Wisconsin’s Creation Myth: The Black Hawk War and Collective Memory

Historian Kerry Trask discusses how and why the Black Hawk War of 1832 was in an important sense the “big bang” that created Wisconsin, and why the story of that war has been a primary narrative we have persistently told and retold over the past 180 years. Trask's talk focuses upon the three primary players in that violent struggle—Black Hawk, Henry Atkinson, and Henry Dodge—and the roles they played in the creation of Wisconsin. Held in partnership with the La Crosse Public Library. Free and open to the public.