Editing Koshkonong, Wisconsin (section)

== History ==
[[File:The Shekey House.jpeg|thumb|left|[[Albert and Mary Shekey House]] in Koshkonong]]
The [[Sauk people|Sauk]], [[Meskwaki]], [[Potawatomi]], and [[Ho-Chunk]] peoples had members in the area when settlers arrived. The first Europeans to settle in the area were French traders from [[Canada]]. The region about the [[Yahara River]] was called ''Gishkzhegonang''<!--unsyncoped: Gishkezhegwenang; c.f. Ojibwe: Giishkizhigwanaang-->  (Catfish Place) by the Potawatomi peoples, and was transcribed into English as "Koshkonong."  The Potawatomis called Lake Koshkonong as ''Éndayang-zagegen''<!--c.f. Ojibwe: Endaayaang-zaaga'igan--> (Lake Where-we-live-on), but the early settlers began calling this lake in the Koshkonong region as [[Lake Koshkonong]].<ref>Cassidy, Frederic G. (2009) [https://books.google.com/books?id=z0xmY0CzZ1MC&dq=koshkonong+%22we+live+on%22&pg=PA87 "Lake Koshkonong" in ''Dane County Place-Names''], p. 87.</ref>

The first settlers for farming arrived around 1836.  Under the government of the [[Wisconsin Territory]], the town was originally named ''Finch'' in 1839, but was renamed ''Koshkonong'' in 1842.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Callary |first1=Edward|title=Place Names of Wisconsin|publisher=University of Wisconsin Press|location=Madison, WI|isbn=978-0-299-30964-0|page=143}}</ref>  In 1840, Norwegian families from [[Telemark]] settled near Lake Muskego in [[Waukesha County, Wisconsin|Waukesha County]]. In 1841, what would become for a time the largest [[Norwegian-American]] community in America was founded at Koshkonong in eastern [[Dane County, Wisconsin|Dane]] and western Jefferson counties. It was started by settlers from the [[Jefferson Prairie Settlement]] and the [[Fox River Settlement]]. By 1850, over half of the Norwegian immigrants in Wisconsin lived in the [[Koshkonong Settlement]],<ref>[http://www.mnwebsteps.com/grover/koshkonong.htm ''Koshkonong''], Minnesota WebSteps</ref> known as ''Kaskeland'' in Norwegian.<ref>Norlie, Olaf Morgan . 1925. ''History of the Norwegian People in America''. Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, p. 168.</ref><ref>Rölvaag, Ole Edvart. 1931. ''Their Fathers' God''. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, p. 5.</ref><ref>Gregory, John Goadby. 1932. ''Southwestern Wisconsin: A History of Old Crawford County''. Chicago: S.J. Clarke Publishing Company, p. 1009.</ref>