The Wisconsin Territory (which includes parts of…

The Wisconsin Territory (which includes parts of other current states) is formed on July 3, 1836, by which time nearly half of Wisconsin’s people are living in the lead mining region, leading to the establishment of the territorial capitol at Leslie, in the Town of Belmont.

Bordered by Lakes Michigan and Superior, and a part of Michigan Territory beginning in 1818, Wisconsin had been part of United States' territory since the end of the American Revolution, but significant American settlement had been delayed by two Indian wars, the minor Winnebago War of 1827 and the larger Black Hawk War of 1832.

The resolution of these conflicts had opened the way for Wisconsin's settlement.

The Wisconsin Territory initially included all of the present-day states of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, and part of the Dakotas east of the Missouri River.

Much of the Territory had originally been part of the Northwest Territory, which was ceded by Britain in 1783.

The portion in what is now Iowa and the Dakotas was originally part of the Louisiana Purchase and was split off from the Missouri Territory in 1821 and attached to the Michigan Territory in 1834.

The portion that was formerly part of the Northwest Territory and which later became the state of Wisconsin was part of the Indiana Territory when this was formed in 1800.

In 1809, it became part of the Illinois Territory; then, when Illinois was about to become a state in 1818, this area had been joined to the Michigan Territory.

The Wisconsin Territory is split off from Michigan Territory in 1836 as the state of Michigan prepares for statehood.

In 1838, the section of the territory to the west of the Mississippi will become the Iowa Territory.