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An Early Map of Wisconsin Territory
Fine early map of of a portion of Wisconsin, showing the surveyed part the Territory between the Illinois border and the Wisconsin River north to show all of the Door Peninsula.
The map was compiled from the surveys of Capt. Thomas Jefferson Cram and accompanied his "Report from the Secretary of War - [concerning] the internal improvements in the Territory of Wisconsin - "
The great Americana book and map collector Thomas Streeter notes:
This large scale map shows the surveyed part of the territory south of the Wiskonsin [sic] River and east of the Fox River. The map continues south into Illinois to a few miles south of the meridian of Chicago, to a line having the interesting legend. “Boundary line of the fifth state established by the 5th Article of the Ordinance of Congress of 1787.” That article had a provision for making one or two states “in that part of the said territory which lies north of an east and west line drawn through the southerly bend or extreme of Lake Michigan.” The southern boundary of “the fifth state” actually was fixed further north when Illinois was made a state in 1816.---TWS.
A skeleton line representing the Wisconsin River continues above the main map and locates a few settlements including Grignon's Trading Post, Whitney's Mill, Bloomer & Co., etc.
The map was published shortly after Wisconsin became a territory. The Territory of Wisconsin was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 3, 1836, until May 29, 1848, when an eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Wisconsin. Belmont was initially chosen as the capital of the territory. In 1837, the territorial legislature met in Burlington, just north of the Skunk River on the Mississippi, which became part of the Iowa Territory in 1838. In that year, 1838, the territorial capital of Wisconsin was moved to Madison.
![Wisconsin Central Railroad Lands. [map title:] Map of Wisconsin 1881 Showing Land Grant Limits Wisconsin Central Railroad.](https://storage.googleapis.com/raremaps/img/small/93315.jpg)