An engaging history of Wisconsin through the end of the 19th century

Oustanding Achievement, Wisconsin Library Association

From 17th-century French coureurs de bois to lumberjacks of the 19th century, Wisconsin's frontier era saw thousands arriving from Europe and other areas seeking wealth and opportunity. Indians mixed with these newcomers, sometimes helping and sometimes challenging them, often benefiting from their guns and other trade items. This captivating history reveals the conflicts, the defeats, the victories, and the way the future looked to Wisconsin's peoples at the beginning of the 20th century.

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Wyman relates these oft-told stories with relish and color, and illustrates how the needs and beliefs of the people who participated [in the exploitation of natural resources] often precluded careful thought about the resulting depletion of flora, fauna, and minerals. . . .Wyman presents the frontier as a series of novel challenges for those who sought opportunities there [and] how those experiences changed them.

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Wyman has a smooth style, with an eye for informative yet catchy quotations. He has compressed volumes of material without losing the 'you-are-there' dynamic that characterizes all good history. This is a book for the general public to which professional historians might well turn to discover an original interpretation. . . . A well-told, well-documented tale.

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A handful of black-and-white photographs illustrate this thoroughly accessible history, highly recommended especially for Wisconsin history shelves and public library collections. April 2011

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An informative and readable overview. . . . [Wyman's] integration of Indian history into the work is well done and commendable.

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A highly readable, balanced account of the area that became the state of Wisconsin in 1848 . . . [Wyman] elevates his narrative from a limited state history to a fascinating story of the gains and perils, ebbs and flows that characterize the American frontier saga.

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A superb history.