La Crosse

About La Crosse

La Crosse Wisconsin is located by the Mississippi River and is the county seat for La Crosse County. In 1805 Zebulon Pike named the area Prairie La Crosse when he saw Native Americans playing a game that reminded him of the French game of crosier also known as La Crosse. In 1841 Nathan Myrick built a trading post on the unsettled land now known as Pettibone Park just west of today's downtown area in La Crosse. Myrick later moved the post closer to the intersection of the Black, La Crosse and Mississippi Rivers. The trading post with its ideal location let to the settlement of a small village surrounding the trading post. Mormon Coulee is the remains of a little Mormon Community that settled in La Crosse whose residents after vacated the area after the first year. By 1855, the city was well on its way and was incorporated in 1856. The city received a surge of growth after the La Crosse and Milwaukee railroad was built. It was the second railroad that connected Milwaukee to the massive Mississippi River. To date La Crosse is one of the biggest cities in Wisconsin. La Crosse supports three local colleges and universities. The Health Science Center was designed help advance students with a variety of medical disciplines through a joint endeavor by the La Crosse medical facilities, universities and governmental entities. The Franciscan Skemp Medical Center is the other medical campus in La Crosse. The center is associated with the Mayo Clinic, which is located in Rochester Minnesota approximately sixty miles from La Crosse. For Bicycle, enthusiast trails will take you all the way through the picturesque La Crosse river march. There are over 100 miles of state trails for those who love to ride. There are several hiking trails available as well and for those who enjoy fishing northern pike, sunfish, crappies and walleyes are just a few of the fish that can be taken from the local lakes, for the stream fisherman trout are available in the smaller streams. Water sports abound in the area where locals enjoy swimming, diving, canoeing, flat boats for fishing or the faster moving boats for skiing or riding an inner tube. In the winter, Mount La Crosse has many trails for cross-country skiing.