1768, May.] THE FORT. 213 



forebodings of impending evil distuu'bed the breast 

 of many a timorous matron. 



La Motte-Cadillac was the founder of Detroit. In 

 the year 1701, he planted the little military colony, 

 which time has transformed into a thriving American 

 city.^ At an earlier date, some feeble efforts had 

 been made to secure the possession of this impor- 

 tant pass ; and when La Hontan visited the lakes, 

 a small post, called Fort St. Joseph, was standing 

 near the present site of Fort Gratiot. The wan- 

 dering Jesuits, too, made frequent sojourns upon 

 the borders of the Detroit, and baptized the savage 

 children whom they found there. 



Fort St. Joseph was abandoned in the year 1688. 

 The establishment of Cadillac was destined to a 

 better fate, and soon rose to distinguished impor- 

 tance among the western outposts of Canada. 

 Indeed, the site was formed by nature for pros- 

 perity ; and a bad government and a thriftless 

 people could not prevent the increase of the 

 colony. At the close of the French war, as Major 

 Rogers tells us, the place contained twenty-five 

 hundred inhabitants.^ The centre of the settle- 

 ment was the fortified town, currently called the 

 Fort, to distinguish it from the straggling dwellings 

 along the river banks. It stood on the western 

 margin of the river, covering a small part of the 

 ground now occupied by the city of Detroit, and 

 contained about a hundred houses, compactly- 

 pressed together, and surrounded by a palisade. 



1 Memorial of La Motte Cadillac. See Schoolcraft, Oneota, 407. 



2 A high estimate. Compare Rameau, Colonie du Detroit, 28. 



