Prairie du Chien is a city in and the county seat of Crawford County, Wisconsin, United States.[1] The population was 6,018 at the 2000 census.
Often referred to as Wisconsin's second oldest city,[citation needed] Prairie du Chien was established by French voyageurs in the late seventeenth century. The city is located near the confluence of the Wisconsin and Mississippi Rivers, a strategic point along the Fox-Wisconsin Waterway that connects the Great Lakes with the Mississippi.
Early French visitors to the site found it occupied by a group of Fox Indians led by a chief whose name, Alim, meant "Chien" in French, or "Dog" in English. As a result, the French explorers named the location "Prairie du Chien", French for "Dog Prairie". Originally this name applied only to the plain upon which the settlement is located, but it was later extended to mean the city as well. The city of Prairie du Chien is located between the Town of Prairie du Chien and the Town of Bridgeport. Though the origin of the name is French, its English pronunciation is "prairie doo shayn".
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