When we think of the military and colonial history of Kingston, most people think of Fort Henry, Royal Military College, and British settlements (the city is named after King George III after all!) But an underestimated historical site in Kingston is Fort Frontenac. Fort Frontenac is a historical and archeological site that was the first European colony on the land that we today call Kingston and this fort can tell us a lot about the military and cultural history of Kingston and the Indigenous, French, and British people that lived on this land.

Before the French arrived in Kingston, this land, which is known by many names such as Ka’taroh:kwi, Ken’tarókwen, and Cataracoui, was occupied by a large variety of Indigenous groups, including the Huron-Wendat, the Anishinaabe, the Algonquin and the Mississauga, and the Haudenosaunee which includes the Mohawk, the Oneida, and the Cayuga. All these groups claimed this land at one point or another and lived along Lake Ontario and where the French would eventually settle.

Louis de Buade de Frontenac

Louis de Buade de Frontenac was a French man who was quite independent, authoritative, and decisive. When he lived in France he lived a luxurious and expensive lifestyle which put him in enormous debt. Despite this, he was named the governor of New France in 1672 and travelled to Canada.

350 years ago, Louis de Frontenac arrived in Canada and immediately wanted to monopolize the fur trade between the Indigenous and establish his colony. So, de Frontenac and his men quickly constructed Fort Cataraqui during their meeting with the chiefs of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. René-Robert Cavalier, Sieur de La Salle (whom La Salle High School is named after), a lord of this colony, would later change this name to Fort Frontenac, in honour of his patron and ally, Louis de Frontenac. Fort Frontenac was used as a commercial center between the Indigenous and the French colonists and as a military base to protect the French against the British.

Relations Between the Indigenous and the French

This colony of Fort Frontenac was a place where the French made both enemies and allies with the Indigenous. The Huron-Wendat nation was their principal ally because of their common enemy, the Haudenosaunee. These two Indigenous groups competed for resources and territories in the region.

The Huron-Wendat were one of the first Indigenous nations to have contact with the French at the beginning of the seventeenth century when they established an alliance with the French colonizer Samuel de Champlain. Because of this alliance, the French entered into war against the Haudenosaunee. This war, also called the Beaver Wars, took place for the majority of the seventeenth century. In this period, the Haudenosaunee traded with their European allies, the British and the Dutch and the fur trade was tense with much rivalry amongst the Indigenous and their European allies.

Fort Frontenac was a center for trading between the French and the Indigenous. The trading between these two groups consisted of Europeans providing items such as knives, needles, and guns and the Indigenous providing furs, fish, and wild beasts.

In 1688, their relations were tense because of the competing alliances in the fur trade, the Haudenosaunee and the French needed to develop their territories, and the Indigenous peoples were badly affected by the diseases that the French brought over from Europe. The French soldiers planned campaigns against the Haudenosaunee and imprisoned some Haudenosaunee people in their fort. In retaliation, the Haudenosaunee attacked and besieged the fort. Due to their lack of provisions because of the Haudenosaunee attack, many French people and their Indigenous allies succumbed to scurvy. Eventually, the French soldiers abandoned the almost-destroyed Fort.

The Battle of Fort Frontenac and British Occupation

The French returned in 1695 and reconstructed their fort. For many years they continued the fur trade, though this was not really lucrative for them, so the fort remained mainly as a French garrison.

Great Britain and France were in the Seven Years’ War which took place from 1756 to 1763, where they fought over territory in North America. Fort Frontenac played a role in this conflict because the British considered the fort to be a threat due to its connection with the other French forts and colonies in New France. During the Battle of Fort Frontenac in 1758, the British outnumbered the French. Frontenac was weak and the small fort did not have reinforcements, so the fort had to surrender to the British.

The British did not really use the obsolete fort until the War of 1812 when Fort Frontenac was an important military base, until they constructed their own fort, Fort Henry, during this time.

Today

Presently, Fort Frontenac is designated as a National Historic Site of Canada. It is the current site of the Canadian Army Command and Staff College or CACSC, a staff college for the Canadian Armed Forces that is not open to the public.

The city of Kingston started an archeological dig in 1982 and discovered the original fortifications and walls of the fort. The dig continued in 1987 where the archeologists rediscovered the human bones of French soldiers, members of the colony, and men and women who lived and died in Fort Frontenac. More recently in 2020, many items were rediscovered including rare artifacts which represent French occupation in Ontario. These artifacts including trade beads, bones from beavers and fish, and gun flints, can provide us with clues on the ways that the people of Fort Frontenac lived. Human bones were rediscovered as well, of French soldiers, members of the colony, and men and women who lived and died in Fort Frontenac.

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Written by: Ava Delaney, Queen’s University

Vous pouvez lire la version anglaise de L’histoire du Fort Frontenac ici

If you would like to learn more about the Museums, Art Galleries and Historic Sites of Kingston and the Area start by exploring the spaces around you!