Раск округының тарихы мен дамуы

County in Wisconsin, United States

The forested wilderness that would become Rusk County was home to different Indian nations over the years. Some used the rivers to pass through, some camped, some buried their dead there. The first recorded Europeans in the county were Father Louis Hennepin and his company, who canoed up the Chippewa in 1680 when the area was part of New France, on their way to Lac Courte Oreilles and Madeline Island. In 1790 Lakota warriors came up the Chippewa to attack the Ojibwe, but they were defeated, leaving the Ojibwe in control through the fur trade era. The first loggers and settlers came up the Chippewa River from the south, entering what would become Rusk County north of modern Holcombe, where the Flambeau River joins the Chippewa. European American settlement began near that Indian village in 1847, when Adolph La Ronge and his wife came from Canada. By the 1860s the Daniel Shaw Lumber Company had a farm two miles west (across from modern Flater's Resort) to support their operations. An 1888 map of Chippewa County shows more roads, including one following the west side of the Flambeau from Shaw's farm to Flambeau Falls (Ladysmith). Railroads reached the area in 1884. The Mississippi River Logging Company brought in a locomotive, cars and rails by sleigh from Bloomer to start a logging railroad. Weyerhaueser's company had tried driving logs down the streams from the Potato Lake and Soft Maple areas, but the streams proved too small, so they laid track and hauled logs to Big Bend, then rolled them into the Chippewa. As the timber in that area was cut off, this railroad, named the Chippewa River and Menomonie Railroad, shifted operations, moving its rails north of Bruce. The Soo Line continued east in 1884 and 1885, creating other stations which would develop as the towns of Weyerhaeuser, Bruce, Warner (now Ladysmith), Deer Tail (now Tony), Miller's Siding (now Glen Flora), Ingram and Hawkins. This new railroad provided a way to get lumber out to markets. This was particularly helpful when logging turned from pine to hardwoods which didn't float as well. Many of these little towns along the Soo Line had sawmills, and some of those sawmills were fed by their own little logging railroads, reaching out into the forests. The 1901 legislation also designated Corbett (now Ladysmith) as the county seat, which was challenged by other towns all the way to the state supreme court. The area's economy was evolving. The peak of pine log drives on the Chippewa had been around 1885 and they ended around 1906. Hardwood lumbering started in earnest around 1900 and peaked from 1905 to 1915, then began to decline. The private Mount Senario College served the area in various forms from around 1962 to 2002. In the 1990s the Flambeau Mine was an open pit mine near the Flambeau River a mile south of Ladysmith, which produced copper, gold and silver. Mining so near the Flambeau River was controversial, with an initial plan blocked by the local zoning committee. Kennecott came back with a less risky proposal in 1987 and it was approved. The mine operated from 1991 to 1999, excavating a pit 2,600 feet long and 220 feet deep, and producing 181,000 tons of copper, 334,000 ounces of gold, and 3.3 million ounces of silver. In the reclamation phase, the pit was back filled and planted with native plants. It now offers walking trails open to the public. Over the years, sawmills and cheese factories in the smaller towns have closed, but other industries have grown. The largest employers in the county are now Weather Shield in Ladysmith, Jeld Wen in Hawkins, Rusk County administration, the school districts, Wal Mart, Artisans, the medical center in Ladysmith, and Rand Trucking.

According to the U. S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of 931 square miles (2,411 km2), of which 914 square miles (2,367 km2) is land and 17 square miles (44 km2) (1.9%) is water.

KRCX Rusk County Airport serves the county and surrounding communities.

As of the census of 2000, there were 15,347 people, 6,095 households, and 4,156 families residing in the county. The population density was There were 7,609 housing units at an average density of The racial makeup of the county was 97.69% White, 0.51% Black or African American, 0.42% Native American, 0.26% Asian, 0.10% Pacific Islander, 0.35% from other races, and 0.66% from two or more races. 0.76% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 32.7% were of German, 13.6% Polish, 9.0% Norwegian, 6.8% Irish, 6.2% American and 5.6% English ancestry. There were 6,095 households, out of which 28.60% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.90% were married couples living together, 7.90% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.80% were non families. 27.00% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.30% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.45 and the average family size was 2.97. In the county, the population was spread out, with 24.80% under the age of 18, 7.90% from 18 to 24, 24.80% from 25 to 44, 24.10% from 45 to 64, and 18.50% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 98.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.40 males. In 2017, there were 134 births, giving a general fertility rate of 66.0 births per 1000 women aged 15–44, the 25th highest rate out of all 72 Wisconsin counties. Additionally, there were no reported induced abortions performed on women of Rusk County residence in 2017.