RECOGNIZING SAUK COUNTY’S 175TH ANNIVERSARY

Sauk County gets its name from the Sauk Tribe who once inhabited the area. By the time European settlers had arrived, the Sauk Tribe had moved on, leaving behind their name for the Sauk Prairie. The Ho-Chunk Nation was largely in Wisconsin at the time. The fur traders that came to the area didn’t want to settle permanently, but miners began to settle and tensions flared. Tensions came to a head in 1827 in what became known as the Winnebago War. Following the war, the US Army attempted to maintain a military presence in the heart of Ho-Chunk Territory. For a short time, the Wisconsin and Fox Rivers became the dividing line between American land and Native lands.

 In 1837, a treaty between the United States and the Ho-Chunk Nation resulted in vast amounts of land being taken by the United States. Six years later, in 1843, the early settlers around the Sauk Prairie petitioned the State of Wisconsin Legislature for the establishment of Sauk County. A year later, in  1844, their petition was passed, and Sauk County was established. A selection committee was then appointed and tasked with selecting a county seat, originally set in Prairie du Sac.  The first meeting of the Sauk County Board of Commissioners was held on April 1, 1844. Sauk County was established on March 11 1844, by an act of the State of Wisconsin Council and House of Representatives, which carved out the new county. The year of 2019 is the 175^th year of the establishment of Sauk County. It is appropriate that the members of the Sauk County Board should honor this county and its citizenry, and commemorate this significant milestone in their historic existence.