Fox–Wisconsin Waterway

First used by European settlers in 1673 during the expedition of Marquette & Joliet, it was one of the principal routes used by travelers between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River until the completion of the Illinois and Michigan Canal in 1848 and the arrival of railroads.

The Portage Canal was closed in 1951 and most of the Upper Fox River locks and dams fell into disuse.

The lock system on the Lower Fox River, from Lake Winnebago to Green Bay, was closed in 1983 to prevent the upstream spread of invasive species such as the lamprey.

It begins in the west at the Mississippi River, rises at a nearly constant rate to Portage, crosses the Great-Lakes/Mississippi River divide at Portage, descends slowly along the Upper Fox to the Lake Winnebago Pool and then plunges in a short reach to the eastern end at the head of Green Bay on Lake Michigan.

Since there are no major tributaries, river discharge in the reach are relatively constant, averaging about 8,700 cubic feet per second (250 m3/s) at USGS gage 05407000 at Muscoda.

Similar passages exist all along the watershed divide, for instance, at Chicago and in the northern Indiana area.

The Fox and Wisconsin have modified their courses and outlets over geological time[6] and it is likely that either river has flowed into either watershed.

The Fox and Sac, realizing the importance of the Waterway, set up toll stations at portage locations.

In fact, property in parts of Prairie du Chien, Portage, Kaukauna and Green Bay, all along the Waterway, still use French long-lot descriptions.

In fact, there was great speculative pressure to capitalize on the natural extension of the Erie Canal to the Mississippi and beyond.

[18] The Wisconsin River is a wide and shallow stream running over a bed of sand with transparent waters and chequered with numerous small islands and sandbars ...

The navigation of the river is considerably impeded by the sandbars and small islands and some time is lost is searching for the proper channel.Along the Lower Wisconsin there were initially no plans for improvements other than dredging and the clearing of snags.

By 1880, the Corps had completed 157 dams totaling over 76,000 feet (23 km), mainly in two sections: between Portage and Prairie du Sac and between Lone Rock and Boscobel.

In 1887, the Corps recommended to stop this method of improvement, effectively closing the Lower Wisconsin to commercial traffic.

[19] [The Fox] takes its rise in Lake Sarah, Portage county, and runs in a direction a little south of west ... towards the Wisconsin, as if with the intention of entering that river but owing to some unaccountable freak of nature, it here, when within one and a half miles of that stream, makes a sudden turn to the north, and soon assumes its general course towards Green Bay.Construction initiated along the Portage Canal in 1849 and finished in 1851.

In 1856, the first steamship from the Mississippi, the Aquila, passed through the Portage on its way to Green Bay, signaling the opening of the waterway.

In 1959, the Corps closed and dismantled most of the Fort Winnebago Lock to create a waste weir for water-level control.

Travel and commerce on the Lower Fox declined by the 1880s to a few hundred tons of wheat per month during harvest.

That same year, the Corps report recommended closing the Upper Fox, but Congress failed to act on the proposal.

The Corps finally closed the Upper Fox to navigation between Portage and Eureka in 1951 and transferred it to the state as a recreational waterway.

But, after ascending the river a short distance, it becomes very difficult of passage, on account of both the Currents and the sharp Rocks, which Cut the Canoes and the feet of Those who are obliged to drag them, especially when the Waters are low.Along the Lower Fox, Martin organized several groups to work on the task of building dams, locks and canals to bypass the numerous falls.

The greatest concentration of locks was in the reach between Kaukauna to the Cedars, where the Great Kauklin and La Petite Chute falls had to be bypassed.

The lock at Rapide Croche was sealed shut to prevent sea lampreys from reaching Lake Winnebago.

There were two technical problems that were not effectively solved for the Waterway: control of the sand bars of the Lower Wisconsin and the low flow of the Upper Fox.

In 1983, the downtown corridor between Adams Street and the Wisconsin River was restored with City of Portage and Block Grant funds.

The dam at Eureka has been converted into a fishway to allow spawning fish to migrate upstream, although the locks continue to operate.

Funds from the Army Corps of Engineers, the State of Wisconsin, and private donations have combined to rehabilitate, reopen, and maintain the locks.

While the locks on the entire Lower Fox (with the exception of Rapide Croche) have been restored and are capable of operation, some remain closed to navigation.

The Menasha lock is closed to prevent movement of the round goby, an invasive species, into Lake Winnebago.

This transfer station would include measures to cleanse the boats of aquatic invasive species when traveling upstream into the Winnebago Pool.