Editing Ford, Wisconsin (section)

==History==
In mid-summer of 1847 a crew working for the U.S. government [[Surveying|surveyed]] a six-mile square which approximates the current boundaries of Ford. Then in October 1854 another crew marked all the [[Section (United States land surveying)|section corners]] in the [[survey township|township]], walking through the woods and swamps, measuring with [[Gunter's chain|chain]] and compass.<ref>{{cite web|title=Land Survey Information|url=http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/SurveyNotes/SurveyInfo.html|publisher=Board of Commissioners of Public Lands|access-date=April 2, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Field Notes for T31N R3W|url=http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/SurveyNotes/SurveyNotes-idx?type=PLSS&twp=T031NR003W|work=Original Field Notes and Plat Maps, 1833-1866|publisher=Board of Commissioners of Public Lands|access-date=April 2, 2011}}</ref>  When done, the deputy surveyor filed this general description:
<blockquote>''This [[Survey township|Township]] contains numerous swamps some of which are of considerable extent they are all unfit for cultivation. The surface is Generally level the low [[Tsuga canadensis|Hemlock]] lands the soil is 3d rate the uplands 2d. The whole of the Township is covered with Timber and is chiefly composed of Hemlock and [[Betula alleghaniensis|Y Birch]]. The River Enters the Township Near the NW corner of [[Section (United States land surveying)|section 1]] and flows in a south westerly course with a swift current and has a good motive power for [[Watermill|mills]]. There is no improvements on this Township. The Hemlock and Swamps Except [[Alder]] area covered with [[moss]](?).''<ref>{{cite web|last=White|first=D. M.|title=Interior Field Notes (Oct. 1854)|url=http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/SurveyNotes/SurveyNotes-idx?type=article&byte=2137038&twp=T031NR003W|publisher=Board of Commissioners of Public Lands|access-date=2 April 2011}}</ref></blockquote>

An 1880 map of the area shows a "winter road" from [[Chippewa County, Wisconsin|Chippewa County]] loosely paralleling the [[Yellow River (Chippewa River tributary)|Yellow River]] on the north side. This tote road extended through the wilderness all the way to what would become [[Westboro (CDP), Wisconsin|Westboro]].<ref name=rasmussen>{{cite book|last=Dahl|first=Ole Rasmussen|title=Map of Chippewa, Price & Taylor Counties and the northern part of Clark County|year=1880|publisher=The Milwaukee Litho & Engr Co.|location=Milwaukee, Wisconsin|url=http://content.wisconsinhistory.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/maps/id/1046/rec/3|access-date=October 23, 2023}}</ref> It was used to ferry supplies to equip logging camps for the winter logging season. During this phase the loggers focused on cutting [[Pinus strobus|white pine]] - the most valuable tree - floating the logs down the Yellow in spring [[Log driving|log drives]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Rusch|first=Gordon|editor-last=Kalmon|editor-first=Lars|title=Our Home - Taylor County Wisconsin - Vol 1|date=January 2012|publisher=Taylor County History Project|page=1|chapter=Taylor County Logging and Lumbering}}</ref> This map also shows "Dam built 1871" at the location of Miller Dam.<ref name=rasmussen/>

In 1902 and 1903 the Stanley, Merrill and Phillips Railroad was built up the west edge of Ford, heading north from [[Stanley, Wisconsin|Stanley]] toward [[Jump River (CDP), Wisconsin|Jump River]] and beyond.<ref name=Nagel/> Around 1905 the J.S. Owen Company built a line for the Wisconsin Central heading northwest across the town for Ladysmith and Superior, crossing the SM&P line two miles south of the Yellow River.<ref>{{cite book|last=Rusch|first=Robert P.|editor-last=Kalmon|editor-first=Lars|title=Our Home - Taylor County Wisconsin - volume 2|date=September 22, 2013|publisher=Taylor County History Project|pages=15, 30–31|chapter=The Twelve Railroads of Taylor County, Wisconsin}}</ref> At this auspicious junction, the hamlet of Polley sprang up, growing to include a 40-man sawmill, a hotel-saloon, a general store, a school, a barber, a cheese factory, a [[millinery]] shop, and a newspaper.<ref name=Nagel/><ref>{{cite book|title=Polley (Polley P.O., Lusk Station)|date=1913|publisher=Geo. A. Ogle & Co.|location=Chicago|url=https://www.historicmapworks.com/Map/US/36912/Rib+Lake++Polley++Perkinstown++Stetsonville++Maplehurst++Field++Chelsea/Taylor+County+1913/Wisconsin/Wisconsin/|access-date=October 27, 2023}}</ref> The community was originally called Morehouse after the road superintendent, while the SM&P called their railway station Lusk after the sawmill owner. In 1909 the USPS established a post office there named Polley for logger and postmaster James Polley. As years rolled on, some businesses moved two miles north to Gilman, the SM&P shut down in the 1930s, and Polley dwindled<ref name=Nagel>{{cite book|last=Nagel|first=Paul|title=S.M.& P. RY - The Stanley, Merrill and Phillips Railway|date=1979|pages=157–163}}</ref> until today only a bar and some homes remain.

The 1911 plat map of the six mile square that would become most of Ford shows the railroads, with [[Gilman, Taylor County, Wisconsin|Gilman]] where the SM&P crosses the Yellow River. The rural lands to the east are mostly owned by lumber companies, with the Northwestern Lumber Co. holding the lion's share. Some smaller parcels are owned by Nye, Lusk and Hudson, the local mill at Polley. Some chunks in the south are owned by the American Immigration Co. The map shows not a single settler in this 6-mile square, though the same series of maps from 1911 shows a smattering of settlers around [[Jump River (CDP), Wisconsin|Jump River]], around [[Hannibal, Wisconsin|Hannibal]], west of Gilman, and a good number around [[Lublin, Wisconsin|Lublin]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Paetzold|first=C.H.|title=Map of Taylor County|date=1911|publisher=C. Paetzold and Koehler Land Company|location=Medford, Wis.|url=https://content.wisconsinhistory.org/digital/collection/maps/id/20299|access-date=October 25, 2023|chapter=Plat map of T31N R3W}}</ref> Ford was rather late to be settled.

In 1933 the cut-over eastern half of Ford was designated part of the [[Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest|Chequamegon National Forest]]<ref>[http://www.stateparks.com/nicolet.html "Nicolet National Forest"]</ref>

The SM&P Railway ceased operations in the 1930s, but the Wisconsin Central line ended up acquired by the [[Canadian National Railway]], and runs to this day.

[[Image:Polley_Wisconsin.jpg|thumb|Little remains of Polley, two miles south of Gilman.]]