USA > New York > Niagara County > A brief history of old Fort Niagara > Part 2
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1 La Hontan, English ed., 1703, vol. I., page 78. ยบ Doc. Hist. N.Y., vol. I., page 148. 3 Col. Docs. N. Y., vol. IX., page 368. 4 Doc. Hist. of N. Y., vol. I., page 149. 5 Parkman, Frontenac, page 166, he quotes De Nonville Memoire, 10th August, 1688. 6 Parkman, Fontenac, page 166. 7 Col. Docs. N. Y., vol. III., page 516.
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territory, and the allegiance of the Iroquois, particularly the Senecas. were set up by both sides and the claims of each ridiculed by the other.
De Nonville's recent attack on the Senecas made it easy for Dongan to obtain their adherence to his views. De Nonville was extremely anxious for peace with the Iroquois just now, at almost any price. Dongan shrewdly referred some of the points in dispute to a meeting of the Iroquois chieftains,1 and these warriors declared they would make no peace, nor even a truce, until certain conditions, one of the most prominent of these being the destruction of all the French forts on the lakes, were complied with.2
In November, 1687, James II. of England consented to take the Iroquois, or Five Nations, as his subjects,3 and conferences were opened at London to adjust the many differences between France and England.
While their masters were negotiating, Dongan was materially strengthening his position and his relations with the Iroquois, until De Nonville, fearful of losing both Fort Frontenac and Fort Niagara, decided to abandon Niagara, as demanded by the English and Iro- quois, and so expressed his intention to Dongan, as his letter says, " in order to contribute to a permanent peace." .
The garrison of 100 men, left by De Nonville at Fort Niagara, July 31, 1687, had been reduced to about a dozen by the end of April, 1688, when a large party of Miamis, allies of the French, arrived, en- tered the fort, and defended it and the little garrison till a company of French soldiers came to its relief.5
On July 6, 1688, De Nonville issued the promised order for the abandonment of Fort Niagara." What a pang it must have cost him ! He sacrificed Niagara in the expectation of saving Frontenac. As it turned out he lost that also soon afterwards.
On September 15, 1688, Desbergeres, who on De Troyes' death had succeeded him as commandant of Niagara, assembled his men in the fort, read De Nonville's order to them, and gave directions for obeying it. The palisades were torn down, but the cabins and quarters were left standing, according to the order. "A written memorandum of the condition in which we leave said quarters, which will remain entire to maintain the possession His
1 Col. Docs. N. Y., vol. III , page 533. * Col. Docs. N. V., vol. III., 534. 3 Col. Docs. N. Y., vol III , page 503. Col. Docs. N. Y., vol. III , page 556. 5 Parkman, Frontenac, page 166. 6 Doc. Ilist. N. Y., vol. I , page 166.
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Majesty and the French have for a long time had in this Niagara dis- trict " was prepared.
In this memorandum it appears there was, first, in the centre of the square a large wooden cross, eighteen feet in height, erected on Good Friday, 1688, solemnly blessed by Rev. Father Millet, on the arms of which in large letters were inscribed :
REGN. VINC.
IMP. CHRS.
( Regnat, Vincit, Imperat Christus-Christ reigneth, conquereth, ruleth.)
REGN-VINO . OIMP.CHRS.
Among the buildings mentioned was a cabin for the commander, with a good chimney, a door and windows with fastenings.
Another with two rooms, a chimney, and window in each, etc.
Father Millet's cabin, with chimney, windows and sash.
A cabin opposite the Cross, with a board ceiling.
Still another cabin, a bake-house and an apartment at the end thereof.
A large and extensive frame building, with a double door, three windows, no chimney, floored with planks, and clapboarded outside. No doubt, the chapel.
A large store house, and a well with a cover.
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This interesting document will be found in full in Documentary History of New York, volume I., page 168, and in Colonial Documents of New York, volume IX., page 387.
A waiting vessel conveyed the garrison to Fort Frontenac.
So ends one chapter - De Nonville had succeeded in fortifying Niagara, as France desired ; but Indian cunning and ferocity, stirred on by English intrigue, and backed by England's demand, had com- pelled its demolition as England wanted.
1688-1719.
De Nonville was soon after recalled, and French policy hereafter was more of a cultivation of good will towards the Senecas especially. and the Iroquois generally. Always at variance with the five nations. because of the latter's leaning toward the English, henceforth, in time of peace, France cajoled them, and in time of war awed them by attack.
As for the English, they did not cultivate the Indians' friendship, henceforth, as successfully as did the French.
The regaining of Niagara was one of the main reasons for France's more conciliatory attitude towards the Iroquois, from this time on : and while over 30 years elapsed before she again had a fort there, its possession to her was worth the delay.
It was of more importance to her each year. Her fur trade was being directed to New York, and her possession of Niagara would largely restore it to Quebec. Niagara was the key to the control of the four upper lakes, as well as to the Valley of the Ohio, and it was the most important link in that great chain of fortifications she was building to connect her Canadian domain with that great western territory, which she claimed, and which was called Louisiana.
During the next thirty years, the attention of both France and England was constantly turned to Niagara. Several proposals were made by the respective Governors at Quebec and New York to their Governments for the erection of a fort at Niagara, some of these proposals being made when the two countries were at war, and some while they were at peace.
The peace of Ryswick, 1697, found France in possession of the St. Lawrence and Mississippi valleys, but still without the fort at Niag ara. But France was losing no chance to strengthen her position with the Iroquois, who were still friends of England, and, as France
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ratified a treaty with them in 1701, when England declared war in 1702, the neutrality of the Iroquois was secured and the war con- fined to New England.
A French plan to seize Niagara was submitted to the Court in 1706, but the alternative and elaborate suggestion of "having recourse to peace and mildness " seems to have better met the royal view.1
Article 15 of the peace of Utrecht, 1713, declared the five nations "subject to the dominion of Great Britain ;" but as this, literally con- strued, would have been an acknowledgment that the land on the Niagara was under England's rule, the French diplomats claimed a decided distinction between the "five nations being subject to, and their lands being subject to England." Indeed, it was contended that Niagara was in the Province of New York under this treaty clause,2 and a protest was made by Clinton against the French trying to occupy it.
In 1716 another recommendation for a fort at Niagara was sent from Quebec to France.3
It was through the influence of Chabert Joncaire, a Frenchman, that France was soon to obtain on the Niagara at Lewiston, a foot- hold which was merely a stepping-stone to the fort at the mouth of the river. This lad, taken a prisoner by the Senecas, his life spared, adopted into the tribe, and marrying a Seneca squaw, ob- tained great influence with the warriors. In 1700 he entered the French service, and continued therein till his death, forty years after, and this does not seem to have lessened the fondness of the Iroquois for him; for, in 1706, in the "proposal to take possession of Niagara," it is stated "the Iroquois actually suggest to him to establish himself among them, granting him liberty to select on their territory the place most acceptable to himself for the pur- pose of living there in peace, and even to remove their villages to the neighborhood of his residence, in order to protect him." 4
In 1718 orders came from France to extend the French trade and to erect magazines therefor.
JONCAIRE'S CABIN AT LEWISTON.
In the fall of 1719 the French were on very friendly terms with the Senecas, and the time had come to test Joncaire's popularity
I Col. Doc. of N. Y., vol. IX., page 773. 2 Col. Docs. N. Y., vol. IX., page 1061. & Col. Doc. of N. Y., vol. IX., page 874 4 Col. Doc. N. Y., vol. IX , page 773.
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with them, and he was sent to "try the minds of the Senecas, to see if they would consent to the ( French ) building a house on their land, and to maintain that settlement in case the English would oppose it." 1
It is more than probable that he was instructed in case the Senecas refused this French request, to take up their old offer to him of a location of a cabin for himself, and to locate it near the foot of the portage. In any event, his influence and his pres- ents obtained the desired consent, and early in 1720 he erected a bark cabin at Lewiston, on the river, hoisted a flag over it and called it " Magazine Royal." 2
The English at first used every means to have it destroyed, ap- pealing to the Senecas; but Joncaire's influence prevailed against that of Peter Schuyler and Philip Livingston, and it remained.
Joncaire seems promptly to have enlarged it, for it is referred to as a block-house, forty feet long and thirty feet wide, enclosed with palisades, "musket proof, with portholes for firing with small arms," in November, 1720, 3 and Joncaire was its commandant.
Failing to have this house demolished, the English demanded permission to have a similar house at the same place, and this, too, the Senecas refused. 4
Thus France again secured an entering wedge to the erection of a fort at the mouth of the river. These locations of Lewiston and Fort Niagara, both referred to in the correspondence of these early days as " Niagara," must not be confounded. Lewiston was at the exact foot of the portage, and at the head of navigation on the river, so the excuse of " a store-house " could be made for erecting a de fensive work there, that could not be made concerning such a build- ing where Fort Niagara now stands, seven miles away.
Charlevoix, in 1721, visited Joncaire's house, which he calls "a cabin to which they have already given the name of a fort, for they say with reason that in time it will become a veritable fortress." Charlevoix's work was not published till 1744, and in a note on the same page he adds: "The fort has since been built at the mouth of the Niagara River, on the same side and at the exact spot where M. de Nonville had built one."
1 Col. Docs. N Y., vol. V., page 588. " Col. Docs. N. Y , vol. V., page 555 Col. Doc. N. Y., vol. V., page 577. 4 Charlevoix Histoire de la Nouvelle France. 1744, Vr) III., page 227. 5 Charlevoix, Histoire de la Nouvelle France, vol III , page 225.
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A later traveler, at the time a guest of Gov. Simcoe, at Niagara, says of the fort : "It was originally constructed by Mr. de la Ton- quiere (Joncaire), three miles nearer the Falls, but was some years afterwards transferred to the spot where it now stands and where Mr. de Nonville threw up an entrenchment." 1
La Salle's palisaded store-house at Lewiston, built 1679, had no doubt disappeared when Joncaire's cabin was erected.
This fortified trading post of Joncaire's was a most important center for the next five years. It was the headquarters of French influence in this section. A few soldiers were maintained there under the name of "traders," the trade in furs was brisk, the Indians from the north, west and south coming there to barter. The chain of friend- ship with the Senecas was kept bright by friendly intercourse with their warriors, who constantly came there, French trading vessels often anchored at its rude wharf, bringing merchandise from Fronte- nac and returning laden with furs.
Thus the English for the first time failed to overcome the French influence with the Senecas and could not succeed in ousting them from their foothold on the Niagara.
In 1721, Gen. Hunter again recommended the erection of an English fort at Niagara2, supplementing the same suggestions made in 1720 by the authorities of Albany and Governor Burnet.3
STONE FORT AT THE MOUTH OF THE RIVER.
Thus matters progressed in the interest of the French till 1725, when the Marquis De Vaudreuil gave notice that he proposed to build a stone house at Niagara4, and in the fall of that year Longueil met the deputies of the five several Iroquois Nations at Onontague, and got them to consent to the erection of a stone house at Niagara, the plan of which he designed, and which was to cost 29,295 livres,5 equal to $5,592. Acting on this consent, he at once sent 100 men to hurry on the work.6
The Senecas made no serious opposition to the work, though it is probable it required all Joncaire's influence to induce them to reject the demands which the four other tribes of the five nations, appealed to and instigated by the English at New York, made, first
1 Rochefoucault's Travels, 1799, vol. I , page 257. 2 Col. Doc. N. Y., vol. V., page 561. 3 Col. Doc. N. Y., vol. V., page 572 and 579. 4 Col. Docs. N. Y., vol. IX., page 952 5 Col. Doc. N Y., vol. IX , page 953 and 958. 6 Col. Doc. N. Y., vol. IX., page 958.
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for the stoppage and later for the destruction of the structure, although they had previously given them consent, under French influence, to its erection.
This consent of the Iroquois (Senecas) to the French erecting a house at Niagara was ratified July 14, 1726, at a council held at Niagara.'
This house, commonly called the "Mess House" or "Castle," begun in 1725, was not fully completed till along in 1726."
Samuel DeVeaux, a resident of Niagara Falls, wrote in 1830:
" It is a traditionary story that the Mess House, which is a very strong building and the largest in the fort, was erected by stratagem. A considerable, though not powerful, body of French troops had arrived at the point. Their force was inferior to the surrounding Indians, of whom they were under some apprehensions. They ob- tained consent of the Indians to build a wigwam, and induced them, with some of their officers, to engage in an extensive hunt. The materials had been made ready and while the Indians were absent the French built. When the parties returned at night they had advanced so far with the work as to cover their faces and to defend themselves against the savages in case of an attack."3
Report says that the stone was brought from Frontenac. DeWitt Clinton wrote in 1810: "Considering the distance and the monstrous mass of stone one would think this impossible. As the stones about the windows are different and more handsome than those which com- pose the building, the probability is that the former only were brought from Fort Frontenac and that the latter are the common stone of the country." He gave the dimensions of the house as 105 x 47 feet.
Whether openly or by a ruse the French built the first story of the Mess House, the largest and strongest of the buildings ever built on the point of land up to this time, and the Indians, who had promised that the French should not be molested while they were occupied in the work of building the house they had obtained permission for, seem to have kept their word. Thus we come to the first permanent fort at this spot, and a fort has been maintained here continuously ever since.
Joncaire's block-house at Lewiston seems to have been allowed to fall into decay. Early in 1727 Louis XV., King of France, approved
Col. Doc. N. Y., vol V., page 803. 2 Doc, Hist. of N. Y., vol. I , page 291. The Falls of Niagara, 1839. page 119 4 Life of De Witt Clinton, 1849 page 124
THE "CASTLE " OR "MESS HOUSE," 1896
OLD FORT NIAGARA IN HISTORY.
plans for having it rebuilt that fall, at the same time approving of the location of the house at the mouth of the river, because it would prevent the English from trading on the north shore of Lake Ontario and seizing the Niagara River, which was the passage to the upper countries.1 Still, as it did not command the portage, he was willing to expend 20,430 livres to repair the house that did."
No doubt his wiser counselors advised differently, for the order was revoked3 and Joncaire's block house was abandoned in 1728.
That building had done good service ; it had given the French the desired foothold on the Niagara River; it had held and fostered the trade in furs : it had established French supremacy in this region, and furnished them with the key to the possession of the Upper Lakes and the Ohio Valley ; and last, and most important of all, it had been the means of France obtaining a real fortress at the point where her diplomats and armies had been waiting to erect one for over half a century. It had served its purposes, a fort had been built at the mouth of the river, its usefulness was ended and it was abandoned for ever.
1725-1744.
This new French fort, Fort Niagara, from this time on was grad- ually improved and strengthened, from time to time. Some works of defense must have been constructed at once, for, in September, 1730, an official report says : "Niagara is well fortified. It had only six guns, but Choueguen (Oswego) has furnished 24 of the largest calibre, which are now mounted. People are busy supplying Forts Duquesne, Niagara and Frontenac with provisions." 4
Still, even the possession of the long coveted fort did not give the French that absolute control of the fur trade that they had expected. From 1727 to 1736 England obtained by far the larger portion of the Indian traffic by means of a liberal sale and distribution of brandy. the "fire water" of the Indians, at the trading post she had built at Oswego in 1722. The French authorities, relying on their advantages of location had made decided efforts to discontinue this liquor traffic, largely, no doubt, through the influence of the priests and mission- aries of the Catholic Church, and at Niagara the supply of brandy furnished was very limited.
1 Col. Docs. N Y., vol. IX., page 964. 2 Col. Docs. N. Y , vol. IV , page 05 Docs. N. Y., vol. IX., page 1003. Col. Docs. N. Y., vol. N., page 431.
Coli
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In October, 1736, an official report by Beauharnois and Hocquart to France, says : "As for the commerce now carried on at Fort Frontenac and Niagara it becomes every year more inconsiderable in comparison to the expenses the king incurs there. These two posts, which pro- duced some years ago as much as 52,000 lbs. of peltries, have these four years past returned only 25,000 to 35,000 lbs. This falling off has occurred merely since the discontinuance of the distribution of brandy to the Indians, whereof it is the king's pleasure that Messrs. de Beauharnois and Hocquart be very sparing. We admit that it is difficult, and perhaps impossible, to sell brandy to the major portion of the Indians without their getting drunk. But it is equally certain that nothing deters them from trading with the French in these posts, and anywhere else in the upper countries, more than the refusal to sell them any of this liquor for which they entertain an inexpressible fondness. They find plenty of it at Choueguen (Oswego), where they repair from all the posts of the upper countries without any means of stopping them at Niagara. Sieurs de Beauharnois and Hocquart perceive, unfortunately, no means of destroying or interrupting the commercial relation this drink keeps up between the Indians and the English." 1
Thus it is clear that as between the obtaining and the not obtain- ing of drink, the extra travel of over 100 miles made no difference to the Indians of this early date, and the English took full advantage of the commercial benefits thus to be derived over their more con- scientious French adversaries.
In 1739, the pickets of the fort were falling down and were repaired.2
In 1741, the Governor of New York reported that he held the Five Nations only by presents, and that it would be absolutely necessary to take Fort Niagara.3
In 1745, there were 100 men and four cannon at Fort Niagara. Later, the French policy of not selling brandy to the Indians was reversed.
In 1750 Sir William Johnson wrote that a friend of his had seen a letter from the Lord Lieutenant at Quebec to the Commander at Fort Niagara, authorizing him to hold the Indian trade, "even if it cost the Crown 30,000 livres a year, and also to supply them with what rum and brandy they wanted."
1 Col. Doc. N. Y., vol. IX., page 1049. 2 Col. Doc. N. Y., vol. IX., page 1068. 3 Col. Docs. N. Y., vol. VI., page 186.
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France saw the growing power of England, and recognized that the great contest for supremacy in North America was near at hand, and tried every conceivable effort to strengthen herself.
In 1751, Fort Niagara was further strengthened.'
In 1751, Father Picquet visited the fort. He describes it "as well located for defense, not being commanded from any point, but the rain was washing the soil away by degrees, notwithstanding the vast expense which the king incurred to sustain it.":
During the French possession of Fort Niagara, beginning in 1726, and ending in 1759, that fortress served many purposes and yearly increased in importance.
As the most important military post on the lakes, as a stand- ing means of overawing the Indians, as the greatest trading post in the country, and as a center of French influence, it held such a commanding position that England was determined ultimately to own it.
Rumor says, and what circumstantial evidence we have tends to prove it, that during French rule it was also used as a State prison, as were many of the French fortresses, distant from France, in those days.
S. De Veaux says, "The dungeon of the Mess House, called the black hole, was a strong, dark and dismal place, and in one corner of the room was fixed the apparatus for strangling such unhappy wretches as fell under the displeasure of the despotic rulers of those days. The walls of this dungeon, from top to bottom, had engraved upon them French names and mementoes in that language. That the prisoners were no common persons was clear, as the letters and emblems were chiseled out in good style. In June, 1812, when an attack was momentarily expected upon the fort by a superior British force, a merchant, resident at Fort Niagara, deposited some valuables in this dungeon. He took occasion one night to visit it with a light. He ex- amined the walls and there, among hundreds of French names, he saw his own family name engraved in large letters."
This dungeon is a room 6 by 18 feet in size, and 10 feet high, whose stone walls and arched stone roof contains no aperture for light or air. It is on the first floor, and is to-day perfectly accessible. The well of the castle was located in it.
1 Winsor, Nar. and Crit. Hist. of Am , vol. V., page 490. ' D'oc Hist. N. Y., vol I. page 283. 3 The Falls of Niagara, 1839, page 120.
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Deveaux was of French descent, born in the latter part of the 18th century, and during the early years of this century lived at Fort Niagara.
Another statement of his that " this old fort is as much noted for enormity and crime as for any good ever derived from it by the nation in occupation " is probably not far from the truth.
As improvements and extensions were made in the fortifications, Fort Niagara became a place of great strength, and was, and had been for some years when England captured it, the most important spot in North America south of Montreal or west of Albany.
The fortifications at one period are said to have covered a space of nearly eight acres. It was a little city in itself, and the commander was the most important man in, and the practical ruler of, a vast tract of country.
Included within this acreage were the various buildings and forti- fications directly connected with the fort proper, and the buildings required for a vast trading post. The gardens, which were main- tained by the officers, were located east of the fortifications on the bluff overlooking the lake.
The cemetery, outside the fortifications, was "a few rods from the barrier gate, and filled with the memorials of the mutability of human life." Over the portal of its entrance, in large letters, was the word " Rest," which, if the fort was used as a state prison, must have been full of significance to the unhappy prisoners, at least.
Its location was probably the same as that of the garrison cemetery of to-day, beneath whose sod doubtless lie the bones of many Frenchmen, who, in times of peace and war, " for the good of their country," gave up their lives - some as soldiers in their country's service, others as prisoners of state. Here, too, no doubt, lie the bones of many Englishmen, whose lives ended at this historic fort, far from their native land, but serving her interests.
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