Wisconsin Territory
| Territory of Wisconsin | |||||
| Organized incorporated territory of the United States | |||||
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| Capital |
Madison (1838–1848) Burlington, Iowa (1837) |
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| Government | Organized incorporated territory | ||||
| Governor | |||||
| • | 1836–1841 | Henry Dodge | |||
| • | 1841–1844 | James Duane Doty | |||
| • | 1844–1845 | Nathaniel P. Tallmadge | |||
| • | 1845–1848 | Henry Dodge | |||
| • | 1848 | John Catlin (acting) | |||
| Legislature | Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Wisconsin | ||||
| History | |||||
| • | Organic Act effective | July 3, 1836 | |||
| • | Iowa Territory split off | July 4, 1838 | |||
| • | Statehood of Wisconsin | May 29, 1848 | |||
Burlington, Iowa (1837)
Belmont (July–October 1836)
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.
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 was joined to the Michigan Territory. Then, the Wisconsin Territory was split off from Michigan Territory in 1836 as the state of Michigan prepared for statehood. In 1838, the section of the territory to the west of the Mississippi became the Iowa Territory.
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Wikipedia