Chippewa Boots was founded in October 1901 in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. The name comes from the Indian tribe of the region. The company's mission from day one was to manufacture the finest boots and shoes in the United States. It employed 175 employees, mainly women, and produced 1,200 pairs daily.

Chippewa Boots started out as a company that produced a top end logging boot for area camps in the pulp and paper industry. Timber was in high demand at the turn of the century and the need for wood and pulp drove men to the forests in the upper Midwest and Canada. Recognizing the need for extraordinary footwear Chippewa was there with its Logger Boot to shod thousands of skilled men who took dangerous and risky jobs as lumberjacks. These iconic workers required sharp saws, honed axes, strong ropes and sturdy Chippewa boots. With the right tools two lumberjacks could take down over an acre of white pine and hemlock in one day.