WISCONSIN
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Vital Statistics
State
Capitol: Madison Population:
5,363,675 Largest City: Milwaukee-596,964 (2000
census) Land Area: 35.7 million acres Water
Area: 1 million acres Number of Lakes: 15,057 (6,022
are named) Length: 320 miles Width: 295 miles
Largest Inland Lake: Lake Winnebago (137,708 acres)
State Parks: 60,570 acres State Forests:
471,329 acres Highest Elevations: Timm's Hill (Price Co.)
1,951.5 feet Average Rainfall: 32.5 inches Average
Snowfall: 45 inches

BASIC
BACKGROUND
Various Indian tribes
first inhabited the area known as Wisconsin. The Chippewa,
Menominee, Oneida,
Potawatomi and Ho Chunk tribes lived in the area undisturbed until
the late 1800s.
The first European
explorer to reach Wisconsin was Jean Nicolet;
searching for the Northwest
Passage to
China, he traversed
Lake
Michigan, landing near
Green
Bay in 1634. He
thought he was going to be landing in the far East by China.
Instead, he found what is now
Wisconsin.
France laid claim to
Wisconsin as part of its territory
in the New
World in 1672. In 1763,
Wisconsin was part of the
territory given by France to
Great
Britain in the Treaty of Paris.
Twenty years later, again at Paris, the British
relinquished their claim to Wisconsin; and it became a part of
the United
States.
In
1787, under the Northwest Ordinance,
Wisconsin became part of the great
territory north and west of the Ohio
River out of which
Ohio,
Indiana,
Illinois,
Michigan and
Wisconsin were
later created.
In 1836, the Wisconsin territory was organized,
including what are now the states of
Wisconsin,
Iowa, Minnesota and parts of the
Dakotas. The first territorial
legislature met at Belmont
about 5.5 miles northeast of Platteville. The two-story frame
building and grounds surrounding the first Capitol are now a state
park.
In 1848, Wisconsin became the 30th state to
be accepted into the Union. The present Capitol
building in Madison was erected between 1906
and 1917 and is the third on this
site.
Our Geography
Wisconsin is 26th in area among
the 50 states. The total land area of the state is 56,154 square
miles, which includes 1,439 square miles of inland water. The state
is bounded on the north by Lake
Superior and
Michigan's
Upper
Peninsula, on the east by
Lake
Michigan, on the south by
Illinois and on the west by
Minnesota and
Iowa (the
Mississippi
River forms most of this
boundary). Ten thousand years ago, the last of the great Continental
Glaciers receded from Wisconsin leaving the land poked
with 15,000 lakes amid low, rolling hills. That glacier, however,
missed about 15,000 square miles in southwestern
Wisconsin, known today as the
unglaciated area.
Our Agriculture
Wisconsin ranks as one of the
nation's leading agricultural states with more than 5.5 billion
dollars in farm product sales per year.
Know the world over as "America's Dairyland," Wisconsin's 1.36
million dairy cows produce a year's supply of milk for nearly 42
million people, butter for 68 million, and cheese for 86 million.
Wisconsin is a national leader in
butter, cheese and milk production.
Wisconsin's farmers help fill the
nation's dinner tables in many ways. They are among the top 5
producers of snap beans, green peas and sweet corn for processing.
Wisconsin leads the nation in corn
grown for silage and is third in the nation for carrots and
potatoes. Wisconsin's cranberry bogs produce
about 50% of the nation's crop. Soil conservation, wise use of the
land, improved breeding of livestock and a willingness to try new
ideas has made Wisconsin a continuing leader in
agricultural production.
Our Business
Manufacturing,
agriculture and tourism lead Wisconsin's diverse economy. The
state boasts a good business climate and an excellent quality of
life. While Wisconsin is an agricultural
leader, it is also among the top fifteen states in industrial
production. Today the state leads the nation in the production of
low horsepower gasoline engines, power cranes, shovel hoists, mining
machinery, industrial controls and x-ray equipment. A wide variety
of wood products come out of the state's 15 million acres of
forests, including pulp logs for Wisconsin's extensive paper-making
industry. For one hundred years, Wisconsin's forest and water
resources have made it the top vacation destination in the
Midwest, generating $10 billion
in economic impact.
Our Education
Wisconsin is noted for the quality
of its public education system. Wisconsin's public schools and
university systems were established in the 1850's.
Wisconsin was the first state in
American to open a kindergarten in Watertown, Wisconsin in 1856. On national
tests, Wisconsin's 432 school districts
consistently score higher than the national average and higher than
the average of other Midwestern states. The
University of
Wisconsin
System consists of thirteen
four-year campuses, thirteen two-year centers, and the UW-Extension
system. Currently, nearly 160,000 students are enrolled in the
state's university system. Wisconsin's Vocational, Technical
and Adult Education system, comprised of 16 districts, trains and
upgrades the skills of 450,000 Wisconsin citizens annually.
WISCONSIN FUN
FACTS:
In 1915, the University of Wisconsin's experimental
radio station, 9XM (now WHA, the nation's oldest radio station),
began transmitting signals.
In 1901, two University of Wisconsin mechanical
engineering students, Charles W. Hart and Charles H. Parr, built the
first successful gasoline-powered farm tractor.
In 1911, the JI Case Company of Racine produced the
first gasoline-powered tractor. Today, this company uses Old
Abe on its company logo.
The deadliest fire in the history of the United
States happened in Peshtigo on October 8, 1871. No one was
sure how it started but when it was over more than 1,000 people had
been killed. It was the same day as the famous Chicago fire,
but Peshtigo had no telegraph line to let people know about the
fire.
The largest Music Festival in the world
(Summerfest) is held every summer in
Milwaukee.
Wisconsin has had the highest ACT (college
entrance exam) scores in the Nation since
1995.
To balance that stat, The Princeton Review and
several other publications have ranked The University of Madison the
number one "Party School" for many years
running.
Per population, Wisconsin has more bars and
taverns per square mile than any other place in the
world.
In 1986, William
Rehnquist became the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme
Court. He was born in Milwaukee in
1924.
Wisconsin
is the leading producer of Ginseng in the
U.S.
Green
Bay,
(home of the Packers) is known as
"Titletown
USA."
Two
Wisconsin
communities, Belleville
and Elmwood claim to be the UFO Capitol of the
World.
The American
Birkebeiner, the largest cross-country ski race in the
U.S., brings nearly 7,000
competitors to Cable.
The
first ice cream sundae was concocted in Two Rivers in
1881.
Each year, the EAA Fly-In
brings 12,000 planes to Oshkosh, making it the busiest
airport in the world.
It takes an average of 100 hours of
fishing to catch a 33.4 inch muskie.
The Ringling Bros were from Baraboo and wintered
their world-famous circus there each winter.
Noah's
Ark
in Wisconsin Dells is the world's largest water-park with 65 acres
of splish-splash fun.
More than 1.5 million deer
roam Wisconsin's
woods.
Seymour
claims to be the birthplace of the
hamburger.
Door
County
has more shoreline than any other county in the U.S.-more than 250
miles.
In 1921, Wisconsin passed
the first law eliminating all legal discrimination against
women.
Milwaukee
Movie Theaters
The first motion pictures were shown in
Milwaukee in 1896
The Downer Theater, opened in 1915, is
Milwaukee's oldest continuously operating theater
The X-rated Princess Theater on
3rd
Street
was actually opened in 1904 as the Grand
Milwaukee
first shopping center theater was the
Southgate
The Oriental opened in
1927 at a cost of $1.5 million
Ben Marcus bought his
first Milwaukee theater, the Tosa, in 1940
The Avalon on
S. Kinnickinnic
Avenue
was the first Milwaukee
theater equipped for talking pictures.
FAMOUS
WISCONSINITES
Chief Justice William
Rehnquist, We mourne him and our
prayers go out to his family.
Frank Lloyd Wright, arguably
the world's greatest architect, was born and raised in
Wisconsin.
Harry Houdini,
the famous magician, was raised in Appleton. Thornton Wilder, Pulitzer
prize winning author, was born in Madison. The Ringling Brothers
(Alf, Al, Charles, Otto and John) of Baraboo founded the "Greatest
Show on Earth." Laura Ingalls
Wilder, author of the "Little House" books, was born in
Pepin. Aldo Leopold, famous
conservationist, was a professor at UW-Madison. Georgia O'Keefe, of Sun
Prairie, is recognized as one of the leading artists of the
twentieth century. Golda Meir,
Prime Minister of Israel from 1969-74, was raised in
Milwaukee. Owen Gromme, the "Dean of American
Wildlife Artists," lived in Wisconsin all his
life. General Billy Mitchell,
who revolutionized aerial warfare in two world wars, was raised in
Milwaukee. Alan "The Horse" Ameche, 1954 Heisman
winner was a 1955 graduate of the
University of
Wisconsin.
OTHERS:
Willem Dafoe, Don Ameche, Orson Wells, Bonnie Blair, Eric
Heiden, Spencer Tracy, Bob Uecker,
Liberace............and
more
Chris
Farley
- Yeah I know, but I hold him dear as do many
Wisconsinites. He was willing to let it all fly for a laugh.
He was a great example of the Wisconsin jester. Despite his
personal depression, (which anyone would have
living in Chicago!), he is revered by a generation
as a great Cheesehead and a tragic
loss.

So
many things stand out in Wisconsin. Great forests, beautiful
marsh lands, crystal blue fresh water lakes, the Great Lakes, the
rivers and the rolling hills all give Wisconsin some of it's
aesthetic charm. Add the personalities and the richness
of the way of life in Wisconsin and you have a combination that
builds upon the loyalty Wisconsinites are known
for.
![wi_00[1].gif](images/Img10.gif)
Many
of the cities, towns, and counties are named after Indians. It
is easy for us to spot the visitors when they attempt to pronounce
Oconomowoc or Chenequa.
![wi[1].png](images/Img42.gif)
![current-map[1].jpg](images/Img63.jpg)
THIS MAP IS A BIT OVER DRAMATIZED.
THE NORTHERN PORTION OF WISCONSIN (North of Wausau) IS VERY
DESOLATE AND THE HIGHWAYS ARE NOT AS BEEFY AS THE SOUTHERN
PORTION. NONE THE LESS, IT IS FAIRLY ACCESSIBLE AND THE ONLY
TRAFFIC JAMS ARE CAUSED BY FARM TRACTORS &
FIBS! |