The New International Encyclopædia/Wisconsin River

WISCONSIN RIVER. The principal river in the State of Wisconsin. It rises in Lake Vieux Desert, and flows first southward as far as Portage, then southwest, emptying into the Mississippi near Prairie du Chien after a course of about 600 miles (Map: Wisconsin, D 3). Its upper and middle courses are very picturesque. It flows at first through immense pine forests, in which it receives the water of a large number of small lakes. Farther down it is broken by several falls and rapids, the most noted of which are the Dalles of the Wisconsin. The river is navigable 200 miles to Portage, where a short canal connects it with the Fox River.