Prairie du Chien

A quilt shop & candy store. 6/27/25 dwm

 When we got to Prairie du Chien, nearly two weeks ago, we had time before our tour began, so we checked out the shops downtown. 

 My wife's favorite is The Pickett Fence which has a wide variety of specialty fabrics and notions that are likely to tempt a quilter. At least one bag followed us home.

 There are several blocks of shops and businesses. On most corners you can find a plaque commemorating different moments in time for the oldest European settlement in Wisconsin and the upper Mississippi.

While Prairie du Chien is home to just over 5,000; it's the largest city around for a sizeable population in southwest Wisconsin and across the river in Iowa. 

It's more than an hour's drive to either Dubuque, Iowa or LaCrosse, Wisconsin and more than 100 miles to Madison. That's the reason Prairie du Chien is a center of commerce and entertainment.

If you want to slow down and experience more of the Mississippi - if you are south or Prairie du Chien, you'll encounter Wyalusing, Bagley, and Glen Haven before reaching Cassville.

Bright flowers line Blackhawk Ave. 6/27/25 dwm

In Cassville, the Wisconsin Historical Society has re-created a rural community called Stonefield, which was the name of the estate of Wisconsin's first governor who lived in Cassville. There is also a private ferry across the river to Iowa - we parked our car and paid to walk on the ferry, enjoying the trip across and a few minutes enjoying the other side of the river before returning.

Farther down the road is Potosi, home to the Potosi Brewery that operated from 1852 to 1972, then re-opened in 2008 as a museum and resumed brewing.

If you head north of Prairie du Chien, you might want to use Highway 61 on the west side of the river to see Marquette, Harper's Ferry, and Lansing which is the next closest bridge back to Wisconsin.