The Little River That Could - Paperback

by Chris Dreyer (Illustrator), Michael Thompson (Author), Earl Rhode (Author)

From the preface: This book is a mostly true story about the young Fox River, which was born thousands of years ago but is still alive and well today. Probably millions of words have been written about the Fox River between Green Bay and Portage, Wisconsin, and between Portage and the Wisconsin River via the canal at Portage. The Fox doesn't start at Portage, however. This book is mainly about how the little Fox River performed in its first several miles before it got to Portage, and how it ended up flowing NORTH TWICE, which affected the history of Portage and the state of Wisconsin. Those first miles have been mostly overlooked and forgotten. The first springs that form the young Fox River can still be found bubbling out of marshland just one mile northwest of the little village of Friesland in southern Wisconsin. The book will explain not only where the young Fox River starts and where its waters end but mostly how you will get the feeling that the very young Fox River had a mind of its own.

Author Biography

Earl Rhode was born in 1929. He grew up and completed grade school and high school in Pardeeville, Wisconsin. Encouraged by their father, he and his brother, Merwin, spent a great deal of time hunting and fishing along the Fox River as youths. After marriage to his high school sweetheart, Carol, in 1953, he and his wife lived for a number of years in Milwaukee and also Sun Prairie, Wisconsin. He and his wife have lived back in Pardeeville now for many years and have been married for 60 years. They have two sons, six grandchildren and one great-grandson. The author still enjoys hunting and fishing on the Fox River and lives on Park Lake in Pardeeville.