Fort Crawford

Fort Crawford was an outpost of the United States Army located in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, during the 19th Century. The Second Fort Crawford Military Hospital was designated a U.S. National Historic Landmark in 1960.

The army's occupation of Prairie du Chien actually spanned the lifetime of two fortifications, both of them named Fort Crawford. The first of these was occupied from 1816–1832, the second from 1832 - 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 part of a string of forts built along the Fox-Wisconsin Waterway that included Fort Winnebago in Portage, Wisconsin and Fort Howard in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

The First Fort Crawford

The U.S. Army's presence in Prairie du Chien began during the War of 1812, when Fort Shelby was built on an island of the Mississippi River that formed part of the town. On July 19, 1814, Fort Shelby was captured by British forces and renamed Fort McKay. The British would continue to occupy Prairie du Chien until 1815, after the Treaty of Ghent restored the pre-war border between the United States and British Canada. When the British retreated from the city, they burned Fort McKay rather than give it back to the Americans.