Frenchtown Chronicles of Prairie du Chien Format: Hardcover

Albert Coryer, the grandson of a fur trade voyageur-turned-farmer, had a gift for storytelling. Born in 1877, he grew up in Prairie du Chien hearing tales of days gone by from his parents, grandparents, and neighbors who lived in the Frenchtown area. Throughout his life, Albert soaked up the local oral traditions, including narratives about early residents, local landmarks, interesting and funny events, ethnic customs, myths, and folklore.

Late in life, this lively man who had worked as a farm laborer and janitor drew a detailed illustrated map of the Prairie du Chien area and began to write his stories out longhand, in addition to sharing them in an interview with a local historian and folklore scholar. The map, stories, and interview transcript provide a colorful account of Prairie du Chien in the late nineteenth century, when it was undergoing significant demographic, social, and economic change. With sharp historical context provided by editors Lucy Eldersveld Murphy and Mary Elise Antoine, Coryer’s tales offer an unparalleled window into the ethnic community comprised of the old fur trade families, Native Americans, French Canadian farmers, and their descendants.

Mary Elise Antoine, MA, is president of the Prairie du Chien Historical Society and former curator at Villa Louis. Her research focuses on the material culture and the mix and confrontation of cultures on the upper Mississippi prior to Wisconsin statehood. She is author of The War of 1812 in Wisconsin, also for the Wisconsin Historical Society Press, and two books on the history of Prairie du Chien. Lucy Eldersveld Murphy, Ph.D., is a professor of history at the Ohio State University whose research focuses on intercultural, interracial, and gender relations on Midwestern American frontiers. She has written and edited four books and numerous articles and papers on Midwestern history.