Wisconsin 101

OBJECT HISTORY: Bark Spud

The bark spud is an iron tool used to remove bark from cut timber. Most bark spuds have a steel head with a hard wooden handle. The head is rounded or dish-shaped and has one cutting edge. The sharp wedge on the end of the bark spud slides between bark and wood on a log…

Comments Off

April 1, 2019

Industry / Object Histories / Lumber Industry / 1877-1900 / Manufacturing & Trade / 1900-1918 / Nature & Environment

OBJECT HISTORY: Log-Marking Hammer

Between the 1840s and the 1890s, logs meant money. Wisconsin had a large supply of trees. Lumber mills made money by cutting down trees. Logging was one of the largest industries in Wisconsin. There were more than 450 lumber camps across Wisconsin. If we study this log-marking hammer and think about the people that used…

Comments Off

October 15, 2018

Art, Sport & Entertainment / Music, Theatre & Cinema / Object Histories / Industry / Ethnicity & Identity / Lumber Industry / 1877-1900 / Manufacturing & Trade

OBJECT HISTORY: Fiddle

As the lumber industry flourished in Wisconsin beginning in the 1840s, immigrants from all over Europe and Canada came to live and work in the Northwoods of Wisconsin. All winter, men called lumberjacks would cut down pine trees, preparing the timber to be used as building material, or sometimes to be turned into pulp or…

Comments Off

October 15, 2018

Industry / Lumber Industry / Related Stories / Langlade County / 1848-1877 / 1877-1900 / 1900-1918 / Manufacturing & Trade / Nature & Environment / Bark Spud / Region 2 - North East

The Lumber Industry in Northern Wisconsin

Prior to the Civil War, most of northern Wisconsin was inhabited by the Menominee and Ojibwe Indians and transient fur traders of European origin. Demand for wood in Chicago and Milwaukee after the Civil War brought lumbermen to the north woods. Initially,…

2 Comments

February 1, 2016

Broad History / Industry / Related Stories / Langlade County / Wolf River / Lumber Industry / Manufacturing & Trade / Nature & Environment / Politics & Government / Region 2 - North East / Transportation & Tourism / Mepps Fishing Lure

The Wolf River

Todd Sheldon first discovered the virtues of the Mepps Aglia spinner and later realized improvements afforded by a tuft of squirrel tail while fishing at one of his favorite spots: the Wolf River. Today the Wolf continues to be a destination for sports…

Comments Off

October 30, 2015