Oswegatchie

The Oswegatchie River winds northward from the Adirondacks to the Saint Lawrence. At its mouth, above the rapids of the great river, a fortified mission brought together French missionaries and Haudenosaunee families. The settlement became known as Oswegatchie, after the river, and lay on an important route between the Great Lakes and the settlements of New France.

In 1749 the Sulpician priest François Picquet founded Fort de la Présentation at the confluence. The first small fort burned in a raid that autumn, and a new palisaded fort followed. The mission attracted many Haudenosaunee, especially Onondaga, and became part of the French alliance network. British forces occupied the post in 1760 during the conquest of New France, renaming it Fort Oswegatchie. They remained there through the American Revolution and withdrew in 1796.