The Fort Winnebago Surgeons Quarters is a historic site in

Portage Portage or portaging (Canada: ; ) is the practice of carrying water craft or cargo over land, either around an obstacle in a river, or between two bodies of water. A path where items are regularly carried between bodies of water is also called a ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. Located on the eastern bank of the Fox River, about 1.25 miles from the

Wisconsin River The Wisconsin River is a tributary of the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. At approximately 430 miles (692 km) long, it is the state's longest river. The river's name, first recorded in 1673 by Jacques Marquette as "Meskousi ...

, the site contains two historic buildings: the "surgeon's quarters" and Garrison School. The "surgeon's quarters", built circa 1824 at the portage by Francois LeRoi and used as a sutler store, then sold to the US Army as a home for the Fort's surgeon. Garrison School was built circa 1850 near the former Fort property. Both properties are owned, operated, and maintained by the Wisconsin Society

Daughters of the American Revolution The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) is a lineage-based membership service organization for women who are directly descended from a person involved in the United States' efforts towards independence. A non-profit group, they promote ...

, which operates it as a

historic house museum A historic house museum is a house of historic significance that has been transformed into a museum. Historic furnishings may be displayed in a way that reflects their original placement and usage in a home. Historic house museums are held to a ...

with 19th century period furnishings and fort artifacts.

History

"The Portage" was a land bridge just 1 1/4 miles wide separating waterways that flow into the Atlantic Ocean to the east and the Gulf of Mexico to the south. The Fox River flows north toward Green Bay, providing access to the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...

, the

St. Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connecting ...

, and the Atlantic Ocean. The Wisconsin River flows southwest to the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

, which empties into the Gulf of Mexico. The area around Portage was an early travel route for Native Americans. Centuries before Europeans arrived, they traversed the 2700-pace footpath between the rivers and recognized it as an important travel route. In the early 1800s, the U.S. government recognized the geographical importance of "le Portage", which became known as "Portage".

Fort Winnebago Fort Winnebago was a 19th-century fortification of the United States Army located on a hill overlooking the eastern end of the portage between the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers east of present-day Portage, Wisconsin. It was the middle one of three fo ...

was one of three forts built to subjugate the Native Americans and to protect Euro-American commerce along the Fox-Wisconsin water system in the territory that later became the state of Wisconsin. The other two were Fort Howard in Green Bay and

Fort Crawford 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 ...

, in Prairie du Chien.

"By Command of Maj.-Gen. Macomb"
"R. Jones, Adjt.-Gen."
"here was necessity for some means of protection to the fur trade from Winnebago (
Ho-Chunk The Ho-Chunk, also known as Hoocągra or Winnebago (referred to as ''Hotúŋe'' in the neighboring indigenous Iowa-Otoe language), are a Siouan-speaking Native American people whose historic territory includes parts of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iow ...
) exactions; ... the general government at the solicitation of
John Jacob Astor John Jacob Astor (born Johann Jakob Astor; July 17, 1763 – March 29, 1848) was a German-American businessman, merchant, real estate mogul, and investor who made his fortune mainly in a fur trade monopoly, by smuggling opium into China, and ...
, who was then at the head of the
American Fur Company The American Fur Company (AFC) was founded in 1808, by John Jacob Astor, a German immigrant to the United States. During the 18th century, furs had become a major commodity in Europe, and North America became a major supplier. Several British co ...
, and upon whose goods the Indians levied tariffs and tolls, authorized the erection of a post at portage."

The building now known as "the Surgeons Quarters" was built in 1824 by Francois Le Roi and Therese L'Ecuyer, a

Métis The Métis ( ; Canadian ) are Indigenous peoples who inhabit Canada's three Prairie Provinces, as well as parts of British Columbia, the Northwest Territories, and the Northern United States. They have a shared history and culture which derives ...

. In it, they operated a fur trading and sutler's post and a portaging business. It is one of the oldest French colonial log homes in Wisconsin still standing on its original foundation and is the only remaining building of the historic Fort Winnebago, which was active from 1828 through 1845. During the War of 1812, the British ventured into the territory in an attempt to reclaim this important waterway. Soldiers arrived to build Fort Winnebago in 1828. The log house was used by the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

as a surgeon's quarters for the fort and as an officers' residence. In 1845, the garrison left the fort, ordered west to protect the frontier. Garrison School, a 19th-century one room schoolhouse that was in use until 1960, was moved from its former location on Garrison Road to its current site next to the surgeon's quarters.

Notable residents

John Joseph Abercrombie John Joseph Abercrombie (March 4, 1798 – January 3, 1877) was a career United States Army officer who served in numerous wars, finally reaching the rank of brigadier general during the American Civil War. Early life and career Abercrombie w ...

Lt. *

Jefferson Davis Jefferson F. Davis (June 3, 1808December 6, 1889) was an American politician who served as the president of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865. He represented Mississippi in the United States Senate and the House of Representatives as a ...

– Lt. 1829-1831 *

William S. Harney William Selby Harney (August 22, 1800 – May 9, 1889) was a Tennessee-born cavalry officer in the US Army, who became known during the Indian Wars and the Mexican–American War for his brutality and ruthlessness. One of four general officers ...

Cap., Col., Gen. *

John H. Kinzie John Harris Kinzie (July 7, 1803 – June 19, 1865) was a prominent figure in Chicago politics during the 19th century. He served as the president of the Board of Trustees of Chicago when it was still a town and thrice unsuccessfully ran for Chic ...

and

Juliette Augusta Magill Kinzie Juliette Augusta Magill Kinzie (September 11, 1806 – September 15, 1870) was an American historian, writer and pioneer of the American Midwest. Biography Juliette Magill was born in Middletown, Connecticut, to Frances Wolcott Magill and her se ...

, Indian Sub-Agent *

Randolph B. Marcy Randolph Barnes Marcy (April 9, 1812 – November 22, 1887) was an officer in the United States Army, chiefly noted for his frontier guidebook, the ''Prairie Traveler'' (1859), based on his own extensive experience of pioneering in the west. This p ...

– Bvt. Second Lieut., 5th Infantry, 1832-1835 *

Edwin Vose Sumner Edwin Vose Sumner (January 30, 1797March 21, 1863) was a career United States Army officer who became a Union Army general and the oldest field commander of any Army Corps on either side during the American Civil War. His nicknames "Bull" or "Bul ...

David E. Twiggs David Emanuel Twiggs (February 14, 1790 – July 15, 1862), born in Georgia, was a career army officer, serving during the War of 1812, the Black Hawk War, and Mexican–American War. As commander of the U.S. Army's Department of Texas when the ...

- Maj. *

Charlotte Ouisconsin Clark Van Cleve Charlotte Ouisconsin Clark Van Cleve (July 1, 1819 – April 1, 1907) was an American women's suffrage advocate and social reformer during the early history of Minnesota, and the first woman elected to the Minneapolis School Board. She was marrie ...

* Horatio P. Van Cleve – Bvt. Second Lieut., 5th Infantry, 1831-1835, 1835-1836

References

External links

* {{official, http://www.fortwinnebagosurgeonsquarters.org/ Fur trade American Fur Company Pre-statehood history of Wisconsin People of pre-statehood Wisconsin Portage, Wisconsin Buildings and structures in Columbia County, Wisconsin Museums in Columbia County, Wisconsin History museums in Wisconsin Historic house museums in Wisconsin Open-air museums in Wisconsin Military and war museums in Wisconsin Medical museums in the United States Military facilities on the National Register of Historic Places in Wisconsin National Register of Historic Places in Columbia County, Wisconsin 1820s establishments in Michigan Territory

History

Notable residents

See also

References

External links