Full bio & photo available at www.marathoncountyhistory.com
Leander Swope was born in Broome, Scoharie County, NY on April 28, 1833, a son of Ezra and Catherine (VanValtenburgh) Swope and two years later his family moved to Wellsboro, Pennsylvania. In 1857 he came to what was then called Big Bull Falls, now the city of Wausau, and he worked here and in what was then Jenny, now Merrill. He was one of the old time pilots on lumber fleets, being licensed on both the Wisconsin and the Mississippi Rivers. He quickly earned the nickname "Old Hawkeye" because he could spot a sandbar "half a mile down the river around the second bend." He was a civil engineer but spent most of his career in the logging industry, and before the railroad came to Wausau, as a raftsman.
Leander Swope was born in Broome, Scoharie County, NY on April 28, 1833, a son of Ezra and Catherine (VanValtenburgh) Swope and two years later his family moved to Wellsboro, Pennsylvania. In 1857 he came to what was then called Big Bull Falls, now the city of Wausau, and he worked here and in what was then Jenny, now Merrill. He was one of the old time pilots on lumber fleets, being licensed on both the Wisconsin and the Mississippi Rivers. He quickly earned the nickname "Old Hawkeye" because he could spot a sandbar "half a mile down the river around the second bend." He was a civil engineer but spent most of his career in the logging industry, and before the railroad came to Wausau, as a raftsman.
Full bio & photo available at www.marathoncountyhistory.com
Leander Swope was born in Broome, Scoharie County, NY on April 28, 1833, a son of Ezra and Catherine (VanValtenburgh) Swope and two years later his family moved to Wellsboro, Pennsylvania. In 1857 he came to what was then called Big Bull Falls, now the city of Wausau, and he worked here and in what was then Jenny, now Merrill. He was one of the old time pilots on lumber fleets, being licensed on both the Wisconsin and the Mississippi Rivers. He quickly earned the nickname "Old Hawkeye" because he could spot a sandbar "half a mile down the river around the second bend." He was a civil engineer but spent most of his career in the logging industry, and before the railroad came to Wausau, as a raftsman.
Leander Swope was born in Broome, Scoharie County, NY on April 28, 1833, a son of Ezra and Catherine (VanValtenburgh) Swope and two years later his family moved to Wellsboro, Pennsylvania. In 1857 he came to what was then called Big Bull Falls, now the city of Wausau, and he worked here and in what was then Jenny, now Merrill. He was one of the old time pilots on lumber fleets, being licensed on both the Wisconsin and the Mississippi Rivers. He quickly earned the nickname "Old Hawkeye" because he could spot a sandbar "half a mile down the river around the second bend." He was a civil engineer but spent most of his career in the logging industry, and before the railroad came to Wausau, as a raftsman.
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