Petit Fort

Petit Fort
Petit Fort
Porter, Indiana
Location of Petit Fort (signs on the right) on Lake Michigan, which is south of the Bathhouse
Coordinates	41°39′39″N 87°03′44″W / 41.660798°N 87.062359°W / 41.660798; -87.062359
Site history
Built	18th century
Built by	French
In use	Fur Trade Post
Demolished	1779
Battles/wars	American Revolution

Petit Fort was a structure located in northwestern Indiana, in or near the Indiana Dunes, near the mouth of Fort Creek, now known as Dunes Creek. It may have been a French military outpost, but was more likely a private residence, trading post, or at most a support station for larger forts in the area. The National Park Service refers to it as a "fur depot."

The fort came under the dominion of the British following their ultimate victory in the French and Indian War. It is unclear whether the British ever really utilized Petit Fort; at best it was a station for British fur traders. It was abandoned in 1779 as American settlers rebelled and Great Britain consolidated power in more fortified strongholds.

There are few records of Petit Fort, it being mentioned in only a few letters and at least one map. "Petit Fort" is, in fact, a description rather than a proper name, translating literally to "small fort". It is remembered primarily due to a small military action that occurred there during the American Revolution.

In late Autumn 1780, a small band of about fourteen creoles from Cahokia, Illinois, under orders from Augustin de La Balme, set out for British-controlled Fort St. Joseph in southwest Michigan, led by Jean Baptiste Hamelin and Lt. Thomas Brady, a former British officer and Indian Agent who now supported the rebelling Americans. The party recruited from frontier settlements along the way, and doubled in size to about thirty men. The company travelled up the Illinois River and Kankakee River, portaged near modern-day South Bend, Indiana, and continued down the St. Joseph River to Fort St. Joseph, which they plundered. The raid was timed while local Indians would be away hunting, but La Balme also hoped to create a distraction for his journey up the Wabash River to attack Fort Detroit.