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Meet historic people on annual Prairie du Chien cemetery tour

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A “soldier and a widow” greet visitors at the Fort Crawford Military Cemetery.

“Joseph Rolette” at the old French Cemetery on County Highway K. (Submitted photo)

A memorial for John Lawler stands in the St. Gabriel's Cemetery.

It is fall, so it is time for the popular event sponsored by the Prairie du Chien Historical Society. Visiting Our Ancestors is a tour of Prairie du Chien’s six historic cemeteries.

On Saturday, Oct. 1, there will be a guided tour of Prairie du Chien’s six historic cemeteries, beginning at 1 p.m. at the Fort Crawford Museum. All will gather at the museum, then board vans to travel to the cemeteries, beginning with the Old French Cemetery and ending at the Brisbois Cemetery high above on the bluffs. At each cemetery, the costumed host of the tour will give a short history of the burying grounds and then she will introduce the resident.

The French Catholic Cemetery is the oldest cemetery still in existence in the state of Wisconsin and may be the oldest cemetery in the upper Mississippi Valley. Few of the graves are marked but much is known about the people who are buried there, beginning in 1816.

Rev. Augustin Ravoux, the first permanent pastor of St. Gabriel’s Parish, began St. Gabriel’s Cemetery in 1840. The earliest graves are unmarked but fine memorials were set for John Lawler, Fathers Galtier and Becker, and several mayors of Prairie du Chien.

The land for Calvary Cemetery was donated the same year that Strange and Euphrosine Powers donated part of their Farm Lot for the construction of St. Gabriel’s Church and location of the parish cemetery. Perhaps there was a little competition between the Powers family and Hercules L. Dousman.

Two cemeteries were established within the Fort Crawford Reservation. Today, only the officers’ cemetery exists. Burials from 1829 to 1865 present stories of the rich history of the fort, even a connection back to the American Revolution.

The cemetery located at the southernmost part of Prairie du Chien has had several names: Prairie du Chien Cemetery, Lower Town Cemetery, and Evergreen Cemetery. Some of the earliest businessmen of the community rest here, including, for some reason, the founder of McGregor, Iowa.

Once accessible to the hardy willing to climb the face of the bluff, the Brisbois Cemetery can now only be entered through private property. Lonely and picturesque, it sums up the history of Prairie du Chien.

Besides these stories and more, at each cemetery, visitors will have the opportunity to meet and talk with an historic resident of the community. They will present personal stories of their lives in Prairie du Chien. Joseph Rolette was well-known but sometimes not so well-liked. Colonel Willoughby Morgan fought in the War of 1812 and commanded Fort Crawford. The memories of Dometille Brisbois and her niece, Jane Fisher, span history from the fur trade through the 1880s. John Lawler and Alexander MacGregor made their fortunes in Mississippi River transportation. And Father Lucien Galtier, the founder of St. Paul, Minn., is buried in front of St. Gabriel’s Church.

There is a fee for Visiting Our Ancestors: A Tour of Prairie du Chien’s Historic Cemeteries, which includes admission to the Fort Crawford Museum. Reservations are suggested due to space limitations. For more information, contact the museum at 326-6960, visit fortcrawfordmuseum.com.

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