My research question is about what the average life was like for people who came to live in northwestern Wisconsin.  I am very interested in this topic because I love to read about the past and learn about what our elder generations went through.  I believe the history of our land is important to learn about so we can do the best to protect it and understand it’s historical importance.

Western Wisconsin has gone through many technological advances, changing societies, and faced hard struggles between sicknesses, money, and farming.  I want to find out more about how people got here, why, and how did they like it when they got settled in.

I believe the question is worth exploring because it builds community.  As our writing class at UWEC, we all share common ground of coming to Eau Claire for a purpose.  We can possibly relate to some of the things that they went through or find out new challenges they faced.  I think that Wisconsin is very interesting to read about before everything was infused with technology.  Between writing letters, no cars, Internet, TV or cell phones our ancestors led a very different lifestyle than we do today.  They had to write letters to communicate and wait days upon weeks to hear back from a family member.  Today, we can get a hold of someone on our cell phone in the matter of seconds. Looking back, I think I would be very stressed if I could not communicate with others over the telephone.  Waiting for a letter in the mail can be very difficult and stressful because I would worry that something has either happened to the person I wrote or if my letter got lost.

I do not currently have a satisfactory understanding of my topic at this time because I have not read that much about it.  I still have questions about what exactly people did to make a living, domestic life, family relationships, economic conditions, lumbering, religious revivals, and how they survived through famines and plagues.