Wisconsin to my point of view is the most beautiful state in the Union. Other states, California and Oregon, have great natural beauty but in Wisconsin the great number of small prosperous cities, the thousands of highly improved farms with modern buildings and well-tilled fields, and the never-ending system of highways with its mile after mile of splendid roads and its wonderful system of road marking, tell of a wide and intelligent, and apparently quite fair distribution of wealth—a distribution which indicates to the stranger that the good things of Wisconsin are open to and enjoyed by all.

That is something which makes for beauty that is not to be found in some of the states which engaged in larger advertising campaigns than does Wisconsin. Somehow, I can enjoy the natural beauties with more zest when the surroundings assure me that they have not been garnered in by the spirit of selfishness. Wisconsin is not only blessed with great natural beauty, but evidently with a public spirit which causes the landscape to suggest the comfort and security of its citizens. Nothing adds more to the appreciation of natural beauty by the stranger than abundant evidence that those who are continually surrounded by it know how to use it and share it among themselves and with the stranger.

William Allen White, 1919