Fort Trois-Rivières (french: Fort des Trois-Rivières) was a 17th-century wooden fort in
New France. It was built between 1634 and 1638 by the
Sieur de Laviolette
The Sieur de Laviolette was the first commander of Trois-Rivières, a Canadian city in Central Quebec.
Background
The area of Trois-Rivières (Three Rivers), located on the St Lawrence River at the mouth of the St. Maurice River, was first explo ...
.
The construction of a wooden fort on this site marked the second permanent settlement in New France and the foundation of the modern city of
Trois-Rivières,
Quebec,
Canada. It was recognized as a
National Historic Site of Canada on January 30, 1920.
[Roy-Sole, Monique. "A Tale of Tenacity", ''Canadian Geographic Magazine'', April 2009, Vol. 129, No. 2, p. 31.]
It was protected by a palisade that repelled a large
Iroquois attack in 1653 and was in use until 1668. It was demolished following a
peace treaty
A peace treaty is an agreement between two or more hostile parties, usually countries or governments, which formally ends a state of war between the parties. It is different from an armistice, which is an agreement to stop hostilities; a surr ...
signed with the Iroquois in 1668.
It was strengthened by the governor of New France,
Louis d'Ailleboust de Coulonge, at the end of 1650. He gave very specific instructions for a more effective defence from attacks to the site's commander,
Pierre Boucher
Pierre Boucher de Boucherville (born Pierre Boucher; 1 August 162219 April 1717) was a French settler, soldier, officer, naturalist, official, governor, and ennobled aristocrat in Nouvelle-France or New France (in what is now Canada). Early life
P ...
. It was "saved from complete destruction as a result of the investments of 1653, by five hundred
Mohawks
The Mohawk people ( moh, Kanienʼkehá꞉ka) are the most easterly section of the Haudenosaunee, or Iroquois Confederacy. They are an Iroquoian languages, Iroquoian-speaking Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous people of North America ...
."
[Sylvie Ravet-Biton:" Les pionniers tonnerois de la Nouvelle-France ", Société d'Archéologie et d'Histoire du Tonnerois. Tonnerre. France. 179 p.]
Commemorative plaque
A commemorative plaque is fixed to a large stone located south of the post office on des Casernes Street in what is today known as Platon Park. The perimeter of the fort is bounded by present-day streets of Saint-Pierre, Saint-Jean, Saint-Louis, des Casernes and Notre-Dame.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fort Trois-Rivieres
Buildings and structures in Trois-Rivières
Buildings and structures completed in 1638
Trois-Rivieres
Buildings and structures demolished in the 17th century
Trois-Rivieres
National Historic Sites in Quebec
Heritage sites in Mauricie
1638 establishments in New France
1668 disestablishments in New France