Fox River (Green Bay tributary) in the context of "Fox Cities"

Green Bay is an arm of Lake Michigan, located along the south coast of Michigan's Upper Peninsula and the east coast of Wisconsin. It is separated from the rest of the lake by the Door Peninsula in Wisconsin, the Garden Peninsula in Michigan, and the chain of islands between them, all formed by the Niagara Escarpment. Green Bay is some 120 miles (193 km) long, with a width ranging from about 10 to 20 miles (16 to 32 km); it is 1,626 square miles (4,210 km) in area.

At the southern end of the bay is the city of Green Bay, Wisconsin, where the Fox River enters the bay. The Leo Frigo Memorial Bridge (formerly known as the Tower Drive bridge) spans the point where the bay begins and the Fox River ends, as the river flows south to north into the bay. Around mid-bay are Sturgeon Bay and the Peshtigo River. The Sturgeon Bay serves the city named after the bay as a shortcut for large ships to use to bypass the Door Peninsula, while the Peshtigo River serves Peshtigo and Crivitz. Locally, the bay is called the Bay of Green Bay to distinguish it from the city.

Green Bay is a city in Brown County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. It is located along the Green Bay inlet at the mouth of the Fox River on Lake Michigan. With a population of 107,395 at the 2020 census, it is the third-most populous city in Wisconsin and third-most populous city on Lake Michigan. The Green Bay metropolitan area has an estimated 335,000 residents.

Green Bay was settled in 1634 by Jean Nicolet as a fur trading post in New France. Its development was shaped by its location at the mouth of the Fox River and it emerged as a center for the lumber, shipping, and paper industries in the 19th and 20th centuries. In the contemporary period, Green Bay's economy encompasses manufacturing, healthcare, and service sectors. The city is widely recognized for its association with the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League, a publicly owned franchise whose presence contributes significantly to the local economy and culture.

The Leo Frigo Memorial Bridge is a bridge on the north side of Green Bay, Wisconsin. It carries Interstate 43 over the Fox River just south of its mouth into Green Bay. Formerly known as the Tower Drive Bridge, it was renamed in 2002 "in recognition and appreciation of Leo Frigo, a civic and philanthropic leader in the Green Bay area. The bridge opened to traffic in 1981. Because of the bridge's height and slope, it is prone to being shut down during inclement weather. The bridge carries roughly 40,000 vehicles per day as of 2015.

Lake Winnebago (Menominee: Wenepekōw Nepēhsæh, Ojibwe: Wiinibiigoo-zaaga'igan, Oneida: kanyataláheleˀ) is a shallow freshwater lake in the north central United States, located in east central Wisconsin. At 137,700 acres (55,700 ha), it is the largest lake entirely within the state, covering an area of about 30 miles (48 km) by 10 miles (16 km) with 88 miles (142 km) of shoreline, an average depth of 15.5 feet (4.7 m), and a maximum depth of 21 feet (6.4 m). It has many shallow reefs along the west shore and a drop-off type shoreline on the east. There are several islands along the west shore.

The lake has two primary tributaries, the Wolf and Fox Rivers, which combine at Lake Butte des Morts. The Fox River flows east through Oshkosh and into Lake Winnebago at its west central shore, then flows out at the northwest shore, around Doty Island at Neenah-Menasha to Little Lake Butte des Morts. The river then flows northeast and empties into Green Bay and serves as part of the Fox-Wisconsin Waterway. Lake Winnebago is part of a larger system of lakes in Wisconsin known as the Winnebago Pool.

The Fox Wars were two conflicts between the French and the Meskwaki (historically Fox) people who lived in the Great Lakes region (particularly near Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit) from 1712 to 1733. These territories are known today as the states of Michigan and Wisconsin in the United States. The Wars exemplified colonial warfare in the transitional space of New France, occurring within the complex system of alliances and enmities with native peoples and colonial plans for expansion.

The Meskwaki controlled the Fox River system in eastern Wisconsin. This river was vital for the fur trade between French Canada and the North American interior, because it allowed river travel from Green Bay in Lake Michigan to the Mississippi River. The French wanted the rights to use the river system to gain access to both the Mississippi and trade contacts with tribes to the west.