WISCONSIN OVERVIEW: From 1959 World Almanac and Book of Facts

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                              Wisconsin
                            Badger State

CAPITAL: Madison. AREA: 56,154 sq. mi., rank, 26th. POPULATION: (Census Bureau est. 1956), 3,783,000, rank, 14th. MOTTO: Forward. FLOWER: Butterfly Violet. BIRD: Robin. TREE: Sugar Maple. ANIMAL: Badger. ADMISSION: 30th.

   Wisconsin, a Midwestern state, In the East North Central croup, is bounded N. by Lake Superior and Michigan; E. by Lake Michigan; S. by Illinois; W. by Iowa and Minnesota. The Mississippi and St. Croix rivers are on the West. Wisconsin was part of New France, discovered by Jean Nicolet. 1634, and visited by French explorers and missionaries, chiefly through Green Bay. The French recruited Indians for the British wars, but surrendered the land, Sept. 8, 1760, to the British, who ceded It to the 'U.S., 1783. The British were not completely dislodged until 1815. Wisconsin was part of Northwest Terr., Indians Terr., Illinois Terr., Michigan Terr., until Apr. 20, 1836, when it became Wisconsin Terr. It became a state May 29. 1848.

   Population. state est. 1957, 3,862,000.

   Wisconsin has great dairy production, Including milk, butter, cheese, evaporated and dried milk. Milk production is more than 16,000,000,000 lbs. annually, about 13% of the nation's total. Of est. 4,298,000 cattle, Jan. 1. 1958, 2,552,000 were kept for milk. In 1957 It led the country in hay production with 8,945,000 tons, and was a heavy producer of peas, corn, oats, and beets.

   Wisconsin is a leader in cranberry production, mink farming and wood pulp. The Door County peninsula produces cherries and apples.

   Nationally known industries include the Blatz, Miller, Pabst and Schlitz breweries; Horlick at Racine, J.I. Case (Racine); American Motors and Simmons, Kenosha; Allis Chalmers, Harley-Davidson, and Evinrude (Milwaukee), and heavy concentration of paper mills in the Fox and Wisconsin River valleys. It mines over 1,500,000 long tongs of iron ore annually, chiefly in the Goebic and Menominee ranges.

   Wisconsin passed first statewide primary election law and one of the earliest corrupt practices acts; contributed to ad valorem taxation of railroads, income tax, vocational education, progressive handling of delinquent children. State passed first workmen's compensation law, first complete labor code and first unemployment compensation act. In 1957 it became the first state to demand that legislative proposals estimate costs.

   The state has 39 institutions of higher learning, led by the University of Wisconsin, at Madison.

   Wisconsin has 10,000 mi. of trout streams, 8,500 lakes with sturgeon, muskellunge, pike, bass, perch, smelts. Hunting includes deer, bear, red fox, raccoon, partridge, geese, ducks in season, regulated by the Conservation Commission. 

   Recreational areas include 31 state parks with 18,325 acres, 7 state forests with 335,105 acres, and 1,464,940 acres in national forest lands as well as numerous historical and scenic sites.

   Airports number 146, plus 5 seaplane bases. Airlines: American, Capital, North Central, North-west, Ozark, United. Railways: Burlington, North Western, Milwaukee, Soo, Illinois Central, Northern Pacific, Green Bay & Western, Great Northern, Wisconsin Central; Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha; Duluth South Shore and Atlantic.

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