Milwaukee River

Water catchment area of ​​Milwaukee Rivers

Milwaukee River

The river rises in Fond du Lac County and flows past Grafton in downtown Milwaukee, where it flows into Lake Michigan. Cedar Creek, Menomonee River and Kinnickinnic River are the major tributaries.

Catchment area

The Milwaukee River drains more than 2,300 square kilometers in southeastern Wisconsin. He belongs to the catchment area of Lake Michigan, which drains via the St. Lawrence River into the Atlantic.

The catchment area includes portions of Dodge, Fond du Lac, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Sheboygan, Washington and Waukesha Counties.

History

The area of ​​the Milwaukee River was inhabited before European settlement of Indians. Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet traveled from Lake Michigan by the Milwaukee River on their way to the Fox River and the Mississippi River.

At the beginning of the 19th century, three sites were established on the banks of the Milwaukee and Kinnickinnic River: Juneautown of Solomon Juneau, Walker 's Point by George H. Walker and Kilbourntown by Byron Kilbourn. The dispute over the construction of a bridge over the Milwaukee River was one of the triggers for the merger of the three cities to the City of Milwaukee, 1846.