Early baseball associations in La Crosse, Wisconsin, included the Northwestern Baseball League (founded 1886), which became the Western Association in 1888, and the City League (1893). In 1900 the first organization to hire players to play on Saturdays and Sundays was begun. La Crosse teams were included in the Wisconsin State League (1905) and in the short-lived Wisconsin-Minnesota league of 1909 and 1910.
