in was to remain a haven for fur traders in the eyes of much of America for many years. According to Smith, “it was the farmer, however, for whom the region west of Lake Michigan held the widest and most lasting appeal, and for a full century, until the decade of the 1920’s, Wisconsin was predominantly a rural state.” And before these farmers could turn their attention northward, what was needed was for much of the land to be cleared of the vast forests that encompassed much of the Wisconsin territory.An American Myth The most notable belief that all early Europeans seemed to share upon coming to the New World may qualify as the “first genuine American legend”. This legend is comprised of a belief that the natural resources, specifically the forests, went on forever—a legend of inexhaustibility. This belief, “more then any other one thing, has made the American—one way you look at it—the greatest waster in history; another way one of the greatest builders.” Jenks Cameron, author of The Development of Government Forest Control in the United States, points out many of the reasons for this belief that begins with common theme shared by most of the new colonizers from the Old World. This theme, or background, derives its foundation from what people were accustomed to in Europe. In the Old World, “a few hundred acres of woodland was a great forest. Forests, moreover, and the game they contained were not for the common man. Nor was property in land, save in comparatively rare instances.” In America, however, the forest stretched for untold miles, game was in abundance, and a man could possess land if he could just wrest it away from the forest. One can only imagine the awe of these people as they gazed upon the vast forests of the New World. Placed with in the context of their worldviews, the belief that the forests were inexhaustible may not seem s...
