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Fort Wayne is located in the city of Detroit, Michigan, at the foot of Livernois Avenue in the Delray neighborhood. The fort is situated on the Detroit River at a point where it is about a mile to the Canadian shore. The original 1848 limestone barracks (with later brick additions) still stands, as does the 1845 star fortification (renovated in 1863 with brick exterior facing). On the fort grounds but outside the original star fort are additional barracks, officers quarters, hospital, shops, recreation building, commissary, guard house, garage, and stables. The fort sits on . Since the 1970s, , including the original star fort and a number of buildings, has been operated by the city of Detroit. The remaining area is operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as a boatyard. The fort was designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1958〔 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.〔 ==History prior to and during fort construction== The site of Fort Wayne has a history going back to about the year 1000 A.D. Approximately 19 Native American burial mounds were present in the immediate area, as well as a larger one at the mouth of the Rouge River. The sole remaining burial mound at Fort Wayne was excavated by archaeologists at University of Michigan in the early 20th century, and at that time was found to contain human remains dating over 900 years old. A type of pottery found there is unique to the site; it 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; this was occupied and thriving by 1710. The opening shots of the War of 1812 were fired in the vicinity of the fort's future site, the "sand hill at Springwells". Although war had not been officially declared yet, Michigan militiamen bombarded the town of Sandwich, Canada (later annexed into Windsor) on July 4, 1812. Later in the course of the war, British general Isaac Brock crossed the narrowest part of the Detroit River with his troops and landed on the future Fort Wayne site before marching to Detroit. In the ensuing Siege of Detroit, American general William Hull, believing himself completely surrounded and outnumbered, surrendered Fort Shelby to the British without offering any resistance. The British later abandoned the fort and American troops reoccupied it. In 1815, the future Fort Wayne site 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 General William Henry Harrison. 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 the late 1830s, small, short-lived rebellions occurred in Canada to protest corruption amongst its colonial government. Many Americans believed there was widespread Canadian support for these rebellions and formed volunteer militias to overthrow Canada's colonial government. This led to a series of militia attacks on Canada 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 was 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, in Springwells Township, 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. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Fort Wayne (Detroit)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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