Regrettably, the Fort La Présentation Association has decided to postpone the annual Founder’s Weekend Re-enactment for 2021 due to the continued COVID-19 pandemic and extended closure of the Canadian border. We are saddened not to be able to visit with our friends and to share our rich history with the community but everyone’s health is our utmost concern. Until we can come together again, please enjoy the Abbé Picquet Trail with social distancing. With the cancellation of several of this year’s fundraising events due to the pandemic, the Fort La Presentation Association would greatly appreciate new memberships or donations to offset our operating costs. Membership applications and donations can be sent to P.O. Box 1749, Ogdensburg, NY 13669 or at fort1749.org. Thank you for your assistance during these difficult times – stay healthy – we will see you in 2022!
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For more than a decade re-enactors have assembled on Van Rensselaer (Lighthouse) Point to commemorate Ogdensburg’s French colonial history. The military re-enactment and living history event draws re-enactors, historians, colonial artisans and event attendees from New York, Ontario and Quebec, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and other states and provinces.
Fort de la Présentation was founded in 1749 by Abbé Francois Picquet as a mission to Roman Catholic Iroquois and their allies. In the mid-1750s, the surrounding native populations from both shores of the St. Lawrence River and adjacent islands neared 3,000 from which warriors joined the French in their conflict with England during the French and Indian War. Fort de la Présentation was abandoned in 1759 when the British gained the upper hand in the war and most of the Native population dispersed. In 1760, the two-part Battle of the Thousand Islands signaled the end of the French régime in North America. The French vessel L’Outauaise was captured by British gunboats off Isle Royale in August and later that month Fort Lévis (on what is now known as Chimney Island, located opposite the Ogdensburg shoreline) surrendered to the British after more than a week long artillery bombardment. Fort de la Lévis, defended by about 300 French, Canadian troops and Native Americans fell to an Anglo-American Army over 10,000 strong. In September 1760, Montreal surrendered and Canada officially joined the other American colonies as part of the British Empire after the signing of the Treaty of Ghent in 1763.
Please click the links below to see previous Founder’s Weekend Programs, which features all of our past supporters!
fort1749.org 