(This is a draft I submitted for the 2025 City of Kaukauna Parks. I have no idea what changes were made after this. It’s a bit more Eurocentric than I would have liked, but that was unfortunately the smoothest way to tell a linear story in the word count provided.)
As the name implies, the centerpiece of the Fox Cities is the Fox River. The centerpiece of the Fox River, though? That’s Kaukauna.
With the rapids at Kaukauna, those traveling by canoe or Durham boat could not merely sail on by. They were forced to get out and carry their crafts for some distance before continuing on their way. This mandatory detour made it a natural spot for the Menominee to congregate, and for the French explorers to interact with the indigenous residents and each other. With every traveler crossing the terrain, Kaukauna was home to the area’s earliest trading posts.
The first deed in what is now Wisconsin happened at Kaukauna in 1793 between Dominique DuCharme, the Menominee and the Ojibwe, but soon the land was sold to Augustin Grignon, an Ottawa-French fur trader. Grignon made strong business and political connections among the Menominee, Ho-Chunk and white settlers, aided by strategic marriages. He had business ventures as far away as Prairie du Chien, but Kaukauna was home.
Augustin’s children were educated by a combination of private tutors and private Catholic schools, and the star of the family was Charles. Using his education and fluency in three languages, Charles Grignon pivoted from the declining fur trade to politics. Serving as a translator for the federal government, he negotiated the Treaty of the Cedars along the Fox River, which passed millions of acres of land from the Menominee to the United States and allowed Wisconsin to become a state. The 1837 mansion built by Charles, symbolizing the birth of Wisconsin, still stands in Kaukauna.
Across the canal is the Ahlstrom-Munksjo paper mill. At least as far back as 1872, several flour and paper mills lined the river at Kaukauna. The same rushing water that made Kaukauna a trading post also made it ideal for creating the power to run large mills in the days before electricity. The papermaking process itself also requires a large amount of water. Some mills closed, and others moved away – notably the Hoberg mill, which became Charmin.
Thilmany Pulp and Paper has been a mainstay. Oscar Thilmany brought the kraft process of making paper with him, a new way to use wood pulp (rather than rags or straw) for creating a more durable paper. The mill has gone through various owners over the years – Hammermill, International Paper, Expera, and now Ahlstrom, but to those in Kaukauna it will always be the Thilmany mill. Entire families, sometimes multiple generations of families, have made working at Thilmany almost a rite of passage.
Even when the mills no longer required the strong roar of the Fox to power them, Kaukauna did not turn its back on the idea. Kaukauna Utilities, a municipal-owned power company for over a century, has harnessed the endless, clean, renewable energy of the river. KU has not only kept electricity affordable through its unique structure, but regularly gives back to causes in the community. If you see the words “sponsored by Kaukauna Utilities,” you can thank the Fox River.
Today, Kaukauna’s connection to the river has come full circle. With the Fox River Navigational System Authority (Fox Locks) based in the city, a stone’s throw from the Grignon Mansion, boats are once again traversing the same waters that brought Marquette, Joliet and others through. You may be more likely to see a kayak than a canoe, but the spirit of the river is alive, and the heart of the Fox River is in Kaukauna, Wisconsin.