Fort Mackinac

History

History information is some background and history about the location. This is meant to be a basic summary. Below the history records you will find sources in which you can click on to find out more information. There may be multiple history records per location.

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Around 1715, they built the fort and abandoned it in 1783. It was part of the French-Canadian trading post system, which spanned from the Atlantic Coast and St. Lawrence River to the Great Lakes and south to the Mississippi River. The fort served as a supply depot for traders in the western Great Lakes. The French had first established a presence in the Straits of Mackinac in 1671, when Father Marquette established the Jesuit St. Ignace Mission at present-day St. Ignace in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. In 1683, they augmented the mission with Fort de Buade. Sieur de Cadillac closed the mission and relocated the French garrison to Fort Detroit in 1701. By 1713, however, the French decided to re-establish a presence along the Straits of Mackinac and built the wooden Fort Michilimackinac on the northern tip of the lower peninsula. They sent Constant le Marchand de Lignery with a contingent of soldiers and workmen in 1715 to accomplish the job. Over the decades, they made several modifications and expansions to the palisade walls. Chevalier Jacques Testard de Montigny, who was a lieutenant and a knight of the Order of St. Louis, was appointed in 1730 and served for three years as commandant of the fort. He was previously commandant of Fort La Baye (Green Bay, Wisconsin). Many of his relatives settled in Michigan. The French relinquished the fort, along with their territory in Canada, to the British in 1761 following their defeat in the French and Indian War, the North American front of the Seven Years' War. The British continued to operate the fort as a major trading post, but most residents were French and Métis (Ojibwe-French), who spoke predominantly French and worshipped at Sainte Anne Church in a small log structure. Other civilian residents included British fur traders, some of whom resided within the fort in the southeastern row house. The British eventually determined that the wooden fort on the mainland was too vulnerable. In 1781 they built a limestone fort on nearby Mackinac Island. Now known as Fort Mackinac, it was initially named Fort Michilimackinac. Over the next two years, the British moved related buildings to the island by dismantling them and moving them across the water in the summer and over the ice in the winter. Ste. Anne's Church was also moved. Patrick Sinclair, the lieutenant governor of Michilimackinac, ordered the remains of the original Fort Michilimackinac to be burned after the move.

Added by: sdonley on 04/11/2025 DB#:743
Source(s):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Michilimackinac

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