The Wisconsin Frontier

From 17th-century French coureurs de bois to lumberjacks of the 19th century, Wisconsin’s frontier era saw thousands arriving from Europe and other areas seeking wealth and opportunity. Indians mixed with these newcomers, sometimes helping and sometimes challenging them, often benefiting from their guns and other trade items. This captivating history reveals the conflicts, the defeats, the victories, and the way the future looked to Wisconsin’s peoples at the beginning of the 20th century.

The Wisconsin Frontier

Mark Wyman

"Wyman's study of the Wisconsin frontier is a highly readable, balanced account of the area that became the state of Wisconsin in 1848." — Western Historical Quarterly

From 17th-century French coureurs de bois to lumberjacks of the 19th century, Wisconsin's frontier era saw thousands arriving from Europe and other areas seeking wealth and opportunity. Indians mixed with these newcomers, sometimes helping and sometimes challenging them, often benefiting from their guns and other trade items. This engaging history reveals the conflicts, the defeats, the victories, and the way the future looked to Wisconsin's peoples at the beginning of the 20th century.

Mark Wyman was a newspaperman before obtaining his doctorate in history from the University of Washington. A Wisconsin native, since 197l he has taught at Illinois State University, which recently named him Distinguished Professor of History. His books include Hard-Rock Epic: Western Miners and the Industrial Revolution, 1860 1910 (1979), Immigrants in the Valley: Irish, Germans, and Americans in the Upper Mississippi Country, 1830-1860 (1984), D.P.: Europe's Displaced Persons, 1945-51 (1989), and Round-Trip to America: The Immigrants Return to Europe, 1880-1930 (1993).