Editing Waukesha County, Wisconsin (section)

==History==
The region was first home to Indigenous tribes like Menomonie, Ojibwe (Chippewa), Potawatomi, and Ho-Chunk (Winnebago), who practiced agriculture and trade. In 1836, Native American tribes formally lost title to the land when treaties were disregarded and were forcibly removed by the Federal Army. Prior to the 1830s, the area was unoccupied by settlers due to its inland location and the fact that the [[Fox River (Illinois River tributary)|Fox River]] was not a water highway. The New England settlers only came to the area to set up fur trading posts between their new encampments and established cities like Milwaukee. Morris D. Cutler and Alonso Cutler, seeking claims for homesteads, were the first permanent white colonial settlers.<ref>{{Cite web|date=April 21, 2014|title=American Indians in Wisconsin: History|url=https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/minority-health/population/amind-pophistory.htm|access-date=November 29, 2021|website=Wisconsin Department of Health Services|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Waukesha/Pewaukee, Wisconsin: Explorers Meet Our History|url=https://visitwaukesha.org/discover/history/|access-date=November 29, 2021|website=Visit Waukesha}}</ref>

The part of [[Wisconsin]] that Waukesha County occupies was a part of [[Michigan Territory]] when [[Milwaukee County, Wisconsin|Milwaukee County]] was organized in September 1834.<ref name="summit6">{{cite book |last1=Barquist |first1=Barbara |last2=Barquist |first2=David |editor1-first=Leroy |editor1-last=Haley |title=The Summit of Oconomowoc: 150 Years of Summit Town |year=1987 |publisher=Summit History Group |page=6 |chapter=The Beginning }}</ref> On July 4, 1836, the [[Wisconsin Territory]] was formed, which included land that is now in the state of [[Minnesota]].<ref name="summit6" /> In January 1846, part of Milwaukee County was split off into Waukesha County.<ref name="summit7">{{cite book |last1=Barquist |first1=Barbara |last2=Barquist |first2=David |editor1-first=Leroy |editor1-last=Haley |title=The Summit of Oconomowoc: 150 Years of Summit Town |year=1987 |publisher=Summit History Group |page=7 |chapter=The Beginning }}</ref><ref name="summit37">{{cite book |last1=Barquist |first1=Barbara |last2=Barquist |first2=David |editor1-first=Leroy |editor1-last=Haley |title=The Summit of Oconomowoc: 150 Years of Summit Town |year=1987 |publisher=Summit History Group |page=37 |chapter=The Early Years }}</ref> Curtis Reed was the first county chairman.<ref name="summit7" /> When a vote decided the county seat, [[Waukesha, Wisconsin|Waukesha]] defeated [[Pewaukee, Wisconsin|Pewaukee]] by two votes.<ref name="summit7" /> The name is derived from the [[Potawatomi]] word for 'fox' because the streams in the lower part of the county drain into the [[Fox River (Illinois River tributary)|Fox River]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Winnebago Took Its Name from an Indian Tribe |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/915335/wisconsin_county_names/|newspaper=The Post-Crescent|date=December 28, 1963|page=14|via=[[Newspapers.com]]|access-date=August 25, 2014}} {{Open access}}</ref>

Waukesha was a [[New England]] settlement, and Waukesha's founders were settlers from [[New England]], particularly [[Connecticut]], rural [[Massachusetts]], [[Vermont]], [[New Hampshire]] and [[Maine]], as well as from [[upstate New York]] who were born to parents who had migrated there from [[New England]] shortly after the American Revolution. These people were "[[Yankee]]s" descended from the [[English American|English]] [[Puritans]] who settled [[New England]] in the 1600s. They were part of a wave of [[New England]] farmers who headed west into what was the wilds of the [[Northwest Territory]] during the early 1800s. Most arrived as a result of the completion of the [[Erie Canal]] as well as the end of the [[Black Hawk War]].

The [[English American|New Englanders]] built farms, roads, government buildings and established post routes. They brought many of their [[Yankee]] [[New England]] values, such as a passion for education that led to the establishment of many schools as well as staunch support for abolitionism. They were mostly members of the [[Congregationalist Church]], though some were [[Episcopal Church (United States)|Episcopalian]]. Due to the [[second Great Awakening]] some converted to [[Methodism]], and others became [[Baptists]] before moving to what is now Waukesha County. Waukesha, like much of [[Wisconsin]], would be culturally very continuous with early [[New England]] culture for most of its early history, before the state received a substantial influx of [[German Americans|German]] immigrants in the latter half of the 19th century.<ref>''The History of Waukesha County, Wisconsin: Containing an Account of Its Settlement, Growth, Development and Resources; an Extensive and Minute Sketch of Its Cities, Towns and Villages&mdash;their Improvements, Industries, Manufactories, Churches, Schools and Societies; Its War Record, Biographical Sketches, Portraits of Prominent Men and Early Settlers; the Whole Preceded by a History of Wisconsin, Statistics of the State, and an Abstract of Its Laws and Constitution and of the Constitution of the United States Western Historical Company'', 1880 pages 173, 232, 233</ref>

Waukesha County is growing faster than the rest of Wisconsin. In the early 20th century, Waukesha County only contained about 2% of Wisconsin's population. By the year 2000, about 7% of Wisconsin's population was in Waukesha County, and the percentage has grown since.

In 2024, ''[[Waukeshaaspis]]'', a prehistoric genus of [[trilobite]], was named after the county.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Randolfe |first=Enrique Alberto |last2=Gass |first2=Kenneth C. |date=2024-11-13 |title=Waukeshaaspis eatonae n. gen. n. sp.: a specialized dalmanitid (Trilobita) from the Telychian of southeastern Wisconsin |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-paleontology/article/waukeshaaspis-eatonae-n-gen-n-sp-a-specialized-dalmanitid-trilobita-from-the-telychian-of-southeastern-wisconsin/C7D133BB3879FB78FD3D2E1CB2C238E1 |journal=Journal of Paleontology |language=en |pages=1–9 |doi=10.1017/jpa.2024.32 |issn=0022-3360}}</ref>