Prairie Du Chien High School - Blackhawk Yearbook (Prairie Du Chien, WI)

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rairie du Chien , , , Where the Waters Meet Prairie du Chien, the sec- ond oldest city in Wisconsin, has a rich and mellow past that is the pride of every citi- zen. When Jean Nicolet first journeyed into the spacious territory that we now know as Wisconsin, the only gov- ernment in the new world France, which held claim to 17 was that of most of the land. The French King, interested in a tale told by the Indians of a great river that emptied into the Pacific Ocean, sent Father Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet into the territory to confirm what the Indians had told him. The two voyaguers canoed across a large body of water, which we now call Lake Michigan, down the Fox Riverg and down the treacherous Wisconsin until they entered a beautiful valley. It was from a bluff over- looking this valley that the two first viewed the Father of Waters on June 17, 1673. The two Frenchmen were overjoyed at their discovery for they were the first whitemen to see this fertile valley which was later to become a thriving fur-trading center. The first whitemen to become perman- ent settlers of the valley were Jean Marie Cardinal and his wife. They made their home in Mill Coulee and it was there that l i 1 French and Indians Barter-1675 Discovery of Father of Waters-1673 they raised their eight children. Mrs. Car- dinal, in telling of her experiences in the wilderness, said that the river fthe Missis- sippil was spread out from bluff to bluff. In the treaty signed after the French and Indian War, which was won by the British, the victors were awarded the large and fertile Mississippi Valley. With the British flag came travelers and traders. Long be- bore the Revolutionary War Prairie du Chien had'become THE fur-trading center of the Northwest. At the end of the Revolutionary War, the prairie changed hands again, this time with the Americans taking over. To pro- tect the settlers from attacks by Indians, the American government built a fdrt. The fort, built of wood, was named Fort Shelby and was located where the Villa Louis now stands. In the war of 1812 the British captured the fort and renamed it Fort Mc- Kay for their commander. American 'troops the territory and retooki the fort, this time rebuilding it and naming it after the na- tion's man of the hour, Secretary of War Crawford. By 1817 there were three schools in Prairie du Chien- two civilian and one post. One of the schools was taught by Charles Giasson, a French- Canadian scholar. In this school all classes were taught in French. In the other civ- ilian school everything was marched into

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taught in English by Willard Keyes. The post school was under the charge of Ser- geant Reeseden. At about this time a second fort was built. This fort stood on higher land across the St. Feriole slough. This one was built of stone and was located where St. Mary's Academy now stands. Many famous soldiers fort-the most famous being Taylor, who later became President of the United States. Another famous man stationed at the Fort was Lt. Jefferson Davis, who later assumed the post of President of the Southern Confederacy during the Civil War. The fort of 1816 was equipped with all the modern conven- iences of the day. It had blacksmith and cobbler shops, a recreation room, a hospi- tal and a jail. It was in the fort hospital that Dr. Wil- liam Beaumont experimented with the stomach of Alexis served at this Col. Zachory ' P1 St. Martin. The young half- Americans Surrender to British, 1814 - the stomach and Dr. Beaumont did every- thing in his power to heal the wound, but to no avail. Then he began to experiment with the gastric juices of the man's stomach. Fifty-six of the 208 experiments were made here, after which Dr. Beaumont retired to his of1ice at the fort to compile his notes. He published these notes in New York and they have aided doctors ever since. The stone Fort Crawford remained in the service of the United States until the end of the Civil YVar in 1865. modeled the home to the form we see it today. Prairie du Chien has had at least one school in opera- tion since 1818. The first real school building was erect- ed by James Lockwood. The school was 20x20 feet and was located in the vicinity of Campion. In 1871 the Col- lege of the Sacred Heart fnow known as Campionj was opened by the Christian Brothers, and in 1872 the Sisters of Notre Dame open- Part of the V. . ,.. . breed had been wounded in hospital is still standing. The Villa Louis, the baronial home of Col. Hercules L. Dousman, hrst millionaire in the Wisconsin territory, was built on an Indian mound in 1843. The Villa soon be- came the showplace of the Northwest. Dous- man played a large part in the formation of the states of NVisconsin, in 1848, and Min- nesota. His widow, whom he married on the death of her husband and his partner, Jane Fisher Rolette, remained at the Villa until her death in 1882. In 1872 she re- Erection of First Fort Crawford, 1816