Fort Crawford was an outpost of the United States Army located in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, during the 19th century.

The army's occupation of Prairie du Chien spanned the existence of two fortifications, both of them named Fort Crawford. The first of was occupied from 1816 to 1832, the second from 1832 to 1856. Both of the forts formed part of a string of fortifications along the upper Mississippi River that also included Fort Snelling near Saint Anthony Falls in Minnesota, and Fort Armstrong in Rock Island, Illinois. Fort Crawford was also associated with a string of forts built along the Fox-Wisconsin Waterway, which included Fort Winnebago in Portage, Wisconsin and Fort Howard in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

The site of the second fort has been preserved and holds the Fort Crawford Museum, located in the Second Fort Crawford Military Hospital. This is a 1930s reconstruction of the hospital serving the second fort. This building contains the only surviving building fragments of either fort, and it was designated a U.S. National Historic Landmark in 1960.

Slavery at Fort Crawford

Slavery was a violation of both the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 and the Missouri Compromise of 1820. However, army officers sometimes brought enslaved individuals with them to forts in Northern territory. At least 17 African American enslaved individuals were brought to Fort Crawford by Army officers, one of whom was whipped to death at the fort by her owner.

In at least two instances, enslaved people were taken from Fort Snelling to Fort Crawford with their owners. In the early 1830s a woman named Rachel was enslaved to Lieutenant Thomas Stockton. She was enslaved by him from 1830 to 1831 at Fort Snelling, and they moved to Fort Crawford until 1834. After Rachel was sold with her son in St. Louis, she sued, claiming she had been illegally enslaved in the Minnesota Territory. She won her case in front of the Missouri Supreme Court in 1836. In 1836, James Thompson, who was enslaved by military officer William Day, was brought to Fort Crawford. There, he met missionary Alfred Brunson who raised money to purchase his freedom, in order to employ Thompson as an interpreter with the Dakota.

Fort Crawford Museum

thumb|Ruins of the Fort Crawford hospital, 1903. This building was reconstructed and is now used as a museum.

Except during the American Civil War, when the fort was used as both a recruitment center and hospital for Union soldiers, Fort Crawford was left unoccupied between 1856 and 1933. In 1933, the Daughters of the American Revolution began work on reconstructing a portion of the fort's hospital, while clearing away the remaining parts of the dilapidated fort to allow for other development.

In the 1960s, the reconstructed fort hospital was transformed into a museum of medical history called the Fort Crawford Museum of Medical Progress. The museum featured exhibits on the experiments by Dr. Beaumont and other medical innovations. It was operated by the Wisconsin Medical Society until 1995. In 1996, the museum was donated to the Prairie du Chien Historical Society. It was converted into a museum of local history, called the Prairie du Chien Museum at Fort Crawford. While the fort's hospital, which is registered as a National Historic Landmark, still houses exhibits related to Dr. Beaumont and medical history, adjacent buildings are now filled with exhibits on other aspects of Prairie du Chien history.

See also

  • List of National Historic Landmarks in Wisconsin
  • List of the oldest buildings in Wisconsin
  • National Register of Historic Places listings in Crawford County, Wisconsin

References

  • Prairie du Chien Museum at Fort Crawford