Turning Points
in Wisconsin History
A Made-to-Order Farm to lure settlers northward, 1921
Made-to-order farms / Wisconsin Colonization Co., Western Sales Office.
Organized by Ben Faast around 1918, the Wisconsin Colonization Company sought to establish a prosperous city of farmers on land formerly used for logging. Faast named the town Ojibwa and, working with UW professor Frans Aust, developed a complete town plan that included a zoo, parks, and a grand boulevard. The Colonization Company heavily promoted the agricultural resources of Sawyer County and offered potential settlers "made-to-order farms" consisting of land, a house, a barn, 2 pigs, 6 chickens, tools, and seeds. The largest ethnic group to settle in the area were Poles, drawn to the farming life familiar to them in Europe. Ojibwa was only a moderate success as buyers found that the profits were small in comparison to the amount of work and capital required of them--a situation mirrored throughout the cutover.
| Related Topics: |
Mining, Logging, and Agriculture Wisconsin's Response to 20th-century change Logging and Forest Products 20th-Century Immigration Farming and Rural Life |
| Creator: | Wisconsin Colonization Company |
| Pub Data: | [Minneapolis : The Company, Western Sales Office, 1921?]. (pamphlet 56-3042) |
| Citation: | "Made-to-order farms / Wisconsin Colonization Co., Western Sales Office." ([Minneapolis : The Company, Western Sales Office, 1921?); Online facsimile at: http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/turningpoints/search.asp?id=1340; Visited on: 5/5/2024 |
.