Fort Crawford Museum

Prairie du Chien ^New!

By Mary Elise Antoine. Published by Arcadia Publishing, 2011.

Summary

Just above the confluence of the Wisconsin and Mississippi River lies a nine-mile prairie whose beauty and location has drawn people to its expanse for over 300 years. At this traditional gathering place of Native Americans, French explorers and fur traders stored goods and celebrated, in time building homes at la Prairie des Chiens. American soldiers constructed forts on the prairie to secure the upper Mississippi for settlement. Wave upon wave of people from the eastern United States then Europe arrived in Prairie du Chien by steamboat and railroad, and by 1900 a bustling city had spread across the plain. After World War I, tourists came to Prairie du Chien to drift along the banks of the Mississippi and climb the steep bluffs. Many of the residents of the prairie found a living in the bounty of the river, though often the Mississippi demonstrated its power by flooding the lands. In the midst of the Depression, the community began to preserve buildings that reflect the history and heritage of Wisconsin's second oldest community.

With over 200 images, the book traces this history of Prairie du Chien from the time when Native Americans inhabited the prairie to the flood of 1993. This pictorial history of Prairie du Chien is part of the Images of America series.

Description

Softcover, 128 pages.
114 pages of images
ISBN 0-7385-8356-1

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Cost: $21.99
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Total: $26.20

Fort Crawford Jigsaw Puzzle ^New!

This jigsaw puzzle shows Fort Crawford in 1830 as depicted by artist Gordon Peckam.

513 Pieces. Size 16" x 20".

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Cost: $19.95
Tax: $1.10
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Total: $24.05

Prairie du Chien: French, British, American

By Peter L. Scanlan. Published by Banta Publishing 1937; 3rd Reprint 1998, Prairie du Chien Historical Society.

Summary

The story of Prairie du Chien is the history of the Mississippi Frontier in the late 18th and 19th centuries. Dr. Peter L. Scanlan conducted research on the community and the nationally-important events which occurred at Prairie du Chien. He combed archives, finding rich information buried in the dust of time. These myriad facts he combined into a engaging history. Though written in 1937, Prairie du Chien: French, British, American still stands as the most definitive work on Wisconsin's second oldest community.

Description

Softcover, 258 pages
7 pages of illustrations
30 pages Notes & References
ISBN 09668004-0-0

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Cost: $10.95
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Total: $14.55

Old Fort Crawford and the Frontier

By Bruce E. Mahan. Published by State Historical of Iowa 1926; Reprint 2000, Prairie du Chien Historical Society.

Summary

Fort Crawford's fascinating story unfolds in a regional context spanning dramatic events that took place in what are now Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois. The term Old Fort Crawford refers to the institution that occupied two sites in Prairie du Chien from 1816-1856. The heart of Mahan's history focuses on that strategically important yet isolated frontier post.

Major topics covered:

• Transfer of power from British to American
• Indian Treaty Councils, especially 1825 & 1829
• Construction of the second Fort Crawford
• Ho-Chunk Uprising of 1827
• Black Hawk War of 1832
• Indian Removal west of the Mississippi
• The Disposal of Fort Crawford
• Extensive Endnotes and Works Cited

Description

Softcover, 350 pages
17 pages of illustrations
47 pages of Notes & References
ISBN 0-966-8004-1-9

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Cost: $18.95
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Total: $23.00