Turning Points
in Wisconsin History
19th-Century Immigration
The first quarter of the nineteenth century was marked by westward migration into the regions north and west of the Ohio River. Though Wisconsin was initially a distant frontier, the small numbers of French, English, Americans, and American Indians who resided there had nonetheless explored and used the rich land and water resources that would soon bring thousands of immigrants into Wisconsin.
Prior to the Black Hawk War in 1832, Indians primarily inhabited much of Wisconsin. By the mid nineteenth century, though, Indians had been induced to cede most of their lands to the federal government. Some were relocated west of... more...
Original Documents and Other Primary Sources
 | The history and settlement of Langlade County |
| The first German women to settle in Milwaukee. |
| Czech immigrants settle in Langlade County in the 1880s |
| Fifty years of Polish settlement in Portage County, 1857-1907 |
| The character and activities of Bohemian immigrants, 1901 |
| The early Jewish history of LaCrosse |
| A little bit of Italy in Vernon County |
| A Polish couple braves the loneliness to settle Pike Lake |
| A Polish immigrant recalls coming to Milwaukee as a boy in 1868 |
| Milwaukee's Irish neighborhood in the 19th century |
| The roots of Milwaukee's Jewish community in the mid-19th century |
| The first Norwegian immigrants are recalled. |
| Recollections of Old Superior |
| Theodore Rodolf recounts his life in the lead region in the 1830s |
| Carl Schurz describes why he settled in Wisconsin. |
| Madison's Italian community in the early 20th century |
| A Connecticut Yankee writes home about Wisconsin's virtues in 1847. |
| A real-life "Little House" girlhood in Waupaca County. |
| An overview of Polish immigration through 1896 |
| Recollections of Wisconsin slaves by pioneer settlers. |
| Early History of the Brothertown Indians |
| A Yankee Childhood in Dodge County |
| A description of the early Polish immigrants to Wisconsin, 1901 |
| Milwaukee's 19th-c. Jewish neighborhood recollected |
| An Immigrant Who Became a Northwoods Missionary |
 | A violin becomes a Norwegian fiddle, 1893 |
| A traditional Ukrainian Easter egg |
| A costume from a Racine Purim carnival |
| Two sausage stuffers |
| Rosemaled Norwegian Immigrant Trunk, 1845 |
| A Norwegian trinket box |
| The oldest toast in Wisconsin |
 | An 1875 history of the Chippewa Valley |
| Promoters describe Superior in its infancy |
| A guide to the Mohican language, 1789 |
| Northwoods officials try to attract settlers onto cutover lands, 1902. |
| Promoters try to entice settlers to Bayfield County |
| A German immigrant advises others about coming to Wisconsin (1849) |
| Barron County officials encourage settlers to emigrate to the northwoods. |
| Folklore and folktales collected by Charles E. Brown |
| A speech by Brothertown Indian leader Samsom Occom, 1771 |
| A German emigrant guidebook, 1841 |
| A popular handbook teaches immigrants about Wisconsin, 1851. |
| Horse thieves on the Wisconsin frontier, 1832-1865 |
| A teenager's diary of coming overland from Ohio in 1846 |
| An Abolitionist Recalls Anti-Slavery Days in Wisconsin |
| The state markets itself to immigrants, 1867-1896 |
| A survey report of migratory labor in Wisconsin in 1962 |
 | Stories by and about Czech and Hungarian immigrants. |
| Stories by and about Swiss immigrants. |
| Stories by and about Norwegian immigrants. |
| Stories by and about immigrants from Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Iceland. |
| Stories by and about German immigrants. |
| Stories by and about Dutch and Belgian immigrants. |
| Stories by and about Italian immigrants. |
 | An advertisement tries to attract settlers to the cutover region. |
| An Austrian painter depicts Wisconsin in the 1850s |
| Pictures of John Muir |
 | An Austrian painter describes sketches made while traveling Wisconsin, 1856-1860 |
| Ma Ingalls describes family life in 1861 |
| John Muir's younger brother recalls their boyhood. |
| A German immigrant describes coming to Wisconsin. |
| A Norwegian immigrant describes coming to Wisconsin in 1840. |
| 30 original manuscript letters of John Muir, 1861-1914 |
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