Fort Crawford was an outpost of the United States Army located in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, during the 19th century.

[2] The U.S. Army established a presence in Prairie du Chien during the War of 1812, when it built Fort Shelby on St. Feriole Island in the Mississippi River, which was part of the town separated by a marshy bayou.

Built entirely of wood except for the magazine, the fort measured 343 ft on each side and included Blockhouses at its northwest and southeast corners.

One of the largest Indian councils in U.S. history was held at the fort in 1825, when over 5000 representatives of nearly a dozen Native American nations gathered to discuss and sign the first Treaty of Prairie du Chien.

During 1827, while no troops remained in Prairie du Chien, a group of hostile Winnebago Indians led by chief Red Bird murdered a family of settlers near the abandoned fort.

Maj. Stephen W. Kearny, commanding officer at the time, surveyed the area and chose a site for the new fort upon a hill near the Mississippi River's eastern bank.

Fifty-six of these experiments were conducted at Fort Crawford hospital, and allowed Beaumont to draw conclusions on the effects of temperature and emotion on the digestive process.

After the Battle of Bad Axe near present-day Victory, Wisconsin, Chief Black Hawk surrendered to Col. Zachary Taylor at Fort Crawford.

Colonel Taylor disapproved of the relationship between Davis and his daughter, as he felt the life of an Army officer was too hard on wives and families.

Shortly afterward, Davis resigned his commission in order to pursue his relationship with Sarah in Prairie du Chien.

In 1855 Fort Crawford was reoccupied when rumors circulated of an impending uprising among the remaining Native Americans, but no such event occurred.

During the American Civil War, the fort housed part of the Swift United States Army General Hospital.