Ready, aim, fire the 188-year-old cannon!
When actors and actresses fire the cannon, they dress in the 1800s time period attire. to make it look more authentic. (Submitted photo)
Boom! Bang! When the American Queen arrives Aug. 12, the Fort Crawford Museum will be presenting the Prairie du Chien history with style. Cannon fires will start at 9 a.m. and finish at 3 p.m., going off every hour on the hour and every half hour. No matter if the Queen shows, the cannon show will still go on.
What has this cannon exactly been through? Here is some history about the old cannon:
The cannon, owned by the Prairie du Chien Historical Society, was made in 1827 for the government of the United States. It was made by Alexander McClurg and Company of Pittsburgh, Penn. Marked No. 72 and IB. This designated the cannon was made for the United States Indian Bureau. In 1829, the Pattern 1827 six-pound cannon would have been the most up-to-date field gun available, so it is likely the cannon was part of the ordinance sent to the new Fort Crawford, considered by a government inspector to be “the most important Post on the Mississippi….”
For the next twenty years, troops continued to be stationed at Fort Crawford. In 1849, the soldiers evacuated the fort. Thinking that the removal was permanent, Lt. Foote oversaw the sale of government property and stores. The cannon may have been part of the sale and passed into the hands of residents of Prairie du Chien. Events that followed support this.
In the subsequent years, the newspaper reported that a cannon was fired at the Prairie du Chien Fourth of July celebrations. When war was declared between the Northern and Southern states in April 1861, some of the residents of Prairie du Chien formed the Home Guards. They established an armory in Fort Crawford and held drills every Tuesday and Saturday. The Courier reported, “Their cannon will be fired as a signal for the Company to turn out.”
The lack of any other cannon with a history connecting it to Prairie du Chien allows the conclusion to be drawn that the Pattern 1827 cannon owned by the Prairie du Chien Historical Society is the cannon used to call the Prairie du Chien men to arms in 1861.
The cannon continued part of the community as men volunteered and mustered at Fort Crawford before leaving to fight in Virginia and Tennessee. Men from Prairie du Chien and Crawford County enlisted at Fort Crawford and served in the 6th, 8th, 31st Wisconsin Volunteer Infantries.
In Aug. 1864, the United States War Department opened the U S Army Swift Hospital at Prairie du Chien. In a 14-month period, over 1,500 Union soldiers received care at the hospital located in the old Brisbois Hotel and Fort Crawford.
The history of the Pattern 1827 cannon becomes clearer now. After the Civil War, the Brisbois Hotel that had housed the Swift Hospital was purchased and given to the Jesuits. The old hotel/hospital building was renamed Lawler Hall and was the first structure of Campion College and Preparatory High School.
At this time, a resident of Prairie du Chien privately owned the cannon. According to two men associated with Campion, Rev. Al Zuercher and Rudy Bouzek, the cannon barrel was found in the ruins of Fort Crawford. In 1913, one of the priests at Campion acquired the cannon for the college. It was placed on a concrete pedestal erected near the southwest corner of Lawler Hall, facing Campion Boulevard and greeted all who entered the campus.
During World War I, the cannon was a rallying place for a “Loyalty Day” parade and was often fired for special occasions. In 1951, the cannon was relocated near the flagpole in the center of the Campion campus. During the anti-war demonstrations in the 1970s, the cannon was placed in storage for protections. About this time, Brother Stabler began to look for “some respectable place worthy of its [the cannon’s] historical past.”
In 1970, the cannon was transferred to the Medical Museum of Prairie du Chien. An agreement was signed by the State Medical Society of Wisconsin and Rev. Greg Lucey, president of Campion, that the cannon “would remain in the city of Prairie du Chien, Wis. in perpetuity.” E. A. Hutchinson donated the oak for the fabrication of a carriage on which to site the cannon tube. The ceremony presenting the cannon to the Medical Museum took place in 1973.
In 1996, the State Medical Society of Wisconsin gave the Medical Museum and all the collections displayed within the facility to the Prairie du Chien Historical Society. The museum was renamed the Fort Crawford Museum. The Pattern 1827 cannon was part of the transfer. The cannon continues to be displayed on the grounds of the Fort Crawford Museum.
