The Name Behind the City

The name “La Crosse” is of pure French origin, derived from an observation made by early French explorers and traders as they ascended the Mississippi River. Upon reaching the broad prairie that stretched two miles eastward from the bluffs, they witnessed Indigenous peoples playing a ball game using long-handled racquets. The sport reminded the French of their tennis game, which they called “la crosse”—a name originating from the fact that the racquet resembled a bishop’s crozier.

The area was originally known as “Prairie La Crosse,” and the river flowing through was called “Ball River” by early settlers, referencing the games that took place on these prairies for centuries.

European Settlement & Early Growth

On November 8, 1841, nineteen-year-old Nathan Myrick from New York arrived at Prairie La Crosse, marking the beginning of permanent European settlement. Originally traveling to Prairie du Chien to work in the fur trade, Myrick found the market already saturated with established traders. He decided instead to establish a trading post upriver at the unsettled site of Prairie La Crosse.

Myrick was warmly greeted by the Ho-Chunk people and built a log cabin from which he launched his fur trading business. He first constructed a temporary trading post on Barron Island (now Pettibone Park), relocating to the mainland prairie the following year. The location proved ideal—situated near the junction of the Black, La Crosse, and Mississippi Rivers on a broad plain perfect for development.

The Lumber Boom

Logging the extensive white pine forests of Wisconsin fueled La Crosse’s first major industry, building fortunes and employing over 4,000 people. Some 20 million acres of Wisconsin forests had been ceded to the U.S. through Native American land cessions, providing seemingly endless resources for the industry.

The first successful logging on the Black River began in 1839. Felled trees were cut into 16-foot lengths and pulled by oxen or horses through snow to frozen rivers. In spring, logs floated downstream to the 33 sawmills operating in the area. Cadwallader Washburn, one of La Crosse’s prominent lumber entrepreneurs, improved the Black River in 1865, making it much easier to float logs to the awaiting sawmills.

Many sawmills were constructed along the shoreline from Onalaska south to Isle la Plume on La Crosse’s south side. The forests of the Black River were depleted in 60 years, and the lumber era ended shortly after 1900. Many New Englanders who became wealthy from the pine trade moved further west or south to continue their lumbering enterprises.

Brewing Tradition

The La Crosse brewing industry stood proudly among giants like Milwaukee during the late 19th and 20th centuries. European immigrants thrived in the local brewing trade, with the first breweries appearing in the 1850s. From 1868 to 1920, there were always at least four breweries running in the city, including notable names like Zeisler and Heileman.

Prohibition devastated many La Crosse breweries, though some survived by producing malt and soda products during the lean years. The G. Heileman Brewery emerged as one of two survivors by the 1950s—down from eight operating simultaneously in 1900. Today, the brewing tradition continues as City Brewery, owned by a group of workers, carrying on this proud heritage.

Notable Figures

Grandad Bluff: A Treasured Landmark

Rising 600 feet above the city, Grandad Bluff offers panoramic views of the Mississippi River Valley spanning three states—Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Iowa. Wisconsin Trails readers have voted it “the most scenic view in the state.”

The land was first purchased from the state by Judge George Gale in July 1851. Between 1851 and 1912, there were 83 transfers of the property, with the bluff’s limestone quarried for construction materials. When plans emerged to sell the bluff for large-scale quarrying, La Crosse residents were outraged.

Ellen Hixon led the effort to save Grandad Bluff, personally financing much of the $15,000 required for land acquisition in 1909. In 1912, the Hixon family donated the land to the city as a park, ensuring its preservation forever. A shelter house was constructed in 1938 by the Works Progress Administration, and in 2015, a bronze statue of Ellen Hixon was dedicated atop the bluff she worked so hard to save.

From a young fur trader’s cabin in 1841 to a thriving modern city, La Crosse stands as a testament to the spirit of those who built their dreams where the rivers converge.