7 Year War part 1 The Encampment

This may take several posts! This event is an annual event which is held in Ogdensburg New York. At the time, this whole area was owned by the Onedaga, Mohican, Iriquois, and a few others, all of whom figured that if they got the French on their side, they could control most of their known world. After all, the French had muskets, powder, ball, and a market for all those beaver skins. The French also had Christianity, and were not afraid to use it! They established an "abbie", (a combination church, hospital, and trading post) at a point about half way between the rapids of Montreal, and Fort Frontenac (Kingston Ontario), right at the mouth of a river which you could canoe South to (eventually) get to the Hudson, and Virginia Colonies. Because those pesky British would use the Oswegatchi river to try and raid French territory, the French army decided to fortify that spot, with a simple palisade fort called "Fort La Presentation". It was also a really good place to assemble raiding parties to "define their borders".

This small fort was founded by Abbe Francoise Picquete on the day of the Presentation of the Virgin in 1749. Hence the name. These pics show random pictures of the tents, encampments and re-enactors at the site of Fort de la Presentation in July of 2006, the 250th anniversary of the French and Indian War. As usual, click on the images to see them full size.