History, Winnebago County, Wisconsin: Its cities, towns, resources, people

              THE LOCK, CANAL AND DAM. 405
the cost for dam, lock and canal at Winnebago Eapids at $23,- 748.50 on the depth of five feet, as proposed by him, which the board of public works reduced to four feet, but increased the dimensions of the locks to 125 feet by thirty feet. From the re¬ port of the improvements made in 1849 by the board of public works it appears that contracts were made for improving both channels at Winnebago Eapids, but no work was done that year. From this report it seems the state had a hand in the improve¬ ments at both Neenah and Menasha, as both rapids were known by the same name. The reports of the board made during their administration from 1848 until 1852, w^hen the w^ork was taken over by the Fox and Wisconsin Improvement Company, shows that no money was expended for any w^ork at either Neenah or Menasha. In the report of C. D. Westbrook, Jr., he gives the condition of the improvement of the channels to November, 1854. Of the Neenah channel he says: "At the Neenah or southern channel the canal lock and dams have been completed ready for use. The improvement here was executed without cost to the state in consideration of the use of the water power. The lock and canal, however, are of the original size. The canal is sixty feet wide on bottom and four feet deep. The lock is 140 feet long by thirty-five feet wide in the chamber." Of the dam he said it was bolted to the solid rock. The lock, he says, was made of timber filled with clay.
In September, 1849, the state board of public works met at Oshkosh. All the influential men of the settlement of Neenah and Menasha were on hand to press their favor on the board to have their channel officially declared the state channel. The Eeed and Doty interests were now combined for the north chan¬ nel at Menasha, as there was strong rivalry between the two near-by villages, both struggling to gain something over the other. Curtis Eeed had been a member of this board, but re¬ signed that he might put in a claim for his interests in Menasha. Harvey Jones offered to make all the improvements at Neenah required by the engineers in charge of navigation on the south channel at his own cost if they would establish a line of the state's canal officially on that channel. Curtis Eeed offered the same and added $5,000 to be paid if called for. The Menasha channel was selected. This is said to have been a great disapr pointment to Col. Harvey Jones, as indeed it must have been, as well as to all the villagers. Colonel Jones died within two months of this decision—on November 8, 1849.   Mr. Cunningham