Henry Schoolcraft passed here in 1831 en route from Lake Superior to the St. Croix.During the 1870's, ox teams hauled logging supplies on the tote road from Stillwater to Veazie Settlement, located two miles up river where the great Veazie Dam impounded water for log drives down the Namekagon to Stillwater.

The river was also used as a primary source of transportation for the Ojibwe as discovered by European explorers and fur traders.

Schoolcraft described the river at northern portage near Cable, Wisconsin as being seventy-five feet wide and eighteen inches at the deepest part.

A few years after Schoolcraft's expedition, the United States government enlisted geologists to describe the riverbed floor.

The arrival of the railway saw an opportunity for the Lumber companies to expand the marketplaces across state lines to larger markets.

In 1855, Anthony Hayward was given permission from the Wisconsin Legislature to build, operate and maintain dam sites along the Namekagon.