The Holcombe Indian

The Holcombe Indian. . , The Holcombe Indian was known to river men along the Chippewa since 1876. Called the King of the Chippewa River, he stood guard on the old Holcombe (Little Falls) Dam and was a most welcome site to lumberjacks driving their logs down the river to be sawed into lumber at the local mill, or held and sluiced through the log-way in the dam to be cut at the big mills at Chippewa Falls or Eau Claire. , The Indian brave was created by Luke Lyons using an axe, drawshave and a pocket knife. Lyons, a former sailor, was a straw boss employed by the Chippewa Lumber and Boom Company. He carved the Indian straight, impressive, and nearly eight feet tall from a carefully selected white pine log cut by Jene Juvette near Pine Lake, just north of Holcombe. , During a flood in 1881, the Holcombe Indian was dislodged from his place on the dam and over the falls and rapids he went, down the river all the way to Jim Falls where he was rescued. He was repaired and returned to the Holcombe Dam site where he remained until the dam was abandoned and a new modern hydroelectric power plant was built. , As a symbol through the years, the brave has been the guardian spirit of loggers and of the mighty Chippewa River. , Chippewa County Historical Society , Marker Sign #3.