The Fort la Presentation Association commemorated the 275th anniversary of Father Picquet's landing at Lighthouse Point in Ogdensburg. Below is the text of the speech I gave at that event.
Good afternoon everyone,
Today, we gather to commemorate the establishment of Fort de la Presentation by Abbe Francois Picquet on this very site on June 1, 1749. It’s a significant event in the history of this region, and it’s an honor to be invited here to speak about it.
As we all know, Picquet was not alone when he arrived here. He was accompanied by 25 French men and 4 Native Americans, and together they traveled for 21 days from Montreal to reach this site.
It was not an easy journey, as they had to navigate through ten rapids on the St. Lawrence River, carrying both provisions and supplies to build a house and the fort. But their determination and hard work paid off, and by the fall of that year, they had built Fort la Presentation, which sheltered 300 native people.
But why was Fort la Presentation established here?
One reason was to convince all Haudenosaunee to the south of the Great Lakes to join the side of France enabling the French to have a fighting force of Native Americans to protect trade on the St. Lawrence River and protect Fort Frontenac, now Kingston. Another reason would be the ability to control the valuable fur trade to the south.
The man behind this fort, Abbe Francois Picquet, was born in Bourg-en-Bresse, France on December 4, 1708. Picquet was ordained as a Sulpician priest in 1734, then traveled to New France, where he served as a parish priest in Montreal before moving to the Sulpician mission at Lake of the Two Mountains at Oka, Quebec.
In 1747, French leaders decided to establish a new fort near what’s now Kingston, Ontario, and Picquet was given the task of converting Native Americans to the French side.
Picquet was the perfect man for this job, with his fluency in Mohawk and his familiarity with the land, gained through following Native American warriors on raids. He had even participated in the Saratoga raid during King George’s War in 1745.
Because of this French attack the Indian Commissioners at Albany requested the help of the Haudenosaunee and New York’s colonial government rushed to fortify the frontier to protect not only Saratoga, but Albany as well.
So having a fort situated here would allow the French to launch attacks on the British frontier. The French also saw an economic benefit in controlling the fur trade to the south, and this fort would serve as a base for that.
But constructing a fort would cost a lot of money, so before the construction of the fort, Picquet had proposed the idea of constructing portages and even a canal around the rapids, with tolls being charged to offset the cost of construction. This didn’t happen, but it does show how important this fort was to Picquet.
So with that being said, Father Picquet didn’t waste any time finding an appropriate spot for the fort. He and his Native American guides arrived on this very site in November of 1748 and Picquet immediately saw the site’s value.
With the permission of the Haudenosaunee the French built a fort right here because the Haudenosaunee were concerned about British settlers encroaching on their land in the Mohawk Valley.
An alliance with the French was seen as the lesser evil because the French were not as great a threat to the native people, as their numbers were small, and New France was more of a commercial colony with fishing and the fur trade being more important than establishing large settlements.
After selecting the site, Picquet returned to Montreal to gather supplies and workers to build the fort, but it wasn’t an easy task. Remember there were ten rapids on the St Lawrence River. The Abenaki were hesitant to accompany him back here due to the danger of traversing the Lachine Rapids in particular in the spring.
However, Picquet would not be deterred and they agreed to accompany him. They arrived here on May 30th and Picquet named the fort site in honor of the Feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Temple. The Native Americans who accompanied him called the site "soegatsi."
The new fort was not only a military base but also a place for Picquet’s Native American Christian converts to give up their nomadic lifestyle and start farming.
This was made possible by clearing fields and cutting down trees, not just for the construction of the fort but also to encourage farming. So Fort la Presentation wasn’t only a military fort, but also a mission to spread Christianity to native people.
However, the new fort was barely finished when in September 1749, it was raided by Native Americans from central New York, and all but Father Picquet's house was burned down. But the fort was quickly rebuilt, and by 1751, there were about 1,500 Native Americans living around it, after Onondaga chief Ononwaro brought his people to settle here.
The fort continued to grow, and by 1755, there were an estimated 3,000 Native Americans living around the fort and on three islands. To put this into perspective, the settlement of Montreal had only 4,000 people at that time.
Picquet believed that the location of the fort was perfect to attract native people to settle here and convert to Christianity, as it was easily accessible and had plenty of resources for hunting and fishing.
He also hoped to increase trade between the French and Native Americans in the area. However, despite Picquet's efforts, trade with the British was still very common due to the fort’s location, which made it easy for Native Americans to trade with Albany, a British trading post.
Picquet believed that the fort could serve as a point of transfer for cargo between smaller boats and larger ships, and he even saw the potential for shipbuilding due to the abundance of oak timber and a sawmill. He also thought the fort could act as a support for Fort Niagara and Fort Frontenac and as a base for attacks on Fort Oswego.
The garrison at Fort la Presentation varied throughout the years, but at its peak, it had about 150 men and mission church records show that visitors and possible residents included Abenaki, Onondaga, Oneida, Cayuga, Loup, Ottawa, Nipissing, Mississauga, Montagnais, and Algonquin among other native people. In fact, there were thousands of them living around the fort and on three islands.
Priests assigned to the fort were fluent in Mohawk and Algonquin languages, showing that there were a number of different Native American groups visiting the fort for baptisms and marriages and there were many funerals.
General Montcalm’s aide-de-camp reported that beside the fort was a village of 100 campfires and that there was a clearing with cows, horses, pigs and hens. The native people had grown about 600 bushels of maize. So Picquet’s vision of creating a native community of Christian converts seems to have been successful.
In fact, British colonists, most notably Ben Franklin, meeting at the Albany Congress in 1754 saw Fort la Presentation as a threat and wanted it destroyed. The Albany Plan of Union never came to fruition and the fort continued to serve as a military base with Picquet leading Native Americans into battle at Fort William Henry, Ticonderoga, Oswego, and Quebec.
It also served as a hospital, supply depot, and transfer point for prisoners taken by Native American warriors. The warriors of La Presentation also participated in de Lery's attack that destroyed Fort Bull, now Rome, NY, in 1756.
In conclusion, the 18th century was a time of continuous warfare between Britain and France, and the French and Indian War in North America was just a small part of it. The control of the lucrative fur trade and domination of the continent were the main goals of both sides.
Fort la Presentation was a small part of this conflict and was significant in the history of this region. It’s a testament to the determination and hard work of Abbe Francois Picquet and many Native American people.
It served as a military base, a place for Native American converts to settle and farm, and a point of trade and commerce. Let us remember and honor the legacy of Picquet and all those who contributed to the establishment and growth of this fort.
Thank you.
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