Fort Crawford Cemetery

GPS Coordinates: 43.047212, -91.147378
County: Crawford
Record count: 18

Ownership: National Cemetery Administration, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

Directions: Located south-west of downtown Prairie du Chien in a residential area, the front of the cemetery is along Beaumont St., but the graves are best viewed from the back end along Prairie St.

Background: Fort Crawford National Cemetery traces its origins to the early 19th century military post of Fort Crawford, established in 1816 to protect the upper Mississippi River frontier and rebuilt in 1829 on higher ground after frequent flooding. The cemetery developed alongside the fort as a burial ground for U.S. soldiers stationed there, particularly from the 1st and 5th Infantry Regiments. Following the fort’s closure in 1856, the burial grounds were largely abandoned until 1866, when the federal government formally acquired the site’s Soldiers’ Lot, encompassing about 0.6 acres. In 1936, the War Department transferred oversight of the lot to what would later become the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, which continues to administer it today under the National Cemetery Administration. The soldiers' lot includes eight above-ground box-tombs that were likely erected by the regiments. The United States received the title for the lot in 1866. There are approximately 64 interments in the 0.59-acre soldiers' lot, including the remains of four soldiers removed from the Protestant cemetery at Prairie du Chien. Many of the soldiers remain unknown.

Burial Records

• Veterans Affairs Database, compiled by Interment.net, April 17, 2025, (18 records)

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