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As people came to Prairie du Chien, generations worked to form a small, cohesive community. This book delves into the history of some of the unique individuals and groups, past and present, who have made a memorable impact on the their community throughout its history.
Just above the confluence of the Wisconsin and Mississippi Rivers lies a 9-mile prairie whose beauty and location have long drawn people to its expanse. At this traditional gathering place of Native Americans, French explorers and fur traders stored trade goods and celebrated on the prairie, in time building homes at la Prairie des Chiens. American soldiers constructed a fort here, at the entrance to the upper Mississippi Valley, to secure the region for settlement. Wave upon wave of people arrived in Prairie du Chien by steamboat and railroad, and by 1900, a bustling city had spread across the plain. But the French heritage and majestic beauty of the river endured. After World War I, tourists came to drift along the banks of the Mississippi, climb the steep bluffs surrounding the prairie, and sample the Friday night fish fries. Wisconsin's second-oldest community, Prairie du Chien retains the attraction that drew the first explorers to its shores.
Albert Coryer, the grandson of a fur trade voyageur-turned-farmer, had a gift for storytelling. Born in 1877, he grew up in Prairie du Chien hearing tales of days gone by from his parents, grandparents, and neighbors who lived in the Frenchtown area. Throughout his life, Albert soaked up the local oral traditions, including narratives about early residents, local landmarks, interesting and funny events, ethnic customs, myths, and folklore. Late in life, this lively man who had worked as a farm laborer and janitor drew a detailed illustrated map of the Prairie du Chien area and began to write his stories out longhand, in addition to sharing them in an interview with a local historian and folklore scholar. The map, stories, and interview transcript provide a colorful account of Prairie du Chien in the late nineteenth century, when it was undergoing significant demographic, social, and economic change. With sharp historical context provided by editors Lucy Eldersveld Murphy and Mary Elise Antoine, Coryer’s tales offer an unparalleled window into the ethnic community comprised of the old fur trade families, Native Americans, French Canadian farmers, and their descendants.
The story of Prairie du Chien is the history of the Mississippi Frontier in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Native Americans gathered on the prairie to engage in the fur trade, French explorers built a fort to house the furs and trade goods, British traders and American soldiers competed and battled for control of the prairie, and here Black Hawk surrendered in 1832. Though written in 1937, "Prairie du Chien: French, British, American" still stands as the most definitive work on Wisconsin's second oldest community. Republished by the Prairie du Chien Historical Society.
Prairie du Chien, the second oldest settlement in the state of Wisconsin, is permeated with history. In fact, the past often seems stronger than the present. Being there is like navigating between two dimensions. Just where does the past end? Is it ever really over? Pieces of it can still be seen and touched. It's not altogether an illusion. The stories of those who once lived at Prairie du Chien, gleaned from dusty old volumes and yellowed newspaper clippings, are fascinating. There are beautiful girls and their dashing officers, colorful fur traders, and widows with more money than luck. There are seemingly successful merchants struggling with inner demons and other citizens who managed to become legends in their own lifetimes, some of those being extraordinarily long. The 19th Century was not an easy period in which to exist, especially on a frontier where there were still hostile Indians and lawless neighbors too willing to settle scores with a gun.
A literature and record search for locations of prehistoric and historic sites in the Prairie du Chien area was undertaken by the Wisconsin State Historical Society. A search was made to assess the cultural resources present on St. Friole Island and the adjacent mainland in the City of Prairie du Chien. The assessment was necessary because of Army Corps of Engineer plans to remove and relocate residents of the floodplain area. Since removal or destruction of residences can destroy or partially destroy archaeological-historical sites, it was deemed necessary to locate and evaluate such sites. Eighteen areas where prehistoric archeological sites were located, that are considered significant for understanding the cultural history of Prairie du Chien. It is recommended that all of St. Friole Island or at least portions of it, be made a historic district, and that portions of the mainland be included in the district.