Old Military Road 5K Run/Walk

Fort Winnebago Surgeons Quarters is celebrating its roots with an Old Military Road 5k Run/Walk this fall.

Members of the Wisconsin Society Daughters of the American Revolution invite the public to join them in Portage to mark the importance of the Old Military Road that connected Fort Howard in Green Bay, Fort Winnebago in Portage and Fort Crawford in Prairie du Chien.
 

An in-person 5k run/walk will be held at 9 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 9, on the scenic Wisconsin River Levee Trail, starting and ending at Riverside Park, 300 E. Wisconsin St. A virtual 5k option also is available.

Participants who are walking with friends, family, strollers and friendly pets on leashes are welcome; they will start the 5k behind the runners.
 

Registration is online through Sept. 8 at https://runsignup.com/Race/WI/Portage/TamarackTrot5k

The fee is $30 for persons age 18 and above, $25 for those 5-17 and free for children 4 and under. All proceeds will benefit operations of the historic Fort Winnebago Surgeons Quarters museum.

The DAR is partnering at this event with Sneakers4Good. Participants and non-participants alike are encouraged to bring their gently-used, adult-sized sneakers to Riverside Park or Fort Winnebago Surgeons Quarters.

Sneakers should be dry, have no holes and still have tread. They will be donated to entrepreneurs in developing countries to provide opportunities there while also keeping these materials out of local landfills.
 

Located at 1824 East State Road 33, Fort Winnebago Surgeons Quarters is home to two historic buildings: a log cabin, where the U.S. Army surgeons of Fort Winnebago resided from 1834-54, and the Garrison School, a one-room schoolhouse that served local pupils from 1850-1960.
 

Listed on the Register of Historic Places in 1970, they overlook the site where Louis Joliet and Father Jacques Marquette left the Fox River to portage to the Wisconsin River in 1673. The area of land connecting the waterway was called "wauona" by American Indians in the area, and "le portage" by the French. The Surgeons Quarters itself originally was the home of Francois LeRoi, a Métis (of French and American Indian descent) who operated a portaging and fur trading business. Built between 1816 and 1819, it is of French post-and-log construction made from tamarack logs.
 

In addition to special events, the Surgeons Quarters is open to the public from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday from May to Oct. 15. For more information, call (608) 742-2949 or visit www.fortwinnebagosurgeonsquarters.org/.