
| Average discharge | 340 m³/s |
| Drainage basin | 31,805 km² |
| Mouth | Mississippi River |
| Drainage system | Wisconsin River basin |
| Tributaries | Baraboo River, Big Eau Pleine River, Eau Claire River, Little Eau Pleine River, Big Rib River, New Wood River, Prairie River, Tomahawk River |
Facts from Wikidata Q978496 (CC0).
Major River Dossiers
Hand-written studies of the great river systems of history.
Connected Reaches
Nearby watercourses in the same drainage network.
Water Bodies in the Catchment
Settlements Along the Reach
Hydraulic Infrastructure Nearby
Surrounding Terrain
Wisconsin: Quick Answers
- Where is Wisconsin?
- Wisconsin is located in United States, at 44.3009° N, 89.8994° W.
- Are there dams on the Wisconsin?
- No dam on the Wisconsin is recorded in the YearMaps dam index, which covers major structures only.