Ojibwa, like all of the
Sawyer County settlements, had its heyday during the era 1902 to 1920.
They community is located on the banks of the Chippewa River at a site
which is now the junction of Highways 27 and 70. The town was named
'Ojibwa' by Mr. Ben F. Faast, an early real estate promoter, because of
the nearness of the Chippewa River and the Lac Court Oreilles Indian reservation,
the home of the Chippewa Indians. Ojibwa is a corruption of the name
"Chippewa" and most of the Indians pronounced it 'jibwa', omitting the
initial vowel 'O'.
This little hamlet was strategically
located between the timber tracts of four large lumber companies -- the
Couderay Lumber Company to the north, the Hines Lumber Company to the east,
the Chippewa Lumber and Boom Company to the south, and the Arpin Lumber
Company to the west.
The Chippewa Lumber and
Boom Company transported its logs to the Chippewa River by the way of the
Brunet and Chippewa rivers. The Arpin Lumber Company maintained a
large logging camp at the present location of McDonald Park and floated
its logs down the Chippewa River. The Hines Lumber Company loaded
its logs on railroad cars and shipped them to Park Falls. A spur
line extended north to the holdings of the Couderay Lumber Company camps.
Remains of the old Crooked Rapids Spur can still be seen from Highway 70
just west of the Albert Skogen farm. The northern end of the old
right-of-way is used today by the Wisconsin Conservation Department as
a fire lane. The Couderay Lumber Company shipped its logs by rail
to sawmills at Couderay and Rice Lake. The logging industry was short-lived
in the Ojibwa area, the major operation being shifted to Radisson and Winter.
Mr. Ben Faast of Eau Claire
organized the Wisconsin Colonization Company and purchased large tracts
of cut-over land south of Ojibwa. The office was located in Radisson
and was moved to Ojibwa in 1918. (?) Mr. Faast had visions of a prosperous
city which would be supported by farmers who would be anxious to develop
modern farms where the loggers had left slashings in their hasty operations
to make quick profits. The land was advertised as unusually fertile
and very cheap. The method of sale is described in the chapter about
Radisson.
So firmly did Mr. Faast
believe in his scheme that he personally planned the organization and layout
of the community. Frans Aust, a professor at the University of Wisconsin,
drew the plans for the village. The plan was complete and ideal and
provided for a zoo, a park, a boulevard, street and sidewalk planning,
a residential zone, and a manufacturing zone. The result was only
moderate success, since the buyers of the farm lands found that profits
in farming were small and that too much time, capital, and hard work were
necessary to attain the success to which they had aspired.
A variety of nationalities
settled in the vicinity of Ojibwa; such as, the Scandinavians, Polish,
English, French, German and Irish. The largest ethnic group which
settled in the area was the Polish. They were an industrious, ambitious,
thrifty, and honest people, who tilled the soil in the summer and worked
in the logging camps in the winter. The wives and children remained
on the farms in the wintertime and tended the cattle, while the husband
and father was away at work to supplement the farm income. Slowly
and reluctantly, one by one, the families deserted the farms and returned
to the cities to resume work in factories.
Of the original group of
Polish families who came to the town of Ojibwa, there are only four remaining;
the Jarosz family, the Granica family, the Pydo family and the Karpowicz
family.
The first church in Ojibwa
was the Lutheran Church. An old schoolhouse, the Crawford School,
was moved from a site near the airport to the village in the winter of
1922. This building was moved down the river on the ice, the last
time the Chippewa River has been completely frozen over so that it could
be used as a thoroughfare for teams and vehicles.
The congregation dissolved
about 1925 and the building was moved to the settlement known as "Thornapple",
where it was used as a community hall.
The area around Ojibwa
was organized as a civil township in 1918 and was made up of lands detached
from the Radisson Township. The first annual election held in the
newly created township of Ojibwa was held July 2, 1919 at the Al Raynor
farm. There were a total of nine ballots cast. As there were
only eight offices to fill, there was only one elctor who was not honored
by election to an office. Mr. Henry LeBeau, who was the town clerk
of Radisson, was present and gave the oath of office to the newly elected
officials.
The total assessed valuation
of the new township was $286,048. In 1957, the total assessed valuation
is $263,746.
Since the settlement of
Ojibwa four school districts were established. The first school was
the Menwaring School at Chappel Creek; the second was the Sam Sigwin School;
the third was the Bishop School at Bishop Bridge, and the fourth was the
state Graded School in the village. The district reorganized in 1952
and is now integrated with the Winter, Draper and Ojibwa School District.
The school is no longer operating and the pupils are transported by bus
to Winter.
A park, known as the Ojibwa
Roadside State Park, is located in the township on the south side of the
Chippewa River on Highway 70. It consists of three hundred fifty
acres of heavily wooded land which is a beauty spot and attracts many tourists.
There are many outdoor accommodations, such as, picnic tables, fireplaces,
baseball diamond, shelter house, well, campsites, and hiking trails.
In the wintertime it is used as a feeding station for deer. The entire
area is a wildlife refuge and many species of birds and animals inhabit
the park. During the summer between five thousand and six thousand
people visit the park to enjoy nature. From May to September an average
of three thousand tourists camp on the grounds.
A small museum in the village
preserves a few historical relics for visitors to view. There is
a bateau which was build in 1902; a dugout canoe built in 1875; an Indian's
birch bark canoe; and huge pine logs.
Although there is no incentive
to encourage an influx of permanent resident to Ojibwa, it will continue
to live as a memento of the prosperous logging days and serve many city
people who own summer cabins on the banks of the picturesque Chippewa River.
