Claude Bernou Carte de lAmerique septentrionale

Fort Crevecoeur (

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

: ''Fort Crèvecœur'') was the first public building erected by Europeans within the boundaries of the modern state of Illinois and the first fort built in the West by the French."The Site of Fort de Crèvecoeur", University of Illinois, 1925.
/ref> It was founded on the east bank of the

Illinois River The Illinois River ( mia, Inoka Siipiiwi) is a principal tributary of the Mississippi River and is approximately long. Located in the U.S. state of Illinois, it has a drainage basin of . The Illinois River begins at the confluence of the ...

, in the

Illinois Country The Illinois Country (french: Pays des Illinois ; , i.e. the Illinois people)—sometimes referred to as Upper Louisiana (french: Haute-Louisiane ; es, Alta Luisiana)—was a vast region of New France claimed in the 1600s in what is n ...

near the present site of Creve Coeur, a suburb of Peoria,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...

, in January 1680. It was destroyed on 16 April of that same year by members of La Salle's expedition, who mutinied and abandoned it, fearful of being attacked by the Iroquois League as the

Beaver Wars The Beaver Wars ( moh, Tsianì kayonkwere), also known as the Iroquois Wars or the French and Iroquois Wars (french: Guerres franco-iroquoises) were a series of conflicts fought intermittently during the 17th century in North America throughout t ...

extended into the area. Reestablishing a more lasting presence, the French founded Fort St Louis du Pimiteoui nearby in 1691, at the former Kaskaskia village destroyed by the Iroquois. It became a center of trade and was partially settled during the colonial period.

Henri de Tonti Henri de Tonti (''né'' Enrico Tonti; – September 1704), also spelled Henri de Tonty, was an Italian-born French military officer, explorer, and ''voyageur'' who assisted René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, with North American explora ...

was a primary founder of both the Crevecouer and Pimiteoui posts.

Founding

On January 15, 1680, French explorers

René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle (; November 22, 1643 – March 19, 1687), was a 17th-century French explorer and fur trader in North America. He explored the Great Lakes region of the United States and Canada, the Mississippi River, ...

, and

began construction of a stockade they would call Fort Crèvecoeur (Broken Heart). It was intended to help the local Peoria tribe defend themselves against the powerful

Iroquois The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian Peoples, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Indigenous confederations in North America, confederacy of First Nations in Canada, First Natio ...

league, who had entered this region to secure hunting grounds for the beaver

fur trade The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal ecosystem, boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals h ...

. On that day in January, Mass was celebrated and the Gospel preached by the Récollets, Gabriel Ribourde,

Zenobius Membre Zenobius Membré, O.M.R. (1645 – c.1687), was a French Franciscan Recollect friar and missionary in North America. Life Membré was born at Bapaume, then in the ancient Province of Artois, and entered the local friary of the Franciscan Recollect ...

, and

Louis Hennepin Father Louis Hennepin, O.F.M. baptized Antoine, (; 12 May 1626 – 5 December 1704) was a Belgian Roman Catholic priest and missionary of the Franciscan Recollet order (French: ''Récollets'') and an explorer of the interior of North Ameri ...

.Jean-Roch Rioux, "Louis Hennepin," ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography,'' University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003
/ref> They finished the fort in early March, naming it "Fort Broken Heart" because of the difficulties, including desertions of troops, that they suffered during its construction. Dr.

Daniel Coxe Daniel Coxe III ( – January 19, 1730) was an English physician and governor of West Jersey from 1687 to 1688 and 1689 to 1692. Biography The Coxe family traced their lineage to a Daniel Coxe who lived in Somersetshire, England, in the 13th ...

wrote in 1719:

Monsieur LaSalle erected a fort in the year 1680, which he named ''Crève-coeur'', from the Grief which seiz'd him on the Loss of one of his chief trading Barks richly laden, and the Mutiny and villianous Intrigues of some of his Company, who first attempted to poyson and afterwards desert him.

La Salle also started building a 40-ton barque to replace '' Le Griffon'', which had disappeared several months before.Francis Parkman, "La Salle And The Discovery Of The Great West," ''American Heritage,'' April 1957, Volume 8, Issue 3.
/ref> On March 1, 1680, La Salle set off on foot for

Fort Frontenac Fort Frontenac was a French trading post and military fort built in July 1673 at the mouth of the Cataraqui River where the St. Lawrence River leaves Lake Ontario (at what is now the western end of the La Salle Causeway), in a location traditiona ...

for supplies (including rigging for the ship), leaving

to hold Fort Crèvecoeur in Illinois.

Disputed Location

In 2022 appeared articles disputing the location of Fort Crevecoeur, placing it south of Beardstown. These build on work cited in 2006.

Destruction

While on his return trip up the Illinois River, La Salle concluded that Starved Rock might provide an ideal location for another fortification and sent word downriver to Tonti regarding this idea. Following La Salle’s instructions, Henri de Tonti had left Fort Crèvecoeur on April 15, 1680 with Father Ribourde and two other men, to begin fortifying the settlement and Fort St. Louis at Starved Rock. The next day, the remaining seven men, led by

Martin Chartier Martin Chartier (1655 – Apr 1718) was a French-Canadian explorer and trader, carpenter and glove maker. He lived much of his life amongst the Shawnee Native Americans in what is now the United States. Chartier accompanied Louis Jolliet o ...

,Charles Augustus Hanna, ''The Wilderness Trail: Or, The Ventures and Adventures of the Pennsylvania Traders on the Allegheny Path, Volume 1,'' Putnam's sons, 1911
/ref> pillaged Fort Crèvecoeur of all provisions and ammunition, destroyed the fort, and headed back to Canada. On visiting the ruins of the fort a few days later, La Salle observed that someone had written on the side of the unfinished barque, "''Nous sommes tous sauvages''," We are all savages" The mutiny was probably caused by the men's fear of being killed by

raiding parties. They had invaded the region from their stronghold south of the Great Lakes, and were disrupting and attacking the local

communities at the height of the

. The men had demanded that La Salle return with them to Canada, which he was unwilling to do. In addition, one of the mutineers, shipbuilder Moyse Hillaret who was later captured, testified that "some f the menhad had no pay for three years," and alleged that La Salle had mistreated them.Harriette Simpson Arnow, ''Seedtime on the Cumberland,'' Michigan State University Press. (2013)
/ref>"Déclaration faite par devant le Sr. Duchesneau, Intendant en Canada, par Moyse Hillaret, charpentier de barque cy-devant au service du Sr. de la Salle, Aoust, 1680." cited i
Francis Parkman, ''La Salle and the Discovery of the Great West: France and England in North America.'' Part Third, vol. V-VI; Little, Brown, 1897.
/ref> In a deposition made before the Sieur du Chesneau,

Intendant of New France The Intendant of New France was an administrative position in the French colony of New France. He controlled the colony's entire civil administration. He gave particular attention to settlement and economic development, and to the administration of ...

, dated 17 August 1680, Hillaret stated the mutineers were dissatisfied "because the said Sieur de La Salle wanted them to build

sleigh A sled, skid, sledge, or sleigh is a land vehicle that slides across a surface, usually of ice or snow. It is built with either a smooth underside or a separate body supported by two or more smooth, relatively narrow, longitudinal runners s ...

s to draw his goods and personal effects as far as the village of the

Starved_Rock).html" ;"title="Starved_Rock_State_Park.html" ;"title="he site of the proposed Fort St. Louis ( Starved_Rock)">Starved_Rock_State_Park.html"_;"title="he_site_of_the_proposed_Fort_St._Louis_(Starved_Rock_State_Park">Starved_Rock)"_ Joining_Tonti_at_Starved_Rock,_two_men_who_had_been_at_Fort_Crèvecoeur_told_him_of_its_destruction._Tonti_sent_messengers_to_La_Salle_in_Canada_to_report_the_events._Tonti_returned_to_Fort_Crèvecoeur_to_collect_any_tools_not_destroyed_and_moved_them_to_the_Grand_Village_of_the_Illinois.html" ;"title="Starved Rock State Park">Starved Rock)">Starved_Rock_State_Park.html" ;"title="he site of the proposed Fort St. Louis (Starved Rock State Park">Starved Rock)" Joining Tonti at Starved Rock, two men who had been at Fort Crèvecoeur told him of its destruction. Tonti sent messengers to La Salle in Canada to report the events. Tonti returned to Fort Crèvecoeur to collect any tools not destroyed and moved them to the Grand Village of the Illinois">Kaskaskia Village of the Illinois near Starved Rock. The mutineers, assisted by some other men they recruited along the way, looted some of La Salle's possessions at Michilimackinac and at Fort Niagara. They split into two groups, one of which went to Albany, New York, Albany and the second to Fort Frontenac, reportedly with the intention of finding and killing La Salle. In August, La Salle recaptured some of the mutineers, however Chartier took refuge with a band of

Shawnee The Shawnee are an Algonquian-speaking indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands. In the 17th century they lived in Pennsylvania, and in the 18th century they were in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, with some bands in Kentucky a ...

Indians and went with them to Pennsylvania. On September 10, 1680, nearly six hundred

warriors, armed with guns, approached the Kaskaskia village. Meeting de Tonti met with the parties in advance, representatives of both the Iroquois League and the

Illinois Confederation The Illinois Confederation, also referred to as the Illiniwek or Illini, were made up of 12 to 13 tribes who lived in the Mississippi River Valley. Eventually member tribes occupied an area reaching from Lake Michicigao (Michigan) to Iowa, Ill ...

accused him of treachery. Tonti tried to mediate their disagreements and delay the Iroquois attack until the women, children and old people could escape from the village. Tonti was wounded by an Iroquois warrior, who stabbed him with a knife. The Iroquois burned Kaskaskia village and built a fort on that site near Starved Rock. Tonti with his allies fled the area, heading for La Baye.

Fort St. Louis du Pimiteoui

In 1691, Tonti returned to the area and founded another fort. This fort is known variously as Fort St. Louis du Pimiteoui, Fort Pimiteoui, and Old Fort Peoria (''Pimiteoui'' – English: Fat Lake – was the name of what is now called, Peoria Lake, a stretch where the Illinois River significantly widens). It was intermittently a center of trade, particularly fur trade, and sometimes settlement throughout the colonial period, when control of it shifted from the French to the British in 1763 after the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the st ...

References

External links

Fort Crevecoeur Park

"The Site of Fort de Crèvecoeur", University of Illinois, 1925.
{{coord, 40, 38, 56, N, 89, 36, 24, W, type:landmark_source:googlemaps, display=title 1680 establishments in the French colonial empire Buildings and structures completed in 1680 1680 disestablishments Buildings and structures in Tazewell County, Illinois Crevecoeur Illinois River