Wisconsin River
| Wisconsin River | |
|---|---|
Below the Alexander dam at Merrill | |
Wisconsin and the Wisconsin River | |
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Wisconsin |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | |
| • location | Lac Vieux Desert |
| • elevation | 1,683 ft (513 m) |
| Mouth | |
• location | Mississippi River near Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin |
• coordinates | 42°59′22″N 91°09′14″W / 42.98944°N 91.15389°W |
| Length | 420 mi (680 km) |
| Basin size | 12,280 sq mi (31,800 km2) |
| Discharge | |
| • average | 12,000 cu ft/s (340 m3/s) at mouth |
| Official name | Lower Wisconsin Riverway |
| Designated | 14 February 2020 |
| Reference no. | 2417 |
The Wisconsin River is the longest river in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, at approximately 430 miles (692 km) long. As a tributary of the Mississippi River, it is part of the Mississippi River System. The river's name was first recorded in 1673 by Jacques Marquette as "Meskousing" from his Indian guides - most likely Miami for "river running through a red place."
The river has been used for transportation, hunting, and fishing since prehistoric times. In the lumber industry, loggers used the upper reaches of the river and its tributaries to drive logs to their sawmills and the lower reaches to float rafts of sawn boards to markets as near as Portage and as far as St. Louis. Today, it is source of energy and tourism: dams along the river generate hydroelectric power, and people fish, boat, water-ski and sight-see on the river. It is home to many species of fish and other wildlife.