Wisconsin (state)

I

Introduction

Wisconsin (state), in the north central United States, bordered by Lake Superior on the north, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan on the northeast, Lake Michigan on the east, Illinois on the south, and Iowa and Minnesota on the west. Wisconsin received its name from the Wisconsin River, the name of which is derived from the French version of an Ojibwa term that may mean “gathering of the waters” or “place of the beaver.” It is customarily known as the Badger State because the miners who were among the first settlers in the region lived in mine shafts or dug their homes out of the hillside and lived underground, as badgers do. Madison is the capital of Wisconsin. Milwaukee is the largest city.

Wisconsin entered the Union on May 29, 1848, as the 30th state. It is one of the leading states in agriculture. Especially noted for its cheese production, the state is sometimes called the Cheese Capital of the Nation or America’s Dairyland. The greater part of the state is composed of rolling plains that yield productive crops and fodder for the dairy industry. Wisconsin also has substantial heavy industry, centered around Milwaukee and nearby cities along the shore of Lake Michigan.

In Wisconsin at the beginning of the 20th century, Robert La Follette and the Progressives evolved their theories of good government in close collaboration with leading scholars at the University of Wisconsin. Roughly half a century later, Wisconsin Senator Joseph R. McCarthy stirred deep controversy among Americans with his views on Communism and how to eradicate it in the United States.

II

Physical Geography

Wisconsin ranks 22nd in size among the states. It covers 169,639 sq km (65,498 sq mi), including 4,740 sq km (1,830 sq mi sq mi) of inland water. Also under jurisdiction of the state is 24,237 sq km (9,358 sq mi) of waters in lakes Michigan and Superior. Wisconsin is roughly rectangular in shape, except for the Door Peninsula, which is about 130 km (about 80 mi) long and separates Green Bay from Lake Michigan. Wisconsin has a maximum length from north to south of about 480 km (about 300 mi) and a width from east to west of about 450 km (about 280 mi).

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A

Natural Regions

Wisconsin is customarily divided into two major natural regions, or physiographic provinces, each of which is a part of one of the broader physiographic divisions of North America. The two natural regions are the Central Lowland and the Superior Upland. The Central Lowland, which is a part of the larger physiographic division known as the Interior Plains, covers southern Wisconsin. The Superior Upland, a southward extension of the Canadian Shield, or Laurentian Upland, occupies northern Wisconsin.

The Central Lowland is the larger of the two natural regions. It is a predominantly low-lying area and swings in a broad belt across the southern two-thirds of the state. Over the eastern part of the region the underlying rocks have been covered by thick deposits of glacial clays and sands known as till, or drift. Most of this glaciated area is referred to as the Eastern Lake section of the Central Lowland, but a small area in the south is a continuation of the Till Plains, a section that covers adjoining areas of Illinois. During the Ice Age, which ended about 10,000 years ago, a number of ice sheets pushed southward across Wisconsin and adjoining areas. These ice sheets planed off the hills of the preglacial landscape, filled up the ancient valleys, and created the fairly smooth plain that now covers most of the southeast.

The unglaciated Wisconsin Driftless section of the southwest is believed to look the way the rest of the Central Lowland looked before the Ice Age. Some sections, especially those south of the Wisconsin River, are quite rocky, steep, and rugged, but most land is only moderately hilly and is suitable for farming. Among the more prominent features are the Military Ridge, Blue Mounds, and Baraboo Range, which provide sweeping views of the countryside. Unusual for this part of the country are the steep-sided, flat-topped hills found in the vicinity of Camp Douglas that are similar in appearance to the mesas and buttes of the arid Western states.

The Superior Upland occupies northern Wisconsin and is underlain by ancient and very hard rocks. The region is higher than the Central Lowland and for this reason is sometimes referred to as the Northern Highland. Most of its hills are from 400 to 430 m (1,300 to 1,400 ft) above sea level. Several isolated peaks rise considerably above this level, however. They include Timms Hill, which at 595 m (1,951 ft) is the highest point in Wisconsin, and Sugarbush Hill, Rib Mountain, and the Gogebic, or Penokee, Range. Forests cover much of the Superior Upland, and there are numerous small lakes of glacial origin. A low-lying and partially swampy plain, known as the Lake Superior Lowland, occupies the areas along the southern shore of Lake Superior.

B

Rivers and Lakes

The rivers of Wisconsin drain into either the Mississippi River system, which flows southward into the Gulf of Mexico, or into the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence system, which flows eastward into the Atlantic Ocean.

The Mississippi is the only river in Wisconsin navigable by commercial vessels, and for its entire length in the state it forms part of the Minnesota border and all of the Iowa state line. Its principal tributaries in the state are the Saint Croix, which also forms part of the Minnesota state line, and the Chippewa, Black, Rock, and Wisconsin rivers. The principal rivers draining into Lake Michigan are the Menominee, which forms part of the Michigan state line, and the Fox and its tributary the Wolf River. Several small streams drain into Lake Superior.

Wisconsin has many lakes. In addition to lakes Superior and Michigan, there are nearly 9,000 smaller lakes scattered over the surface of the Superior Upland and Central Lowland. The largest natural lake is Lake Winnebago, which covers 534 sq km (206 sq mi). Other lakes include Lake Pepin, which was formed behind silt that acted as a dam on the Mississippi River; Green Lake; and lakes Poygan, Mendota, and Koshkonong. The largest artificially created lakes are Petenwell and Castle Rock reservoirs on the Wisconsin River, Lake Chippewa, and Flambeau Reservoir.