Jump River

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Looking downstream from the wayside at Jump River, with the water medium-high Jump River below wayside.jpg
Looking downstream from the wayside at Jump River, with the water medium-high

The Jump River is a small rocky river in north-central Wisconsin. [1] In the late 19th century it was used to drive logs down to the Chippewa River. Today it is recreational, rambling through woods and farmlands, used mostly by fishermen and paddlers.

Wisconsin A north-central state of the United States of America

Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States, in the Midwest and Great Lakes regions. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin is the 23rd largest state by total area and the 20th most populous. The state capital is Madison, and its largest city is Milwaukee, which is located on the western shore of Lake Michigan. The state is divided into 72 counties.

Chippewa River (Wisconsin) river in Wisconsin, USA, tributary to the Mississippi

The Chippewa River in Wisconsin flows approximately 183 miles (294 km) through west-central and northwestern Wisconsin. It was once navigable for approximately 50 miles (80 km) of its length, from the Mississippi River, by Durand, northeast to Eau Claire. Its catchment defines a portion of the northern boundary of the Driftless Area. The river is easily accessible for bikers and pleasure seekers via the Chippewa River State Trail which follows the river from Eau Claire to Durand.

Contents

Geography

South Fork of the Jump River @ Big Falls Co. Park Southforkjumpriver.jpg
South Fork of the Jump River @ Big Falls Co. Park

The Jump is formed at the confluence of the North Fork Jump River and the South Fork Jump River in southwestern Price County, Wisconsin. From there it flows approximately 25 miles (40 km) through Rusk, Taylor and Chippewa counties, emptying into the Holcombe Flowage and joining the Chippewa River, and eventually the Mississippi.

Price County, Wisconsin County in the United States

Price County is a county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2010 census, the population was 14,159. Its county seat is Phillips.

Rusk County, Wisconsin County in the United States

Rusk County is a county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2010 census, the population was 14,755. Its county seat is Ladysmith.

Taylor County, Wisconsin County in the United States

Taylor County is a county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2010 census, the population was 20,689. Its county seat is Medford.

Communities along the river are Sheldon, Jump River, and Prentice.

Sheldon, Rusk County, Wisconsin Village in Wisconsin, United States

Sheldon is a village in Rusk County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 237 at the 2010 census.

Jump River (CDP), Wisconsin Census-designated place in Wisconsin, United States

Jump River is an unincorporated census-designated place located in the towns of Jump River and McKinley in Taylor County, Wisconsin, United States. It is located on the north bank of the Jump River, from which the hamlet takes its name. As of the 2010 census, its population was 52.

Prentice, Wisconsin Village in Wisconsin, United States

Prentice is a village in Price County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 660 at the 2010 census. The village is located within the Town of Prentice.

History

The origin of the river's name is the source of minor local controversy. Some say that the name comes from the jumping water in the many rapids which mark nearly the upper half of its course. Others maintain that the river was so-named because a 19th-century forest fire jumped the river. Still others suggest that log drivers named it for the way the water level "jumps" up and down rapidly after rains and thaws. Its name in Ojibwe does not shed light on its present name either, since the Ojibwa call this stream Manidoons-ziibi ("Little Spirit River"). [2]

Indians lived along the Jump in the early years, growing little plots of crops on the river bottoms.

Jump River Falls (Big Falls) was once thought the likely rapids where Father René Menard disappeared in 1661 while trying to reach a band of refugee Hurons near Lake Chelsea. [3] Current thought is that he more likely disappeared at the dells of the Big Rib River, in the southeast corner of Taylor county. [4]

Wyandot people Native American ethnic group

The Wyandot people or Wendat, also called the Huron Nation and Huron people, are an Iroquoian-speaking peoples of North America who emerged as a tribe around the north shore of Lake Ontario. They traditionally spoke the Wyandot language, a Northern Iroquoian language, and were believed to number over 30,000 at the time of European encounter in the second decade of the 17th century.

Big Rib River river in the United States of America

The Big Rib River is a river in central Wisconsin. It originates in northeastern Taylor County at Rib Lake, and flows into Marathon County where it joins the Wisconsin River. "Rib River" is a translation of the Native American name.

Logging on the Jump had begun by 1858. [5] Before that the Jump River valley was covered by heavy forest. The first surveyors in the mid-19th century found hemlock, yellow birch, sugar maple, white pine, black spruce, tamarack, white cedar, and other species, with hemlock most common in most areas. [6] [7] Crews cut the white pine first and stored the logs through the winter, then drove them down the river to mills at Chippewa and Eau Claire. Logs were driven from April to July. [8] For the winter of 1888 to 1889, the Chippewa Logging Company and Mississippi River Logging Company estimated the cuts on various branches to be: [9]

<i>Tsuga canadensis</i> species of plant, Eastern hemlock

Tsuga canadensis, also known as eastern hemlock, eastern hemlock-spruce or Canadian hemlock, and in the French-speaking regions of Canada as pruche du Canada, is a coniferous tree native to eastern North America. It is the state tree of Pennsylvania.

<i>Betula alleghaniensis</i> species of plant

Betula alleghaniensis, the yellow birch or golden birch, is a large and important lumber species of birch native to North-eastern North America. Its vernacular names refer to the color of the tree's bark. The name Betula lutea was used expansively for this tree but has now been replaced.

<i>Acer saccharum</i> species of plant

Acer saccharum, the sugar maple or rock maple, is a species of maple native to the hardwood forests of eastern Canada, from Nova Scotia west through southern Quebec, central and southern Ontario to southeastern Manitoba around Lake of the Woods, and the northern parts of the Central and Eastern United States, from Minnesota eastward to the highlands of the upper eastern states and the interior Midwest. Sugar maple is best known for its bright fall foliage and for being the primary source of maple syrup.

Main Chippewa75,000,000 board feet
......
Main Jump7,000,000 board feet
South Fork Jump13,000,000 board feet
North Fork Jump5,000,000 board feet

The last logs were driven down the Jump around 1903. [10] The less buoyant species have been logged ever since, hauled out by rail and truck.

The first bridge across the Jump was the Wisconsin Central Railway's trestle at Prentice, built in the 1870s. [11] The "Black Bridge" above the village of Jump River's swimming hole was built in 1899 and 1900. The SM&P Railway bridge at Jump River was built in 1904. The Range Line wagon bridge in Jump River was built in 1909. It was wrecked by an ice jam in 1913 and repaired. The Albert bridge on what is now county H was built in 1912. The La Follette Bridge just east of Jump River opened in 1933. The worst flood on record occurred around Labor Day of 1941. Days of rain raised the river level about twelve feet, destroying the Black Bridge and washing out approaches to the La Follette and Range Line bridges. [10]

Recreation

The Jump is good for canoeing when the water is high enough, with little rapids and boulders to dodge. [12] The banks are largely undeveloped, though roads and farms are often just behind the trees. When the water level is medium to high, the stretch from the village of Jump River to County H or to Sheldon is fun. When the level is higher one can canoe from below Big Falls down to the village, and even above the Falls. [13] Recent water levels at the gauging station at Sheldon are available here.

Fisherman angle in many holes along the river. Fish in the river include northern pike, smallmouth bass, musky, walleye, catfish, redhorse, and suckers. The areas below the North and South Forks are one of twelve areas in Wisconsin where Lake Sturgeon may be legally harvested. [14]

Big Falls County Park, known locally as "Jump River Falls," surrounds a small gorge where the river tumbles through boulders. It has a picnic area and walking trails along the river. Picnic areas are also at parks in the village of Jump River and Haley Park in Sheldon. Haley Park has a sandy swimming beach, as does "the swimming hole," a mile above the village of Jump River.

In winter when the river is frozen, snowmobiles run up and down it on the ice.

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References

  1. ↑ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Jump River
  2. ↑ Freelang Ojibwe Dictionary
  3. ↑ Kellogg, Louise P., "The First Missionary in Wisconsin", The Wisconsin Magazine of History, Volume 4, number 4, June 1921.
  4. ↑ Schmirler, A. A. A., "Wisconsin's Lost Missionary: The Mystery of Father Rene Menard", The Wisconsin Magazine of History, Volume 45, number 2, winter, 1961-1962.
  5. ↑ Martin, Alex S. "Interior Field Notes (Apr. 1858)". Board of Commissioners of Public Lands. Retrieved 2011-04-03.
  6. ↑ White, Delos M. "Interior Field Notes (June 1855-July 1855)". Board of Commissioners of Public Lands. Retrieved 4 April 2011.
  7. ↑ Finley, Robert W. "Finley's Presettlement Vegetation". University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1976.
  8. ↑ "Daily Journal - 1882-1890 - Little Falls Dam - Holcombe", Chippewa County Historical Society, reprinted in Malcolm Rosholt's "Lumbermen on the Chippewa"
  9. ↑ Phillips Times, Dec 22, 1888, quoting Chippewa Times, reprinted in Rosholt's "Lumbermen on the Chippewa".
  10. 1 2 Nagel, Paul. I Remember; I Remember: History and Lore of Jump River Wisconsin, 1986.
  11. ↑ Forrester, George (February 1891). Historical and Biographical Album of the Chippewa Valley Wisconsin. Chicago, Ill.: A. Warner. p. 356.
  12. ↑ "Wild Rivers and Glacial Lakes of Northwest WI". Wild Rivers and Glacial Lakes of Northwest Wisconsin.
  13. ↑ Svob, Mike (2006). Paddling Northern Wisconsin - 85 Great Trips by Canoe and Kayak. Madison, Wisconsin: Trails Books. pp. 62–65.
  14. ↑ http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/Fishing/sturgeon/SturgeonHarvestAreas.html

Coordinates: 45°15′49″N91°09′05″W / 45.26361°N 91.15139°W / 45.26361; -91.15139

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