Turning Points
in Wisconsin History
Arrival of the First Europeans
The first European to visit Wisconsin may have been interpreter Etienne Brule (ca. 1592-1632). In 1622 or 1623 he traveled around Lake Superior, but the account of his trip was only written down from hearsay after his death by Gabriel Sagard-Theodat. Unique information about Wisconsin also appears on Samuel de Champlain's map of New France published in 1632 -- two years before Jean Nicolet reached Wisconsin, and is presumed to have come to Champlain from Brule. We give both documents here so you can decide for yourself whether you think Brule was the first European to set eyes on our... more...
Original Documents and Other Primary Sources
 | The Menominee recall meeting Europeans for the first time. |
| Father Marquette's diary of his 1673 trip with Joliet |
| The Ho-Chunk recall meeting Europeans for the first time. |
| Mining in the lead region, 1670-1829 |
 | Two traders nearly starve in the northwoods during the winter of 1659-60. |
| Marquette and Joliet's 1673 voyage is leaked to the world. |
| A young interpreter skirts the shores of Lake Superior about 1622. |
| A priest journeys to a Wisconsin village of exiled Hurons in 1661. |
| The history and traditions of the Chippewa Valley |
| An 1875 history of the Chippewa Valley |
| Report on the Menominee at Termination, 1958 |
| A primer of the Mohawk language, 1777 |
| A local historian chats about Prairie du Chien (vol. 1) |
| A local historian chats about Prairie du Chien (vol. 2) |
 | Nicolet's 1634 landfall in Wisconsin (1904) |
 | Joliet is interviewed on his trip down the Mississippi in 1673. |
 | The Wisconsin portion of Champlain's 1632 map. |
| The first map of the entire Mississippi River, published in 1681. |
| Fr. Marquette's hand-drawn map of his 1673 journey with Louis Joliet. |
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