Editing Seneca, Wood County, Wisconsin (section)

==History==
The east end of the town, within three miles of the [[Wisconsin River]], was in the "Indian strip," sold by the [[Menominee]] to the U.S. government in the 1836 [[Treaty of the Cedars]]. As such, it was logged and surveyed early.<ref>{{cite web|last=Rosholt|first=Malcolm|title=Pioneers of the Pinery|url=http://www.mcmillanlibrary.org/rosholt/pioneers-of-the-pinery/pionpine/images/00000003.pdf|publisher=Rosholt House|accessdate=May 25, 2013|pages=23–24|year=1979}}</ref> In 1839 a crew working for the U.S. government [[Surveying|surveyed]] what would become the east and south edges of the town, walking through the woods and crossing the river, measuring with [[Gunter's chain|chain]] and [[Solar compass|compass]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Land Survey Information|url=http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/SurveyNotes/SurveyInfo.html|publisher=Board of Commissioners of Public Lands|accessdate=March 26, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Field Notes for T22N R5E|url=http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/SurveyNotes/SurveyNotes-idx?type=PLSS&twp=T022NR005E|work=Original Field Notes and Plat Maps, 1833-1866|publisher=Board of Commissioners of Public Lands|accessdate=June 28, 2013}}</ref> In 1851 a different crew surveyed the section lines of the town, producing this general description:
<blockquote>''The East & South East portion of this Town consists of alternate ridges of pine barrens and [[Larix laricina|Tamarack]] Swamps. There is a small portion of land near the river that is tolerably fair but the bottoms on the river are worthless(?) owing to their being overflowed nearly every year. The West & north parts of the Town consist of a portion of the great [[Cranberry]] Marsh which extends to & beyond [[Yellow River (Wisconsin River)|Yellow river]]. The Marsh is wet & unfit for cultivation & has upon it small Islands (so called) of hard land  with a few trees; Scattering [[Eastern white pine|Pines]], Tamarack & Blk [[Oak]] are found nearly all over it so much so that we almost invariably found bearing trees for our corners. The Marsh may be valuable for the Cranberries which it produces abundantly but otherwise is entirely(?) worthless(?).''<ref>{{cite web|last=Stansbury|first=Erskine|title=Interior Field Notes (1851)|url=http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/SurveyNotes/SurveyNotes-idx?type=turn&entity=SurveyNotesINT046E000101&issueid=SurveyNotes.INT046E03&isize=XL&twp=T022NR005E|publisher=Board of Commissioners of Public Lands|accessdate=2013-06-28}}</ref></blockquote>

The Town of Seneca took its name from the now-extinct hamlet of Seneca, which was located within its borders.<ref>{{cite book | url=http://www.mcmillanlibrary.org/files/docs/placenames.pdf | title=Wood County Place Names | publisher=The University of Wisconsin Press | author=Rudolph, Robert S. | year=1970 | pages=76}}</ref>