First Fort of the Fort

by Tom Castaldi

Fort Wayne’s first fort was built as a dream of the French, and especially the renowned 17th century explorer Robert Sieur de La Salle, to create a wilderness empire that arced through the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River valley from Quebec to New Orleans. This empire would be firmly anchored on military and trading strongholds and Indian alliances. Because the Maumee-Wabash portage was the most direct link between New France in the upper Great Lakes and the Mississippi River, the Three Rivers region was particularly important. An outpost at the confluence of the rivers would become a key stronghold in a string of forts cutting through the heart of the wilderness from the area of Detroit to St. Louis. In what is now called Indiana, other key French strongholds were located in present day Lafayette and Vincennes.

The French lived among the Miami at the Three Rivers as early as 1697 when Jean Baptiste Bissot, Sieur de Vincennes (who died in 1719), and Francois Marie Bissot de Vincennes, the son of Jean Baptiste (who died in 1736), served as royal agents to the Miamis. The elder Vincennes may have built a trading post at the Three Rivers as early as 1706, but the first fort was built in 1722 on this site by Captain Dubuisson upon the orders of the French governor in Quebec. The fortification was called Fort St. Philippe or Fort Miamis, was garrisoned by as many as thirty men, and commanded the portage between the St. Mary's and Wabash rivers.

In the 1740s, tensions between France and England increased greatly over competing trading rights in the Midwestern frontier. In response to English expansion into the wilderness north of the Ohio River, the French sent several military expeditions to push out the English. Although some English traders were expelled, superior trade goods and other promises offered by the British merchant adventures lured the region's Indian peoples to new English trading centers. In 1747, the Wyandot chief Sanosket, known also as Old Britain or La Damoiselle, encouraged by the British, attacked and burned Fort St. Philippe, partially destroying it. He and his people, along with many of the area Miamis, moved to the new British trading post at Picawillany, near modern Piqua, Ohio. Chief Cold Foot, a firm supporter of the French, remained at the Three Rivers, and the area around the first French fort came to be known as "Cold Foot's Village." A smallpox epidemic struck in 1751 and killed many of the Miamis, including Cold Foot and his son.

A new French commandant, Captain Charles DeRaimond, repaired the fort in 1747 and used it for three years. When a senior French officer, Pierre Joseph Celoron, Sieur de Bienville, led his strong expedition through the region in 1749 to counter British influence, he stopped at the dilapidated old Fort St. Philippe. Accompanying him was the priest and scientist, Reverend Pierre Joseph de Bonnecamps, who described the place at the time as being "in very bad condition" with "eight miserable huts, which only the desire of making money could render endurable." There were 22 French present and everyone "had the fever," including the commandant. The palisades were in ruins. A new fort was built the next year two and a half miles by way of the Saint Mary’s and on up the St. Joseph River.

A century and a half later on May 20, 1911, the same ground that served a fortress was dedicated as Fort Wayne’s first public playground and designed as a safe place for children to enjoy its swings, see-says, wading pools and sand boxes. You can still visit the place where the first French fort stood on the south side of the Saint Mary’s River in the vicinity of a pleasant grassy open space near Van Buren Street Bridge. What began as a stronghold to secure a route for a wilderness empire became a playground park.


Originally published in Fort Wayne Monthly “Along the Heritage Trail with Tom Castaldi” – May 2009 No. 54
Allen County Historian Tom Castaldi is author of the Wabash & Erie Canal Notebook series; hosts “On the Heritage Trail,” which is broadcast at 6:35 a.m., 8:35 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. Mondays on WBOI, 89.1 FM; and “Historia Nostra” heard on WLYV-1450 AM and WRRO 89.9 FM. Enjoy his previously published columns on the History Center’s blog, “Our Stories,” at history centerfw.blogspot.com.

Signs of the "history" times

by Nancy McCammon-Hansen

As you drive around Fort Wayne, you sometimes come across a sign that denotes an historic happening or place from our city’s history. There are a variety of  these signs in existence and so we set out to find a few with the idea that parents of elementary age and older students, as well as anyone interested in Allen County history, could turn the discovery of these signs into a great day’s in-county road trip.

There are about six types of markers that you will most often see. The first are from the Indiana Historical Society and are typically gold lettering on a blue background. A couple of examples near downtown Fort Wayne are the Wabash and Erie Canal Groundbreaking sign just to the west of the Paula’s on Main parking lot and the Fort Miamis sign by the river on Van Buren, near Guldlin Park. That particular sign was erected by the Indiana Historical Bureau and the Society of Colonial Wars in the State of Indiana.

A listing of state historical markers in Allen County can be found at: http://www.in.gov/history/markers/3819.htm#allen

When you see a white marker, it is most often from either the Allen County Fort Wayne Historical Society or the Mary Penrose Wayne Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. 

 

Sign on Wayne Street just west of Lafayette in front of Methodist Church

 

Sign at the corner of Fulton and West Berry

A listing of DAR markers can be found at DAR markers: http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~inmpwcd/markers.htm. DAR markers can also be blue and white or bronze. 

Near the River on Van Buren

 

The above two signs are in front of Imagine School on North Wells

 

In the entry way to the History Center

Markers that have a cement base and a rectangular top have been placed in some locations by ARCH.

 

This marker is at Guldlin Park

If a site has multiple historic significance, you may find more than one sign at that location. This is apparent at Guldlin Park, where the DAR once had a bronze plaque on a rock plus the two signs already shown above. The bronze marker was stolen but a white DAR marker remains along with an ARCH marker and one from the state level for Fort Miamis. For more on Guldlin Park, see the News Sentinel story from Saturday, April 6, “Park’s namesake was local women’s activist” by Kevin Leininger.

In June, 1963, the Historical Society published “Monuments, Plaques, Markers in City Parks” by Bernard J. Revl with photos by Harry Grabner. Grabner was the assistant superintendent in the Department of Recreation and Reul was the captain of the Park Police. At that time the Historic Sites and Markers Committee was comprised of Louis W. Bonsib, Helene Foellinger, J. Calvin Hill, Carl G. Lundell and William T. White, chair. All of the photos in this booklet were taken in Fort Wayne City Parks.

 A listing of parks can be found at:

http://www.fortwayneparks.org/images/stories/ParksMaintenance/2009parksmap.pdf

There is also a booklet available on line that tells you a little about our parks’ history:

http://www.fortwayneparks.org/images/stories/Parks/Rediscover_your_parks.pdf

Another booklet that was published by the Historical Society was “X Marks the Spot” in 1964. The Sites and Markers Committee, 1961-1964, lists in addition to those members above Albert F. Disernens.

“Illustrated in this booklet are the plaque and markers placed in the city and county by the Society from 1959 through 1963, and made possible by generous gifts from individuals and funds from the County and the Society.

“The Committee sincerely thanks the NEWS-SENTINEL and the JOURNAL GAZETTE, their photographers and reporters, and especially the many residents in the county who helped with research and arranged for the placing of the markers in their communities.”

Sites listed in this book include:

• ·         Maumee-Wabash Portage “Glorious Gate” Rockhill Park/published in JG June 14, 1959

• ·        First Church Site—334 East Berry, the building housed First Presbyterian Church from 1837-47, published in NS, June 28, 1961

• ·        Pirogue Landing, “the point where Indians, fur trappers, soldiers, explorers, settlers and adventurers landed at Fort Wayne in the late 18^th and early 19^th centuries” on the bridge near Hall’s Gas House, published in NS, Sept. 18, 1961

• ·        Wabash and Erie Canal—Rockhill Park north of the shelter, published in JG August 6, 1962

  

  Marker in Rockhill Park, Jefferson between Freeman and Catalpa

• ·        Fort Wayne—in Swinney Park, Indian Village Park, Reservoir Park, Memorial Park, Municipal Beach Park and Lawton Park, published in JG June 2 1963

• ·        The Wabash and Erie Canal, on Broadway in New Haven, published in JG July 21, 1963

• ·        Harmar’s Ford—East Berry and Francis Streets, published September 6, 1963

• ·        Huntertown—Huntertown School Grounds, State Highway 3, published in NS, September 19, 1963

There were also markers placed in Hoagland, Monroeville, Woodburn, Grabill and Harlan.

The Fort Wayne Civil War Roundtable erected this sign across the street from the History Center, then the City Hall.

The Fraternal Order of Police posted this sign outside the Allen County Court House.

These markers are outside the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception on Calhoun Street.

Chief Richardville is buried in the Catholic Cemetery on Lake

There are also a number of statues in Fort Wayne (see the blog post on Who Put That There?) and markers to go with them.

 

Anthony Wayne Statue in Freimann Square

A marker in Freimann Square denoting the Heritage Trail. Maps for the trail can be obtained at the History Center.

While the markers are important, let’s not forget that the Chief Richardville House and the Allen County Courthouse are National Historic Landmarks. This designation does not come without massive amounts of work on the part of a community. 

In addition, you can find a listing of the entities in our county who are on the National Register of Historic Places at: http://www.nps.gov/nr/

Is there a marker near where you live, work or play? Take a photo and send it to me at nancy.mccammon-hansen@fwhistorycenter.com and we’ll post it on Facebook. Here's another resource you may find of interest: http://www.acgsi.org/genweb/markers.asp.

Post Script: This message came a few hours after posting this entry.

From Aimee Rose Formo, Website Manager & History Education Specialist

Indiana Historical Bureau:

"I did want to note, though, that the Indiana State Historical Markers are an Indiana Historical Bureau endeavor, rather than a Historical Society program—it’s a very common misperception that our state agency and the Indiana Historical Society are one in the same.  At one point very long ago, we did share work but IHS now has a distinct location and identity, using museum theatre, a press, and an archive to reach the public.  By contrast, our most visible outreach is the State Historical Marker program."

Thank you Aimee for this correction!