Mosinee is a city in Marathon County, Wisconsin. It is part of the Wausau, Wisconsin Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 4,452 at the time of the 2020 census. The traditional inhabitants of the area were the Ojibwe, the Potawatomi and the Menominee. However, the name is the Hochunk Mōsį́nį, the "Cold Country," from mō, an old form of mą, me…Mosinee is a city in Marathon County, Wisconsin. It is part of the Wausau, Wisconsin Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 4,452 at the time of the 2020 census. The traditional inhabitants of the area were the Ojibwe, the Potawatomi and the Menominee. However, the name is the Hochunk Mōsį́nį, the "Cold Country," from mō, an old form of mą, meaning "earth, ground, land, country"; and sį́nį, "cold." The Ojibwe ceded the territory to the United States in 1837 when they sold most of their land in what would become Wisconsin, though they were guaranteed the right to continue hunting, fishing, and gathering wild rice on the ceded lands. Similarly, the Potawatomi gave up their land claims in Wisconsin in 1833, and the Menominee ceded territory in this area in the 1836 Treaty of the Cedars. These treaties coincided with the establishment of the first sawmill in the area by a white settler, John L. Moore, in 1836, and enabled white settlement to begin in the area. Lumber quickly became the most important industry and drew other businesses and settlers to the town, which at the time was known as Little Bull Falls. After the closing of Fort Winnebago in 1845, a number of Métis families moved to Little Bull Falls, and in 1857 the town was renamed in honor of an Ojibwe chief from the Wisconsin River Band. Deforestation led to the collapse of the lumber industry in the early 20th century, but it was quickly replaced by the paper industry. In the neighboring Menominee language the town is called Mōsāpnīw, "he dwells alone there", which is likely a close approximation of the eponymous chief's name.
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