Between 1832 and 1865, surveyors of the U.S. General Land Office conducted the first statewide survey of Wisconsin, laying out township boundaries according to the rectangular grid system established by Congress. The field notes of that survey contain records of measurements made in the field, descriptions of pre-survey settlements, Indian trails and other early roads encountered by the surveyors, information on land cover and soils, and a sketch map of each township. Draftsmen at the Surveyor-General's district offices prepared the official survey plat maps from these notes and sketches. (See Series 698, Federal Survey Plat Books, 1834-1858.)
The original copies of these notes are held by the Wisconsin Commissioners of the Public Lands.
