The Fox River is a river in eastern and central Wisconsin

Wisconsin

Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...

 in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. Along the banks is a chain of cities, including Oshkosh

Oshkosh, Wisconsin

As of the census of 2000, there were 62,916 people, 24,082 households, and 13,654 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,662.2 people per square mile . There were 25,420 housing units at an average density of 1,075.6 per square mile...

, Neenah

Neenah, Wisconsin

Neenah is a city on Lake Winnebago in Winnebago County, Wisconsin, United States. Its population was 24,507 at the 2000 census. The city is bordered by, but is politically independent of, the Town of Neenah. Neenah is the southwestern-most of the Fox Cities of Northeast Wisconsin...

, Menasha

Menasha, Wisconsin

Menasha is a city in Calumet and Winnebago Counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 16,331 at the 2000 census. The city is located mostly in the Town of Menasha in Winnebago County; only a small portion is in the Town of Harrison in Calumet County. Doty Island is located...

, Appleton

Appleton, Wisconsin

Appleton is a city in Outagamie, Calumet, and Winnebago Counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is situated on the Fox River, 30 miles southwest of Green Bay and 100 miles north of Milwaukee. Appleton is the county seat of Outagamie County. The population was 78,086 at the 2010 census...

, Little Chute

Little Chute, Wisconsin

Little Chute is a village in Outagamie County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 10,476 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Little Chute is located at ....

, Kimberly

Kimberly, Wisconsin

Kimberly is a village in Outagamie County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 6,146 at the 2000 census.-History:Kimberly was founded in 1889 and was named after John A...

, Combined Locks

Combined Locks, Wisconsin

Combined Locks is a village in Outagamie County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 2,422 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Combined Locks is located at ....

, and Kaukauna

Kaukauna, Wisconsin

Kaukauna is a city in Outagamie County, Wisconsin, United States, on the Fox River, approximately 100 miles north of Milwaukee, with a population of 12,983. It is a part of the Appleton, Wisconsin Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is included in the Appleton-Oshkosh-Neenah, Wisconsin Combined...

. Except for Oshkosh, these cities refer to themselves as the Fox Cities. Further north along the river is Green Bay

Green Bay, Wisconsin

Green Bay is a city in and the county seat of Brown County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, located at the head of Green Bay, a sub-basin of Lake Michigan, at the mouth of the Fox River. It has an elevation of above sea level and is located north of Milwaukee. As of the 2010 United States Census,...

, De Pere

De Pere, Wisconsin

De Pere is a city located in Brown County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 20,559 at the 2000 census. De Pere is a suburb of Green Bay and is part of the Green Bay Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Registered historic places:...

, Ashwaubenon

Ashwaubenon, Wisconsin

Ashwaubenon is a village in Brown County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2000 census, the village population was 17,634, however many village signs still reflect the 1990 census figure of 17,777. Ashwaubenon is a suburb of Green Bay, Wisconsin and is part of the Green Bay Metropolitan...

, Allouez

Allouez, Wisconsin

Allouez is a village in Brown County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2000 census, the village population was 15,443. It is part of the Green Bay Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...

, and although they are in the Fox River Valley, this grouping of cities does not refer to themselves as Fox Cities. Geographers divide the Fox into two distinct sections, the Upper Fox River, flowing from central Wisconsin into Lake Winnebago

Lake Winnebago

Lake Winnebago is a freshwater lake in eastern Wisconsin, United States. It is the largest lake entirely within the state.-Statistics:...

, and the Lower Fox River, linking Lake Winnebago to Lake Michigan

Lake Michigan

Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America and the only one located entirely within the United States. It is the second largest of the Great Lakes by volume and the third largest by surface area, after Lake Superior and Lake Huron...

. Together, the two sections give the Fox River a length of 200 miles (322 km). The Fox River flows from south to north owing to the great height through which the river drops on its journey from Lake Winnebago to Lake Michigan.

Geography

The Upper Fox River begins as a small stream northeast of Pardeeville

Pardeeville, Wisconsin

Pardeeville is a village in Columbia County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,982 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Madison Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Pardeeville is located at ....

. It flows southwest towards Portage

Portage, Wisconsin

Portage is a city in and the county seat of Columbia County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 10,662 at the 2010 census making it the largest city in Columbia County...

 and comes within 2 miles (3.2 km) of the Wisconsin River

Wisconsin River

-External links:* * * , Wisconsin Historical Society* * * *...

 before quickly turning north. After flowing past Montello

Montello, Wisconsin

Montello is a city in and the county seat of Marquette County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,397 at the 2000 census. The Fox River flows through the city...

, the river goes northeast until reaching Lake Butte des Morts

Lake Butte des Morts

Big Lake Butte des Morts is an lake located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and is part of the Winnebago Pool . The lake is fed by the Fox River in the southwest and the Wolf River draining from Lake Winneconne in the northwest, and drains via the Fox River southeast into Lake Winnebago...

. Here it is joined by the tributary Wolf River

Wolf River (Fox River)

The Wolf River, long, is one of the two National Scenic Rivers in Wisconsin, along with the St. Croix River. The scenic portion is long. It rises in the north woods of the state, with the northernmost fork stemming from Pine Lake in Forest County. The river then flows south through Langlade and...

 before entering Lake Winnebago at Oshkosh

Oshkosh, Wisconsin

As of the census of 2000, there were 62,916 people, 24,082 households, and 13,654 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,662.2 people per square mile . There were 25,420 housing units at an average density of 1,075.6 per square mile...

. The Lower Fox begins at the north end of Lake Winnebago, where it flows north past Neenah

Neenah, Wisconsin

Neenah is a city on Lake Winnebago in Winnebago County, Wisconsin, United States. Its population was 24,507 at the 2000 census. The city is bordered by, but is politically independent of, the Town of Neenah. Neenah is the southwestern-most of the Fox Cities of Northeast Wisconsin...

, Menasha

Menasha, Wisconsin

Menasha is a city in Calumet and Winnebago Counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 16,331 at the 2000 census. The city is located mostly in the Town of Menasha in Winnebago County; only a small portion is in the Town of Harrison in Calumet County. Doty Island is located...

, and Appleton

Appleton, Wisconsin

Appleton is a city in Outagamie, Calumet, and Winnebago Counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is situated on the Fox River, 30 miles southwest of Green Bay and 100 miles north of Milwaukee. Appleton is the county seat of Outagamie County. The population was 78,086 at the 2010 census...

 as it begins its 39-mile (64 km) course towards Lake Michigan. The river drops around 164 feet (50 m) over this short stretch, and prior to the construction of European-style dam

Dam

A dam is a barrier that impounds water or underground streams. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions. Hydropower and pumped-storage hydroelectricity are...

s after 1850, the river had many sizable rapids. The Lower Fox ends after flowing through the city of Green Bay

Green Bay, Wisconsin

Green Bay is a city in and the county seat of Brown County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, located at the head of Green Bay, a sub-basin of Lake Michigan, at the mouth of the Fox River. It has an elevation of above sea level and is located north of Milwaukee. As of the 2010 United States Census,...

 and into Lake Michigan through a bay named Green Bay. Altogether, the Fox-Wolf watershed

Drainage basin

A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...

 drains an area of about 6429 square miles (16,650 km²), giving the Fox an average discharge rate of 4132 ft³/s (117 m³/s) into the bay.

History

Since the recession of the glacier

Glacier

A glacier is a large persistent body of ice that forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. At least 0.1 km² in area and 50 m thick, but often much larger, a glacier slowly deforms and flows due to stresses induced by its weight...

s that once covered much of Wisconsin

Wisconsin

Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...

, the Fox River has supported several Native American

Indigenous peoples of the Americas

The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...

 cultures, with its fisheries, waterfowl, wild rice, forests, and water. Archaeologists have determined that early peoples lived in the Fox River area as early as 7000 BC.

Prior to European settlement in the late 17th century, the shores of the Fox River and Green Bay were home to roughly half the 25,000 Native Americans who lived in what is today Wisconsin. The first Europeans to reach the Fox were the French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, beginning with Jean Nicolet

Jean Nicolet

Jean Nicolet de Belleborne was a French coureur des bois noted for exploring Green Bay in what is now the U.S. state of Wisconsin.-Life:...

 in 1634. In 1673 explorers Jacques Marquette

Jacques Marquette

Father Jacques Marquette S.J. , sometimes known as Père Marquette, was a French Jesuit missionary who founded Michigan's first European settlement, Sault Ste. Marie, and later founded St. Ignace, Michigan...

 and Louis Joliet canoed up the river as far as Portage. Here they made the short portage

Portage

Portage or portaging refers to the practice of carrying watercraft or cargo over land to avoid river obstacles, or between two bodies of water. A place where this carrying occurs is also called a portage; a person doing the carrying is called a porter.The English word portage is derived from the...

 from the Fox to the Wisconsin River and then canoed on towards the Mississippi River

Mississippi River

The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...

, establishing an important water route between the Great Lakes

Great Lakes

The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...

 and the Mississippi River known as the Fox-Wisconsin Waterway

Fox-Wisconsin Waterway

The Fox–Wisconsin Waterway is a waterway formed by the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers. First used by European settlers in 1673 during the expedition of Marquette & Joliet, it was one of the principal routes used by travelers between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River until the completion of the...

. This route was used frequently by fur traders during the French colonization of the Americas

French colonization of the Americas

The French colonization of the Americas began in the 16th century, and continued in the following centuries as France established a colonial empire in the Western Hemisphere. France founded colonies in much of eastern North America, on a number of Caribbean islands, and in South America...

. The French-Canadian men who established homes on the Fox River married First Nation

First Nations

First Nations is a term that collectively refers to various Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis. There are currently over 630 recognised First Nations governments or bands spread across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. The...

 women, producing a mixed-blood population similar to the Metis

Métis people (Canada)

The Métis are one of the Aboriginal peoples in Canada who trace their descent to mixed First Nations parentage. The term was historically a catch-all describing the offspring of any such union, but within generations the culture syncretised into what is today a distinct aboriginal group, with...

 of Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

.

Industrial Revolution

The Fox-Wisconsin Waterway's importance continued into the 1850s, when the Fox and Wisconsin Improvement Company built locks

Lock (water transport)

A lock is a device for raising and lowering boats between stretches of water of different levels on river and canal waterways. The distinguishing feature of a lock is a fixed chamber in which the water level can be varied; whereas in a caisson lock, a boat lift, or on a canal inclined plane, it is...

 and dams on the Fox and a canal

Canal

Canals are man-made channels for water. There are two types of canal:#Waterways: navigable transportation canals used for carrying ships and boats shipping goods and conveying people, further subdivided into two kinds:...

 to connect it to the Wisconsin River at Portage. The company was hoping to establish Green Bay as a port city to rival Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

 by making Fox-Wisconsin Waterway into the principal shipping route between Lake Michigan and the Mississippi River. However, this goal was never reached, largely because the Upper Fox remained too shallow for significant shipping even after damming and dredging.

Instead of developing as a transportation corridor, the Lower Fox became a center of industry. During the mid 19th century, when Wisconsin was a leading producer of wheat

Wheat

Wheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...

, several flour mills

Gristmill

The terms gristmill or grist mill can refer either to a building in which grain is ground into flour, or to the grinding mechanism itself.- Early history :...

 sprang up along the river to harness its abundant water power. During the 1860s, as Wisconsin's wheat production declined, these flour mills were replaced by a growing number of paper mill

Paper mill

A paper mill is a factory devoted to making paper from vegetable fibres such as wood pulp, old rags and other ingredients using a Fourdrinier machine or other type of paper machine.- History :...

s. The Lower Fox proved an ideal location for paper production, owing to its proximity to lumbering areas that could supply wood pulp

Wood pulp

Pulp is a lignocellulosic fibrous material prepared by chemically or mechanically separating cellulose fibres from wood, fibre crops or waste paper. Wood pulp is the most common raw material in papermaking.-History:...

 to make paper. Several well-known paper companies were founded in cities along the river, including Kimberly-Clark

Kimberly-Clark

Kimberly-Clark Corporation is an American corporation that produces mostly paper-based consumer products. Kimberly-Clark brand name products include "Kleenex" facial tissue, "Kotex" feminine hygiene products, "Cottonelle", Scott and Andrex toilet paper, Wypall utility wipes, "KimWipes"...

, Northern Paper Mills (creator of Quilted Northern), and the Hoberg Paper Company (creator of Charmin

Charmin

Charmin is a brand-name of toilet paper manufactured by Procter & Gamble.-History:The Charmin name was first created in 1928 by the Hoberg Paper Company in Green Bay, Wisconsin. In 1950, Hoberg changed its name to Charmin Paper Company and continued to produce bath tissue, paper napkins, and other...

).

Paper industry

The Lower Fox remains a major area for paper production. There are currently 24 paper and pulp mills along the Lower Fox River that produce more than five million tons of paper per year and employ around fifty thousand people. The principal cities located in this valley are Green Bay, Appleton, Neenah, Menasha, and Oshkosh.

Environmental issues

The high concentration of paper mills and other industry along the Lower Fox has historically been the source of much pollution

Pollution

Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into a natural environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem i.e. physical systems or living organisms. Pollution can take the form of chemical substances or energy, such as noise, heat or light...

 of the river. Public debate about this contamination began as early as 1923, but little was done to improve the river until the federal Clean Water Act

Clean Water Act

The Clean Water Act is the primary federal law in the United States governing water pollution. Commonly abbreviated as the CWA, the act established the goals of eliminating releases of high amounts of toxic substances into water, eliminating additional water pollution by 1985, and ensuring that...

 was passed in 1972. Much effort has since been put into cleaning the Fox, but problems still exist. According to some measures of pollution (e.g. dissolved oxygen

Oxygen saturation

Oxygen saturation or dissolved oxygen is a relative measure of the amount of oxygen that is dissolved or carried in a given medium. It can be measured with a dissolved oxygen probe such as an oxygen sensor or an optode in liquid media, usually water.It has particular significance in medicine and...

, pollution-tolerant worm counts), the Lower Fox River is much cleaner than it was before 1972. However, according to other measures of pollution (e.g., phosphorus

Phosphorus

Phosphorus is the chemical element that has the symbol P and atomic number 15. A multivalent nonmetal of the nitrogen group, phosphorus as a mineral is almost always present in its maximally oxidized state, as inorganic phosphate rocks...

, estrogenic compounds, discarded pharmaceuticals), the river waters are slightly more contaminated than before 1972. As a result, debate over the river's contamination continues between environmentalists, the paper industry, Indian tribes, and elected officials at the federal, state and local levels.

While not officially designated as a U.S. Superfund

Superfund

Superfund is the common name for the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 , a United States federal law designed to clean up sites contaminated with hazardous substances...

 site, the Lower Fox River bottom still has some sections contaminated with toxic chemicals. These contaminated

Pollution

Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into a natural environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem i.e. physical systems or living organisms. Pollution can take the form of chemical substances or energy, such as noise, heat or light...

 sediment

Sediment

Sediment is naturally occurring material that is broken down by processes of weathering and erosion, and is subsequently transported by the action of fluids such as wind, water, or ice, and/or by the force of gravity acting on the particle itself....

s are the river's current environmental problem. One contaminant of special concern today is a group of chemicals called Polychlorinated biphenyl

Polychlorinated biphenyl

Polychlorinated biphenyls are a class of organic compounds with 2 to 10 chlorine atoms attached to biphenyl, which is a molecule composed of two benzene rings. The chemical formula for PCBs is C12H10-xClx...

s or PCBs. PCBs entered the river from many sources, but the largest deposits of contaminated sediments are traceable to the local paper recycling mills which have been part of the region's history, culture and economy, thus making cleanup a difficult issue.

The U.S. government and State of Wisconsin filed suit on October 14, 2010 against nine paper companies and two municipalities for their failure to pay for PCB cleanup actions to date. The government has not obtained long-term agreements from these organizations for sediment cleanup efforts. The companies named in the suit are NCR Corporation

NCR Corporation

NCR Corporation is an American technology company specializing in kiosk products for the retail, financial, travel, healthcare, food service, entertainment, gaming and public sector industries. Its main products are self-service kiosks, point-of-sale terminals, automated teller machines, check...

, Appleton Papers, CBC Coating, Kimberly-Clark

Kimberly-Clark

Kimberly-Clark Corporation is an American corporation that produces mostly paper-based consumer products. Kimberly-Clark brand name products include "Kleenex" facial tissue, "Kotex" feminine hygiene products, "Cottonelle", Scott and Andrex toilet paper, Wypall utility wipes, "KimWipes"...

, Menasha Corporation, NewPage Corporation

NewPage Corporation

NewPage Corporation, based in Miamisburg, Ohio, is a leading producer of coated paper in North America.The company produces coated papers in sheets and rolls with many finishes and weights to offer design flexibility for a wide array of end uses...

, Glatfelter

Glatfelter

Glatfelter is a global manufacturer of specialty papers and engineered products, headquartered in York, Pennsylvania. U.S. operations include papermaking facilities in Spring Grove, Pennsylvania, and Chillicothe and Fremont, Ohio...

, U.S. Paper Mills (Sonoco) and WTM (Wisconsin Tissue Mills). The local agencies being sued are the City of Appleton and Neenah-Menasha Sewerage Commission.

Since the late 19th century, dredging of river bottom sediments has been done to allow large ships to enter the Fox River. The contaminated sediment has been used since the 1960s to fill local wetlands and after 1978 to create an off-shore engineered holding area called Renard Isle, also known as Kidney Island.

Among the wildlife in the Fox River Valley are birds such as mallard ducks

Mallard

The Mallard , or Wild Duck , is a dabbling duck which breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Europe, Asia, and North Africa, and has been introduced to New Zealand and Australia....

 and Canada geese

Canada Goose

The Canada Goose is a wild goose belonging to the genus Branta, which is native to arctic and temperate regions of North America, having a black head and neck, white patches on the face, and a brownish-gray body....

, and fish such as walleye

Walleye

Walleye is a freshwater perciform fish native to most of Canada and to the northern United States. It is a North American close relative of the European pikeperch...

.

Early on, parts of the Fox River were used for recreational purposes. This only lasted for a short period of time as the water quality

Water quality

Water quality is the physical, chemical and biological characteristics of water. It is a measure of the condition of water relative to the requirements of one or more biotic species and or to any human need or purpose. It is most frequently used by reference to a set of standards against which...

 deteriorated, and the water was considered unhealthy. Also, fishing was a huge aspect of life on the water as many fisheries were set up along the river. This remained large for a short period of time but also was soon limited by water pollution

Water pollution

Water pollution is the contamination of water bodies . Water pollution occurs when pollutants are discharged directly or indirectly into water bodies without adequate treatment to remove harmful compounds....

 and the depleted amount of fish. Restrictions were put on fishermen on how many fish they could catch and what fish they were allowed to catch legally. Fishing makes a very large profit for the city .

The Fox River region was dominated by dairy farms

Dairy farming

Dairy farming is a class of agricultural, or an animal husbandry, enterprise, for long-term production of milk, usually from dairy cows but also from goats and sheep, which may be either processed on-site or transported to a dairy factory for processing and eventual retail sale.Most dairy farms...

 that benefited from the rich soil and plentiful water supply. Flowing from south to north, between Lake Winnebago and Green Bay, the Fox River falls through a height equal to that of Niagara Falls

Niagara Falls

The Niagara Falls, located on the Niagara River draining Lake Erie into Lake Ontario, is the collective name for the Horseshoe Falls and the adjacent American Falls along with the comparatively small Bridal Veil Falls, which combined form the highest flow rate of any waterfalls in the world and has...

. As such, the Fox River was an ideal location for constructing powerful saw mills that made the Fox River area famous for its paper industry. A negative side effect of this industrialization was the dumping of hazardous material byproducts of the paper mills. It was soon after this started that dumping became illegal. While evidence of these waste deposits remains to date, the Fox River is being cleaned up. Dredging of the chemicals in the river began on April 28, 2009 and capping started soon after during the summer of 2009.

Recreation

The 25 miles (40.2 km) Fox River State Recreational Trail

Fox River State Recreational Trail

The Fox River State Recreational Trail is a trail along the Fox River in northeastern Wisconsin.-Route:...

 is part of the Brown County Park System. The trailhead is in the city of Green Bay where seven miles (11 km) of paved trail follow the Fox River south through the city of De Pere. Biking, walking, jogging, and rollerblading are among the most popular activities on the trail. The trail also has a section of unpaved terrain that permits horseback riding.