Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Forsaken by travelers winging to the north woods or the Door Peninsula, the East-Central
Waters region is, surprisingly to many, the most historically significant region of Wiscon-
sin. The initial and one of the most important doorways to the state later became the site of
the first permanent settlements and the state's timber-and-water commercial nucleus.
When the Portage Canal linking the Upper Fox and Lower Wisconsin Rivers was com-
pleted, two of the most crucial waterways in the Great Lakes system were finally joined,
allowing transport from the Atlantic Ocean all the way to the Gulf of Mexico. (The Fox
River is one of the few rivers in North America to flow north.) The Fox River engineering
was no mean feat for the timeāit required 26 locks and dams to corral the rapids and ne-
gotiate a 200-foot drop.