Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project: Service and Learning in the Community    To view a video, click on your connection speed
Location: Michigan   Length: 16 min     56k    300k    700k      56k    300k    700k
Fort St. Joseph, begun as a French Jesuit mission in the 1680s, was one of the earliest European settlements in the western Great Lakes and facilitated the fur trade between New France and Native peoples. For almost 80 years, French priests, enlisted men, and traders lived here closely with the native Potowatomi and Miami. After 1781, the fort eventually eroded away and its location was forgotten. This film features the 2006 Western Michigan University summer field school at the fort site and its community open house and living history re-enactors.