| For more than a century beginning in 1673, France claimed the Illinois Country, an undefined area that extended from lakes Michigan and Superior to the Ohio and Missouri rivers. French leaders hoped that the Illinois Country, which was governed from distant Canada, would be a rich source of furs and precious metals. To better exploit those riches, the French in 1718 reorganized the administration of their American possessions. The Illinois Country was removed from Canadian jurisdiction and made a part of Louisiana. Government of the vast territory was turned over to the Company of the Indies, a commercial enterprise chartered by King Louis XV. The company's power was considerable; it was granted a trade monopoly, given jurisdiction over all forts, posts, and garrisons and empowered to appoint all officials. In December 1718 the newly organized government at New Orleans sent a contingent of army officers, government officials, company employees, mining engineers, workmen, and soldiers to establish civil government in the Illinois Country. French leaders also hoped that a military presence would pacify the Fox Indians, whose frequent attacks put great pressure on French villages. Workmen soon began constructing a wooden fort on the Mississippi River eighteen miles north of Kaskaskia. Two Wooden Stockades French officials named their stockade Fort de Chartres in honor of Louis duc de Chartres, son of the regent of France. The fort was completed in 1720. Located "about a musket shot" from the Mississippi River, the fort consisted of a palisade of squared logs surrounded by a dry moat. Bastions built at diagonally opposite corners provided cover fire for each of the walls. Several buildings occupied the fort's interior, including a storehouse and countinghouse used by the Indies Company. Another building probably served the Provincial Council, which conducted the affairs of the king and the company. The fort, subject to frequent flooding, deteriorated rapidly. Work on a new fort began about 1725. Built inland from the Mississippi, the new log stockade was about 160 feet square and had bastions at each corner. Four buildings were located inside the fort, at least one of which was used by the Indies Company. The bastions contained other structures, among them a powder magazine, a prison, and a stable. Outside the fort stood a small chapel and a few private residences. Reference |  |