Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1925-08-05

The story of white settlement in
Wisconsin is that of the Americaniza-
ton of French settlement. In this
respect it differs from the story of
most of it's neighbors. In the Indian
DAYS Wisconsin had been a meeting
place for the tribes in the west Dur
ing the white settlement the same
fate controlled, and it became the
meeting place of settlers of distinct
types from different sections of the
country It was not populated exclus-
lively by the overflow from its neigh
bors and thus was not made up of
people entirely similar to those in the
adjacent states.
Melting Pot For Colonies.
While Wisconsin received immi-
grants from Michigan, Indiana and IL
linois who settled in the southeastern
part of the state in addition from the
East came another type, the Yankee,
travelling a long distance via the
Great Lakes and unfamiliar with the
western pioneer life and it's habit and
it's mode of thought. From the South
came the Southerners of Kentucky
stock, originally springing from Vir-
ginia. They were attracted by the lead
mines in southern Wisconsin.
This purely American stock made up
the early population in the territorial
period from 1886 to 1858. These were
the men who framed the state conSti-
tuition and fought a strenuous battle
over the provision of this historic doc
ument 1t is the oldest constitution in
the Middle West having been amended
but never revised. 1t has been for II
years a monument to the foresight of
the pioneers. At that period many of
the older states had nearly bankrupted
themselves for internal improvements
canals and railroads.
No Mortgage on the Future.
The wise farmers of Wisconsin took
a valuable lesson from their neigh
bors and when the constitution was
framed in 1913 a clause forbidding the
state to incur Indebtedness of any
kind except in case of war;, or to
undertake any work of internal i'm
provement. This section has been
amended only once-in recent years,
and that only to permit the state to
enter on the work of highway i'm
provement. AS a consequence the
state has no public debt and has paid
as it built It has laid no mortgage
on the future of its citizens.
The problem of Wisconsin after 1850
was to secure additional settlers to
occupy it's virgin lands, so there was
established a bureau for the purpose
of attracting settlers from Europe.
This campaign became intensive after
the civil war, and from then on a
heavy influx of foreign immigration
followed The bulk of the immigrants
were Germans, the Norwegians being
next in number Other large groups
were Danes, Swedes, Irish, Belgians
and Poles. Nearly half million new
settlers came to the state in the de-
cade from 1850 to 1S60-nearly twice
the increase in population for any lat
er decade.
Mines Attracted Settlers.
Wisconsin's first industry was the
fur trade. With the settlement of the
state it receded in Importance and
today it is merely incidental being
now carried on only on a small scale,
by trappers, largely in northern Wis
consin. The value of skins of wild
animals sold in the state in 1918
amounted to $3,000,000.
From its nature the fur trade had
little influence on the permanent set
Element of the state. The first indus
try to have such an influence, strange
ly enough was not agriculture, but
mining. Lead mining was an import
ant industry in the early days in the
northwestern part of the state. For
period this bore all the aspect of a
frontier mining camp. The existence
of lead deposits in this part of Wiscon-
sin, and in the sections of Iowa and
Illinois. The first mines within the
area now included in Wisconsin were
opened at New Diggins in 1924.
In the twenties this section of Wis
consin attracted hundreds of adven-
turous spirits in the rush to the min
ing regions. Among these was Will
liam Schuyler Hamilton of New York,
son of Alexander Hamilton. A typical
mining craze prevailed and life was
full of excitement. Many highly
cultured people came from the east,
among them men and women who had
mingled in society in Paris and Lon
don. The beginnings of Wisconsin
culture were found in this mining
community. When Wisconsin was or
ganized as a territory in 1886, the
mining region had a larger population
and more settled mode of life than
any other section. 1t was strongly
tinged with a southern element and a
few slaves were kept for domestic pur-
poses.
LAUNDERING Important.
With the influx of white settlers, be-
ginning in territorial days, numbering
and agriculture began to flourish. At
the present day numbering and the as
sociated wood using activities remain
one of the foremost industries of the
state. The story of the early lumber
ing operations has many elements of
interest. The whole part of the state
was originally a great timber belt, of
mixed growths of pine and hardwood,
with some of the finest solid stands
of white pine to be found anywhere
in the world. The forest was scanned