| Fort Saint Joseph | |
|---|---|
| Niles, Michigan | |
 Monument at the former site of the fort | |
| Location | |
 | |
| Coordinates | 41°48′49″N86°15′44″W / 41.813675°N 86.262288°W /41.813675; -86.262288 |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1691 (1691) |
| Built by | French |
| In use | Fur Trade Post |
| Demolished | 1795 |
| Battles/wars | American Revolution |
| Events | Pontiac's Rebellion, Raid of 1780 and Raid of 1781 |
Fort St. Joseph Site (20BE23) | |
  Location within the state of Michigan Show map of Michigan Fort St. Joseph (Niles, Michigan) (the United States) Show map of the United States | |
| Location | Niles,Michigan |
| Coordinates | 41°48′49″N86°15′44″W / 41.81361°N 86.26222°W /41.81361; -86.26222 |
| NRHP reference No. | 73000944[1] |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | May 24, 1973 |
| Designated MSHS | February 18, 1956[2] |
Fort Saint Joseph was afort established on land granted to theJesuits byKing Louis XIV; it was located on what is now the south side of the present-day town ofNiles, Michigan. PèreClaude-Jean Allouez established theMission de Saint-Joseph in the 1680s. Allouez ministered to the local Native Americans, who were primarilyPotawatomi andMiami.
The French built the fort in 1691 as a trading post on the lowerSaint Joseph River. It was located where one branch of theOld Sauk Trail, a major east-westNative American trail, and the north-south Grand River Trail meet; together the combined trailfords the river. The fort was a significant stronghold of thefur trade at the southern end ofLake Michigan. Prior to the French and Indian War (the North American front of theSeven Years' War in Europe), the post had a French garrison of 10 soldiers, a commandant, blacksmith, Catholic priest, interpreter, and 15 additional households.[3]
Following their victory in the war, the British took over the fort and maintained it for the fur trade. During theAmerican 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 theNorthwest Indian War and the signing ofJay's Treaty in 1795. This settled the northern border. After the British abandoned the fort, it fell into ruin and was overtaken by forest.
The fort site was not rediscovered until 1998. Anarcheology excavation has been underway since 2002. Among the rare artifacts discovered is an intact Jesuit religiousmedallion 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 theNational Register of Historic Places and is a state-registered site as well.
During theBattle of Jumonville Glen, considered the first battle of theFrench and Indian War in North America,Joseph Coulon de Jumonville was killed by Native Americans. He was the son of Nicolas-Antoine Coulon de Villiers and the half-brother of CaptainLouis Coulon de Villiers, who was stationed at Fort St. Joseph and vowed revenge for his brother's death. AfterGreat Britain defeated France in theSeven Years' War, the French transferred the fort to British forces, who occupied it in October 1761.[citation needed]
On May 25, 1763, duringPontiac's War, the fort, manned by 14 soldiers from the60th Regiment of Foot, was captured byPotawatomi warriors. They killed most of the garrison outright, and took the commander, Ensign Francis Schlosser, captive along with three other soldiers. The Potawatomi took them toFort Detroit to be ransomed asprisoners of war, as was common practice for high-ranking military personnel.[4] After the conflict, the British maintained the fort as a trading post, but did not garrison it again until 1779, during the American Revolutionary War.[5]
During theAmerican Revolutionary War, pro-British traders used Fort St. Joseph to equip theMiami,Potawatomi, and other British-allied Native Americans. In 1780, a Patriot force fromCahokia, Illinois, led byJean-Baptiste Hamelin andLieutenant Thomas Brady, raided the fort, plundering its content and capturing several traders.Detroit Militia officer Antoine Dagneaux de Quindre, an officer in British service, led forces after the raiding party; he overtook and defeated them near thePetit Fort.[citation needed]
After the defeat of Hamelin's party, twoMilwaukee chiefs,El Heturnò andNaquiguen, traveled toSpanish-heldSt. Louis; they arrived on 26 December 1780, to report the failed raid. They asked for assistance to raid the fort again. DonFrancisco 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.
The Spanish and Native force travelled via theIllinois River andKankakee River to modernDunns Bridge, Indiana. There they turned northeast and marched overland to Fort St. Joseph.[6] Before the Spanish and their allies attacked the fort, they promised the Potawatomi half the bounty if they would remain neutral.[7] Captain Pouré took Fort St. Joseph by surprise on 12 February 1781 by racing across the frozen river and taking the fort before the defenders, who consisted solely of aCanadien trader named Duquier and several of his employees, could go to arms.[6]
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, distributing the goods among natives before departing. Lt. Dagneau de Quindre arrived the next day, but was unable to persuade his native allies to pursue the raiders.[6] The Spanish returned to St. Louis on 6 March without incident.[6] Pouré delivered the British flag to Cruzat.[8]
Some historians have described the attack as Spanish retaliation for theattack on St. Louis in the previous year.[6] When Cruzat wrote about it toGovernor Gálvez, he justified the raid as needing to appear strong to his Native allies, and to forestall British actions in the region.[9] 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.[10]
The British finally abandoned the fort after the United States victory in theNorthwest Indian War and the signing ofJay'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 theMississippi River, but this was not recognized by the United States. With the signing ofPinckney's Treaty (1795) with the US, Spain gave up any claim of land east of the Mississippi.[11]
Because of the long dispute over the land, the diplomatsBenjamin Franklin andJohn Jay considered the Spanish campaign at Fort St. Joseph to have been little more than a ploy to claim theNorthwest Territory. Franklin warned they want to "shut us up within the Appalachian Mountains."[11]
Pothunters in the late 1800s recovered hundreds of artifacts from the fort site, which are now displayed in theFort St. Joseph Museum in Niles. They include "trade silver, musket parts, glass beads, buttons, gunflints, knife blades, and door hinges."[4] The specific location of the 15-acre fort site was forgotten, and part of it is likely underwater since a dam downriver raised the water level.[4]
The site was not rediscovered until an archeological survey in 1998.[12][13] Support the Fort, a local interest group founded in 1992, has helped sponsor a major archeological excavation on site, which began in 2002.
The team fromWestern Michigan University (WMU) has conducted a public archeology program as the project has developed. A total of 10,000 visitors have attended 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.[14]
The seasonal excavations have uncovered rare artifacts, such as a 1730s Jesuit religious medallion, one of only two found in North America.[15] 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.[14]
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. It will include space to interpret the artifacts found through controlled excavation. This was the only fort in Michigan to have been under the flags of four nations: France, Great Britain, Spain, and the United States.[12] It was always a multicultural site, a meeting and trading place for the ethnic Europeans with thePotowatomi,Ottawa andOjibwe nations. It was sometimes the scene for formal marriages among the ethnicities.[16]
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