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The Territorial Era: 1787-1848. A Short History of Wisconsin. When the fledgling United States took legal possession of Wisconsin lands at the close of the Revolutionary War, few seemed to care. The new American government had more important priorities than the remote Wisconsin frontier.
The Territory of Wisconsin was an organized and incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 3, 1836, [1] until May 29, 1848, when an eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Wisconsin.
The first territorial governor of Wisconsin was Henry Dodge. He and other territorial lawmakers were initially busied by organizing the territory's government and selecting a capital city. The selection of a location to build a capitol caused a heated debate among the territorial politicians.
New territories were created from old, and the most populous ones became states. Wisconsin was successively part of the original Northwest Territory (1788-1800), Indiana Territory (1800-1809), Illinois Territory (1809-1818), and Michigan Territory (1818-1836) before it became a territory in its own right (1836-1848).
On July 4, 1836, the Wisconsin Territory was born. President Andrew Jackson appointed General Henry Dodge as governor, with responsibility to conduct a census, hold elections and convene a territorial legislature.
The Wisconsin Territory was not formed by act of Congress until 1836. It was a part of the Northwest Territory beginning in 1787, the Indiana Territory in 1800, the Illinois Territory in 1809, and the Michigan Territory in 1818.
With Michigan on the cusp of statehood, the Wisconsin Territory, with its presidentially appointed governor and popularly elected legislature, was established on July 4, 1836. The territorial legislature promptly created additional counties, reducing Milwaukee County to what is now Milwaukee and Waukesha counties.
