In the Preface it is noted that the publisher had already produced individual histories of most Wisconsin agricultural counties, and decided to group the northern counties that were in lumber and mining districts into this single volume. Presumably this is because they were lightly populated and there would be few potential customers for the book in any given county.

As is normal with county histories of this era, the lion’s share of the book is made up of biographies and of lists of persons who were local elected officials or members of organizations. All biographies are found within the county histories. Unfortunately it lacks a name index.

Counties covered in this volume are: Adams, Ashland, Barron, Bayfield, Brown, Buffalo, Burnett, Calumet, Chippewa, Clark, Door, Douglas, Dunn, Eau Claire, Green Lake, Juneau, Jackson, Kewaunee, Langlade, Lincoln, La Crosse, Manitowoc, Marathon, Marinette, Marquette, Monroe, Oconto, Outagamie, Pepin, Pierce, Polk, Portage, Price, Shawano, St. Croix, Sheboygan, Taylor, Trempealeau, Waupaca, Waushara, Winnebago, Wood.