Editing Wisconsin Territory (section)

===Wisconsin Territory after Wisconsin became a state===
When Wisconsin became a state on May 29, 1848, no provision was made for the section of land between the [[St. Croix River (Wisconsin–Minnesota)|St. Croix River]] and the [[Upper Mississippi River|Mississippi River]] which had previously been organized as part of Wisconsin Territory.  Additionally when Iowa became a state on December 28, 1846, no provision was made for official organization of the remainder of what had been Iowa Territory.<ref>{{cite book|title=2013 – 2014 Minnesota Legislative Manual (Blue Book) |year=2013 |publisher=Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State |location=Saint Paul, Minnesota |page=50 |chapter=Chapter 2 — Founding Documents |chapter-url=http://www.sos.state.mn.us/2013_MN_legislative_manual/chapters/chapter_2-charters_laws_and_founding_documents.pdf |url=http://www.sos.state.mn.us/index.aspx?page=1744 |access-date=August 19, 2014 |format=PDF }}</ref> 

In the summer of 1848, residents in the area organized themselves and called a series of meetings.  As these meetings commenced, the most recent territorial delegate to congress [[John Hubbard Tweedy|John H. Tweedy]] officially tendered his resignation, thus vacating the seat.  Secretary of State [[John Catlin (politician)|John Catlin]] went to Stillwater, Minnesota, and in the capacity of acting governor of the territory issued writs for a special election to fill the seat, which was won by [[Henry Hastings Sibley|Henry H. Sibley]] on October 30.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Shortridge |first=Wilson P. |date=August 1919 |title=Henry Hastings Sibley and the Minnesota Frontier |url=https://archive.org/details/jstor-20160312 |journal=Minnesota History Bulletin |volume=3 |issue=3 |pages=115–125 |access-date=August 19, 2014 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The History of Racine and Kenosha Counties, Wisconsin |url=https://archive.org/details/historyracinean00cogoog |access-date=August 25, 2014 |year=1879 |publisher=Western Historical Company |location=Chicago |pages=[https://archive.org/details/historyracinean00cogoog/page/n53 55]–56}}</ref>

When Sibley went to Washington to take his seat in Congress, he was not immediately recognized. Only after a long political battle was he allowed to take his seat on January 15, 1849.  For a period of time, there were simultaneously representatives in Congress from both the State of Wisconsin and the Territory of Wisconsin, an unprecedented situation.  Sibley made it his first order of business to push through the statute necessary to establish the Territory of Minnesota, which occurred on March 3, 1849.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Sibley |first=Henry H. |date=1880 |title=Reminiscences of the Early Days of Minnesota |url=https://archive.org/details/reminiscencesofe00siblrich |journal=Minnesota Historical Collections |access-date=August 18, 2014 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Williams |first=John Fletcher |date=1894 |title=Henry Hastings Sibley: A Memoir |url=https://archive.org/details/henryhastingssib00willrich |journal=Collections of the Minnesota Historical Society |publisher=Minnesota Historical Society |volume=6 |pages=257–310 |access-date=August 19, 2014 }}</ref>