Wisconsin

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WISCONSIN

The state of Wisconsin is located in mid-America between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River. The land it encompasses had several built-in advantages for development. From the early fur traders to the modern industrialists, Wisconsin entrepreneurs used the state's waterways and water ports for transporting goods to markets elsewhere. Immigrants from northern, central, and eastern Europe created a prosperous farming region on the Wisconsin prairie. In modern times the area became known mostly for its dairy herds. Other industries have thrived in Wisconsin as well, particularly its breweries, lumber mills, and canning factories.

Native American tribes in Wisconsin first encountered Frenchmen in the 1630s, and became dependent on them for trading in furs. Father Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet traversed Wisconsin territory on their way to the Mississippi in 1673. Many other Frenchmen came during that period to establish missions or to trade in furs. Following the French and Indian War (1756–63), the British took control of Wisconsin. They ceded it to the United States in 1783. The Ordinance of 1787 included Wisconsin in the Northwest Territory; later parts of Wisconsin were included in the Indiana Territory, the Illinois Territory, and the Michigan Territory.

Lead mining originally brought white miners, called "Badgers," to Wisconsin in the 1820s. They received their nickname because like badgers miners too must dig into the ground. The 1832 Black Hawk War drove out most of the remaining native Americans. White settlement began in earnest after that, and those indigenous people who stayed were eventually settled on reservations within the state. Wisconsin became a separate territory in 1836. New Englanders and southerners, lured by the lead mining in the southwestern part of the territory, flocked to the area during the 1830s. In 1848 Wisconsin became the thirtieth state of the Union.

Transportation and industry developed more slowly in the territory than some speculators had hoped. A canal was finally opened between the Fox and Wisconsin rivers in 1851. But it was not heavily traveled, despite millions of dollars in expenditures by the state and the federal government. The first rail line was built in the 1850s between Milwaukee and Prairie du Chien. Speculation reigned as farmers along the proposed route bought up railroad stock, often with disastrous economic consequences. Communities also competed fiercely to be included on the route. By the 1860s, the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad and the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul railroads dominated the state's transportation system. They helped foster the growth of Wisconsin's emerging lumber, dairy, and food processing industries.

The development of the state would not have occurred without a major influx of immigrants, primarily from northern Europe. In the 1820s these included mostly the Irish and the English, but by 1860 the predominance of German arrivals led some to call Wisconsin a "German state." Yet, the area was attractive to many nationalities. In the 1880s the state lured as many Scandinavians as Germans, and later many immigrants from southern and eastern Europe settled there.

Many of these foreign-born Americans established farms across the entire state. At first they planted wheat, which was the biggest cash crop of the prairie because the McCormick reaper, first produced in Chicago in 1846, enabled farmers to harvest vast amounts of wheat in a short period of time. During the American Civil War (1861–65), sales of wheat to Great Britain provided the cash needed to finance the war effort. Usually departing from Milwaukee, the wheat shipments found their way through the Great Lakes and on to the eastern states and the rest of the world. After decades of wheat production, the soil began to be depleted of its resources. In response, Wisconsin farmers began to diversify, turning to the production of wool, sorghum, flax, sugar beets, tobacco, and hops.

Eventually dairy farming came to be identified with Wisconsin. The industry was established by New Yorkers and northern European immigrants who had brought their dairy-farming and cheese-making experience with them. By 1899 nearly 90 percent of the farms in Wisconsin had milk cows. Cheese factories proliferated, producing mostly "American" cheese or Cheddar, usually in a Wisconsin version that was called Colby. By 1919 Wisconsin was distributing almost two-thirds of the country's cheese.

Wisconsin also became a major producer of pork and pork products. A pioneer in that industry was Philip D. Armour (1832–1901). He made his reputation by supplying cured pork to soldiers in the American Civil War. Vegetable canning also became an important sector of Wisconsin's economy. In the infancy of the pressure-canning industry, Albert Landreth achieved significant success canning peas in Manitowoc. By 1918 Wisconsin canned as many peas as all the other states combined. Other vegetables such as sweet corn and beans also became important in the canning industry. The industry got a boost when large amounts of canned products were needed to supply soldiers in World War II (1939–45). Wisconsin remained a leader in the canning business thereafter.

Beer breweries are most prominently associated with Wisconsin in the public's mind. German immigrants had brought with them the technique for producing a lager beer that withstood storage better than earlier versions made in the region. Milwaukee became the center of brewing, with the Blatz, Schlitz, Pabst, and Miller families leading the industry. Many other cities produced beer, mostly for local consumption, but Milwaukee exported large amounts to other states and countries. The city became identified as the producer of the best brews. The bigger breweries survived the days of the Prohibition era by producing other products like soft drinks and candies.

Since the days of progressive Republican governor Robert La Follette (1855–1925) in the early twentieth century, Wisconsin has been known for its forward-looking approach to government and the economy. La Follette obtained legislative approval for increased taxation of railroads, the first state income tax in the nation (1911), and the first workmen's compensation program. La Follette's son Philip continued the reform tradition during the 1920s by supporting state regulation of electric power, labor disputes, and business practices. Philip La Follette's (1897–1965) so-called Little New Deal paralleled many of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's (1882–1945) national policies during the 1930s.

Although Wisconsin's economy diversified after World War II, the dairy industry remained its backbone into the 1990s. Cattle and calves in Wisconsin numbered 3.7 million in 1997 and were valued at 2.627 billion dollars. Dairy farming was also connected to two controversial environmental issues in the 1990s. The first linked agricultural runoff from animal wastes to contamination of Milwaukee's drinking water in 1993; the second involved a dispute over the use of bovine growth hormone to increase milk production.

Southeast Wisconsin, especially the Milwaukee area, was the cradle of industry by the late 1990s. Although some major breweries left the city, others continued to produce there and in other Wisconsin cities like La Crosse. Important paper and lumber products firms included Consolidated Paper in Wisconsin Rapids and Fort Howard Paper in Green Bay. Racine became home to Johnson & Son, a wax products company, and J.I. Case, a producer of agricultural equipment. Meat-packer Oscar Mayer located his operations in Madison. New and existing industries were assisted by the state Department of Development, as well as hundreds of local development corporations.

Wisconsin's water ports continued to be vital to the state's economy. In 1959 oceangoing vessels were first allowed access to Wisconsin via the Great Lakes through the St. Lawrence Seaway. Traffic to Wisconsin on the seaway, however, failed to meet expectations. In the 1990s, the busiest of all U.S. ports was Superior on Lake Superior; it handled mostly iron ore and coal. Important Lake Michigan ports, which also depended heavily on coal, included Milwaukee, Green Bay, Port Washington, Oak Creek, Manitowoc, and Sturgeon Bay. On the Mississippi River, Prairie du Chien and La Crosse processed the largest amount of cargo.

See also: Brewing Industry, Robert LaFollette, Prohibition, Saint Lawrence Seaway