Fort Rosalie
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Fort Rosalie was a French fort built in 1716 at present-day Natchez, Mississippi, in the territory of the Natchez American Indians. As part of the peace terms that ended the Natchez War of 1716, Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville required the fort to be built, using material and labor supplied by the Natchez. Sited close to the main Natchez settlement, called the Grand Village of the Natchez, Fort Rosalie served as the primary French stronghold and trading post among the Natchez.
French settlements and tobacco plantations were established in Natchez territory, with the fort serving as the local seat of government. Growing tension between the French and the Natchez erupted into violence several times during the 1720s, culminating in a massive Natchez attack on November 28, 1729. The entire French settlement was wiped out, hundreds of settlers were killed and hundreds more taken captive. Fort Rosalie was captured and occupied by the Natchez until reprisals by French and Choctaw forces in 1730 forced the Natchez to evacuate. The fort was left in ruins. By 1731 most of the Natchez had been captured, enslaved, and shipped to French plantations in the Caribbean. Some escaped and found refuge among the Chickasaw, Creek, and Cherokee.
The French rebuilt Fort Rosalie in the early 1730s. Following the Treaty of Paris in 1763 the fort passed into British control. The British renamed it Fort Panmure. From 1779 to 1798 it was under Spanish control and then, after 1798, the United States took over.
The fort was abandoned in 1804. The city of Natchez traces its origin to the founding of Fort Rosalie in 1716. Today the site is part of Natchez National Historical Park.
[edit] References
- DuVal, Kathleen (2006). "Interconnectedness and Diversity in French Louisiana", in Gregory A. Waselkov (ed.): Powhatan's Mantle: Indians in the Colonial Southeast, Revised and Expanded Edition. University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 0803298617.
- Lorenz, Karl G. (2000). "The Natchez of Southwest Mississippi", in Bonnie G. McEwan (ed.): Indians of the Greater Southeast: Historical Archaeology and Ethnohistory. University Press of Florida. ISBN 0-8130-1778-5.
- The Natchez Indians, Mississippi History Now
- Fort Rosalie, American Forts, Mississippi
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