Milwaukee Bridge War

[3] In 1840, the Wisconsin Territorial Legislature, finding the ferry system on the Milwaukee River to be "inadequate", ordered the construction of a bridge.

Kilbourn was opposed to the Chestnut, Oneida, and North Water bridges, as he felt they would be a hazard to ships visiting his docks.

West warders held a meeting and decided that the Chestnut Street bridge (supported by Solomon Juneau) had become an "insupportable nuisance".

[3] The next few weeks were tense: east and west warders on the "wrong side" of the river were attacked and injured, east warders spread rumors of an attack on Kilbourn's Milwaukee river dam, and by early June the trustees ordered that all bridge work be done under armed guard.

Many of the modern bridges across the Milwaukee River run at an angle, reflecting the difference in the street layouts between what was once Juneautown and Kilbourntown.