Libhy — The Lead Region of ^Visconsin. 191 



CHAPTER I. 



THE LEAD EEGIOX OF GRANT, IOWA, AND 

 LAFAYETTE COUNTIES IN WISCONSIN. 



BY O. G. LIBBY, PH. D. 



Two capital events bridge tlie gap between the primitive his- 

 tory of the lead region in Wisconsin and that of the present time. 

 These are the discovery of lead in the first qnarter of the century 

 and the Black Hawk War of 1831. The opening of productive 

 lead fields in this section caused such a deflection of population 

 into that quarter of the north-west that its future was assured. 

 The military operations of the Black Hawk War, besides remov- 

 ing the barrier of the hostile tribes, did the same service for this 

 region that General Sullivan's march in 1779 against the In- 

 dians of western New York did for the new lands of that section. 

 The consequence was that by the time the battle of Bad Ax had 

 put an end to the brief war, the rich lands of this area were quite 

 as well known as its lead mines, and its industrial development 

 moved forward without further interruption. 



In its early years the life of the lead region of Wisconsin was 

 closely linked with that of the South, from the fact that the Mis- 

 sissippi River was its one highway leading to the outside world. 

 Southern newspapers were quoted by the local press, slavery was 

 a state institution of early times, the whole social and intellec- 

 tual tone of the section received an unmistakable Southern tinge. 

 But this was soon changed, for the long and dangerous Missis- 

 sippi route did not harmonize with the vigorous growth of the 

 section. 



As early as 1836 the most valuable of its products, lead, be- 

 gan to find its way across the state to Milwaukee and other lake 

 ports, seeking an outlet to the New York markets by this 

 shorter overland route. The rapidly increasing agricultural 

 products followed, broadening and deepening this pioneer path 

 to the east. Says a writer in the Wisconsin Llerald in 1848: 



