CITY OF MENASHA.

and the old settler says it would have been discharged if any in-
jury had been attempted to the dam.
In October of 1881 the water began to rise and reached its
highest stage in November, after which it fell. This was the
great flood. The water stood twenty-three and a half inches
higher on the gage at Oshkosh than at any previous time, accord-
ing to Capt. E. M. Neff, and at Menasha eighteen inches above
every recorded high water mark, according to government re-
ports. From the report of Col. D. C. Houston, made January 9,
1882, in response to an inquiry from Robert T. Lincoln, secretary
of war, because of a resolution made by both branches of Con-
gress making inquiry to what extent the dam at Menasha
"caused the extremely high stage of water in Lake Winnebago,"
Colonel Houston said: "The cause of the high water was the un-
usual rainfall which prevailed in this section during the past fall,
and which caused floods in the Wolf and Upper Fox rivers and
the Wisconsin river, which overflowed its banks and discharged
a large quantity of water into the Fox river. Since the floods
have subsided in these streams water has fallen in Lake Winne-
bago and the Lower Fox river, showing that the high water was
the result of the unusual discharge of water from the tributary
streams. A comparison of the records since 1857 shows that the
water at the foot of Lake Winnebago was about eighteen inches
higher in November, 1881, than at any previous date," and con-
cluded, "the high water was not caused" by the Menasha dam.
The United States purchased the improvement July 6, 1872,
but the owners of the water power had retained control over the
dam up to 1882, when the engineer corps of the United States
War Department first assumed control under an aet of Congress
to provide waste-weirs. Prior to that time each year since the
erection of the dam posts had been driven across the top of the
dam and flush boards consisting of two 8-inch boards one on top
of the other had been placed all across the dam, backed by shav-
ings and compost to keep them tight. These flush boards were
always placed on the dam soon after the spring rise of water,
when it had lowered to six inches on the dam.
The United States engineers, Col. C. A. Fuller, assistant United
States engineer in charge of the improvement on Fox river, Capt.
N. M. Edwards and Mr. Charles Cole, both of Appleton, took pos-
session of the dam in the spring of 1882 and cut down the top
eighteen inches below the average height of the old dam, replac-
ing it with a set of movable flush boards eighteen inches high.

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