December 16, 1871, Saturday Evening Press
After yesterday's post about the "Menasha," the steam engine that started it all for the Wisconsin Central, it's only fair and of interest to present this letter account of one man's travel's from the line's origins in Menasha all the way to the end of the line in Ashland. Hopeful and optimistic and rather laudatory as well, are the author's platitudes for the communities along the line, extolling the virtues of abundant water power, friendly townspeople and seemingly endless timber for the future of the great state of Wisconsin. As with many of these travelogues of the era, one truly wonders about the realities versus the actual conditions in that the writers are often cheerleaders and their reliability can sometimes be of dubious merit. But it made for great copy in the newspapers of the day and what editor would not want to promote his area for the sake of future commerce and good will?
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