The Fox Wars

¶ … History of the Fox Wars

The Fox Wars were fought between the Fox (Mesquakie) American Indians and the French in the early 18th Century. The first Fox War occurred from roughly 1712 to 1714, although there were problems between the groups outside of this timeframe. The second war took place in 1728. Both wars were fought in the then-French territory of Wisconsin. The two wars, occurring more than a decade apart, were fought for variety of reasons but were interrelated due to the ongoing relationships between the warring groups. Mainly the struggles persisted due to access to land and waterways, security of expanding French forces into the West, and mistrust perpetuated by previous encounters.

The two main parties in the Fox Wars were the Meskwaki Native Americans and the French. The Meskwaki, also known as the Mesquakie and the Outagamie, were called Renards ("The Fox") by early French Explorers. Their alliance and similar history with the Sauk Indians often results in both groups being referred to as a single tribe, though this is inaccurate. Having been pushed west from the eastern great lakes region by the Iroquois in the mid-17th Century, the Meskwaki settled along the Saint Lawrence River east of Michigan in present day Wisconsin. There they controlled the Fox River system, resulting in early conflict with French explorers and trappers.

The Fox Wars were the result of actions set in motion by disagreements over territory control between the French and the Meskwaki of Wisconsin. In 1701 New France had finally achieved peace with the Iroquois Indians and sought to secure the frontiers of the West. Specifically, it desired to win out over English competition in the market of expansion and trade. To reach this goal they built strategic garrison points at the straits between Lake Huron and Lake Erie, and at the mouth of the Mississippi River. Their plan included the nearby Indian tribes, incorporating them into the garrison's economic unit by relocating them around the French forces. This was a voluntary movement for the Indians and was meant to benefit both groups by promoting trade, shared agriculture, and shared information.

Despite open communication by local French and many Indian tribes violence nonetheless occurred frequently. Charles Juchereau, traveling west after 1702 with a group of Frenchmen, reported that his group was ambushed and held up for tribute by a group of Fox Indians in Wisconsin. Juchereau's post L'Huillier was later attacked by the Fox Indians because Juchereau had befriended the Fox's rivals, the Sioux. The French at L'Huillier were driven out of Illinois since the Fox Indians were concerned that the French would sell firearms to the Sioux. In 1906 a missionary and a French soldier were killed in "an intertribal quarrel" at Fort Pontchartrain. Relations were further strained when a Jesuit Priest was wounded on the portage route near the Illinois River in 1906, raising additional concern about the safety of travel in the area. Meskwaki control of the Fox River system made them of significant concern for the French, who wanted to be able to freely travel on the waterways without fear or need to pay tribute. The Meskwaki, however, sought to live safely by controlling the coming and going of outsiders within their own territories. Additionally, they wanted to quell alliances between their opponents, including the Sioux, and the wealthy French settlers.

New France recognized that the Fox presented problems in their goal to stabilize the area. Antoine la Mothe de Cadillac was charged with forging an agreement with the Meskwaki that would allow for free travel on Wisconsin's waterways. In 1910, Cadillac invited all tribes in the area of Green Bay to move to the Detroit area and participate in the shared agriculture and economic endeavor that French forces were building there. Some of the Meskwaki moved to Detroit, temporarily solving travel problems for the French. However, the Meskwaki were not able to live peaceably with the other tribes living in the Detroit area. French reports explain that the Meskwaki's previous experience of controlling their own areas had left them proud, arrogant, and uncompromising. Whether this was the reason or not, peace between the Meskwaki and the French was not to last.

In 1711 Cadillac relocated to Louisiana, leaving Francois Daupin Sieur de la Forest in control of French forces in the area. La Forest was soon ill and temporarily ceded control to Charles Regnault Sieur Dubuisson. In the same year, New France was threatened by a large English force and called upon all of its Indian allies to travel to Quebec and aid in the defense of New France. The English forces, however, were lost at sea and never arrived. Governor Vaudreuil took advantage of the opportunity to address all of the allied tribes at once, thanking them for their support. He also mentioned his specific concerns for the Meskwaki, encouraging them to move back to their Wisconsin villages (and away from Detroit) in order to prevent future conflict.

The Meskwaki did not move, however, and conflict did continue. The first of the Fox Wars began when the Ottawa Indians carried out an attack on the Mascouten near St. Joseph River in the winter of 1711-1712. In response the Meskwaki attacked the Ottawa's allies living near them around the fort at Detroit, though the Meskwaki had no specific alliance with the Mascouten. Dubuisson in turn allowed the Huron and Ottawa Indians to protect them in the Fort and retaliate against the Meskwaki villages. The Meskwaki built a stockade and defended themselves against the attacks until the French began supporting the attack. At this point the Meskwaki sent emissaries to the French asking for a truce but were denied. Instead, Dubuisson aimed to wipe out the group since he, like many others in New France, considered proud, arrogant, and problematic. After their numbers were fading due to hunger and thirst, the Meskwaki attempted to escape northeast to an area near Fox Creek near the city of Detroit. There their pursuers intercepted them.

Three hundred men and seven hundred women and children were killed at Fox Creek. Survivors were "taken and tortured to death," as was the wish of Dubuisson, who felt that it was God's will that the Fox and Mascouten be eliminated. Later, Dubuisson claimed that the Meskwaki had attempted an attack, thus deserving the massacre that they endured; however, it is unlikely that any attack was planned with so many women and children at hand. Despite the nearly total defeat of the group at Fox Creek, many other Meskwaki still existed in the Wisconsin area. Additionally, the Meskwaki had allies in the Sauk, Kickapoo, Mascouten, and Winnebago Indians. These groups continued to make it unsafe for Frenchmen and others to travel on any waterways in the area. They also attacked French-allied Indians who had participated in the slaughter at Fox Creek, raiding them and contaminating their lands until they were "dying of hunger in their cabins, not daring to leave them."

In 1714, Jacques Sabrevois was sent to replace La Forest, who had finally died at Detroit. Concurrently, peace was declared between England and France, leaving New France to concentrate on the West with all of its forces. Two young Canadians from noble families, Louis Sieur de Manoir and Gabriel Francois le Moyne Sieur d'Adoucourt, were charged with gathering the Miami and Illinois tribes in preparation for an attack on the Meskwaki Indians. However, sickness overtook the group and the Meskwaki continued attacking French allies unchecked while the two young men headed homeward. When Cherokee Indians later killed the two men, people in Canada assumed that the Meskwaki were involved. That assumption bolstered public support for an expedition against the Meskwaki.

The veteran Sieur de Louvigny was put in charge of the endeavor but could not act until 1716. In May of 1716 Louvigny left Montreal with more than 200 white soldiers about 400 Indians. They traveled along the lower lakes in the area in order to intimidate any Iroquois Indians and thereby discourage the possibility of their supporting the Meskwaki forces. The force traveled through Mackinac to the mouth of the Fox River, where the Meskwaki lived along the west side of the Little Lake Butte des Morts. Rather than fleeing from the large force, as was expected by Louvigny, the Meskwaki forces stood their ground and defended their fort. An estimated three thousand women accompanied the five hundred male warriors in the defensive. After three days the Meskwaki sent a white flag to Louvigny and asked for peace terms. Though he was inclined to wipe out their forces entirely, Louvigny agreed to terms that he himself called severe. No matter what provisions were offered, contemporaries and historians alike are unsure of Louvigny's reasons for allowing the Meskawki to live. These included the restoration of all French prisoners, the cession of all Meskwaki territory to the French crown, and the demand that the Meskwaki hunt to pay for the costs of the war. In return, the French would release six hostages, including Chief Pemoussa.

Louvigny returned to Quebec and was considered by Canadians to have ended the first Fox War. He returned to the area in 1717 to continue the policing of the Meskwaki forces, yet made little progress in making contact or forcing the provisions of the previous treaty. In later communication with the government, Meskwaki chiefs expressed their own desire for peace. During the period between 1714 and 1727, the French were able to reopen waterways and move freely throughout the areas previously hindered by the danger of Indian encounters. However, other communications between the French and the American Indians were failing. Among these, the greatest failure was the inability of the French to include the Indian groups in the agricultural settlements they had attempted, including the one at Detroit.

Though the city groups of Indians and white men did not last, the area remained secure enough for the French and Americans to successfully establish posts at all key portage and waterway routes. These routes included the paths connecting the Great Lakes with the Mississippi valley, the Maumee portage, the St. Joseph River portage, and the Illinois portage. Additionally the French post at Fort Howard was built and was maintained until the fall of the French in the Americas. A 1726 council at Lignery between the French and Meskwaki had concluded peace between the groups. Further, the French promised the Meskwaki a post and commandment. This never materialized, and the French's expansion into the northwest was slowing.

However, by the mid-1720s the Meskwaki were causing difficulties for French expeditions again, hindering the fur trade and threatening French stability. French reports indicate that the Meskwaki were planning to expel the French entirely from their area of Wisconsin. Meskwaki chief Kiala rallied many groups of Native Americans together for this purpose, including tribes as far away as the Iroquois, the Oto and the Sioux. In 1727, Meskwaki forces killed a French lieutenant and seven other soldiers who were traveling up the Missouri River from Fort de Chartres. France considered the killings an act of war and began the second of the Fox Wars with the goal of eliminating all opposing Meskwaki forces.

Canada's new governor-general, the Marquis de Beauharnois, replaced Vaudreuil in 1727. Inexperienced in Indian affairs, Beauharnois opposed the warnings of his advisors and sent a force of 400 French and 800 Indians into Wisconsin in August of 1728. The force was led by Lignery and was able to recruit 300 more men at Mackinac. Traveling across Green Bay and arriving at the French fort at night, Lignery's plan was to surprise the Meskwaki. However, Lignery's forces were too large to remain hidden and a Potawatomi chief who was acting as a double agent reported his whereabouts to the Meskwaki. Lignery traveled up the Fox River and found the area to be nearly deserted. From the few people left behind, Lignery learned that the Meskwaki had fled and assembled a fort further up river. Further, he learned that the women, children, and elderly were retreating by canoe while the men followed along the river by foot. Lignery followed along the Fox River until it met with the Wolf, but did not go farther. Lignery reportedly had many excuses for why he was unable to find and attack the Meskwaki, and instead burned the crops and cabins he found in an attempt to force starvation on the tribe.

The consequences of Lignery's failure in 1728 were devastating to French interests in the area. French groups in area forts and trading posts felt threatened when they realized their position between the Meskwaki and their allies, the Sioux. Among these was a group of about twenty soldiers and twenty traders at Fort Beauharnois. Some traders refused to leave their goods and stayed in the fort, while the others attempted to canoe down the Mississippi toward safety. The group was intercepted near the mouth of the Wisconsin River by a group of Mascouten and Kickapoo Indians. The Mascouten and Kickapoo were Meskwaki allies and captured the party, most likely with the intent of turning them over to the Meskwaki. However, a faction of the group escaped and the others succeeded, after being kept over the winter of 1728-1729, in convincing the Indians to let them go. They further convinced the Indians to break their alliance with the Meskwaki and instead align themselves with the Illinois.

The loss of allied tribes to the enemy greatly affected the strength of the Meskwaki. Those who stayed behind in Fort Beauharnois were able to defend it. The Winnebago, who had previously been attacked by the French with considerable losses, did not seek revenge or have interest in attacking the French with the Meskwaki. Using the newfound peace with many of the tribes in the area, Governor Beauharnois called upon the allied forces to wipe out the Meskwaki completely. The call was made from Montreal in the summer of 1729. By October, attacks had begun on the Meskwaki by many tribes who were aided and supplied by the French. Nearly three hundred Meskwaki, more than half women and children, were killed by an Ottawa and Chippewa hunting party in October 1729. The Meskwaki appealed to the Sioux to assist them in traveling to Montreal to ask for a peace agreement. However, the Meskwaki and Sioux decided against this measure, fearing that it would be unwise to put themselves in the hands of their enemies.

Beauharnois chose Paul de la Marque Sieur Marin to lead an expedition to suppress the Meskwaki. Marin and his forces left Montreal in the summer of 1729 and wintered over in a deserted fort near the Menominee village. He first encountered Meskwaki people in the spring, near Little Lake Butte des Morts. After five days of fighting the Meskwaki were successful in escaping during the night and eluding capture or defeat by Marin. Having lost all of their allies and left with few resources in their home area, the Meskwaki took an offer from the Iroquois to seek refuge outside of Wisconsin. In the summer of 1730 they set off for Lake Ontario, traveling through southern Wisconsin and along the Illinois River. They had plans to meet with allies in the Ouiatanon tribe near Lafayette, Indiana. However, their travel was also reported to the French by the Meskwaki's former allies, the Mascouten and the Kickapoo. The French threatened the Iroquois for offering refuge to the Meskwaki. Meanwhile, St. Ange of Peoria, Illinois gathered a force of French and Indian warriors and pursued the Meskwaki.

When the Meskwaki found that they were being pursued and surrounded they assembled a fort between the Illinois and the Wabash forces. St. Ange's forces attacked first, followed by Villiers and then a force from Fort Vincennes. The Meskwaki defended their fort for twenty-three days despite the fact that they were outnumbered and blocked in. Tunnels from their fort to a nearby stream allowed them water from inside. Additionally, some of the attacking forces sympathized with them and secretly aided them with food and water. The siege came to an end on September 9, 1730 when the Meskwaki made an escape attempt. Due to stormy weather, the French and Indian forces did not have a guard watching, and the Meskwaki slipped out during the night. However, the crying of their children alerted the forces to their attempt and they were soon overtaken and slaughtered on the Illinois prairies. Four to six hundred Meskwaki were killed, with half of those being women or children. More than four hundred were captured and split up among the attacking parties. Thos that were not tortured and killed were likely transported as into Canada as slaves. Some Meskwaki also fled and so escaped back to Wisconsin.

The French declared victory against the Meskwaki after the 1730 killing on the Illinois plains. The remaining Meskwaki attempted to rebuild a small community on the Wisconsin River. However, they were victim to continual attacks from those tribes that still allied with the French. The few Meskwaki chiefs who remained had bargained for peace with France in Montreal. Though they had agreed on a peace settlement, Beauharnois did not believe that they would keep the peace and so opted to break it first. He designed for a war party of Indian forces to attack the Meskwaki village in the middle of winter 1730-1731. Though they put up great defenses, three hundred Meskwaki were killed or captured on the bank of the Wisconsin. Again, a small faction of the attacked Meskwaki escaped, this time to the Mississippi.