Fort L'Huillier (sometimes spelled Le Hillier) was a short-lived

fortification A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Lati ...

New France New France (, ) was the territory colonized by Kingdom of France, France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Kingdom of Great Br ...

located near the confluence of the Blue Earth and

Le Sueur River The Le Sueur River (''lay-SEWER'') is a tributary of the Blue Earth River, long, in southern Minnesota in the United States. Via the Blue Earth and Minnesota Rivers, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River, draining an area of . It ...

s in what is now

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

. The garrison, which originally held about 30 men, was built beginning in the autumn of 1700 under the direction of

Pierre-Charles Le Sueur Pierre-Charles Le Sueur (; c. 1657, Artois, France – 17 July 1704, Havana, Cuba) was a French fur trader and explorer in North America, recognized as the first known European to explore the Minnesota River valley. Le Sueur came to Canada w ...

, a French trader and explorer interested in mining a blue clay that he thought was

copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...

ore. It was named in honor of a

metallurgical assay A metallurgical assay is a compositional analysis of an ore, metal, or alloy, usually performed in order to test for purity or quality. Some assay methods are suitable for raw materials; others are more appropriate for finished goods. Raw pre ...

er, Rémy-François L'Huillier. Le Sueur left the fort in 1701 to take samples to

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

for further analysis. While he was gone, however, the fort was apparently attacked and abandoned by 1702, and no more was heard of the remaining men. In addition, the blue clay was found to be worthless, not the copper ore Le Sueur had hoped. The fort was southwest of the present city of

Mankato Mankato ( ) is a city in Blue Earth, Nicollet, and Le Sueur counties in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It is the county seat of Blue Earth County, Minnesota. The population was 44,488 at the 2020 census, making it the 21st-largest city in Mi ...

(from "mah kato: "blue earth" in the

Sioux language Sioux is a Siouan language spoken by over 30,000 Sioux in the United States and Canada, making it the fifth most spoken Indigenous languages of the Americas, Indigenous language in the United States or Canada, behind Navajo language, Navajo, Cre ...

). Its exact location is unknown, although attempts have been made to find it.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fort L'huillier Buildings and structures in Blue Earth County, Minnesota L'Huillier L'Huillier 1700 establishments in New France French-American culture in Minnesota