Stations from Jenny to Pelican

Introduction

Stations were places where teams of draft animals could be fed and watered. They were important in the days of wagon and sleigh teams in the same manner as gas stations are now. They were somewhat more well suited for humans as well, because it took some time to rest and feed the teams. As such most of the stations served meals and drinks. An alternate name for a station was tavern, the source of the modern day term.

Most of the time the station owners did not own the land the station was on. However, they usually owned land near by. The land they did own was developed for growing hay. The station owners harvested some wild hay, known as "marsh hay," but better hay could generally grown from cultivation and so the farms served that purpose, and did not grow any other marketable crops.

This map depicts an enlarged Lincoln County, before the railroad but with wagon (and sleigh) traffic well established. An excellent view into this world can be found by looking at details of what is known about the stations between Jenny (Merrill) and Pelican (Rhinelander).

Grandfather Falls

Grandfather Falls is a waterfall (the largest on the Wisconsin River) but also was a settlement with the same name. The name was often shortened informally Grandfather, and the post office (and some time the town itself) was also called Champagne, after Peter Champagne. It was moderately well developed. For a time there was a sawmill (Champagne's), and was always a way point for travelers. There was a livery and a boarding house, and several homes and a few small businesses.

Ingersoll's

The location of this station was near the present day intersection of County J and 107. The proprietor was James Ingersoll, who is listed in the 1880 census along with his wife Jane, a son Jay, and a daughter Addie.

Gilbert's

The namesake of the location known as Gilbert was Gilbert Vallier. (In French, Gilbert is pronounced "zhil-'bair.") His station was strategically located at a fork in the road, one branch going north along the Tomahawk and one branch going northeast toward Pelican (Rhinelander). He did not own the land the tavern was on (this was common practice) but instead homesteaded near by, in places that he could grow hay.

King's

A major land owner, and the first resident to buy land in what is now the City of Tomahawk, was Albert King. (There were absentee land speculators who bought some land before King.) He had holdings all along the Wisconsin, from about the east end of the school property well past the dam. His farm and residence is now flooded by Lake Alice. He was married to an Ojibwe woman named Minequash, and King was probably a mixed blood French-Canadian himself (sometimes known as Metis).

King's was a terminus for the stage line to Merrill, as mentioned above. In the rail era, when a train ran from Tomahawk to Harrison, there was a stop called King's. Only after Lake Alice was Albert King flooded out of important historic memory.

Bouchard's Station

The basic story of Germain Bouchard being an early settler near The Forks, and running a ferry service, is probably true. However, many details of the story are not consistent from different sources. He had a station (and ferry) in either Section 33 just north of the Wisconsin River, or in Section 21 or Section 16 just west of the Tomahawk River. In the Wisconsin Blue Book of the day, his station (mis-spelled "Boucharel's") was west of the Tomahawk. As with other stations, the location of the station may have been separate from his residence. Bouchard received preemption rights to land now inundated by Lake Mohawksin, his claim being on file with the General Land Office. This is another story that deserves further unraveling, however, because the patent was issued after the land was flooded, and by all accounts Bouchard died in relative poverty.