History Of Lake Holcombe

A Look Back At Little Falls Dam

The NSP dam at Holcornbe is actually the third dam to be constructed along this stretch of the Chippewa River. The original dam, which spanned the river less than one mile north of the present structure, was called the Little Falls Dam.

Built in 1872 by the Union Lumbering Company, both the dam and community were then known as Little Falls. Of timber crib construction, the dam was reputed to be the world's largest. (right angle) wooden dam. Its purpose was to store water that could later be released to float logs down river. In the late 1800s, the virgin timber in the country to the north attracted a growing lumber industry. Floods were still common events on the Chippewa River, and portions of the wooden dam frequently floated away in times of high water. In 1885, a flood finally tore the dam out entirely. It was immediately rebuilt, however, to meet the needs of the Chippewa Lumber and Board Company, which had acquired the dam in 1880. Operating the world's largest sawmill down river in Chippewa Falls, the company built the world's Largest wooden darn to supply the logs. While the dam brought prosperity to the area, it also witnessed tragedy. A terrible accident occurred at the dam in 1905 when a river boat capsized and eleven young men, who were taking part in the annual log drive drowned.

By 1910 the logging boom was over and the big mill closed its doors. Although the sawmill had endured floods and fires, survived market crashes, and driven out ita competitors, it finally failed when the supply of logs was gone. That year the dam at Little Falls was also abandoned.

In 1912 the site was purchased by the Chippewa Valley Construction Company, which sold it in 1914 to the Wisconsin-Minnesota Light and Power Company (later Northern States Power Company). Buffeted by the river, the rest of the Little Falls Dam washed away sometime in the 1920s. It wasn't until 1950, when the present dam was completed, that the river's power at Holcombe was again harnessed, This time to light the buildings constructed of the logs once collected behind the old wooden dam.

The Holcombe Indian

The Holcombe Indian was known to river men along the Chippewa since 1876. Called the King of the Chippewa River, he stood guard on the old Holcombe (Little Falls) Dam and was a most welcome site to lumberjacks driving their logs down the river to be sawed into lumber at the local mill, or held and sliced through the log-way in the dam to be cut at the big mills at Chippewa Falls or Eau Claire.
The Indian brave was created by Luke Lyons using an axe, drawshave and a pocket knife. Lyons, a former sailor, was a straw boss employed by the Chippewa Lumber and Boom Company. He carved the Indian straight, impressive, and nearly eight feet tall from a carefully selected white pine log cut by Jene Juvette near Pine Lake, just north of Holcombe.  During a flood in 1881, the Holcombe Indian was dislodged from his place on the dam and over the falls and rapids he went, down the river all the way to Jim Falls where he was rescued. He was repaired and returned to the Holcombe Dam site where he remained until the dam was abandoned and a new modern hydroelectric power plant was built.

As a symbol through the years, the brave has been the guardian spirit of loggers and of the mighty Chippewa River.  Come see the Holcombe Indian at the Holcombe Town Hall Park in Holcombe