![]() The fort provoked the only battle to take place in what is today Wisconsin, where more than 650 British-Canadian soldiers, militia and Indian allies opposed a vastly smaller force of Americans. Louis, led by William Clark, built Fort Shelby in the Main Village of Prairie du Chien in an attempt to gain control of the British fur trade still active in the region, and sway the Indians away from their allegiance to the British. The community was culturally diverse with many Métis families, where French-speaking men and Native American women raised large families of mixed-blood children.Īn incremental transition to American identity and control began in the early 1800s with a major turning point occurring during the War of 1812. These gatherings were known as rendezvous and were renowned for their festive games, gambling and other diversions. Each spring and each fall the village population swelled as traders and voyageurs assembled on the prairie. ![]() Prairie du Chien was well known as an important fur trade gathering place for fur traders working along the scores of minor waterways throughout the region. The Mesquakie living here were associated with the Dog – or “chien” family – and hence the fertile plain had been named Les Prairie des Chien–shortened to Prairie du Chien. The land sold by the Mesquakie, also known as the Fox, stretched from the confluence of the Wisconsin River to a point where the bluffs arc back to the west and meet the Mississippi River, a length of about nine miles. In 1781, three French-speaking Prairie du Chien residents petitioned the British Governor at Michilimackinac to purchase the village site from resident Mesquakie Indians. The bulk of fur trade labor continued to be carried by French-Canadians, and in remote villages like Prairie du Chien, their culture remained dominant. ![]() Following the Fox-Wisconsin waterway, explorers, missionaries and fur traders crossed Wisconsin to the Mississippi River and to the site that would become Prairie du Chien.Īt the end of the French and Indian War, New France was ceded to Great Britain and control of the profitable fur trade was taken over by British-Canadian traders. They first recorded the Wisconsin River as “Meskousing” and established a canoe route that remained a major fur trade artery for more than two centuries. European contact began in 1673 when Father Marquette and Louis Jolliet mapped a water route from Montreal to the Mississippi. Situated near the confluence of the Wisconsin and Mississippi Rivers, successive Native American cultures lived and prospered here for more than 10,000 years. The braided streams of the Upper Mississippi River, history, scenic beauty and abundant natural resources entwine to make Prairie du Chien a place of captivating allure. ![]()
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