Fort St. Joseph (Niles)
Encyclopedia
Fort Saint Joseph was a fort established on land granted to the Jesuits by King Louis XIV; it was located on what is now the south side of the present-day town of Niles, Michigan
. Père Claude-Jean Allouez
established the Mission de Saint-Joseph in the 1680s. Allouez ministered to the local Native Americans.
The French built the fort in 1691 mainly as a trading post on the lower Saint Joseph River
. It was located where one branch of the Old Sauk Trail, a major east-west Native American
trail, and the north-south Grand River Trail meet; together the combined trail ford
s the river. The fort was a significant stronghold of the fur trade
at the southern end of Lake Michigan
. Prior to the French and Indian War (also known as the Seven Years War), the post had a French garrison of 10 soldiers, a commandant, blacksmith, Catholic priest, interpreter, and 15 additional households.
With their victory in the war, the British took over the fort and maintained it for the fur trade. During the American Revolutionary War
, they used it to supply their American Indian allies against the rebellious Continentals. The Spanish raided the fort in 1781 and briefly claimed it and the St. Joseph River as their territory. The British maintained the fort until after the United States victory in the Northwest Indian War
and the signing of Jay's Treaty in 1795. After the British abandoned the fort, it fell into ruin and was overtaken by forest. The fort site was not rediscovered until 1998. An archeology excavation has been underway since 2002. Among the rare artifacts discovered is an intact Jesuit religious medallion from the 1730s, one of only two found in North America. In December 2010, the team revealed a foundation wall and corner posts of one of the original buildings.
The site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
and is a state-registered site as well.
, considered the first battle of the French and Indian War
in North America, Joseph Coulon de Jumonville
was killed. He was the son of Nicolas-Antoine Coulon de Villiers and the half-brother of Captain Louis Coulon de Villiers, who was stationed at Fort St. Joseph. Louis Coulon de Villiers vowed revenge for his brother's death.
After the British
victory in the French and Indian War, France turned the fort over to the British, who occupied it in October 1761. On May 25, 1763, during Pontiac's Rebellion
, the fort was captured by Potawatomi
warriors. They killed most of the British 15-man garrison outright, and took the commander, Ensign Francis Schlosser, captive. They took him to Detroit to be ransomed as a prisoner, as was common for higher-ranking men. After Pontiac's Rebellion, the British no longer used the fort as a military outpost, but continued to maintain it as an important trading post.
, Potawatomi, and other American Indians who were their allies in the war against the rebellious Continentals. In 1780 Americans from Cahokia, Illinois
, led by Jean-Baptiste Hamelin
and Lt. Thomas Brady, raided the fort. The British Lt. Dagreaux Du Quindre led forces after the raiding party; he overtook and defeated them near Petit Fort
(in present-day Indiana
).
-held St. Louis
; they arrived on December 26, 1780, to report the failed raid. They asked for assistance to raid the fort again. Don Francisco Cruzat, Commandant of St. Louis, dispatched the militia Captain Don Eugenio Pouré with 60 volunteers and Native allies. The force also included Ensign Charles Tayon and the interpreter Louis Chevalier. Before the Spanish and their allies attacked the fort, they promised the Potawatomi half the bounty if they would remain neutral.
Pouré took Fort St. Joseph by surprise on February 12, 1781. He had the Spanish colors raised and claimed Fort St. Joseph and the St. Joseph River for Spain. His troops plundered the fort for one day, then departed, returning to St. Louis on March 6. Pouré delivered the British flag to Cruzat.
Some historians have described the attack as Spanish retaliation for the British attack on St. Louis
in the previous year. When Cruzat wrote about it to Governor Gálvez
, he justified the raid as needing to appear strong to his Native allies, and to forestall British actions in the region. Although Cruzat treated the raid as an act of Indian affairs, the looting and destruction of goods held at Fort St. Joseph also dissuaded a second British attack into Spanish territory.
and the signing of Jay's Treaty in 1795. The fort gradually fell into ruin and was overgrown. Based on its Fort St. Joseph expedition, Spain claimed lands east of the Mississippi River
, but this was not recognized by the United States. With the signing of Pinckney's Treaty
(1795) with the US, Spain gave up any claim of land east of the Mississippi. Because of the long dispute over the land, the diplomats Benjamin Franklin
and John Jay
considered the Spanish Fort St. Joseph campaign to have been little more than a ploy to claim the Northwest Territory
. Franklin warned they want to "shut us up within the Appalachian Mountains."
The site was not rediscovered until an archeological survey in 1998. Support the Fort, a local interest group founded in 1992, helped sponsor a major archeological excavation on site, which began in 2002.
The team from Western Michigan University
(WMU) has conducted a public archeology program as the project has developed, with a total of 10,000 visitors coming to the annual two-day field school. WMU's related activities have included workshops for graduate students and volunteers, three week-long training programs for middle school and high school teachers, and community outreach, including biweekly lectures at the library. The seasonal excavations have uncovered rare artifacts, such as a 1730s Jesuit religious medallion, one of only two found in North America. In December 2010 the team made a critical find of a foundation wall and two wooden posts of one of the buildings, helping establish its scale.
Support the Fort has arranged related annual living history exhibits and re-enactments, featuring elements of Potowatomi, French, British and American life at the fort and in the region. In the future, they intend to construct a replica of the fort, with space to interpret the artifacts found through controlled excavation. This was the only fort in Michigan to be controlled by four different nations: France, Great Britain, Spain, and the United States. It was always a multicultural site, a meeting and trading place for the ethnic Europeans with the Potowatomi, Ottawa
and Ojibwe American Indian nations, and sometimes an occasion for marriage of their members.
Niles, Michigan
Niles is a city in Berrien and Cass counties in the U.S. state of Michigan, near South Bend, Indiana. The population was 11,600 at the 2010 census. It is the greater populated of two principal cities of and included in the Niles-Benton Harbor, Michigan Metropolitan Statistical Area, which has a...
. Père Claude-Jean Allouez
Claude-Jean Allouez
Claude Jean Allouez was a Jesuit missionary and French explorer of North America.Allouez was born in Saint-Didier-en-Velay in the département of Haute-Loire in south-central France. In 1639, he graduated from the College of Le Puy, and became a Jesuit novice in Toulouse, France. In 1655, he was...
established the Mission de Saint-Joseph in the 1680s. Allouez ministered to the local Native Americans.
The French built the fort in 1691 mainly as a trading post on the lower Saint Joseph River
St. Joseph River (Lake Michigan)
The St. Joseph River is a river, approximately long, in southern Michigan and northern Indiana in the United States. It drains a primarily rural farming area in the watershed of Lake Michigan...
. It was located where one branch of the Old Sauk Trail, a major east-west Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
trail, and the north-south Grand River Trail meet; together the combined trail ford
Ford (crossing)
A ford is a shallow place with good footing where a river or stream may be crossed by wading or in a vehicle. A ford is mostly a natural phenomenon, in contrast to a low water crossing, which is an artificial bridge that allows crossing a river or stream when water is low.The names of many towns...
s the river. The fort was a significant stronghold of the fur trade
Fur trade
The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of world market for in the early modern period furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the most valued...
at the southern end of Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America and the only one located entirely within the United States. It is the second largest of the Great Lakes by volume and the third largest by surface area, after Lake Superior and Lake Huron...
. Prior to the French and Indian War (also known as the Seven Years War), the post had a French garrison of 10 soldiers, a commandant, blacksmith, Catholic priest, interpreter, and 15 additional households.
With their victory in the war, the British took over the fort and maintained it for the fur trade. During the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
, they used it to supply their American Indian allies against the rebellious Continentals. The Spanish raided the fort in 1781 and briefly claimed it and the St. Joseph River as their territory. The British maintained the fort until after the United States victory in the Northwest Indian War
Northwest Indian War
The Northwest Indian War , also known as Little Turtle's War and by various other names, was a war fought between the United States and a confederation of numerous American Indian tribes for control of the Northwest Territory...
and the signing of Jay's Treaty in 1795. After the British abandoned the fort, it fell into ruin and was overtaken by forest. The fort site was not rediscovered until 1998. An archeology excavation has been underway since 2002. Among the rare artifacts discovered is an intact Jesuit religious medallion from the 1730s, one of only two found in North America. In December 2010, the team revealed a foundation wall and corner posts of one of the original buildings.
The site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
and is a state-registered site as well.
French and Indian War
During the Battle of Jumonville GlenBattle of Jumonville Glen
The Battle of Jumonville Glen, also known as the Jumonville affair, was the opening battle of the French and Indian War fought on May 28, 1754 near what is present-day Uniontown in Fayette County, Pennsylvania...
, considered the first battle of the French and Indian War
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War is the common American name for the war between Great Britain and France in North America from 1754 to 1763. In 1756, the war erupted into the world-wide conflict known as the Seven Years' War and thus came to be regarded as the North American theater of that war...
in North America, Joseph Coulon de Jumonville
Joseph Coulon de Jumonville
Joseph Coulon de Villiers, Sieur de Jumonville was a French Canadian military officer. His defeat and killing at the Battle of Jumonville Glen by forces led by George Washington was one of the sparks igniting the Seven Years' War.- Early life :Jumonville was born in the seigneury of Verchères, New...
was killed. He was the son of Nicolas-Antoine Coulon de Villiers and the half-brother of Captain Louis Coulon de Villiers, who was stationed at Fort St. Joseph. Louis Coulon de Villiers vowed revenge for his brother's death.
After the British
Kingdom of Great Britain
The former Kingdom of Great Britain, sometimes described as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain', That the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, shall upon the 1st May next ensuing the date hereof, and forever after, be United into One Kingdom by the Name of GREAT BRITAIN. was a sovereign...
victory in the French and Indian War, France turned the fort over to the British, who occupied it in October 1761. On May 25, 1763, during Pontiac's Rebellion
Pontiac's Rebellion
Pontiac's War, Pontiac's Conspiracy, or Pontiac's Rebellion was a war that was launched in 1763 by a loose confederation of elements of Native American tribes primarily from the Great Lakes region, the Illinois Country, and Ohio Country who were dissatisfied with British postwar policies in the...
, the fort was captured by Potawatomi
Potawatomi
The Potawatomi are a Native American people of the upper Mississippi River region. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, a member of the Algonquian family. In the Potawatomi language, they generally call themselves Bodéwadmi, a name that means "keepers of the fire" and that was applied...
warriors. They killed most of the British 15-man garrison outright, and took the commander, Ensign Francis Schlosser, captive. They took him to Detroit to be ransomed as a prisoner, as was common for higher-ranking men. After Pontiac's Rebellion, the British no longer used the fort as a military outpost, but continued to maintain it as an important trading post.
Raid of 1780
During the war, the British used Fort St. Joseph to equip the MiamiMiami tribe
The Miami are a Native American nation originally found in what is now Indiana, southwest Michigan, and western Ohio. The Miami Tribe of Oklahoma is the only federally recognized tribe of Miami Indians in the United States...
, Potawatomi, and other American Indians who were their allies in the war against the rebellious Continentals. In 1780 Americans from Cahokia, Illinois
Cahokia, Illinois
Cahokia is a village in St. Clair County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2000 census, the village had a population of 16,391. The name is a reference to one of the clans of the historic Illini confederacy, who were encountered by early French explorers to the region.Early European settlers also...
, led by Jean-Baptiste Hamelin
Jean-Baptiste Hamelin
Jean-Baptiste Hamelin was a French Canadian soldier who fought on the U.S. side of the American Revolutionary War, serving in Moses Hazen's 2nd Canadian Regiment of the Continental Army....
and Lt. Thomas Brady, raided the fort. The British Lt. Dagreaux Du Quindre led forces after the raiding party; he overtook and defeated them near Petit Fort
Petit fort
Petit Fort was a structure located in northwestern Indiana, in or near the Indiana Dunes, near the mouth of Fort Creek. It may have been a French military outpost, but was more likely a private residence, trading post, or at most a support station for larger forts in the area...
(in present-day Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
).
Spanish Expedition of 1781
After the defeat of Hamelin's party, two Milwaukee chiefs, El Heturnò and Naquiguen, traveled to SpanishSpain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
-held St. Louis
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
; they arrived on December 26, 1780, to report the failed raid. They asked for assistance to raid the fort again. Don Francisco Cruzat, Commandant of St. Louis, dispatched the militia Captain Don Eugenio Pouré with 60 volunteers and Native allies. The force also included Ensign Charles Tayon and the interpreter Louis Chevalier. Before the Spanish and their allies attacked the fort, they promised the Potawatomi half the bounty if they would remain neutral.
Pouré took Fort St. Joseph by surprise on February 12, 1781. He had the Spanish colors raised and claimed Fort St. Joseph and the St. Joseph River for Spain. His troops plundered the fort for one day, then departed, returning to St. Louis on March 6. Pouré delivered the British flag to Cruzat.
Some historians have described the attack as Spanish retaliation for the British attack on St. Louis
Battle of Saint Louis
The Battle of St. Louis was an unsuccessful British-led attack on St. Louis on May 26, 1780, during the American Revolutionary War...
in the previous year. When Cruzat wrote about it to Governor Gálvez
Bernardo de Gálvez y Madrid, Count of Gálvez
Bernardo de Gálvez y Madrid, Viscount of Galveston and Count of Gálvez was a Spanish military leader and the general of Spanish forces in New Spain who served as governor of Louisiana and Cuba and as viceroy of New Spain.Gálvez aided the Thirteen Colonies in their quest for independence and led...
, he justified the raid as needing to appear strong to his Native allies, and to forestall British actions in the region. Although Cruzat treated the raid as an act of Indian affairs, the looting and destruction of goods held at Fort St. Joseph also dissuaded a second British attack into Spanish territory.
Jay's Treaty
The British finally abandoned the fort after the United States victory in the Northwest Indian WarNorthwest Indian War
The Northwest Indian War , also known as Little Turtle's War and by various other names, was a war fought between the United States and a confederation of numerous American Indian tribes for control of the Northwest Territory...
and the signing of Jay's Treaty in 1795. The fort gradually fell into ruin and was overgrown. Based on its Fort St. Joseph expedition, Spain claimed lands east of the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
, but this was not recognized by the United States. With the signing of Pinckney's Treaty
Pinckney's Treaty
Pinckney's Treaty, also known as the Treaty of San Lorenzo or the Treaty of Madrid, was signed in San Lorenzo de El Escorial on October 27, 1795 and established intentions of friendship between the United States and Spain. It also defined the boundaries of the United States with the Spanish...
(1795) with the US, Spain gave up any claim of land east of the Mississippi. Because of the long dispute over the land, the diplomats Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin
Dr. Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat...
and John Jay
John Jay
John Jay was an American politician, statesman, revolutionary, diplomat, a Founding Father of the United States, and the first Chief Justice of the United States ....
considered the Spanish Fort St. Joseph campaign to have been little more than a ploy to claim the Northwest Territory
Northwest Territory
The Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, more commonly known as the Northwest Territory, was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 13, 1787, until March 1, 1803, when the southeastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of Ohio...
. Franklin warned they want to "shut us up within the Appalachian Mountains."
Rediscovery to present
Pothunters in the late 1800s recovered hundreds of artifacts from the fort site, which are now displayed in the Fort Joseph Museum in Niles. They include "trade silver, musket parts, glass beads, buttons, gunflints, knife blades, and door hinges." The specific location of the 15-acre fort site was forgotten, and part of is likely underwater since a dam upriver raised the water level.The site was not rediscovered until an archeological survey in 1998. Support the Fort, a local interest group founded in 1992, helped sponsor a major archeological excavation on site, which began in 2002.
The team from Western Michigan University
Western Michigan University
Western Michigan University is a public university located in Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States. The university was established in 1903 by Dwight B. Waldo, and as of the Fall 2010 semester, its enrollment is 25,045....
(WMU) has conducted a public archeology program as the project has developed, with a total of 10,000 visitors coming to the annual two-day field school. WMU's related activities have included workshops for graduate students and volunteers, three week-long training programs for middle school and high school teachers, and community outreach, including biweekly lectures at the library. The seasonal excavations have uncovered rare artifacts, such as a 1730s Jesuit religious medallion, one of only two found in North America. In December 2010 the team made a critical find of a foundation wall and two wooden posts of one of the buildings, helping establish its scale.
Support the Fort has arranged related annual living history exhibits and re-enactments, featuring elements of Potowatomi, French, British and American life at the fort and in the region. In the future, they intend to construct a replica of the fort, with space to interpret the artifacts found through controlled excavation. This was the only fort in Michigan to be controlled by four different nations: France, Great Britain, Spain, and the United States. It was always a multicultural site, a meeting and trading place for the ethnic Europeans with the Potowatomi, Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
and Ojibwe American Indian nations, and sometimes an occasion for marriage of their members.
Sources
- Nassaney, Dr. Michael S., Dr. Jose Antonio Brandao, Dr. William M. Cremins, and Brock A. Giordano, et al., "Archeological Evidence of Economic Activities at an Eighteenth-Century Frontier Outpost in the Western Great Lakes", Historical Archeology, 2007. 41(4):3-19, reproduced in part at Support The Fort Website
External links
- "Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project", Official Website, Western Michigan University
- Fort St. Joseph Museum (City of Niles)
- SupportTheFort.net, dedicated to Fort St. Joseph research, reenactment, and education.
- Support the Fort! (Michigan Archaeological Society)
- Pre-1835 Chicago History
- Daniel McCoy, Old Fort St. Joseph; or, Michigan under four flags, Wynkoop Hallenbeck Crawford Co., 1907