The French in North America, Part II: La Louisiane & IllinoisLa Louisiane & Illinois

La Salle's dream was to build a trading colony at the mouth of the Mississippi River., which he had located in 1682.Between 1684-1687 he mounted an expedition with the support of King Louis XIV and private merchants. He and his colonists landed on the coast of modern Texas

Robert Cavelier Sieur de La Salle

9th April , 1682, at the mouth of the Mississippi River near modern Venice, Louisiana

Robert Cavelier Sieur de La Salle

Shannon Lee DawdyUniversity of Chicago

‘Rogue Colonialism’

“Agents who acted beyond the reach of the state and its clerical pens, or who acted in its name, but not necessarily in its interests..” (2005)

Old Fort Niagara

•Fort LaSalle 1669•Fort Conti 1679•For Denonville 1687-88•Permanent fortification "French Castle" 1726 •British take site, and create Fort Niagara 1759•British yield fort to the US 1796 •Fort Niagara recaptured by the British 1813 •Fort ceded to the US for second time 1815

Old Fort Niagara

Fort Ouiatenon 1717-1791

The first fortified European settlement in what is now Indiana. Established as a military outpost to prevent British expansion into Ohio. The fort served as a trading post for beaver furs and buffalo hides, but the French also tried to convert the natives to Catholicism: fort therefore based on defensive strategy, the quest for wealth, and missionary zeal.

The fort served as link in the French trading post system that stretched from the Mississippi River through the Illinois Country to the St. Lawrence River, and a supply depot for fur traders in the western Great Lakes

Pieux-en-terre construction

Soil stain of palisade trenchSoil stain of palisade trench

Northwest bastion & Northwest bastion & outline of powder outline of powder magazinemagazine

Ste. Genevieve, MissouriFrench colonial town

Detail of 1704 map of Old Mobile showing Fort Louis (the fort site has not been located by archaeologists)

Conjectural model of Fort Louis based on the map information & knowledge of other French forts

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Mobile was established in early 1702 by Pierre Le Moyne d’Iberville to serve as the military, political, & economic center of the newly founded colony of Louisiana.

Mobile was occupied until 1711, when the capital was moved to New Mobile (modern-day Mobile, Alabama).

Archaeology has been conducted at Old Mobile since 1989, under the direction of Dr. Gregory Waselkov of the University of South Alabama in Mobile.

-Port Dauphin, some 50 miles down river, served as the port for Mobile. It, too, has been the subject of archaeological investigation.

Four types of architecture are represented by the remains found at Old Mobile

poteaux sur sole – “post-on-sill” refers to structures with squared uprights on a groundsill

poteaux en terre - “post-in-ground” refers to close-set squared wall posts set upright in a trench

pieux en terre – “stakes-in-ground”refers to small round stakes placed upright in wall trenches

colombage construction of sophisticated timber-framed buildings with vertical beams placed 3–4 ft apart on a plate, often braced at the corners with diagonal timbers.

pièce sur pièce – literally, “piece on piece” a technique used at Ft. Louis, Ft. Toulouse, &c., involves placing hewn beams atop one another without digging trenches or post holes

In all styles the wooden architectural members were infilled by

Bousillage – daub - the walls were referred to as bousillé

1702 map of Old Mobile

1704 map of Old Mobile

Port Dauphin was the port for Old Mobile. Salvage excavations were conducted as part of a field school of the University of South Alabama, directed by Dr. Greg Waselkov.

Unearthing a perfectly Unearthing a perfectly preserved English wine preserved English wine bottle.bottle.

Structure 1Remains of a house, perhaps occupied by a missionary, that once stood on sills laid directly on the ground, a building technique referred to as poteaux-sur-sole.

Excavation of Structure 30, which was constructed with supporting posts set in a trench, a technique known as poteaux-en-terre

Structure 30 fully exposed, showing the interior poteaux-en-terre trenches enclosed by an external palisade trench. This may once have been a soldier’s home.

French French faïencefaïence, a tin-, a tin-glazed earthenware, glazed earthenware, is considered to be is considered to be one of the most one of the most diagnostic artifacts diagnostic artifacts of the French of the French presence in America. presence in America. This bowl is a variety This bowl is a variety of of faïencefaïence blancheblanche known as Brittany known as Brittany Blue.Blue.

A variety of A variety of faïencefaïence blancheblanche known as Seine known as Seine PolychromePolychrome..

A variety of A variety of faïencefaïence brunebrune known as Rouen known as Rouen Polychrome. Brown Polychrome. Brown faience has a thick faience has a thick brown lead glaze on brown lead glaze on the exterior & the the exterior & the forms are often forms are often cooking vessels used cooking vessels used in in haute cuisinehaute cuisine..

Other tin-glazed earthenwares found at Old Mobile & other French colonial sites

Dutch delft

English polychrome delftwareSpanish majolica

Coarse earthenware from the potteries of the Saintonge area: right, green-glazed bowl fragments; below, yellow-glazed plate

A field school student carefully exposes an intact lead-glazed earthenware plate

On a cold winter day in 1687, the small French ship Belle ran aground on the Texas coast, the victim of a run of bad luck and a howling north wind.

The Belle was the last of four ships of the expedition led by Robert Cavelier, sieur de La Salle.

Thousands of Venetian glass “seed” beads—568,798 in all—were contained in this trader’s box, some piled in rows, others still strung on strands of thread, ready to be traded to the Indians. Still nailed shut when it was uncovered, the box contained bits of the straw packing that had been placed underneath and over the top of the beads to protect them.