Aviation View | April 2021

57 AVIATION VIEW APRIL 2021 La Crosse is the kind of place people take pride in, one steeped in history and tradition. Back in the 17th Century, the French used the area as a fur trading post. It saw Native American habitation, as well, but was relatively unsettled for the next century or more. The first white settlement at La Crosse occurred in 1841 when Nathan Myrick from New York moved nearby to Prairie du Chien, unsuccessfully looking for work in the fur trade. Finding no openings, he decided to establish a trading post upriver at the then still unsettled site of Prairie La Crosse. The La Crosse Regional Airport itself has a long and storied history. It was only eight years after the Wright brothers first took flight in December 1903 that La Crosse residents had their first airplane flight. In October of 1911, Hugh Robinson, a regional daredevil, gave a flying demonstration to people who had gathered at the local fairgrounds. Robinson returned several days later and landed a hydroplane on the Mississippi River to deliver airmail to the city. The first airport, Salzer Field, was built just eight years later and by 1926, Northwest Air was offering commercial service. In 1933, the city leased land on French Island and by 1945 a brand-new airport was created. “I’ve been here just over a year at this point,” says Turner, “and I can tell you that one of the most unique things about this airport is we’re the only commercial service airport that is on an island in the middle of the Mississippi River. That creates some interesting challenges for us from an operational standpoint with anything from wildlife to construction affecting and limiting access to the island. There are also weather- related issues and we get some interesting winds from the bluffs and coulees from time to time.” LA CROSSE REGIONAL A I RPORT