The Archaeology of French and Indian War Frontier Forts

“The best compilation of work about the French and Indian War to date.”—James Parker, coauthor of Archaeology at Fort Mims

“Provides images of life on the expanding American frontier of the mid-eighteenth century. A unique and significant discussion of the French and Indian War.”—Clarence R. Geier, coeditor of Huts and History: The Historical Archaeology of Military Encampments during the American Civil War

Fort Ticonderoga, the allegedly impenetrable star fort at the southern end of Lake Champlain, is famous for its role in the French and Indian War. From barracks to bastions, many other one-of-a-kind forts were also instrumental in staking out the early American colonial frontier. This collection of essays presents an overview of the fortifications that guarded the frontiers and borderlands between Native Americans, French settlers, and Anglo-American settlers. Civilian, provincial, or imperial, the fortifications examined here range from South Carolina’s Fort Prince George to Fort Frontenac in Ontario and Fort de Chartres in Illinois.

As Europeans and colonists struggled to control the lucrative fur trade routes of the northern boundary, these strongholds were part of the first serious arms race on the continent. Contributors to this volume reveal how the French and British adapted their fortification techniques to the special needs of the North American frontier. By exploring the unique structures that guarded the borderlands, this book reveals much about the underlying economies and dynamics of the broader conflict that defined a critical episode of the American experience.