Township of Pershing

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The town has a total area of 35.8 square miles, of which, 35.7 square miles is land and 0.2 square miles is water.

The water consists mostly of man-made flowages in the Pershing Wildlife Area, and the Fisher River, which crosses Pershing from east to west.

The six mile square that would become Pershing was first surveyed in 1847 by a crew working for the U.S. government, then again in 1852. Then in 1855 another crew marked all the section corners in the township, walking through the woods and slogging through the swamps on foot, measuring with chain and compass. When done, the deputy surveyor filed this general description:

This Township contains several swamps and one in the SE corner of considerable extent. They are all unfit for cultivation. The meadow and Alder bottoms are all subject to be overflowed to a depth of 1 too 2 feet and are good for Hay. The surface is Generally low and level a part is upland where the soil is 2nd rate. This township is Heavily Timbered and is cheifly composed ofHemlock and Y. Birch on low level land and on uplands Sugar, Linden W. Pine and Balsam. The undergrowth is Generally thick and is composed of Hemlock Balsam and Hazel. Balsam and Elm line the margins of the Meadow and Alder bottoms. There is no improvements on this Township.

Pershing was logged starting in the late 1800s. Around 1903 the Eau Claire, Chippewa Falls, and Northeastern Railway (a.k.a. Omaha) built its line across the township, roughly following the current CTH M. Around 1905 theWisconsin Central Railway built the line which would become the Soo Line and on which trains run to this day. At the junction of the two lines the community of Donald rose. It declined after logging waned and the Omaha shut down in 1939.

Now much of Pershing is farmed by families: dairy, beef and crops. One third of the town is occupied by the Pershing Wildlife Area, managed by the state of Wisconsin.