Fort Niagara
The Key to the Inland Oceans and the French Movement to Dominate North America
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About the Book
Fort Niagara is located twelve miles downriver from the world-renowned Niagara Falls, yet few visitors to either site know this was once Iroquois territory and claimed by France. This volume summarizes the fascinating span of North American history when New France was established during the sixteenth century in present-day Canada, explored, and expanded to the Niagara River — a strategic water and portage route connected to the Great Lakes. Chronologically the authors dramatically trace how the Iroquois gained the Niagara River, and how they kept this lucrative trade route for themselves long after the French became established fur traders in the Great Lakes. The Iroquois continued to control the Niagara River as the French built the short-lived Forts Conti (1669), Denonville (1687/1688), and finally Fort Niagara (1726-1759). Fort Niagara: The Key to the Inland Oceans and the French Movement to Dominate North America incorporates actions and political changes elsewhere that influenced the French and Iroquois at Niagara, especially during the French and Indian War, which ended the French Occupation of Fort Niagara and set the stage for the Iroquois to lose their long-held Niagara River territory.
About the Author
William Edward Utley earned a bachelor’s degree in history from Syracuse University, a master’s degree in criminal justice from the University of New Haven, and a master’s degree in military history from Norwich University. He served in the U.S. Army as an infantry officer and in Vietnam with the 101st Airborne Division. He was a special agent with the Treasury Department for twenty-seven years, and as an avocational archaeologist he has participated in numerous site excavations, including Fort Niagara. Patricia Kay Scott earned a bachelor’s degree from the Anthropology Department of the State University of New York at Buffalo. After retiring from a teaching career, she assisted her husband, Dr. Stuart D. Scott, in directing the 1979–1990 Old Fort Niagara Archaeology in Progress Project and the 1984 excavations at Fort Ontario.