Chippewa River (Wisconsin)
| Chippewa River | |
|---|---|
Original channel of the Chippewa at Jim Falls, from the old highway bridge looking upstream toward the dam | |
Chippewa River and its watershed | |
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Wisconsin |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | West Fork Chippewa River and East Fork Chippewa River |
| • location | Bayfield County |
| • coordinates | 45°53′25″N 91°04′41″W / 45.890286°N 91.078028°W |
| Mouth | |
• location | Buffalo County, Wisconsin |
• coordinates | 44°24′33″N 92°05′03″W / 44.4091°N 92.0841°W |
| Length | 183 mi (295 km) |
The Chippewa River of northwest Wisconsin flows over 200 miles, starting about forty miles from Lake Superior and running southwest to the Mississippi River below Pepin. A half dozen dams along its course produce electricity. The man-made lakes above those dams support boating and cottages. Fishermen, canoeists, kayakers and sightseers enjoy all parts the river.
Long ago, Native Americans traveled and fished the Chippewa. In the late 1800s, when there were no roads or railroads in northern Wisconsin, lumbermen used the river and its tributaries to transport huge amounts of pine timber from the forests of northern Wisconsin to sawmills downstream and to lumber markets far down the Mississippi.