Fort Wayne (Detroit) - History Prior To and During Fort Construction

History Prior To and During Fort Construction

The site of Fort Wayne has a history going back at least 1,000 years. Native American burial mounds were present here and at the mouth of the Rouge River. The sole remaining burial mound at Fort Wayne contains human remains dated to over 900 years ago, when it was excavated by archaeologists at University of Michigan in the early 20th century. It was also discovered that a unique type of local pottery was also native to the site, and was subsequently dubbed "Wayne Ware." The present star fort was built atop one of the burial mounds, and it is from this site that Springwells Township (later annexed into the City of Detroit) took its name. The site originally consisted of a high sand mound, with freshwater springs found along the marshy waterfront of the Detroit River.

Fort Wayne is Detroit's third fort. The first, Fort Detroit, was built by the French in 1701. This fort, constructed shortly after Cadillac landed, was manned by the French until it was surrendered to the British in 1760 during the French and Indian War. The second fort, Fort Lernoult, was built by the British a few years later, and was manned by the British until 1796. When the United States took over Detroit, Fort Lernoult was renamed Fort Shelby. When Cadillac founded Fort Detroit, he also purportedly made arrangements with the local Potawatomi people to set up a small village at the site of Fort Wayne for purposes of trading, which was occupied and thriving by 1710.

During the War of 1812, British General Isaac Brock crossed the Detroit River with his troops and landed on the site where Fort Wayne sits today (the narrowest part of the river), then known as "the sand hill at Springwells" before marching to Detroit. Under the impression that he was completely surrounded and outnumbered, General William Hull surrendered Fort Shelby to the British during the Siege of Detroit without offering any resistance. The British later abandoned the fort and American troops reoccupied it. Following the end of the war Fort Shelby fell into disrepair, and in 1826 it was sold to the City of Detroit and demolished. In 1815, the site of Fort Wayne was used for the signing of the Treaty of Springwells, which marked the official (though belated) end of hostilities between the American government and the local Native American tribes of the area who had allied with the British during the war. Among those present for the signing of the treaty were Lewis Cass and soon to be U.S. President, General William Henry Harrison. Despite Fort Wayne's long-touted slogan, "Never a shot fired in anger," it is also documented that its site, the "sand hill at Springwells" is where the opening shots of the War of 1812 took place, when Michigan militiamen bombarded the town of Sandwich, Canada (later annexed into Windsor) on July 4th, 1812, though this occurred before an official declaration of war had been made.

In the late 1830s, Canadian and American rebels organized to free Canada from the British, leading to a series of battles known as the Patriot War. American troops were mustered to suppress the American volunteers and maintain America's official neutrality in the conflict. However, at the same time, the United States government realized there were a lack of fortifications along the northern border to repel a potential British attack, and in particular, no counterpart to the British Fort Malden located in Amherstburg. In 1841, Congress appropriated funds to build a chain of forts stretching from the east coast to the Minnesota Territory, including one at Detroit.

Soon afterward, the Army sent Lieutenant Montgomery C. Meigs to Detroit. Meigs bought up riverfront farm property three miles below Detroit, at the point on the Detroit River closest to Canada. Construction on the fort began in 1842, with Meigs superintending. The original fortifications were cedar-reveted earthen walls. The fort was completed in 1851, costing $150,000. The Army named the new fort for Revolutionary War hero General "Mad" Anthony Wayne, who had taken possession of Detroit from the British in 1796.