fur trader, lumberman, land speculator, businessman, b. Mackinac Island, Michigan. He attended school in Elizabethtown, N.J., and later returned to Mackinac to become a clerk in John Jacob Astor's American Fur Co. From 1826 to 1834 Dousman served as Astor's agent in Prairie du Chien, where he worked with Joseph Rolette (q.v.), Astor's chief agent in the Prairie du Chien area. There Dousman's ability to handle the Winnebago and Chippewa Indians made him virtually indispensable to the post, and he was soon directing fur trade operations in an area extending to the Canadian boundary. In 1834, when Astor sold the American Fur Co. interest of the Northern Department to Ramsay Crooks, Dousman became a stockholder in the reorganized American Fur Co., and to supplement the declining fur trade business established a large wholesale and retail store sometime before 1838. In 1843 Dousman transferred his trade to the Pierre Chouteau Co. of St. Louis, becoming a partner in that firm. In the same year he also completed construction of a large mansion on the banks of the Mississippi River at Prairie du Chien (on the site of the future Villa Louis, built in 1870), and in 1844 married the widow of Joseph Rolette, who had died in 1842. With the rapid decline of the Upper Mississippi fur trade in the late 1830's and 1840's, Dousman began to turn his interests to new enterprises. He owned extensive timber lands in the Chippewa Valley, and from 1836 to 1848 was principal owner of a sawmill operated by Jean Brunet (q.v.) at Chippewa Falls. During the 1850's he was active in directing immigration and business to the Upper Mississippi River ports, and for a time owned five river steamers and was financially interested in several steamship lines including the Prairie du Chien, the Northwestern Union, and the Prairie du Chien, Hudson, and St. Paul Packet Co. Dousman was also interested in railroad promotion, especially the Milwaukee and Mississippi (which later became the Milwaukee and Prairie du Chien), the first Wisconsin railroad to reach the Mississippi River. Through his various enterprises, Dousman acquired a large fortune; he spent the declining years of his life on his large estate at Villa Louis, giving lavish parties and entertaining distinguished visitors from throughout the nation. P. L. Scanlan, Prairie du Chien Menasha, Wis.] 1937); A. Derleth, Douse on the Mound (N.Y. [1958]); Wis. Mag. Hist., 2, 29; V/PA MS; H. L. Dousman Papers.

The Wisconsin Historical Society has manuscripts related to this topic. See the catalog description of the Hercules Louis Dousman Family Papers for details.

View a related article at Wisconsin Magazine of History Archives.

Learn More

Dictionary of Wisconsin History

Explore more than 1,600 people, places and events in Wisconsin history.

[Source: Dictionary of Wisconsin biography]