Sawyer County | |
---|---|
Coordinates: 45°54′N91°08′W / 45.9°N 91.14°W | |
Country | United States |
State | Wisconsin |
Founded | 1885 |
Named for | Philetus Sawyer |
Seat | Hayward |
Largest city | Hayward |
Area | |
• Total | 1,350 sq mi (3,500 km2) |
• Land | 1,257 sq mi (3,260 km2) |
• Water | 93 sq mi (240 km2) 6.9% |
Population | |
• Total | 18,074 |
• Density | 14.4/sq mi (5.6/km2) |
Time zone | UTC−6 (Central) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC−5 (CDT) |
Congressional district | 7th |
Website | www |
Sawyer County is a county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, its population was 18,074. [1] Its county seat is Hayward. [2] The county partly overlaps with the reservation of the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians.
The area that is now Sawyer County was contested between the Dakota and Ojibwe peoples in the 18th century. Oral histories tell that the Ojibwes defeated the Dakotas locally in the Battle of the Horse Fly on the Upper Chippewa River in the 1790s. [3] [4] By this time, Lac Courte Oreilles had become the site of an Ojibwe village. Ojibwes allowed trader Michel Cadotte to build a fur-trading outpost in the area in 1800. [5] The United States acquired the region from the Ojibwe Nation in the 1837 Treaty of St. Peters, but the Ojibwes retained the right to hunt and fish on treaty territory. Ojibwe people successfully negotiated to establish the permanent Lac Courte Oreilles Indian Reservation in the 1854 Treaty of La Pointe. [6]
The county is named for Philetus Sawyer, a New England man who represented Wisconsin in the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate in the 19th century. [7] Logging began in the late 1850s. Loggers came from Cortland County, New York, Carroll County, New Hampshire, Orange County, Vermont, and Down East Maine in what is now Washington County, Maine and Hancock County, Maine. These were "Yankee" migrants, that is to say they were descended from the English Puritans who had settled New England during the 1600s. They were mostly members of the Congregational Church. [8] Sawyer County was created in 1883 and organized in 1885. [9] In the 1890s immigrants came from a variety of countries such as Germany, Norway, Poland, Ireland and Sweden.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,350 square miles (3,500 km2), of which 93 square miles (240 km2) (6.9%) are covered by water. [10] It is the fifth-largest county in Wisconsin by land area.
Sawyer County Airport (KHYR) serves the county and surrounding communities.
Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
---|---|---|---|
1890 | 1,977 | — | |
1900 | 3,593 | 81.7% | |
1910 | 6,227 | 73.3% | |
1920 | 8,243 | 32.4% | |
1930 | 8,878 | 7.7% | |
1940 | 11,540 | 30.0% | |
1950 | 10,323 | −10.5% | |
1960 | 9,475 | −8.2% | |
1970 | 9,670 | 2.1% | |
1980 | 12,843 | 32.8% | |
1990 | 14,181 | 10.4% | |
2000 | 16,196 | 14.2% | |
2010 | 16,557 | 2.2% | |
2020 | 18,074 | 9.2% | |
U.S. Decennial Census [12] 1790–1960 [13] 1900–1990 [14] 1990–2000 [15] 2010 [16] 2020 [1] |
As of the census of 2020, [1] the population was 18,074. The population density was 14.4 people per square mile (5.6 people/km2). There were 15,966 housing units at an average density of 12.7 units per square mile (4.9 units/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 77.0% White, 16.3% Native American, 0.6% African American, 0.3% Asian, 0.6% from other races, and 5.2% from two or more races. Ethnically, the population was 2.0% Hispanic or Latino of any race.
As of the census [17] of 2000, 16,196 people, 6,640 households, and 4,581 families resided in the county. The population density was 13 people per square mile (5.0 people/km2). The 13,722 housing units had an average density of 11 units per square mile (4.2 units/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 81.72% White, 0.31% African American, 16.07% Native American, 0.30% Asian, 0.37% from other races, and 1.23% from two or more races. About 0.90% of the population were Hispanics or Latinos of any race. About 29.6% were of German, 7.8% Irish, 6.7% Norwegian, 5.9% Polish, 5.2% Swedish, and 5.2% English ancestry; 95.4% spoke English, 2.0% Ojibwa and 1.1% Spanish as their first language.
Of the 6,640 households, 27.5% had children under 18 living with them, 54.2% were married couples living together, 10.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.0% were not families. About 26.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.7% had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.39, and the average family size was 2.86.
In the county, the age distribution was 24.1% under the age of 18, 6.0% from 18 to 24, 24.6% from 25 to 44, 27.4% from 45 to 64, and 17.9% who were 65 or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females, there were 101.8 males. For every 100 females 18 and over, there were 101.0 males.
In 2017, 167 births occurred, with a general fertility rate of 74.5 births per 1000 women aged 15–44, the eighth-highest rate out of all 72 Wisconsin counties. [18] Additionally, fewer than five induced abortions were reported as performed on women of Sawyer County residence in 2017. [19]
Year | Republican | Democratic | Third party | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | |
2020 | 5,909 | 56.22% | 4,498 | 42.80% | 103 | 0.98% |
2016 | 5,185 | 56.75% | 3,503 | 38.34% | 449 | 4.91% |
2012 | 4,442 | 49.22% | 4,486 | 49.71% | 97 | 1.07% |
2008 | 4,199 | 46.22% | 4,765 | 52.45% | 121 | 1.33% |
2004 | 4,951 | 52.37% | 4,411 | 46.66% | 91 | 0.96% |
2000 | 3,972 | 51.14% | 3,333 | 42.91% | 462 | 5.95% |
1996 | 2,603 | 40.20% | 2,773 | 42.83% | 1,099 | 16.97% |
1992 | 2,658 | 36.09% | 2,796 | 37.96% | 1,911 | 25.95% |
1988 | 3,260 | 49.88% | 3,231 | 49.43% | 45 | 0.69% |
1984 | 3,913 | 56.14% | 2,982 | 42.78% | 75 | 1.08% |
1980 | 3,548 | 50.07% | 3,065 | 43.25% | 473 | 6.68% |
1976 | 2,720 | 46.06% | 3,055 | 51.74% | 130 | 2.20% |
1972 | 3,081 | 62.52% | 1,765 | 35.82% | 82 | 1.66% |
1968 | 2,475 | 52.17% | 1,830 | 38.58% | 439 | 9.25% |
1964 | 2,012 | 43.62% | 2,591 | 56.17% | 10 | 0.22% |
1960 | 2,699 | 53.59% | 2,325 | 46.17% | 12 | 0.24% |
1956 | 2,823 | 64.54% | 1,520 | 34.75% | 31 | 0.71% |
1952 | 3,146 | 67.02% | 1,527 | 32.53% | 21 | 0.45% |
1948 | 2,257 | 49.51% | 2,177 | 47.75% | 125 | 2.74% |
1944 | 2,421 | 55.02% | 1,947 | 44.25% | 32 | 0.73% |
1940 | 2,745 | 52.46% | 2,439 | 46.61% | 49 | 0.94% |
1936 | 1,726 | 36.47% | 2,834 | 59.88% | 173 | 3.66% |
1932 | 1,179 | 31.86% | 2,381 | 64.35% | 140 | 3.78% |
1928 | 1,882 | 61.44% | 1,129 | 36.86% | 52 | 1.70% |
1924 | 990 | 37.53% | 135 | 5.12% | 1,513 | 57.35% |
1920 | 1,668 | 79.28% | 302 | 14.35% | 134 | 6.37% |
1916 | 550 | 46.57% | 562 | 47.59% | 69 | 5.84% |
1912 | 295 | 32.45% | 432 | 47.52% | 182 | 20.02% |
1908 | 815 | 70.81% | 299 | 25.98% | 37 | 3.21% |
1904 | 782 | 75.92% | 205 | 19.90% | 43 | 4.17% |
1900 | 723 | 68.53% | 305 | 28.91% | 27 | 2.56% |
1896 | 514 | 56.30% | 369 | 40.42% | 30 | 3.29% |
1892 | 412 | 52.62% | 328 | 41.89% | 43 | 5.49% |
Sawyer County had a historical reputation for being a bellwether county in presidential elections, having voted for the overall national winner in every election from 1964 to 2016. Similar to other bellwether counties, this streak was broken in 2020 when the county backed Donald Trump over eventual winner Joe Biden. [21] This is because of increasing geographic polarization in American politics, with fewer and fewer counties swinging between parties, and instead voting consistently for one party according to demographics. [22]
Vilas County is a county in the state of Wisconsin, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 23,047. Its county seat is Eagle River. The county partly overlaps the reservation of the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa.
Shawano County is a county located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,881. Its county seat is Shawano.
La Pointe is an unincorporated community in the town of La Pointe, Ashland County, Wisconsin, United States. It is on the western shore of Madeline Island, the largest of the Apostle Islands. Downtown La Pointe is adjacent to the Madeline Island Ferry dock. La Pointe has a post office with ZIP code 54850.
Bass Lake is a town in Sawyer County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 2,244 at the 2000 census. The census-designated place of Little Round Lake is located in the town. The unincorporated community of Northwoods Beach is also located in the town.
Little Round Lake is a census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Bass Lake, Sawyer County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,081 at the 2010 census. It is the largest community on the reservation of the federally recognized tribe of the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians.
Ojibwa is a town in Sawyer County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 267 at the 2000 census. The unincorporated community of Ojibwa is located in the town.
Couderay is a village in Sawyer County, Wisconsin, United States, along the Couderay River. The population was 88 at the 2010 census. The village is located within the Town of Couderay.
Hayward is a city in Sawyer County, Wisconsin, United States, next to the Namekagon River. Its population was 2,318 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Sawyer County. The city is surrounded by the Town of Hayward. The City of Hayward was formally organized in 1883.
The Fond du Lac Indian Reservation is an Indian reservation in northern Minnesota near Cloquet in Carlton and Saint Louis counties. Off-reservation holdings are located across the state in Douglas County, in the northwest corner of Wisconsin. The total land area of these tribal lands is 154.49 square miles (400.1 km2). It is the land-base for the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. Before the establishment of this reservation, the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa were located at the head of Lake Superior, closer to the mouth of the Saint Louis River, where Duluth has developed.
The Sandy Lake Tragedy was the culmination in 1850 of a series of events centered in Big Sandy Lake, Minnesota that resulted in the deaths of several hundred Lake Superior Chippewa. Officials of the Zachary Taylor Administration and Minnesota Territory sought to relocate several bands of the tribe to areas west of the Mississippi River. By changing the location for fall annuity payments, the officials intended the Chippewa to stay at the new site for the winter, hoping to lower their resistance to relocation. Due to delayed and inadequate payments of annuities and lack of promised supplies, about 400 Ojibwe, mostly men and 12% of the tribe, died of disease, starvation and cold. The outrage increased Ojibwe resistance to removal. The bands effectively gained widespread public support to achieve permanent reservations in their traditional territories.
Lake Lena is an unincorporated community and Native American village in Ogema Township, Pine County, Minnesota, United States, located along the Lower Tamarack River. It currently is the administrative center for the Mille Lacs Indian Reservation, District III.
Lac Courte Oreilles is a large freshwater lake located in northwest Wisconsin in Sawyer County in townships 39 and 40 north, ranges 8 and 9 west. It is irregular in shape, having numerous peninsulas and bays, and is approximately six miles long in a southwest to northeast direction and with a maximum width of about two miles (3 km). Lac Courte Oreilles is 5,039 acres (20.39 km2) in size with a maximum depth of 90 feet (27 m) and a shoreline of 25.4 miles (40.9 km). The lake has a small inlet stream that enters on the northeast shore of the lake and flows from Grindstone Lake, a short distance away to the north. An outlet on the southeast shore of the lake leads through a very short passage to Little Lac Courte Oreilles, then via the Couderay River to the Chippewa River, and ultimately to the Mississippi River at Lake Pepin.
Chief Beautifying Bird or Dressing Bird, (1794–1855) was a principal chief of the Prairie Rice Lake Band of the Lake Superior Chippewa, originally located near Rice Lake, Wisconsin. He served as the principal chief about the middle of the 19th century.
Treaty of St. Peters may be one of two treaties conducted between the United States and Native American peoples, conducted at the confluence of the Minnesota River with the Mississippi River, in what today is Mendota, Minnesota.
The Namekagon Portage was a well known canoe portage connecting the St. Croix River watershed to the Chippewa River watershed and was located about five miles south of the present day city of Hayward in Sawyer County, Wisconsin. The portage ran approximately two and one-half miles from the Namekagon River to Windigo Lake in the Chippewa River watershed. The route then proceeded from Windigo Lake through Grindstone Lake to Lac Courte Oreilles where a well known Ojibwa village was located. This portage was used as one of the alternative routes to the Mississippi River for persons passing from Lake Superior to the Mississippi River by way of the Bois Brule River, as described below.
Windigo Lake is a freshwater lake located in north central Wisconsin in the Town of Bass Lake, Sawyer County, United States, in township 40 north, range 9 west. The lake is irregular in shape, with numerous peninsulas and bays, and is approximately one mile in diameter. Windigo Lake is 529.6 acres (2.143 km2) in size with a maximum depth of 51 feet (16 m) and a shoreline of 9 miles (14 km). The lake does not have an obvious inflow or outflow stream and is classified as a seepage lake, i.e., a lake without an inlet or an outlet.
Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe College (LCOOC) is a public tribal land-grant community college in Hayward, Wisconsin. It is one of two tribal colleges in the state of Wisconsin. The enrollment averages 550 students. The LCOOC has a main campus in Hayward. More than one-third of students are enrolled at the four outreach sites at Odanah, Bayfield, Hertel, and Lac du Flambeau.
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