My 3rd source comes from the Wisconsin Historical society. It was written by Moses Meeker a miner in the lead region in the 1820’s, he writes about his time while working and living in the lead region. I think that this source has great importance, because it’s not directly related to the term “badger” it is a firsthand account about his life being. Looking at the everyday miners life will eventually tie into the badgers, because he took part in living the lifestyle of the other miners which they were eventually called “badgers.”
Meeker creates an intimate relationship with his audience by talking about himself and his family. Using terms like “I” or “we” while writing his article, he gives his audience a firsthand look about what life was like living in the mining region. His audience is men in their mid-forty’s and older that are interested in the history of Wisconsin. It makes it easier for him to connect with his audience, because he writes about his family making it so that Meeker and his audience have something fairly in common.
Meeker got into working in the lead industry, because when he visited St. Louis to buy some lead he saw an advertisement in the papers that the president was offering to lease one-half section of land to mine lead. While living on this land and mining for the lead they had to pay the government one tenth of the lead they mined. In October of 1822 Meeker and a man he met in St. Louis known as Colonel Cole. They arrived November 12th, 1822 at their village in south eastern Wisconsin, shortly after they arrived and they had their shelters built Meeker had his family move up to the mining region to live with there.
I think that this source shows how miners lived in Wisconsin during this time and it is important to my future research, because my last two sources weren’t about anyone specific and just about the badgers and the history about how they became the badgers. For my next source, I want to find out more about other miners who moved to the lead region, because I think that it will provide more of an understanding about the history of the Badger and more about the history of Wisconsin.
What a great topic to research! I’ve rarely ever left the state of Wisconsin throughout my life, and never once have I wondered why it’s known as the badger state!=. Getting information from someone’s personal writing makes for a great source. You did a good job explaining how the piece was written and what it was written about. A few more examples of material wouldn’t hurt to put in there. Looking forward to more posts!
Hey there. Interesting source. I’m a bit confused with the summary. What information does your source carry that you wanted to convey? I like the rhetorical context you have there. When I read that paragraph I felt like reading this particular source of yours. Great piece by the way.
Including primary sources is excellent way to add to you as a researcher your credibility through out this project. This piece shows how the term “badger” indirectly came to be with miners. I never really thought about why the term “badger” could be used to describe miners I always thought that it referred to the native animal. This research is very interesting in understanding the history of Wisconsin and how things such as a term coined for miners is still influencing our everyday life.