Turning Points
in Wisconsin History
The Founding of Major Cities
Until the nineteenth century, white settlement in Wisconsin was sparse and centered almost solely on the fur trade and military posts at Green Bay, LaPointe, and Prairie du Chien. With increased westward migration after the War of 1812, white settlers initially settled in two areas: the lead mining regions along the Mississippi and along the lakeshore in what later became the city of Milwaukee. Because water routes remained the only feasible means for travel and transporting goods in the early nineteenth century, towns and cities usually fanned out from rivers and lakes. Although the major lead mining towns of Platteville,... more...
Original Documents and Other Primary Sources
 | A teenager comes to Green Bay as a new bride in 1824. |
| An early Yankee settler recalls Prairie du Chien's infancy. |
| The Origin of Milwaukee's name |
| Letters from Milwaukee in its infancy, 1836-1846 |
| A journalist describes Ashland's premature demise, and its resurrection. |
| Memories of Milwaukee's first family |
| The founding of Portage, by Frederick Jackson Turner (1883) |
| A young boy's experience of Madison in the 1830's |
| Recollections of Old Superior |
| An Indian woman founds the town of Marinette |
| A woman's memoir of the founding of Sheboygan |
| Quality of life in Madison in 1850 |
| Madison is promoted as a tourist destination in 1877 |
| A Green Bay girlhood in the 1820s. |
 | Promoters describe Superior in its infancy |
| Promoters try to entice settlers to Bayfield County |
| A colorful and opinionated guide to Milwaukee businesses, 1877 |
| An Abolitionist Recalls Anti-Slavery Days in Wisconsin |
| An early history of Madison illustrated with contemporary photographs |
| A local historian chats about Prairie du Chien (vol. 1) |
| A local historian chats about Prairie du Chien (vol. 2) |
 | The Founding and Early History of Madison |
 | The first house in Madison, built in 1837 |
| Madison's first white woman settler |
| Bird's-eye views of Wisconsin cities and towns |
| Prairie du Chien merchant and judge James H. Lockwood, 1856. |
| Increase Lapham examining a meteorite, ca. 1868 |
 | A historian and old settler describes Milwaukee's origins, 1873. |
| An early Milwaukee settler recalls the city's infancy |
| Oral traditions about Milwaukee's founding |
 | A territorial leader lays out imaginary city blocks in Milwaukee (1835). |
| Two founders of Milwaukee design its downtown in 1837. |
| The imaginary capital city that its chief promoter envisioned, 1836. |
| States and territories created under the Northwest Ordinance. |
.