The
Story
Of
Fort St. Joseph After a long search, archaeologists discovered this 17th-century French fort in southwest Michigan. Subsequent excavations have revealed details of French colonialism in this remote area.
T
hings can go missing,
An artist’s depiction of Fort St. Joseph. historic forts included. Such was the case with Fort St. Joseph, which was established by the French in 1691 and was one of to search for the fort in the 1930s, as did a number of others the earliest European settlements in the western Great Lakes over the ensuing decades. region.The fort played an important role in France’s missionIn the 1990s, a group of history buffs formed Support ary activities, and as time passed it also served as a trading the Fort, Inc. with the intention of preserving the artifacts post and a garrison, housing a commandant and as many as and reconstructing Fort St. Joseph. The group was advised, 10 soldiers, supplemented by a blacksmith, an interpreter, however, that making an accurate reconstruction required and visiting priests. finding the genuine article. So, in 1998, Support the Fort The fort, which played an important role in the French- hired Michael Nassaney to find it. native fur trade, was one of a series of settlements that “I didn’t think much of the project at the time,” said manifested France’s ambitions in North Nassaney, an archaeologist at Western America. For decades the French lived our funding fell through Michigan University.“I thought we’d dig a in Fort St. Joseph and the Potowatomi at the last minute and the couple test pits. I didn’t know people had and Miami tribes were their agreeable been looking for the fort for 100 years.” project was in jeopardy. neighbors. The fort was built next to the St. Joseph The fort was abandoned in 1781, eventually fell into ruin, River and it was assumed that it had eroded into the river. A and then disappeared. But it wasn’t forgotten by the people dam downriver from the site was raised in the 1930s, which of Niles, a city that sprang up where the fort had once stood, in turn raised the water level upriver as much as 12 feet.This who commemorated it with an engraved boulder in 1913. area had later become a landfill, so it was also possible that Thousands of 18th-century artifacts were found in Niles, the fort’s remains were buried under a mound of trash. prompting George Quimby, a noted historical archaeologist, Based on his examination of historical documents, Joseph
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spring • 2011
illustration Pamela Rups/ FSJAP colorization charlotte hill-cobb
By Michael Bawaya
