Fort Miami, French colonial fort near St. Joseph, Michigan
Fort Miami was a French fortification built on the banks of the St. Joseph River in what is now Michigan, with earthen walls arranged in a triangular layout. Deep ditches ran around the structure to form a defensive perimeter.
René Robert Cavelier founded Fort Miami in November 1679 as a mission and trading post, establishing the first European presence in Michigan. Over the following decades, the site changed hands and grew into a regional trading hub.
The trading post served as a meeting place where French, Miami, and Potawatomi peoples exchanged goods and ideas on equal footing. This interaction shaped daily life at the river mouth and created bonds between distinct communities.
The site sits near the mouth of the St. Joseph River where it meets Lake Michigan, and it is best explored on foot. The ground is flat and easy to walk, though the river course has shifted slightly over time.
After the fort fell out of use, William Burnett set up a trading post on the same ground and married Kaukema, the daughter of a Potawatomi chief. That personal bond shaped how trade between European settlers and native peoples was conducted in the area.
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