Prairie du Chien
| Prairie du Chien | |||
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 Prairie du Chien Post Office |
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| Location in Wisconsin | |||
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| Basic data | |||
| Foundation : | 1685 | ||
| State : | United States | ||
| State : | Wisconsin | ||
| County : | Crawford County | ||
| Coordinates : | 43 ° 4 ′ N , 91 ° 14 ′ W | ||
| Time zone : | Central ( UTC − 6 / −5 ) | ||
| Residents : | 5,911 (as of 2010) | ||
| Population density : | 407.7 inhabitants per km 2 | ||
| Area : | 16.3 km 2 (approx. 6 mi 2 ) of which 14.5 km 2 (approx. 6 mi 2 ) is land |
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| Height : | 195 m | ||
| Postal code : | 53821 | ||
| Area code : | +1 608 | ||
| FIPS : | 55-65050 | ||
| GNIS ID : | 1571874 | ||
| Website : | prairieduchien-wi.gov | ||
| Mayor : | Dave Hemmer | ||
 Enter the city on Wisconsin Highway 35 |
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Prairie du Chien is a city (with a status of " City ") and the administrative seat of Crawford County , Wisconsin . The city is located on the upper Mississippi , which forms the border with the neighboring state of Iowa . In 2010 Prairie du Chien had 5911 inhabitants.
Prairie du Chien is known as the second oldest city in Wisconsin. It was founded by French rangers in the late 17th century . The city is near the mouth of the Wisconsin River , which flows into the Mississippi , at the end of the Fox-Wisconsin Waterway , which connects the Great Lakes with the Mississippi.
When the first French explorers came to the area, it was inhabited by Indians from the Fox tribe. Their chief was named Alim , which corresponds to the French word Chien (German: dog ), so that the French called the area Prairie du Chien (German: prairie of the dog ). The city that emerged later was also called that. The English pronunciation of the French-speaking place name is: "prairie doo shayn".
history
The first Europeans to reach what is now the Prairie du Chien were French explorers Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet . They came down the Wisconsin River in a canoe on June 17 to explore another route between Canada and the Mississippi. Until then, the route across the Illinois River was mainly used for the fur trade . In 1685, French explorer Nicolas Perrot set up a trading post as part of the extensive French fur trade in the area. Still stands in Prairie du Chien , the Astor Fur Warehouse , an important building of the fur trade, which until the mid-19th century for Prairie du Chien was an important economic activity.
When France was defeated by Great Britain in the French and Indian War in 1763 , the British conquest of the upper Mississippi also took place. The British then expanded the fur trade in the region.
During the American War of Independence , the city was a rallying point for British troops and their Indian allies. After the Peace of Paris in 1783, the area came to the newly formed United States , but British influence was difficult to push back. It was only after the British-American War of 1812 that the city finally became American.
After the US reluctantly gained a foothold in Prairie du Chien , the war of 1812 recognized the need for effective flank protection against British attacks from Canada. Fort Shelby was built in 1814 . A little later, the fort was captured by the British in July 1814 during the Battle of Prairie du Chien . The British kept control of the city until 1815. In order not to allow any further invasion by Prairie du Chien , the Americans built Fort Crawford in 1816 , where the Prairie du Chien treaties with the surrounding Indian tribes were concluded in 1825 and 1829 .
In 1829, Army doctor William Beaumont did many of his famous digestive experiments at Fort Crawford Hospital. Beaumont's discoveries are an important part of today's knowledge of the human digestive process.
Colonel Zachary Taylor , later elected 12th President of the United States, was the commanding officer of Fort Crawford during the Black Hawk War in 1832. Taylor accepted the surrender from Chief Black Hawk in Prairie du Chien . During the same time Lieutenant Jefferson Davis , who later became President of the Confederate States of America, was stationed at Fort Crawford. Here he met Taylor's daughter Sarah Knox Taylor , whom he married in 1835.
Outside the fort, life in the early 19th century was still heavily influenced by the fur trade. The most famous dealers from Prairie du Chien were Michel Brisbois , Joseph Rolette , Nathan Myrick and Hercules L. Dousman . In particular, Dousman took advantage of the fact that he invested the income from the fur trade profitably in land purchases as well as in steamship and railroading. That made him Wisconsin's first millionaire.
After the fur trade came to a standstill in the middle of the 19th century, agriculture and the railway system began to gain in importance in Prairie du Chien. Although the city was connected to the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad network as early as 1857, the railroad faced a major challenge in expanding into Iowa as the number of settlers increased. This problem was temporarily resolved by the fact that the railroad trains in Prairie du Chien were decoupled, the freight was transported by ferries to the other bank of the Mississippi, where there was a connection to the local rail network. Michael Spettel and John Lawler found a better solution by building a pontoon bridge in 1874 that continuously spanned the river. Lawler later donated two Catholic schools from his property.
19 buildings and sites in the county are registered in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) (as of May 6, 2020), five of which have the status of National Historic Landmarks : the Astor Fur Warehouse , the Brisbois House , the Dousman Hotel , the Fort Crawford Military Hospital and the Louis Villa .
geography
Prairie du Chien lies in the middle of the Mississippi River Valley on a plain bordered by the Mississippi to the west, the Wisconsin River to the south, and a series of sheer rocky cliffs to the north and east. The city has an area of 16.4 km², of which 14.5 km² is land area.
In the city area, the Mississippi occasionally changes course and forms small islands. While most of them disappear in a short time, a larger one of these islands west of downtown Prairie du Chien became the fourth district of Prairie du Chien , until a flood in 1965 caused most of the island's inhabitants to be relocated to higher areas. During the resettlement, all historically significant buildings were also evacuated. The island known today as "St. Feriole Island" is a so-called "City Park".
The mineral Prairie du Chien dolomite , a form of dolomite commonly found in western Wisconsin, was named after the city .
population
According to the 2010 census, the Prairie du Chien had 5,911 people in 2,386 households. The population density was 407.7 people per square kilometer. Statistically, 2.18 people lived in each of the 2386 households.
The racial the population was composed of 93.6 percent white, 4.5 percent African American, 0.4 percent Native American, 0.3 percent Asian and 0.3 percent from other ethnic groups; 0.9 percent were descended from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race was 1.2 percent of the population.
21.6 percent of the population were under 18 years old, 60.1 percent were between 18 and 64 and 18.3 percent were 65 years or older. 47.6 percent of the population was female.
The average annual income for a household was 36,578 USD . The per capita income was $ 20,858. 12.7 percent of the population lived below the poverty line.
Culture and tourism
Prairie du Chien has five points of interest listed as National Historic Landmarks and nine on the National Register of Historic Places . With neighboring Wyalusing State Park , Effigy Mounds National Monument and Pikes Peak State Park in Iowa along the Mississippi River, the city has become a popular tourist destination with its rich history.
The Prairie Villa Rendezvous , which is supposed to convey the atmosphere of a fur trade camp from the 19th century, has been held on Father's Day since 1975 (in the USA on the third Sunday in June) and attracts tens of thousands of visitors every year.
In 2001, Prairie du Chien gained national attention. It was celebrated the first anniversary that a carp fell from a crane on Black Hawk Avenue, punctually at midnight on New Year's Eve . Since then, Droppin 'the Carp has been celebrated every year .
media
The Courier Press newspaper appears twice a week in Prairie du Chien . There is also the local advertising leaflet Wisconsin-Iowa Shopping News , which is distributed weekly to nearly 20,000 households and businesses.
Crawford County is in the broadcasting area of the ACNielsen Group's local television channel in La Crosse and Eau Claire . The local cable television also programs are Madison (Wisconsin) and from Cedar Rapids (Iowa) , Waterloo (Iowa) , Dubuque (Iowa) available.
Prairie du Chien is the location of the radio station WQPC. This has a transmission power of 36 kilowatts. The transmitter is on St. Feriole Island , an island in the Mississippi. In addition to the sister station WPRE, there are a number of smaller stations in Prairie du Chien .
economy
In addition to the above-average tourism, the economic infrastructure in Prairie du Chien is comparable to most similarly sized cities in the American Midwest . Most of the city's residents are employed in retail, service and manufacturing.
The biggest employers are 3M and Cabela's . The public service is also one of the largest employers. The judiciary, county administration, and state prison employ a number of employees.
A large number of people are also employed in the transport sector. Prairie du Chien has one of Wisconsin's busiest river ports, two railroad lines cross in the city, and a small airport makes Prairie du Chien a local transportation hub.
sons and daughters of the town
- Wapello (1787–1842), chief of the Fox Indian tribe
- Jeremiah Burnham Tainter (1836–1920), engineer, developed the segment weir (Tainter gate)
- Walter Cannon (1871-1945), physiologist
- Barbara Bedford (1908–1981), silent film and western actress
- Pat Bowlen (1944–2019), entrepreneur, owner of the Denver Broncos
- Matthew Antoine (* 1985), skeleton rider, bronze medal winner at the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia
Individual evidence
- ^ Find a County
- ↑ a b American Fact Finder. Retrieved October 18, 2013
- ↑ Davis, Jefferson (in Wisconsin)
- ↑ Listing of National Historic Landmarks by State: Wisconsin. National Park Service , accessed May 6, 2020.
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↑ Search mask database in the National Register Information System. National Park Service , accessed May 6, 2020.
Weekly List on the National Register Information System. National Park Service , accessed May 6, 2020.
Listing of National Historic Landmarks by State: Wisconsin. National Park Service , accessed May 6, 2020. - ↑ St. Feriole Island
- ^ Wisconsin-Iowa Shopping News: Frequent Questions . Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved May 19, 2009.
