Collections Sponsor Membership
Annual membership to the Prairie du Chien Historical Society. Your gift pays for care of museum collections.
Museum Sponsor Membership
Annual membership to the Prairie du Chien Historical Society. Your gift supports one day of Museum of Prairie du Chien operations
School Tour Sponsor Membership
Annual membership to the Prairie du Chien Historical Society. Your gift pays for up to 25 school children to tour the museum and one day of museum operations.
Fort Crawford Hospital/St. Germain Sponsor Membership
Annual membership to the Prairie du Chien Historical Society. Your gift supports events, exhibits and repairs at the Fort Hospital or St. Germain Log House
School Program Sponsor Membership
Annual membership to the Prairie du Chien Historical Society. Your gift pays for up to 25 school children to tour the museum, a Fort Crawford book for each child, and museum operations.
Programming Sponsor Membership
Annual membership to the Prairie du Chien Historical Society. Your gift supports new program development, funding for events, and interpretation at the museum, Fort Hospital and St. Germain log house.
Museum Benefactor Membership
Annual membership to the Prairie du Chien Historical Society. Your gift funds 5 days of museum operations and funding of an endowment to sustain the museums and properties for the future
The War of 1812 in Wisconsin: The Battle for Prairie du Chien
The War of 1812 in Wisconsin: The Battle for Prairie du Chien
By Mary Elise Antoine
Wisconsin Historical Society Press, 2016
In The War of 1812 in Wisconsin, author Mary Elise Antoine brings a little-known corner of Wisconsin’s history to life. Prairie du Chien, located just above the mouth of the Wisconsin River, was the key to trade on the upper Mississippi. Whoever controlled the prairie commanded the immense territory inhabited by thousands of American Indians—and the fur they traded. When war broke out between the United States and Great Britain in 1812, British and Americans fought to maintain the ever shifting alliance of the tribes.
This is the story of the battle for the control of Prairie du Chien and the western country, which began many years before the three-day siege in July of 1814 for which the Battle of Prairie du Chien is named. It is also the tale of the people, Euro-American and Native, who lived in pre-territorial Wisconsin and how the contest for control of the region affected their lives and livelihoods. The outcome of the War of 1812 would determine what Manifest Destiny would mean to all who called these lands home.
Physical Description:
Hardcover
240 pages39 B&W illustrations
ISBN:9780870207389
Frenchtown Chronicles of Prairie du Chien: History and Folklore from Wisconsin's Frontier
by Mary Elise Antoine (Editor) and Lucy Eldersveld Murphy(Editor)
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.