The Wisconsin Story
All about Wisconsin's most important things By:Carter
The Fur Trade
The fur trade began when early explorers told tails about a land between the great lakes (Wisconsin). They described every thing just like Indian tribes. They had seen the Indians and they had seen how much fur they had and they had a lot. When the french heard about this they headed straight to Wisconsin. Then a war took place and the Indians were fighting the traders. The fur trade ended when the Indians were moved to reservations and were no longer able to hunt animals anymore.
The Lead Mining days
Many white men followed Jean Nicolet to Wisconsin and some of them came to mine lead. Indians were the first lead miners. They traded the lead with the white men. They would trade a peck of lead for a peck of corn. The first white man to mine lead was Nicolas Perrot. He was a french fur trader. Then the lead became important. They made guns and shots out of lead, and lead bars were used as money. The lead mining ended when the war was over and it was not being used to make things anymore.
The Lumber Indrustrys
When the first settlers came to Wisconsin it was mostly thick forests. It was mostly owned by the government, so the lumber industries sent people to the pinery. There sawmills cut the trees into lumber or boards. Some lumberjacks used the lumber to make shanties (a cabin with one huge room). The lumberjacks were part of the lumber industry. But they didn't have all the same job, they had different jobs. The lumber industry did end when the Chicago fire occurred. It killed 200 people!!!