Welcome!
Hello and welcome to Encyclopedia Falaise de Berceau, the Internet’s authoritative source on all things Falaise de Berceau, Iowa. From local history, culture, people, places, and peculiar phenomenon, this encyclopedia is an indispensable resource for anyone wishing to know more about our town of 75,542 people.
Falaise de Berceau is located within Lubeck County, between Guttenberg and Marquette. The area that now makes up our river-side city was first settled by Europeans in the 1820s when a gang of fur traders enlisted the help of disgruntled Franciscan-turned-frontiersman Jean Berceau to strike a deal with the region’s preexisting Meskwaki village. Although the specific details of the agreement remain unclear, in the following years Berceau and his comrades took up residence in the shadow of the countryside’s jagged limestone bluffs, intermarrying with the local Meskwaki and taking advantage of their bustling trade and mining networks that ran up and down the Mississippi River. However, by the time the Black Hawk Purchase formally opened up Iowa to settlement by Americans, encroaching pioneers from neighboring Wisconsin and Illinois had already illegally crossed the River and began demolishing the village’s original Meskwaki lodging.[1]
Despite their early and illicit inhabitation, these settlers would not officially charter the area until 1839. Among them, a young Ernest Behr would suggest the name "Falaise de Berceau," or "Berceau’s Bluff," nodding to the former cleric and the Driftless terrain that he called home.[2] The city’s nickname—Cradle Cliff—has as similar origin. Contrary to a popular urban legend which attests that the nickname emerged as a way to mock Ernest Behr for getting scammed by a defrauding carpenter who promised to build Behr two cradles for his newborn twins, Falaise de Berceau’s nickname likely originated independently of the Behr family. Instead, historians posit that the nickname is an alliterative play off of Jean Berceau’s last name, which means “cradle” in his native French language.[3]
Interested in exploring more of Cradle Cliff? Feel free to flip to a random page, explore our Interactive Map, research prominent events, or investigate our lists of notable individuals. This project exists thanks to the efforts and support of The Falaise de Berceau Historical Society, The Hubert Property Local History Museum, Rockefeller-Mays Library, city council, Mrs. Kennedy’s 12th Grade History Class at Archibald High School, Harborside Coffee House, the Behr family, and the O'Donnell family. This website is maintained in part by Mason Behr.
| Interactive Map of the Greater Falaise de Berceau Area |
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