Fort St. Joseph (Niles)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Fort Saint Joseph was a fort near present day Niles, Michigan. Built by the French in 1691 near the mouth of the Saint Joseph River, the fort was located along the Old Sauk Trail, a major east-west Native American trail. The fort was the main stronghold and trading post at the southern end of Lake Michigan.

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 Indians. Most of the fifteen-man garrison was killed outright, while the commander, Ensign Francis Schlosser, was taken to Detroit by the Potawatomis as a prisoner. After Pontiac's Rebellion, the fort no longer served as a military outpost, but it continued to be an important trading post.

Fort St. Joseph was important in equipping the Miamis, Potawatomies, and other American Indians who were at war with the United States during the American Revolutionary War. The fort was captured and plundered on February 12, 1781 by an expedition of about 140 Spanish soldiers and American Indians who had set out from the Spanish town of St. Louis. The fort was finally abandoned by the British after the Northwest Indian War and the signing of Jay's Treaty in 1795.

The specific location of the fort site was forgotten and not rediscovered until 1998. [1] [2]