Wisconsin Colonization Company Records, 1916-1938

Summary Information

Title: Wisconsin Colonization Company Records

Inclusive Dates: 1916-1938

Creator: Wisconsin Colonization Company

Call Number: Northland Mss 9; Eau Claire Mss K

Quantity: 0.8 c.f. (2 archives boxes)

Repository: This collection is managed jointly by the Wisconsin Historical Society, Library-Archives Division, the Northern Great Lakes Center Area Research Center, and the Eau Claire Area Research Center.

Archival Locations: UW-Eau Claire McIntyre Library / Eau Claire Area Research Ctr. 

Abstract: Papers collected by Benjamin Faast, president of the Wisconsin Colonization Company, relating to the organization's sale of “ready-made” farms in southern Sawyer County and the development of the village of Ojibwa. Included are letters to stockholders and settlers; a small amount of correspondence received by Faast; historical data on the upper Chippewa River area, the local Indian tribes, fur trade, and lumber industry; biographical data on settlers; a general ledger, 1923-1925; and two films relating to Ojibwa and the Chippewa River Valley.

Note: Originals of the manuscript portion of this collection are at the Northern Great Lakes Center. A photocopy is owned by and available at the Eau Claire Area Research Center.

Language: English

Search Terms

Subject Terms 

• Brotherhood of American Yeomen (Wis.)
• Faast Land Company (Eau Claire, Wis.)
• Land settlement—Wisconsin
• Ojibwa (Wis.)
• Sawyer County (Wis.)
• Faast, Benjamin F., 1884-1946

Scope and Content Note

The papers cover the period 1916-1938 and consist of letters to stockholders and directors of the Wisconsin Colonization Company, correspondence with settlers, sales letters, notices, and a ledger of operating expenses of the company, 1923-1925. One folder deals with the development of the village of Ojibwa and includes townsite and community center names suggested, estimates and reports on public utilities, restrictions and protections necessary to make the place an ideal community in which to live, work, and play. Maps and photographs illustrate this interesting project.

Mr. Faast gathered historical data on the upper Chippewa River region and at his request articles on the Lac Courte Oreilles Indian reservation and early transportation among the Indians and lumbermen of northern Wisconsin were written by various people; some of these articles are included in the collection. A short history of southern Sawyer County very entertainingly depicts the story of the Sioux and Ojibwa warriors, relates the history of the fur trade and lumbering industry, and contains biographical notes on some of the early settlers of the region. Faast also was interested in the establishment of a children's home at Lake Hallie, Wisconsin, by the Brotherhood of American Yeomen.

Related Material 

Land Appraisers' Reports (Series 1957) contains related records. (Located in Madison)

Administrative/Restriction Information

Acquisition Information 

Original Collection presented by Mrs. Benjamin F. Faast, Eau Claire, Wisconsin, 1948;

Films presented by Mrs. Margaret L. Becher via Susan O. Haswell, Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Accession Number: M91-208

Contents List

Northland Mss 9/Eau Claire Mss K Box 1 Correspondence, 1916-1938 June Box 1 Form letters to settlers, stockholders, and the general public (all mimeographed) Box 1 Material concerning Ojibwa, Sawyer County; and articles on northern Wisconsin and Sawyer CountyBox 1One folder of maps and printed materialBox 2 Volume 1Ledger of operating expenses, 1923-1925Box 1 Volume 2Album of views of Lake Hallie, Wisconsin Box 2 Volume 3- 6

Albums of Wisconsin Colonization Company projects and unidentified pictures of northern Wisconsin