Wisconsin 101

John H. Rountree and the Founding of Platteville

By many measures, John H. Rountree fit the archetype of a successful 19th century American pioneer. Born in 1805 in Kentucky, he made his fortune staking a claim near the Platte River in the then lucrative lead mining region of southwestern Wisconsin,…

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July 20, 2025

Broad History / Education / Grant County / Industry / Platteville / Related Stories / Mining Industry / Manufacturing & Trade / Nature & Environment / Region 6 - South West / Ingersoll-Sergeant Pneumatic Rock Drill

Platteville’s Mining History

The Platteville lead boom spanned from 1827 to 1849, bringing diverse groups of people and the mining industry to what would later become southwest Wisconsin. In 1827, galena (lead ore) was discovered in Platteville by frontiersmen exploring the Northwest Territory, which included…

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December 21, 2022

Object Histories / Education / Grant County / Industry / Platteville / Mining Industry / 1877-1900 / Manufacturing & Trade / Region 6 - South West / Ingersoll-Sergeant Pneumatic Rock Drill

OBJECT HISTORY: Ingersoll-Sergeant Pneumatic Rock Drill

The Ingersoll-Sergeant pneumatic rock drill stands in front of the Rountree Hall Apartments in Platteville, serving as an important symbol of Platteville’s mining history. The drill was manufactured by the Ingersoll-Sergeant Rock Drill Co. sometime between 1888 and 1905. Continued improvements in…

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December 13, 2022

Soo Engine 1003 / Maritime Industry / Related Stories / Lumber Industry / Mining Industry / 1877-1900 / 1900-1918 / 1918-1945 / Region 1 - North West / Transportation & Tourism

The Soo Line

In the second half of the nineteenth century, railroads remade the geography of the Midwest. In an era when roads were often muddy filled with holes, the railroad made it faster to travel from Superior to Milwaukee by rail than from Superior…

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April 15, 2019

Object Histories / Industry / Grant County / 1787-1848 / Iowa County / Lafayette County / Mining Industry / Manufacturing & Trade / Nature & Environment / Region 6 - South West

OBJECT HISTORY: Galena

Galena, the official state mineral of Wisconsin, is the raw material used to produce lead. During the Wisconsin “lead rush” of the 1820s-40s, lead was more valuable than gold. That is because just about everybody, rich or poor, used objects made of lead in their daily lives – products that ranged from plumbing to toothpaste!…

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October 15, 2018

Industry / Object Histories / Grant County / Ethnicity & Identity / Platteville / Mining Industry / 1877-1900 / Manufacturing & Trade / Region 6 - South West / James D. Williams' Windlass

OBJECT HISTORY: James D. Williams’ Windlass

This is a machine used to lower and raise miners and materials through mine shafts in the lead mining region around Platteville, Wisconsin. Made from wooden supports with a wooden barrel shaft and crank attached to a rope with a bucket, a…

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August 1, 2018