Greetings and welcome to the 500th (!) post on this blog, originally titled “Clark House Historian” and since June 1, 2026, known as “Clark Heritage & History.” I have lots of history to share with you on the blog in the coming months, but for the moment I only have time for a short post, because…
I’m speaking in Portage on Sunday, June 7th.
Once again, my friends from the Wisconsin Society, Daughters of the American Revolution, have asked me to speak, this time at their Fort Winnebago Surgeon’s Quarters (FWSQ) museum, as part of their big celebration of early Wisconsin history, called “Becoming Wisconsin — A Revolutionary Path.”
I will be one of several presenters, at one of five different stations at the event. My focus will be on the extended family of Francis LeRoi (or LeRoy), the man that built the log cabin home and fur-trading post that later became the historic Fort Winnebago Surgeon’s Quarters. The story of Francis LeRoy and his family is a fine example of the complicated and intertwined French-Canadian, Métis, and Native American roots of many families that lived in this part of the future state of Wisconsin in the 18th- and 19th-centuries, and should appeal to anyone with interests in early Wisconsin history or genealogy. See the poster, above, for details, or continue reading…
The details
Parking has been generously offered by FWSQ neighbor Portage Diesel, just up the road to the east. They are located about a block away at 1905 – WIS 33 (the FWSQ is at 1824 – WIS 33).
Admission is free to visitors this year. Visitors will be given a map of the five stations which will be open to all between 10:00 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. The stations and presenters will be:
• Rivers & Lakes of Wisconsin, Paul Wolter, Executive Director, Sauk County Historical Society
• Patriot Memorial Garden, with Ella Altreuther, WauBun Chapter, NSDAR member
• The Fur Trader & His Family, with Reed Perkins, historian, in the Garrison Schoolhouse
• The Arrival of Fort Winnebago, with Scott Dyar, teacher, and his crew of reenactors
• Frontier Life, through the eyes of a fort surgeon , with Cliff Niewenhuis, reenactor, inside the Cabin
Visitors can wander from event to event, enjoy the presentations (repeated each hour, starting at 10:00 a.m.), and are encouraged to ask questions. The event ends with a wreath dedication, and a re-dedication of the America250! plaque (already on the Visitors Center) beginning at 3:00 p.m.
It should be a fun and informative day. I hope to see you there.
Photo credit: Laura Rexroth, 2025
This photo is from my first visit to the Fort Winnebago Surgeon’s Quarters on Aug. 16, 2025, where I spoke to the LeRoi family reunion. It’s not often I get to lead the discussion from the front of an 1850 one-room school house!