WISCONSIN. 



365 



3. Canals and Railroads. In 1837, the legislature created a Board of Commissioners of In- 

 ternal Improvement, and authorized the raising of a loan of 5,000,000 dollars for the purpose 

 of executing a series of public works, as follows : — 1. The Southern Railroad, is to extend 

 from the city of Monroe to New Buffalo, on Lake Michigan, ISO miles. 2. 'J'lie Central 

 Railroad, from Detroit to the mouth of the St. Joseph, 200 miles. 3. The JSWthern Rail- 

 road, from Huron, at the foot of Lake Huron, to the mouth of Grand River, 200 miles. Ap- 

 propriations were also made for surveys of the Kalamazoo, St. Joseph, and Grand River, in 

 order to ascertain the best means of improving the navigation of those rivers, and several canals. 

 The J^orthern Canal connects the Grand River, by the Maple River branch, with the Sagi- 

 naw. The Clinton and Kalamazoo Canal connects Lake Michigan, by the Kalamazoo and 

 Clinton rivers, with Lake St. Clair ; and a ship canal round the falls of the St. Mary is pro- 

 posed. Other railroads constructed by individuals are the Detroit and Pontiac Railroad, 30 

 miles in length ; the Detroit and Shelby Railroad, from Detroit to Utica, 23 miles ; the JSrie 

 and Kalamazoo Railroad, extending from Toledo in Ohio, through Adrian, to Marshall on 

 the Kalamazoo, with a branch to Havre, at the mouth of the Ottawa ; and the Ypsilanti and 

 Tecumseh Railroad, 25 miles. 



4. Agriculture, ^c. The inhabitants are almost wholly occupied in agricultural pursuits. 

 The productions are the same with those of the adjoining States. Wheat and oats are the 

 principal crops, and maize or Indian corn, rye, buckwheat, barley, hemp, and flax are generally 

 cultivated. The common fruits and garden vegetables thrive, and heavy crops of grass are ob- 

 tained. The live stock is pretty numerous. There are about 500 saw-mills, and 150 grist- 

 mills, in the State, but the manufactures are inconsiderable. The trade consists chiefly in the 

 export of its surplus produce, with furs and skins from the interior, and the importation of man- 

 ufactures and tropical productions for consumption. 



5. Education. The University of J\licliigan has recently been established on a very liberal 

 scale, at Ann Arbor, and is well endowed by the State. There are also colleges at Spring 

 Arbor and Marshall, and very ample provision has been made for the establishment of a system 

 of common education. 



6. Government. The constitution of the State was formed in 1835. The Governor is 

 chosen for the term of 2 years, and a Lieutenant-Governor chosen for the same term, is Pres- 

 ident of the Senate. The legislature consists of a Senate, chosen biennially, and a House of 

 Representatives, chosen annually. These officers and bodies are all elected by popular vote, 

 and suffrage is universal. Michigan has I representative in Congress. 



7. History. Lake Huron was visited by Champlain as early as 1615, and a post and mis- 

 sion were established by the French at Mackinaw, in about the middle of the 17th century. 

 Fort Pontchartrain, on the present site of Detroit, was built some time after. In 1763 ihis 

 country passed with Canada into the hands of the British, but the English garrison at Fort 

 Mackinaw was surprised and massacred by the Indians, in that year. Until 1805 Michigan 

 formed a part of the Northwest Territory, but in that year became a distinct government. In 

 1812 Detroit was captured by the British, and the terrible massacre of the Americans at 

 Frenchtown, by the Indian allies of that power, followed. The enemy was soon after driven 

 from the peninsula by General Harrison, and in 1836 Michigan was admitted to the rights and 

 rank of a State. 



CHAPTER XXXIV. WISCONSIN. 



PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 



1. Boundaries and Extent. Wisconsin extends from Lakes Michigan and Superior to the 

 Mississippi, being bounded on the N. by the Hudson Bay Company's Territories and Lake 

 Superior, on the E. by that Lake, Michigan, and Lake Michigan, S. by Illinois, and W. by 

 the Mississippi and Iowa. It lies between 42° 30' and 49° 30' N. lat., and between 86° 50' 

 and 96° W. long., being about 600 miles in length, and from 100 to 200 in breadth, with an 

 area of 80,000 square miles.* 



2 Mountains. The Wisconsin or Porcupine Mountains extend from the head of Rock 



* The course of the boundary between Lake Superior claiming the valley of the Kaministiquia or Dog River, 

 and the Lake of the Woods is a subject in controversy the former that of the St. Louis, as the line of direction, 

 between Great Britain and the United Slates ; the latter 



