First Brides Grave
Tucked in a pocket of South Ravine Park, a series of steps leads up into the
woods. At the end of the trail is the First Bride's Grave.
The
First Bride's Grave monument was built in 1938 by the Woodbury County Pioneer
Club near the grave of Rosalie Menard Leonais. The Pioneers Club called her the
"first bride" because she was believed to be the first bride of a non-Native
American in the area that would become Sioux City.
Rosalie was born in 1838, the daughter of French/Canadian fur trader, Louis
Menard, and his Native American wife, Klanhaywin. She had two sisters and four
brothers.
Sometime around 1852, Rosalie's family moved into the area of Perry Creek and
the Missouri River. There, the family became acquainted with
Joseph Leonais, another French/Canadian fur trapper making his home in the
area. Rosalie and Joseph were married by a traveling Catholic priest in 1853.
She was in her teens and her husband was about twenty-nine.
Rosalie
and Joseph had four children together: Joseph II, Josephine, Rosalie and
William. At first, they lived in the cabin Joseph had built near Perry Creek,
close to what is now 2nd and Water Street. Later they moved to a farm along the
Floyd River.
Rosalie died in 1865, shortly after the birth of their son William. She was 27
years old.


