From the 1840's to 1920's, logging overshadowed all other industries in Wisconsin. The state's northern pine forests became "pineries," providing logs to meet the nation's increasing demand for building materials.
Timber cut from these pineries floated downstream as raw logs or rafts of sawn lumber. The Wisconsin River was the most treacherous of the lumber streams, and many raftsmen lost their lives running logs over the rapids and whitewater.
In 1916, long after the arrival of the railroads, one of the state's last great river drives took place on the Rib River, below you. By the 1920's, most of the northern pineries had been logged off, and Wisconsin's logging era started drawing to a close.
Panel courtesy of the Wausau Area Jaycees and the Friends of Rib Mountain.
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