Wisconsin

Like most of the western half of the United States, Wisconsin was first occupied thousands of years ago by nomadic hunter-gatherer tribes that disappeared somewhere around 5000 B.C.  When the Europeans arrived in North America, they eventually moved westward as expeditions carried them across the Mississippi.  The French and the British were the first Europeans to settle in the territory that became the state of Wisconsin.

After the area was settled and became a U.S. territory in the nineteenth century, lead was discovered in the land and lead mining became a very profitable and popular industry across the state. Really, it was not until gold was discovered in California and the prospectors shifted further west that the economy of Wisconsin moved from a mining to an agriculture based economy.

The first cash crop to be grown in Wisconsin was wheat, which for a time was a very profitable crop. However, farmers soon discovered that the climate of Wisconsin was less suitable for grain farming than that in states further west. 

As the shift occurred and farmers needed to find a better use for their land, dairy cattle became a great choice. This shift in the economy marked the beginning of a dairy industry in Wisconsin. Since the French and other European settlers in the area were highly skilled in dairy production, specifically cheese-making, the next logical step.

The northern half of Wisconsin is not exactly suitable for farming or cattle raising, however it is suitable for logging as it is heavily forested area.