The Polanders in Wisconsin

One of the first Polish farming communities in the nation was established in Portage County, Wisconsin, in 1855. Located among earlier German, Irish, and French communities, Polonia, as the town was called, soon became a prosperous rural community that attracted more Poles to the region. Poles also began settling in Milwaukee in the 1850s although they did not begin coming in great numbers until the late nineteenth century. In this article from the Parkman Club (an organization devoted to research and writing on the history of the Old Northwest), Frank Miller discusses Polish immigration to Wisconsin. He focuses particularly on the role of the Koscuisko Guard in the labor strike at Bay View in 1886.