Editing Menasha, Wisconsin (section)

==History==
[[File:A View of the Butte Des Morts Treaty Ground; With the Arrival of the Commissioners Gov. Lewis Cass and Col. McKenny, from The Aboriginal Portfolio - SAAM - 1973.167.48.jpg|thumb| left|An illustration of Butte Des Morts in 1827]]

Ancestors of the [[Ho-Chunk]] occupied what is currently Menasha. In the 1600s, the [[Meskwaki]] established a village just north of Menasha. A surprise attack by French soldiers and traders resulted in the deaths of nearly all Meskwaki residing in the area.  The bodies were subsequently interred in a large mound, known as Butte des Morts ("Hill of the Dead"), which served as a prominent landmark until its destruction by the [[Chicago and North Western Railway]] in 1863.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2012-07-27 |title=A Brief History of Menasha |url=https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Article/CS2423 |access-date=2025-02-07 |website=Wisconsin Historical Society |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Lawson |first=Publius V. |url=https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcmassbookdig.summaryofarcheol00laws/?sp=22&st=image |title=Summary of the archeology of Winnebago County, Wisconsin |date=1903 |others=Wisconsin archeological society. [from old catalog |location=[Milwaukee, Wis |language=english}}</ref>

In 1836, the land was ceded to the United States in the [[Treaty of the Cedars]]. This opened up land for public sale, and territorial governor [[James Duane Doty]] was one of the first investors in the land. In 1848, Doty and his associates, including [[Curtis Reed (politician)|Curtis Reed]], formed the town of Menasha on the channel north of Doty Island.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Menasha History |url=https://www.menashawi.gov/residents/history.php |access-date=2023-07-27 |website=www.menashawi.gov}}</ref> In 1849, Reed and Doty were successful in convincing the United States government to place the navigational channel of the Fox-Wisconsin waterway through the north channel in Menasha.<ref name=":0" /> In 1854 Menasha approved $150,000 in bonding to bring the Manitowoc & Mississippi Railroad in with the intent of establishing Menasha as the principal transportation axis in Wisconsin. Menasha was incorporated as a city in 1874, and at that point was considered to be a transportation hub.<ref name=":0" />

[[File:Menasha Hub Spoke and Bending Factory, Menasha in Winnebago County, Wisconsin, from 1880 book History of Winnebago County, Wisconsin, and early history of the Northwest.jpg|thumb|left|Former Menasha Hub Spoke and Bending Factory]]

The early 1900s saw a shift to industrial production of general and specialized papers.<ref name=":0" /> Menasha was home to many paper mills including the George A. Whiting Paper Company Mill, the John Strange Paper Mill, Island Paper Company, and Gilbert Paper Company, to name a few. Menasha was also home to the [[George Banta Publishing Company]] which published textbooks, military manuals, yearbooks, and magazines.

Menasha Corporation also called Menasha home. It was established in 1849 by Elisha D. Smith as Menasha Wooden Ware.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=The History of Menasha |url=https://www.menasha.com/history/ |access-date=2023-07-27 |website=Menasha Packaging |language=en-US}}</ref> It produced wooden containers like butter tubs and barrels and eventually became the world's largest wooden ware products manufacturer. After wooden ware products fell out of use in the early 1900s, Menasha Wooden Ware shifted to the corrugated packaging business, changing its name to Menasha Corporation.<ref name=":1" />