“ It has abundant water-power, and is an important lumber manufacturing centre; among its other manufactures are flour, wooden-ware, agricultural machinery, saw-mill machinery, logging locomotives, wood pulp, paper, linen, mattresses, shoes and trunks. The total value of factory products in 1905 was $3,601,558. The city is the principal wholesale and jobbing market for the prosperous Chippewa Valley. Eau Claire was first settled about 1847, and was chartered as a city in 1872; its growth dates from the development of the north-western lumber trade in the decade 1870–1880. ”