LOUIS PHELYPEAUX
(COUNT PONTCHARTRAIN)
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Cadillac went to France in 1698,
and got the financial backing
($300) of Count Pontchartrain,
l
Louis XIV’s chief minister to build
a fort and settlement in Le
Detroit, the waterway (“the
strait”) between Lake Huron and
Lake Erie for the purpose of
protecting the fur trade.
Image: http://www.1st-art-gallery.com/Robert-Tournieres/Louis-Phelypeaux-1643-1727-Count-Of-Pontchartrain.html
JULY 24, 1701
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Cadillac founded Detroit with 100 men near present day
Cobo Hall. Built Fort Pontchartrain in his honor. Built
churches, schools, and hospitals.
Fort Pontchartrain was 200 feet long and 200 feet wide
with a 12 foot high wooden palisade
Cadillac encouraged Indians to move from
Michilimackinac to Detroit to trade, and intermarry with
the French to win allies. By 1704, there are 2,000
Indians near the fort.
Cadillac’s wife gave birth to first European child in
Detroit, Marie Therese Cadillac.
FORT PONTCHARTRAIN DU DETROIT
http://historydetroit.com/places/fort_ponchartrain.php
The southern border was present day Jefferson Avenue.
The northern border was between present day Larned
Street and Jefferson Avenue. The eastern end was where
Griswold Street is today. And the western border was
along present day Shelby Street.
http://www.detroit1701.org/Graphics/2005/Otober2005/Completed/FortPontchartrainMarker.JPG
THE PONTCHARTRAIN HOTEL
1907-1920
http://wewastetime.com/2012/03/21/
“The Pontch”
was the first
major hotel
in Detroit
since the
1920s
1965 – Present
http://www.freep.com/article/20120403/NEWS01/120403042/Detroit-s-Pontchartrain-Hotel
Later became the Crowne Plaza Detroit Pontchartrain, then Sheraton Detroit
Riverside, then Detroit Riverside Hotel. Now it’s the Crowne Plaza Pontchartrain
Detroit again.
WHY CHOOSE DETROIT?
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River is narrow and no islands between
Bank was forty feet high, so could occupy high ground
First building was Ste. Anne de Detroit Church, the second
oldest continuous parish in the United States. Ste. Ann was
the patron saint of New France.
The first priest of Ste. Anne was killed during a skirmish
with local Indians in 1706 after a dog bit an Ottawa.
Ste. Anne’s Church moved to
what is now Mexicantown in
Southwest Detroit in 1818.
The church pictured here was
built in 1887.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ste._Anne_de_Detroit_Catholic_Church
FRENCH RIBBON FARMS
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To encourage French settlement around Fort Pontchartrain,
Cadillac (a seigneur) gave land grants (called ribbon farms) to 75
settler families (called habitants) starting in 1707. Some of the
street names between the river and Jefferson Avenue are the
owners.
Ribbon farms fronted the river, but were only 200-600 feet wide,
and 1.5 - 3 miles long
He ruled as a lord in a feudal system, and made many enemies
among the habitants with his annual tax. Grain had to be ground
at Cadillac’s mill, and Cadillac received a percentage of the grain.
Habitants had to work a certain number of days on Cadillac’s own
farm.
French ribbon farms were on both sides of
the Detroit River
French Ribbon Farms
Belle Isle
Fort Pontchartrain
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ribbon_farm
CADILLAC’S RULE
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Missionaries did not like Cadillac because he gave
alcohol to the Indians, and cared more about fur
trading than converting Indians to Christianity.
Overcharged for liquor (7x the price in Montreal)
“Generally hated by all the French and Indians.”
During his reign, he was charged with abusing his
authority and trafficking in alcohol and fur.
Count Pontchartrain said he displayed “too much
greed,” and he was reassigned to be the governor
of Louisiana in 1710.
One historian called him “one of the worst
scoundrels ever to set foot in North America.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ribbon_farm
QUEEN ANNE’S WAR (1702-1713)
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Second of four English-French conflicts in
Europe that spilled over to the New World
Few French came to New France, and nonCatholics were not allowed. Unlike the English
colonies, no other nationalities were allowed to
emigrate.
Cadillac tried to make Detroit an agricultural
center of the West, but it remained a fur trading
center. In 1720, only about 200 people.
THE FOX INDIAN MASSACRE (1712)
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http://www.gphistorical.org/legends04.html
Part of Queen Anne’s War
Only battle ever fought in Grosse Pointe (then
called Presque Isle by the French)
1,000 Fox and Mascoutin Indians move to
Detroit from Wisconsin, and the new
commander, Dubuisson, tries to remove them,
causing warfare that lasted until 1734.
Fox Indians attack fort for 19 days.
As the Fox retreat, Huron and Ottawa Indians,
allied with the French, killed more than 1,000
Indians, allied with the English, in what is now
called Windmill Pointe area (near the Grosse
Pointe/Detroit border)
WHAT HAPPENED TO CADILLAC?
Cadillac finally arrived in Louisiana in 1713. He
wanted to found a city at the mouth of the
Mississippi, but was refused. New Orleans was
later founded in 1718.
 Cadillac explored the present-day Missouri area in
1715, and ordered the first mining of lead for
ammunition (still a major resource today) by
African slaves.
 In 1717, he went back to Paris, and in 1722, he
was appointed governor of a region in France.
 Died in 1730.
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FORT MICHILIMACKINAC - 1715
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Inspired the French to build Fort Michilimackinac in
1715, in present day Mackinaw City, to replace Fort de
Buade in St. Ignace.
1713-1743 – Relative peace between France and
England, but Detroit’s population grew slowly (only
2,000 by 1760). French established 11 posts in the
Great Lakes (3 in Michigan: Pontchartrain (1701),
Michilimackinac (1715), St. Joseph (1691)).
Images: http://www.mightymac.org/michilimackinac.htm
KING GEORGE’S WAR (1744-1748)
Third of four English-French conflicts in Europe
that spilled over to the New World
 French send 150 soldiers from Montreal, and start
to encourage more French settlement in Detroit,
which remains small (900 in 1749).
 French foil small conspiracy of British and Iroquois
to attack Detroit
 British (since 1707, called British, not English)
start incursions into Ohio Valley
 British Navy was able to disrupt French trade to
Montreal, exposing French weakness.
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FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR (1754-1763)
Final English-French conflict in Europe (Seven
Years War) that spilled over to the New World
 British and France both claimed the Ohio Valley
including future states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois,
Wisconsin, and Michigan
 French, allied with Indians, fought against the
British for control of fur trade and prevent British
farmers from clearing the land (“fur trade vs.
farming”)
 1.5 million British vs. 50,000 French
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GEORGE WASHINGTON AND THE START
OF THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR
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Governor Dinwiddie of Virginia sent surveyor
George Washington and 150 militia to get the
French to leave the future Pittsburgh area.
British Colonists started the war, not the Crown,
because they saw the French and Indians as
blocking their expansion westward.
Gen. Edward Braddock (British) and Washington
tried to take Fort Duquesne (named for Marquis
Duquesne, the governor of New France), but failed
in 1755. Braddock was killed.
Michigan native Charles Langlade led Ottawa and
Chippewa warriors to defend the fort.
https://www.watchmenpastors.org/lost-episode-for-july-18/
http://www.superstock.com/stock-photos-images/1899-20457
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No picture of Langlade exists
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~wilchs/lchistory.htm
Pitt: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Pitt,_1st_Earl_of_Chatham
WILLIAM PITT
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British political leader of French and Indian
War
1758 – British captured Fort Duquesne, and
renamed it Fort Pitt (and Pittsburgh). British
promised the Indians that the land west of
the Appalachians would be reserved for
them.
1759 – Three French forts fell
Sept. 13, 1759 – British Gen. James Wolfe
defeated French General Marquis de
Montcalm in the Battle of Quebec. Both
died.
Wolfe
http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/biography/wolfe_j/wolfe_j.html
Montcalm
http://clementeocheduval.blogspot.com/2011/10/la-chute-de-la-nouvelle-france-la-perte.html
THE DEFEAT OF THE FRENCH
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Sept. 1760 – French surrender to British
General Jeffrey Amherst in Montreal.
Nov. 29, 1760 – Detroit under Major Robert
Rogers surrenders, and becomes British (Fort
Detroit) under Captain Donald Campbell.
Campbell instituted Lord Amherst’s order to
reduce gifts to the Indians, and forbade the sale
of alcohol to the Indians
Sir William Johnson, a friend of the Iroquois,
opposed Amherst’s policy of no gifts, fearing it
would spark an Indian war
The war in Europe continued until 1763, so
many French stayed in Detroit area after 1760
Amherst
http://www.history.org/foundation/journal/spring04/warfare.cfm
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http://www.livinghistoryed.org/RogersRangersCourse.htm
Robert Rogers led British forces during the war called “Roger’s
Rangers.” Like Charles Langlade, he used guerrilla warfare tactics,
even creating 28 “rules of ranging” still used by Army Rangers today