Fall History Festival at Fort Winnebago Surgeons Quarters

Fall History Festival
 
Travel back to when fur pelts were as coveted as gold nuggets during Fort Winnebago Surgeons Quarters’ Fall History Festival on Saturday, Sept. 21.
Focusing on the fur trade in the early to mid-1800s, the free family event will take place at the Portage historic site from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

At 1 p.m., internationally known historian Herman E. Bender of Fond du Lac will present “The Historic Fur Trade: 1600-1840.” Part of his talk will focus on trade beads.
Bender is a researcher, writer and editor with a background in geology (professional emphasis) who describes himself as a cultural landscape and archeoastronomy specialist. He is nationally and internationally published in the fields of archeoastronomy, prehistoric trail research, petroform research, applied geophysics, cultural landscape studies and Northern archaic shamanistic traditions.

In addition, he is the founder of the Hanwakan Center for Prehistoric Astronomy, Cosmology and Cultural Landscape Studies Inc., which emphasizes preserving Plains and Woodland Indian cosmology, oral traditions and star knowledge.

The Fall History Festival also will feature Art Briant of Portage, demonstrating blacksmithing; members of the Children of the American Revolution, sharing the history of candy; Greg Taylor, Chicago, a re-enactor of Father Jacques Marquette, who with explorer Louis Joliet paddled the Fox River and portaged to the Wisconsin River in 1673; and the DAR’s America 250 project to celebrate the nation’s semiquincentennial in 2026.

Also on tap are children’s activities, the debut of the new patriotic and medicinal gardens and, at 3:15 p.m., an old-fashioned sing-a-long to round out the day.

Lunch, snacks and beverages will be available for purchase. Attendees also will be able to take a paid guided tour of the Surgeon’s Quarters, where the U.S. Army surgeons of Fort Winnebago resided from 1834-54.
A separate event will take place that evening. From 7 to 9 p.m., Paranormal Encounters Wisconsin will return to the historic site to extend its investigation into Surgeon Quarters’ spectral inhabitants.

Tickets are $40. Register at https://wsdar.regfox.com/paranormal-encounters-leads-a-ghost-hunt.

Listed on the Register of Historic Places in 1970, Fort Winnebago Surgeons Quarters originally was the home of Francois LeRoi, a Métis (man of French and American Indian descent) who operated a portaging and fur trading business. Built between 1816 and 1819, it is of French post-and-log construction made from tamarack logs.

Also at the site, owned and operated by the Wisconsin Society Daughters of the American Revolution, is the one-room Garrison School, which served local pupils from 1850-1960.
Located at 1824 East State Road 33 in Portage, Surgeons Quarters is open to the public from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Oct. 15. For more information, visit fortwinnebagosurgeonsquarters.org or call (608) 742-2949