In 1869, the Suez Canal was completed and the city of Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, the chief sawmill town on the Chippewa River, was incorporated. Chippewa Falls grew in popularity and influence. It persevered through hardships and experienced the ebb and flow of wealth and power--and 135 years later, Chippewa Falls remains a vital community. This pictorial history documents the heritage of Chippewa Falls from 1896 through the present, with chapters such as Women at Work, Made in Chippewa for the Rest of the World, Family Albums, and Celebrate! Celebrate! By blending contemporary photographs with archival images and providing opportunities for reflection and comparison, this book contributes significantly to the preservation of the community's collective history.

Richard D. Cornell traveled the Chippewa River from its two sources south of Ashland to where it joins the Mississippi. In repeated visits over several decades, Cornell learned the stories of the Chippewa and its valley, from the Ojibwe and early fur traders and lumbermen to the varied and hopeful communities of today. Through his conversations with ordinary people and local historians, he gets at the heart of the Chippewa and shares a history of the river that is both one of a kind and deeply personal.