Prairie du Chien dates its history to June 17, 1673, when Father Marquette and Jolliet arrived at the Mississippi River. They stayed long enough to comment on the area’s beauty then turned south to explore the Father of Waters. Other early explorers echoed the sentiment.

Prairie du Chien’s first compelling story is the fur trade from the 1600s when French Canadians came through Mackinac Strait to Green Bay down the Wisconsin River to Prairie du Chien. During those years, large numbers of Native Americans, traders and trappers encamped on the prairie in spring and fall to conduct business and have fun. Games of la crosse, with hundreds of players on each side, were held during those rendezvous events. It was understood by all that during those times, arms would not be used and that peace would prevail on the prairie.

The French Canadians who settled here often married Native American women, and the two cultures coexisted in harmony. Hercules Dousman arrived in 1827 working for the American Fur Company and soon amassed a fortune and built a grand home on the Indian mound that had been the site of the First Fort Crawford. The Villa Louis, the home rebuilt by Dousman’s son and widow in the 1870s, still commands the site. The British gained control of the fur trade and the redcoats became the favored trading partners. During the transfer of power from the British to the Americans, the Battle of Prairie du Chien was fought July 1814, the only War of 1812 engagement in Wisconsin.

A second story involves the coming of the Americans and the Fort Crawford in 1816. For the next forty years, the fort on two sites, would dominate the economic and social life of the community. Dr. William Beaumont, Zachary Taylor, and Jefferson Davis served at Fort Crawford. Important national treaties were signed on St. Feriole Island at the First Fort Crawford, most notably the Treaty of 1825. The Sauk chief Black Hawk surrendered to Zachary Taylor at the Second Fort Crawford ending the four month Black Hawk War in 1832.

In the 1830s, the first Native American lands went on sale and a wave of Yankees came to Prairie du Chien, and send up business. In the 1850s, the coming of the railroad spurred unprecedented development and set up a new economy dependent on the railroad that lasted for a century. From 1850 through the early 1870s was the heydey of the steamboat with as many as ten arrivals and departures daily.

Wisconsin sent a large number of soldiers to support the Union cause during the Civil War. C Company Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry from Prairie du Chien was part of the famous Iron Brigade decimated at Gettysburg. Many from Wisconsin 8F were from Prairie du Chien and served under General Grant on the western front. The Brisbois Hotel in Lower Town Prairie du Chien was leased by the U.S. Government and used as Swift Hospital during the Civil War. Fort Crawford held some hospitalized soldiers and served as a recruitment center.

In the decade after the war, many of the large brick building blocks still standing on Blackhawk Avenue were built, often by Germans who had immigrated in the 1850s. John Lawler built his famous pontoon railroad bridge in 1874. It dominated the scene until it stopped operating in 1955. Not only was it a transportation workhorse, it was a major tourist attraction. Some of the fortune Lawler made was given back to the community. His money funded the Sacred Heart College, later the esteemed Campion, and also St. Mary’s Academy. St. Mary’s provided first-rate educations for young women until 1968; Campion, until 1975.

For the decades before and after the turn of the century Prairie du Chien was Pearl City. Several pearl button factories operated in Prairie du Chien. The Woolen Mill and the Canning Company were instituted during those years and became the base of Prairie du Chien’s economy. Railroads brought train loads our tourists to spend the day in the city.

History by: Mary Ann Stemper