Wisconsin, state, United States: Settlement and Native American Resistance

Present-day Wisconsin was transferred from Illinois Territory to Michigan Territory in 1818. By then the fur trade was diminishing, but the lead mines in SW Wisconsin had long been active, and booming lead prices in the 1820s brought the first large rush of settlers. The region's great agricultural potential was also apparent, and after 1825 a considerable number of easterners began arriving via the new Erie Canal and the Great Lakes. They settled in the Milwaukee area and along the waterways. The U.S. army preserved order from key forts established at Green Bay (1816), Prairie du Chien (1816), and Portage (1828) and built bridges, trails, and roads throughout the region. The hostility of the Native Americans toward the incursions of aggressive settlers culminated in the Black Hawk War (1832). This revolt, brutally crushed, was the last Native American resistance of serious consequence in the area.

Sections in this article:

• Introduction
• World War II to the Present
• Robert La Follette and the Progressive Movement
• Late-Nineteenth-Century Political and Economic Developments
• Territorial Status and Early Statehood
• Settlement and Native American Resistance
• British-American Struggles
• French Fur Trading and the Influx of Eastern Tribes
• Government and Higher Education
• Economy
• Geography
• Facts and Figures

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