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Ontario History

Rendezvous at the Straits: and Military Activities at and Fort , 1669-1781 By Timothy J. Kent Karl Hele

Volume 98, Number 2, Fall 2006

URI: https://id.erudit.org/iderudit/1065830ar DOI: https://doi.org/10.7202/1065830ar

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Publisher(s) The Ontario Historical Society

ISSN 0030-2953 (print) 2371-4654 (digital)

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Cite this review Hele, K. (2006). Review of [Rendezvous at the Straits: Fur Trade and Military Activities at Fort de Buade and , 1669-1781 By Timothy J. Kent]. Ontario History, 98(2), 256–257. https://doi.org/10.7202/1065830ar

Copyright © The Ontario Historical Society, 2006 This document is protected by copyright law. Use of the services of Érudit (including reproduction) is subject to its terms and conditions, which can be viewed online. https://apropos.erudit.org/en/users/policy-on-use/

This article is disseminated and preserved by Érudit. Érudit is a non-profit inter-university consortium of the Université de Montréal, Université Laval, and the Université du Québec à Montréal. Its mission is to promote and disseminate research. https://www.erudit.org/en/ 256 ONTARIO HISTORY

Rendezvous at the Straits: later the British relatively quick and easy access to the Upper , the Il- Fur Trade and Military linois Country, and the River sys- Activities at Fort de Buade tem. Likewise the easily accessible forts and Fort Michilimackinac, in the region drew First Nations to the 1669-1781 area. Here traders, soldiers, and First Na- tions gathered, traded, warred, conducted By Timothy J. Kent. Two volumes. Os- diplomacy, and set out either for distant sineke, : Silver Fox Enterprises, homes or in search of furs. The forts (de 2004. Volume I: xvii + 320 pp. Volume Buade and later Michilimackinac) acted II: 331 pp. $195.00 hardcover. ISBN 0- not only as examples of French military 9657230-4-6. presence but each served as an entrepôt imothy J. Kent, an independent for traders between the region and Mon- Tscholar and fur trade re-enactor, has treal as well as an annual gathering place produced a document-driven narrative for Native people. As such, Kent’s timely account of the French and early British study illustrates the Straits’ significance trade and military establishments in the to European access to the resources Mackinaw Straits. This and peoples of interior self-published study is a America. The two vol- wonderful follow-up to umes are replete with Kent’s earlier work on government and civilian Fort Pontchartrain (De- writings, as well as cargo troit). Similarly, Rendezvous manifests, translated at the Straits brings to light from the French. This the early history of the re- allows English-language gion through a narrative readers to experience soundly grounded in the the history by seeing documentary record. The first-hand how both the two volumes will serve to fur trade and military life encourage scholars to se- evolved in the region. riously reconsider the im- Kent’s intimate grasp of portance of Mackinaw to the details of history and New and pre-rev- material culture, as well olutionary British North as his love of the region, America. By using the Straits as his focal is readily apparent in his narrative. point, Kent is able to explore the history While the strengths of Rendezvous at of Fort de Buade (c.1670-1701) and the the Straits are many, there are some seri- period of closed posts when military per- ous issues with the work. The overuse of sonnel and trade was concentrated at De- lengthy quotations leads to repetition and troit (c.1698-1714) and Fort Michilimack- in some cases to significant drift from inac (1715-81), as well as British efforts the topic or period under discussion. The to build a new fort on rendering of French units of measure during the Revolutionary War. into English units and the reordering of At the Straits, resources and geo- document cargo manifests is problem- graphical position gave the French and atic. (vol. 1, p. 5) These simple authorial book reviews 257 changes may indeed make the measures authorities alongside the French in 1760- and various lists more understandable to 63. Other instances of older interpreta- contemporary readers, but scholars of the tions and phrasing that make their way fur trade are deprived of the opportunity into Kent’s narrative render Native peo- to judge for themselves any nuances that ples as uncivilized and acting in inexplica- may lie within the unaltered evidence. In ble ways. This evidence belies the differ- my opinion it also weakens direct com- ences among Great Lakes First Nations parisons between documents from the and their myriad reasons for participating French and British eras as well as over in support of or against European activi- time. To Kent’s credit, however, he does ties. I believe that Kent really needed to not hide the alterations he made to the include a more thorough account and documents. understanding of the Native side of the The great use of primary sources military alliance and fur trade being con- combined with Kent’s text and simple ducted in the Mackinaw region. chronological structure has its advantag- Criticisms aside, Kent’s two volumes es and disadvantages. One disadvantage make a masterful documentary study of is that the reading is quite dense, lengthy, the Mackinaw Straits in a period largely and not always straightforward. By Kent’s ignored by academics. I hope that this strict adherence to a chronological narra- work will be read and appreciated by tive, readers find themselves learning about more than local or amateur historians. It trade goods at the Straits, then problems should serve to inspire all types of schol- with the French-Indian trade and alliance ars interested in the French and British system, next troop movements, and then history of the Upper Great Lakes. After back again to trade at the post. As such, all, as Kent demonstrates, the French and readers get an occasional sense of déjà vu. even the British were economically reliant Subheadings noting change of location on the trade and military relationships es- or topic under discussion would greatly tablished at the Mackinaw Straits. help, as would editing to reduce wordi- ness, eliminate repetitive sections, and Karl Hele improve narrative flow. Nevertheless, the University of Western Ontario framework allows readers to jump back and forth among chapters and between Bibliography: the two volumes without losing sight of Dowd, Gregory Evans. War under Heav- Kent’s overall narrative. en: Pontiac, the Indian Nations and the For me, the most significant problem British Empire. Baltimore: Johns Hop- with Kent’s study is his lack of reference kins University Press, 2002. to contemporary sources or to interpre- Kent, Timothy J. Ft. Pontchartrain at De- tations of events. For instance, recent troit: a guide to the daily lives of fur trade scholarship by Gregory Dowd and Ri- and military personnel, settlers, and mission- chard White shows that events of 1763 aries at French posts. Ossineke, Michi- were not simply a rebellion throughout gan: Silver Fox Enterprises, 2001. the Great Lakes coordinated by Pontiac. White, Richard. The Middle Ground: Indi- Even the idea of rebellion against British ans, Empires, and Republics in the Great rule in the region suggests that various Lakes Region, 1650-1815. New York: First Nations had surrendered to British Cambridge University Press, 1992.