La Pointe County was created on February 19, 1845, by the Territory of Wisconsin from the northern portion of the existing territorial St. Croix County, encompassing the remaining portions of the

Northwest Territory The Northwest Territory, also known as the Old Northwest and formally known as the Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, was formed from part of the unorganized western territory of the United States after the American Revolution. Established ...

Wisconsin Territory The Territory of Wisconsin was an organized and incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 3, 1836, until May 29, 1848, when an eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Wisconsin. Belm ...

north of the line drawn from the confluence of the

Ripple River The Ripple River is a small river of north-central Minnesota. The stream headwaters are at the outlet of Bay Lake of eastern Crow Wing County and it flows east and north to its confluence with the Mississippi River on the north side of Aitkin i ...

with the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

(today, near

Aitkin, Minnesota Aitkin ( ) is a city and the county seat of Aitkin County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 2,168 at the 2020 census. History Before the establishment of City of Aitkin, a transient community of Lexington was located at the mout ...

) to the western edge of

Lac Courte Oreilles Lac Courte Oreilles ( ) is a large freshwater lake located in northwest Wisconsin in Sawyer County in townships 39 and 40 north, ranges 8 and 9 west. It is irregular in shape, having numerous peninsulas and bays, and is approximately six miles l ...

, to the eastern edge of Lac Courte Oreilles, and to the western branch of the Montreal River. The county was named for the community of

La Pointe, Wisconsin La Pointe is a town in Ashland County, Wisconsin, United States. The town includes all of the Apostle Islands except for the westernmost four, which lie in the towns of Bayfield and Russell in Bayfield County. While the area encompassing the ...

Madeline Island Madeline Island (Ojibwe: ''Mooningwanekaaning)'' is an island in Lake Superior. Located in Ashland County, Wisconsin, it has long been a spiritual center of the Lake Superior Chippewa. Although the largest of the Apostle Islands, it is not in ...

, which was its

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

from 1858 until 1866. When

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

achieved statehood on May 29, 1848, La Pointe County was divided between the present day Minnesota and Wisconsin. That portion of the Wisconsin Territory's La Pointe County between the Mississippi and St. Croix Rivers became 'de facto Wisconsin Territory' until it was incorporated, along with unorganized federal land north of Iowa, in the creation of the

Minnesota Territory The Territory of Minnesota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 3, 1849, until May 11, 1858, when the eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of Minnesota and the w ...

on March 3, 1849. Itasca,

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

, Ramsey, and Benton Counties were created by the Minnesota Territory on October 27, 1849 from the de facto Wisconsin Territory that had been separated from the Wisconsin Territory's La Pointe County. The remainder of La Pointe County became part of Wisconsin and portions of it later became the parent county to

Douglas Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals * Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking * Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil ...

(1854) and Ashland (1860) Counties. With La Pointe itself now in Ashland County, La Pointe County was renamed

Bayfield County Bayfield County is a county located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, its population is 16,220. Its county seat is Washburn. The county was created in 1845 and organized in 1850. The Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chipp ...

effective May 1, 1866, returning the

to Bayfield.Wisconsin Session Laws. Madison, vol. 1866, ch. 146, secs. 2-3/p. 189

Notes

{{Itasca County, Minnesota Douglas County, Wisconsin Ashland County, Wisconsin Bayfield County, Wisconsin St. Croix County, Wisconsin Itasca County, Minnesota Pre-statehood history of Wisconsin Pre-statehood history of Minnesota Former counties of the United States Former counties of Minnesota