Fort St. Joseph

The Treaty of Paris, signed in 1783, ended the American Revolution. Fort Michilimackinac, on today’s Mackinac Island and the entrance to Lake Michigan, was awarded to the United States. That area also served as a prominent trade center. The British maintained control of Fort Michilimackinac until 1796. At that time the fort was relinquished to the Americans. The British had to seek a new location and build a new fort. St. Joseph Island was the chosen area because of its proximity to Fort Michilimackinac and near one of the most industrious navigation routes.

          During this time period, the British were in competition with the Americans regarding the fur trading business. They needed to play a defensive role to protect their financial interests. As a result, they needed a fort that would help secure their stake in the fur trade. St. Joseph Island was just the place. The British secured a department that worked strictly with the native people to maintain a good working relationship with them.

Construction began in 1797. They first started with the block house, and then moved onto the guard house, kitchen and storehouse. The rest of the accommodations were completed as needed.

The relationship between the Americans and British was getting more and more tenuous for multiple reasons. Trade policies between the two countries and the control over the Great Lakes and the fur trading routes came into play regarding the dissention. Fort St. Joseph became a meeting place as soon as the United States declared war against Great Britain in June of 1812.

The commander, Captain Charles Roberts decided to take matters into his own hands and take the United States by surprise. He led a force of 150 Canadians, 300 native people and 40 soldiers to Fort Michilimackinac Island and took over the fort on July 17, 1812. War was officially declared against the Americans. They abandoned their fort on St. Joseph Island and moved into the American fort. In 1814, the abandoned Fort St. Joseph was burned to the ground by the Americans.

The signing of the peace treaty in December 1814 led to all territories conquered by the Americans and British were returned to their original owners. Therefore, Fort Michilimackinac was returned to the Americans and Fort St. Joseph was returned to the British. The British decided not to rebuild the fort and built a fort on Drummond Island. Buildings, that were not burned from Fort St. Joseph, were moved across the ice to a new site.

In the 1920s, the Sault Ste. Marie Historical Society decided to renovate some of the ruins. After WWII, a road was opened to the site and this area was made into a picnic ground. In 1963 and 1964, during the summer months, researchers from the University of Toronto conducted preliminary investigations to further understand the history of the site. In 1974, The Parks Canada program started an archaeological process to uncover more of the history of the fort. They discovered 21 buildings with cellars. Twenty-one buildings were identified. Some of those buildings include a blockhouse, old bake house and kitchen, lime kiln and guardhouse.

The only way to travel between the colonized areas of Upper and Lower Canada was by canoe or another sailing vessel. Fort St. Joseph was visited during the 1800s by fur entrepreneurs. The native people primarily traveled to trade and barter to this remote location. Today the ruins of the fort demonstrate to some degree what life was like in this part of Canada.