Frenchtown Chronicles of Prairie Du Chien

Talented storyteller Albert Coryer, the grandson of a fur trade voyageurturnedfarmer, gives 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.