Foundation of Fort Ponchartrain
- When
- 1701
- Where
- Lachine near Montreal; North side of the Detroit River
- Episodes
- 2
In 1701, Antoine Laumet de Lamothe Cadillac established Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit on the north side of the Detroit River. The settlement served as a French colony, later becoming the city of Detroit.
Episodes
- Foundation of Fort Pontchartrain
The French fortification was established on the north side of the Detroit River.
- Departure from Lachine
Cadillac led 100 settlers and soldiers from Lachine to establish the new colony.
Background and detail
Background. Antoine Laumet de Lamothe Cadillac, previously commander of Fort de Buade at Michilimackinac, proposed establishing a colony at Detroit in 1698. The location was known to the French as Le Détroit du Lac Érié, meaning 'The Strait of Lake Erie.'
Establishment. In June 1701, Cadillac departed from Lachine near Montreal with 100 settlers and soldiers to found the fort. The fortification was established on the north side of the Detroit River, in the area now known as downtown Detroit.
People involved
- Antoine Laumet de Lamothe Cadillac · Founder and Commander
Sources
- Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit Wikipedia, revision of 2026-07-19
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.