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the past passed here
Celebrate and Experience Chippewa County History at The Past Passed Here.
This award winning special event, coordinated by the Chippewa County Historical
Society, highlights the sights and sounds of early Chippewa County during the 1700s
to the early 1900s.
Many individual camps represent various aspects of the fur trade era and include many hands-
on activities. In the camps, visitors may find demonstrations on blacksmithing, cooking, antique muzzle-loading fire-arms, spinning, and brain tanning. Hands-on activities include a tomahawk toss, archery, canoe paddle race, Cat and Mouse game, and two-man cross-cut sawing. The re-enactors and demonstrators are happy to answer questions visitors ask. It’s easy for each family member to find fun and exciting things to do while exploring the Past Passed Here.
The Past Passed Here Video Advertisement (from 2023)
The Past Passed Here:
Dates, Cost, and Location
Looking for a fun, educational, and inexpensive way to spend time with your family?
Visit The Past Passed Here.
Brought to you by the Chippewa County Historical Society, The Past Passed Here provides an educational and FUN experience for all. Learn how people in the Chippewa Valley lived in the late 1700s and early 1800s. Adults and children alike will enjoy this step back in time. Re-enactors, in an authentic rendezvous setting, wear period clothing and live in 1800s-style camps, while portraying French fur traders, lumberjacks, and Native Americans. Visitors to the historic encampment will experience:
Dates
Friday May 9, 2025:
3pm - 6pm
Saturday May 10, 2025:
9am - 6pm
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Sunday May 11, 2025:
9am - 3pm
The event is always held the second full weekend in May.
Admission Cost
Free if under 5 years
$7 per person
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$15 family pass
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OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
Location
Marshall Park, located at the Bridgewater Avenue entrance to Irvine Park in Chippewa Falls, will be the new location for The Past Passed Here beginning in 2020. Like our previous location at Allen Park, Marshall Park is located on the banks of Duncan Creek and has witnessed much history through the years. The event's name, The Past Passed Here, was selected to celebrate and reflect the significance of the historic rendezvous and lumbering history of the area. Click below for directions.
adventure awaits, what to expect
The voyageur songs echoed in the morning mist as the canoe brigade made its way up the Chippewa River to the landing on Duncan Creek. A band of Anishinabe was waiting at the confluence of the two rivers so the parties could begin to trade. You and your family can relive the by-gone fur trade era during The Past Passed Here. There is also a museum and several camps commemorating the logging era in the Chippewa Falls area.
Camp skill competitions
Camp skill competitions include the Cat and Mouse game, canoe paddle races, hawk throwing and sawing.
Demonstrators
Demonstrators include blacksmiths, brain hide tanners, spinners, weavers and more.
Food vendors
Food vendors feature old-fashioned candy, fry bread, kettle corn, buffalo burgers, root beer floats and voyageur stew.
Education Days
We are proud to have over 600 fourth grade students from Chippewa Falls and area parochial and public schools who are studying local history and Wisconsin history in school. They will participate in full-day, hands-on activities during school hours Wednesday through Friday. The public is not admitted during the hours that students are present.
Traders
Traders have a variety of items for sale including beeswax candles, reproduction antique clothing, leather goods, animal furs/skins, beads, jewelry and toys.
Music
Music was an important part of a rendezvous and we are lucky to have many area musicians who are willing to share their talent during our gathering.
The Past Passed Here: Education Days
We are proud to have over 600 students, from Chippewa area parochial and public schools and other area schools, visit us each year. They are studying local history in school and will participate in a full day of hands-on activities during school hours Wednesday through Friday. Some of the activities the children will experience are:
Learn to speak French. Bonjour! Parlez-vous francais?
Among the many camps, there will be a tipi. Students will be invited inside to see how a tipi works to keep the family comfortable during all kinds of weather.
Cat and Mouse game.
Learn to speak French. Bonjour! Parlez-vous francais?
The Past Passed Here:
Campers, Traders & Demonstrators
Under the mantle of the Chippewa County Historical Society since 2010, the goals of The Past Passed Here remain the same: a greater focus on teaching living history and the related skills to a new generation of adults and children.
The Past Passed Here event is an INVITATION ONLY event for re-enactors, demonstrators, campers, and vendors.
If you heard of The Past Passed Here from a camper, trader, or demonstrator that has attended in the past and are interested in being one yourself, please contact our Chair, Jim Schuh at 715.726.2376.
Find Us
The Past Passed Here
Marshall Park
101 Bridgewater Avenue
Chippewa Falls, WI 54729
Beginning in 2020, The Past Passed Here is now held at Marshall Park in Chippewa Falls, located at the south entrance to Irvine Park.