Great Lakes Steamships and Canals

In 1834, the federal government opened land offices in Mineral Point and Green Bay, greatly speeding up the settlement of Wisconsin. Steamboats on the Mississippi River connected Wisconsin to the Gulf of Mexico, while immigrants and goods from the East came into the territory on Great Lakes steamships. Bordering these two great waterways, Wisconsin residents faced the problem of how to connect the two transportation systems. With the economic success of the Erie Canal, opened in 1825, the answer for many in Wisconsin seemed to be canals.

The increase in the number of settlements only added to the existing demands... more...

Original Documents and Other Primary Sources

	A woman's memoir of the founding of Sheboygan
	Recollections of Old Superior
	The Fate of the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers Improvement Company
	The first steamboat trip on the Upper Mississippi, in 1823.
	Milwaukee developers try to dig a water route to the Lead Region in the 1830s.
	Steamboating days, 1854-1863, are recalled by a Wisconsin pilot.
	A Boston feminist visits the village of Milwaukee in 1843.
	A Mississippi Riverboat pilot looks back on his career, 1845-1883
	Descriptions of Wisconsin disasters and catastrophes, 1848-1948
	Folklore and folktales collected by Charles E. Brown
	Increase Lapham examining a meteorite, ca. 1868
	Pictures of steamboats on Wisconsin waters, 1832-1931
	An Austrian painter depicts Wisconsin in the 1850s
	An 1832 drawing of a Great Lakes steamboat
	A government official compares rail and steamboat routes to Wisconsin, 1853.
	An Austrian painter describes sketches made while traveling Wisconsin, 1856-1860
	Papers of a Manitowoc shipbuilder, 1857-1912
	Developers try to cut a canal around the worst rapids in the Fox River.
	The route of the proposed Milwaukee and Rock River Canal, 1838.
	The wreck of the Schooner "Lucerne"

Primary Sources Available Elsewhere

	The Wisconsin Legislature seeks federal support for canals, 1867
	An examination of the narratives of four immigrant women
	An artist and writer travels Wisconsin's rivers and lakes in 1846
	An 1874 guide to travel on the Great Lakes and Rivers of America
	An 1858 topographical survey of the northern Great Lakes
	Travel Guide to Lake Superior in 1872
	Wisconsin Blue Books
	An 1870 proposal to build a canal at Sturgeon Bay
	An 1858 description of Wisconsin's natural and commercial resources
	Complete text of Margaret Fuller's Summer on the Lakes, in 1843
	An 1872 report on a new bridge across the Mississippi
	Art work of the Mississippi Valley in 1899
	Historic postcards of Milwaukee
	Canal proponents seek President Lincoln's support, 1862

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