Box 23, Folder 6: Geographical and Topographical Description of Wisconsin 1855, Third Edition

8.

thence up the main channel of that river to the first rapids, which is in longitude 92.15 west from Greenwich; thence due south to the St. Croix river; thence down the middle of the main channel of the St. Croix and Mississippi rivers to latitude forty two degrees and thirty minutes north; thence due east to the place of beginning. It therefore embraces all that portion of the United States lying between the State of Michigan on the east, and the Mississippi and St. Croix rivers on the west which separate it from the State of Iowa and the Territory of Minnesota; and between the State of Illinois on the south and the British possessions on the north; extending from forty two and a half to the forty seventh degree of north latitude, and from 87.30 to 92.30 of west longitude.

The greatest breadth of the state is three hundred miles; and it is three hundred miles from the south line to the [islands in] Apostle Islands in Lake Superior which constitute [the] its most northerly extent. But the average or mean extent of the state in both directions is considerably less than three hundred miles, the whole superficial extend being 55.783 square miles. Wisconsin is therefore still one of the largest states in the Union.

About three fifths of the State lies in the "basin of the Mississippi"-the remainder is drained by streams that are tributary to the waters of the Great Lakes-Superior and Michigan. That portion of the State drained by the Mississippi and its branches, is naturally divided into five great valleys, to wit: that of the St. Croix, of the Chippewa, of Black river, of the Wisconsin river and of Rock river. The portion drained by the lakes may be considered as forming three similar divisions, to wit:-that drained directly into Lake Michigan, the basin of Green Bay, and the basin of Lake Superior.

[Misc. notes and numbers].

9.

All claims for that portion of the state of Illinois lying north of the southerly bend of Lake Michigan, and for the territory bordering on Lake Superior which was assigned to Michigan, have been abandoned by Wisconsin; and she has so [no?] ambition for extending her territorial limits [is so] that a memorial to Congress has been adopted by the Legislature asking that a considerable portion of the north part of the state may be set off as a part of a new state to be established embracing the mining districts of Lake Superior.*

About twenty eight thousand square miles that formed part of the Territory of Wisconsin lying west of the St. Croix river has been transferred to the new Territory of Minnesota. The final adjustment of these questions of boundary, and the ready assent given by the people of this state to the curtailment of their proper limits for the sake of harmony and good will, shows the good sense of the people and may be regarded as further proof that enlightened people are capable of self government.

*Laws 1852 page 815.

10.

The geographical position of any place in Wisconsin may be determined with sufficient exaction for all [illegible] ordinary purposes by means of the public surveys: we have only to count up the distance north of the base line (the south line of the state) for the latitude, and east or west of Prairie du Chien for the longitude. The following is a table of the position of a number of places as ascertained by Mr. Nicollet (except where other authority is mentioned) within this state.

[Latitude and Longitude of Places Data Table].

11. [Table showing the length in miles of one degree of latitude and one degree of longitude in Wisconsin].