A British view of the capture of Prairie du Chien in 1814.

The British Capture Prairie du Chien during the War of 1812.

Anderson was a British fur trader with alliances among the Sioux in the Upper Mississippi. When U.S. troops under William Clark fortified Prairie du Chien, he was one of three traders that the British put in charge of attacking it. These engaging recollections were written many years later, when he was quite elderly. They begin with a page describing his hunting exploits before the war began, and then relate his adventures at the Battle of Prairie du Chien, including his negotiations with Menominee and other Indian allies. For a contrasting view of these same events, see the memoir of French trader Augustin Grignon elsewhere on Turning Points. Anderson's complete recollections of life as a fur trader were printed in vol. 9 of Wisconsin Historical Collections. We've taken the typed transcript from that source, and a close comparison of the handwritten page images and the typed text will reveal how Lyman C. Draper, the editor of the printed version, occasionally condensed or re-wrote Anderson's prose. To see the original and the typed transcript side-by-side, click "Page & Text" while viewing any page.

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