Advertisement, “Choppers Wanted,” Milwaukee Sentinel, August 27, 1839, page 3.

After years of searching for original reports and drawings or photographs of early Wisconsin road construction, I find myself entangled among piles of information and images on just that topic. Now, the challenge is to organize the best of this material into a few CHH blog posts and wrap up—for now—our most recent excursion along Wisconsin’s earliest roads.¹

Like contractor George E. Graves in Sauk Harbor [Port Washington] in 1834 (above), I could probably use the assistance of some (digital) “axe-men” to clear my way forward. Perhaps some hearty fellows such as these…

Unknown photographer, Six officers of 21st New York Infantry Regiment clearing for a camp at Upton’s Hill, Virginia,in fatigue dress with axes. Arlington County, Virginia, 1862. Library of Congress

Captain Cram’s 1839/1840 report…

And if you were wondering about U.S. Army topographical engineer Capt. Thomas J. Cram, and his report to the Topographical Bureau and subsequently—in early 1840—to the U.S. Congress regarding the progress of Wisconsin’s federal roads, here’s a summary of that report, as sent by Capt. Cram to territorial governor Henry Dodge in late 1839 and published, with Dodge’s endorsement, on page 1 of the [Kenosha] Wisconsin Democrat (sometimes known as the Telegraph-Courier) on January 14, 1840.²

Capt. Cram’s report continues in the next column, the right edge of which is cut off in the microfilmed image, but I think you can fill in the missing letter or two.

I’ll be back soon with more Clark House history.

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NOTES:

1. Here’s a list of some Clark House Historian posts discussing various aspects of roads, road construction, and related topics in the early days of pioneer settlement, beginning with our recent series featuring maps and drawings prepared to illustrate Capt. Cram’s December, 1839, report:
   
   • The Green Bay-to-Chicago and other federal roads, c. 1840
   • JMC, the Army, and the Military Road, 1835-1840
   • Monday: Map Day! – Wisconsin’s Federal Roads in 1840
   
   And some earlier CHH posts about early county roads and Jonathan M. Clark’s various road-building activities in old Washington/Ozaukee county:
   
   • County Government – Early Records
   • Monday: Map Day! – The First County Roads, 1841
   • Marking out the roads
   • Roads into the Woods, 1841
   • Another Road into the Woods, 1841
   • The county’s earliest federal roads (plural)
   • a short item on JMC and a local plank road, circa 1851, in: Working at Home
   • and on a general, road-related note: How’d they get here? Walking & riding
   
   Be sure to click on the maps and photographs to open larger, clearer, images of each in a new browser window. Zoom in, scroll around, and enjoy the details.
   
   
2. I have not made a comprehensive survey, but it’s likely that Cram’s letter to Dodge was published in other Wisconsin papers. Cram’s reports are almost certainly published in the United States Congressional Serial Set of official government proceedings kept by the Library of Congress. The Congressional Serial Set is in process of being digitized and I think Cram’s report is there. But I did not have the time to wade through the hundreds and hundreds of relevant reports of the 26th Congress to find Capt. Cram’s official report on the Wisconsin roads of 1839-1840. If any readers care to look for it, here’s the link to the Congressional Serial Set. Best wishes, happy hunting, and please send me a pdf copy of Capt. Cram’s report, if you find it!