LOGGING CAMP ON RIB RIVER, 1895 -- The old-timers on this picture are (atop building, left to right) August
Beilke, Otto Zunker and August Erdman; (standing, left to right) Christ Radke, George Hoeppner (rear), Fritz Hoeft,
Herman Tessmer, Robert Hoeft, man at rear with pipe is unidentified and Fritz Haasch stands next to him; the next two
are unidentified, followed by Carl Hoeft, father of Fritz and Robert; Carl Beilke; Mr. Stanke; Carl Buttke, brother of Christ
Buttke; the photographer, Adelina Buttke (Mrs. August Beilke) and Frances Buttke (Mrs. Carl Beilke).
S7he Lumberman cArrives

It was 1839 when Marathon County was invaded
by the restless lumberman, John L. Moore, who
began operations at Little Bull Falls, now Mosinee.
In that same year, George Stevens, for whom
Stevens Point was named, began mill operations in
Wausau.
It was a short five years later that Benjamin
Single built a sawmill in what is now the Township
of Stettin. Operated by water power when first
constructed in 1844, this mill was situated on the
Little Rib River, four miles west of Wausau, ac-
cording to available descriptions. In 1851, Single
abandoned the water-powered mill and built a
steam-powered sawmill nearby. He operated this
plant for about 20 years until a fire destroyed the
property in 1871.
Some reports seem to indicate that the Single
mill was never rebuilt after that fire. However, it
is reported in "The History of Marathon County"

that the mill in use in 1881, the year in which that
book was published, had been erected in the sum-
mer of 1873. It was reported to have a capacity of
40,000 board feet for a 12-hour work day and the
mill was employing 35 men at that time.
Busy Stettin Mill
The Single mill on the Little Rib cut out as much
lumber as any of the mills at Wausau in the early
days and also gave employment to as many men,
according to historical reports.
Wrote an early lumberman about the area:
"The struggles of the early pioneers to get into
the Wisconsin Valley were great.
"This country was a dense and unsubdued forest
from the place where Stevens Point is located to
the shores of Lake Superior on the north. To open
up the country for the business of lumbering was
no child's play, but was work for men of stalwart