In the 1840s, La Crosse, Wisconsin, was barely more than a trading post
nestled on the banks of the Mississippi River. But by 1900 the sleepy
frontier town had become a thriving city. Hinterland Dreams tracks the
growth of this community and shows that government institutions and
policies were as important as landscapes and urban boosters in
determining the small Midwestern city's success. The businessmen and
-women of La Crosse worked hard to attract government support during the
nineteenth century. Federal, state, and municipal officials passed laws,
issued rulings, provided resources, vested aldermen with financial and
regulatory power, and created a lasting legal foundation that
transformed the city and its economy. As historian Eric J. Morser
demonstrates, the development of La Crosse and other small cities linked
rural people to the wider world and provided large cities like Chicago
with the lumber and other raw materials needed to grow even larger. He
emphasizes the role of these municipalities, as well as their
relationship to all levels of government, in the life of an
industrializing nation.
Punctuated with intriguing portraits of La Crosse's early citizens,
Hinterland Dreams suggests a new way to understand the Midwest's urban
past, one that has its roots in the small but vibrant cities that dotted
the landscape. By mapping the richly textured political economy of La
Crosse before 1900, the book highlights how the American state provided
hinterland Midwesterners with potent tools to build cities and help
define their region's history in profound and lasting ways.
