Traveling on Route 70 some ten miles east of Winter are the communities of Loretta and to the east, neighboring Draper. At the turn of the century, this area produced some of the finest pine and hardwood forests in Wisconsin. Lumbering was in its prime and these villages were the hub for several lumber companies, including Edward Hines Lumber Company of Chicago, which owned vast areas in Sawyer and neighboring counties, and developed the Loretta-Draper communities to serve the needs of their employees and families.

After lumbering was on its decline, Edward Hines started an extensive campaign to sell the cut over land left behind. They named the area “Happy Land” in their brochures and sold it to would be farmers for anywhere from $1.50 to $8 per acre. Their ads were widely spread in metropolitan areas like Chicago and Minneapolis and attracted settlers to the area.

Today a few farms still remain but most of the acreage has re-grown as forest and is managed by state and federal forest agencies. The once bustling villages of Loretta-Draper that numbered more than 1200 including the lumberjacks and their families have shrunk to several hundred permanent residents.