Pulling history from the riverbed

NEW LONDON — While most people look out at the Wolf River and wonder where the walleyes are biting, Leon “Koz” Kosmerchock looks down through the current and wonders what historical relics are resting in the silt.

Kosmerchock, a Neenah resident and the creator behind Koz’s River Bottom Kreations, spends his free time paddling area waterways in a kayak with a 1,500-pound pancake-shaped neodymium magnet tied to a heavy rope. On a recent autumn afternoon at the New London public docks, his haul looked like something out of an archaeological dig: an antique wooden-spoked wheel rim, historic iron fragments, and a five-gallon bucket filled with rusted Wisconsin history.

“It took me a few tries to get that wheel loose,” Kosmerchock said. “It felt hung up on something down there, and as I pulled, it kept slipping off. But I kept at it and finally freed it. You get so many little bits of scrap iron sticking to the magnet that it creates a barrier against the heavy stuff. When that happens, you have to bring it up fast, clean it off, and drop it right back down before you lose your spot.”

Kosmerchock’s river-bottom treasure hunts began in August 2018 as a way to regain his health following a life-threatening bout of diverticulitis in late 2017.

“My knees made walking trails difficult, so I bought a kayak for low-impact exercise,” he explained. “Around that same time, my boss, a coworker, and I were talking about magnets. My boss lived on the river in Fremont and ordered three of them. The first time I dropped a magnet into the water near the old Winneconne bridge while they were building the new one, I was hooked immediately.”

That first autumn alone, Kosmerchock pulled more than 80 lost boat anchors from the water, often paddling into the dark with a headlamp strapped to his hat.

Instead of taking his finds to a scrap yard, Kosmerchock decided to give the discarded metal a second life. A talented sketch artist since childhood, he began experimenting after hours in his employer’s workshop, using a welder to turn scrap into functional yard pieces and sculptures.

“I started out making old-school decorative anchors, but then one day I drew a sketch of an eagle clutching a trout in its talons,” Kosmerchock said. “My boss saw the drawing and was amazed. He gave me permission to use the shop welder on nights and weekends. From that first eagle on, I was hooked on building wildlife.”

His technique requires exceptional balance and tactile sensitivity. Sitting sideways in his kayak to catch the river current, Kosmerchock bobs the heavy magnet along the bottom like a giant jig.

“I hold the rope so it’s just touching bottom without dragging,” Kosmerchock said. “You can feel things hit the magnet through the rope, just like the bite of a big fish on a rod. And when it latches onto a big boat anchor, the whole boat tugs toward it.”

Historic river towns like New London, Fremont, and Winneconne offer fertile ground for underwater finds. Over the years, Kosmerchock has pulled up old farm dumps, antique car parts from long-forgotten repair shops, and more than 300 vintage horseshoes from an old blacksmith site.

Back in his workshop, the process begins with freehand chalk drawings sketched directly onto a steel workbench. He then searches through his buckets of recovered river metal—spark plugs, old wrenches, chains, washers, and gears—welding them together to form fins, feathers, and muscle contours before finishing them with color and protective clear coats.

“There tends to be so much history around these old river towns,” Kosmerchock said. “I love talking to the locals at the landings and hearing stories about what happened along these banks in the past. It helps me tell the story of the metal pieces I weld together, so the history gets passed down to the next generation instead of sitting lost in the mud.”

To see more of Kosmerchock’s artwork or inquire about custom sculptures and refurbished river anchors, search Koz’s River Bottom Kreations on Facebook or TikTok.