Fox Wars facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Fox Wars |
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| Meskwaki |  Kingdom of France |
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The Fox Wars were two big conflicts between the French and the Fox people (also known as Meskwaki or Red Earth People). These wars happened in the Great Lakes region (especially near Fort Detroit) from 1712 to 1733. Today, this area is known as Michigan and Wisconsin in the United States.
These wars show how colonial powers like France fought to expand their control. They also highlight the complicated friendships and rivalries between the French and different Native American groups.
The Fox people controlled the Fox River system. This river was super important for the fur trade between French Canada and the middle of North America. It allowed people to travel by river from Green Bay in Lake Michigan all the way to the Mississippi River. The French wanted to use this river system to reach the Mississippi and trade with tribes further west.
Thousands of people died in these wars. Also, a slave trade started where Fox people were captured by Native allies of the French and then sold to French colonists. Alliances were a huge part of these wars. The French teamed up with groups like the Ottawa, Miamis, and Sioux. The Fox people allied with groups like the Sauk, Mascoutens, and Kickapoos. These alliances affected everything, from why the wars started to how they were fought and how they ended.
The First Fox War (1712–1716) began with fighting between different allied groups. It ended when a large group of Fox people surrendered and a peace deal was made. To make peace, it was common to exchange goods and prisoners to make up for those who had died. The Second Fox War (1728–1733) was much more destructive. It almost completely wiped out the Fox population.
Contents
Before the Fox Wars Began
The Fox people lived in eastern Wisconsin when they first met the French around 1670. The Fox tried to become the main traders between the French and the Sioux, who were one of their two traditional enemies. The other enemy was the Ojibwas (Chippewas) in northern Wisconsin. But the Fox were not successful in this plan.
Before 1701, many wars, including the Iroquoian wars, caused a lot of trouble in Native lands. These wars made the French worried about losing their trade partners. In 1697, King Louis XIV of France even stopped the fur trade west of Montreal. This made the situation even more unstable.
Historian Richard White described central Wisconsin at this time as a "refugee center." Different nations were constantly moving, cooperating, and fighting. They always had to change their plans based on French trading rules. So, when the Peace Conference of 1701 happened in Montreal, the French quickly tried to take control of the Great Lakes region. But they still needed to figure out how to trade with their southern partners since their main trading posts were closed. This made the Great Lakes region even more unstable.
The First Fox War (1712–1716)
| First Fox War | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
| Fox Indians (Meskwaki) |  France and its indigenous allies |
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
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| Strength | |||||||
| Unspecified number of Fox warriors outnumbering the French soldiers and allied warriors | Unspecified number of French soldiers and allied warriors; 600 Ottawa and Potowatomi warriors as reinforcements | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 1,000 Fox and Mascouten people killed | 30 Frenchmen and 60 allies killed | ||||||
After the 1701 Peace Conference, Antoine de Lamothe Cadillac solved the trade problem. He built a new fort called Fort Pontchartrain in Detroit. This spot was perfect because it gave access to water trade routes, which were easier to reach than Montreal. It also connected to the warpaths of the Great Lakes region.
Even with the new fort, the French needed help from Native people to survive. Governor Cadillac invited many tribes to live in the area. The Ottawa and Huron built villages there. Soon, the Potawatomi, Miamis, and Ojibwa joined them. Sometimes, the population reached 6,000 people. This was good for the French, but having so many different groups, including the Fox, living close together caused problems.
Normally, enemy groups lived far apart. But in Detroit, they lived side-by-side, all wanting a good relationship with the French. As French colonizers tried to expand their power in the West, they wanted to make friends with Native Americans for trade and military help. At this time, French policy already favored certain tribes, like the Ojibwa-Ottawa-Potawatimi and Illini groups. The Sioux were the next important alliance.
The Wisconsin tribes (Fox, Sauk, Mascouten, Kickapoo, and Winnebago) wanted to control the trading post. They stopped the French from trading directly with the Sioux. At the same time, they caused trouble for the Ottawas and Miamis near Detroit, as well as for the French settlement.
In the spring of 1712, a large group of Fox people, led by Chief Lamyma (a peace chief) and Chief Pemoussa (a war chief), built villages near Fort Pontchartrain. They even built a fort close enough to shoot at the French fort. The Fox people outnumbered the French and Hurons.
However, things changed when 600 allied warriors arrived. They were led by Ottawa war chief Saguima and Potawatomi chief Makisabé. This arrival turned the tide of the fight. Jacques-Charles Renaud Dubuisson, who wanted the Fox removed, had ordered these reinforcements.
For nineteen days, the Fox fought hard against the French. After several days, the Fox asked for a ceasefire and returned some hostages. But no ceasefire was given. A few days later, the Fox tried again to get protection for their women and children. Dubuisson let his allies decide, and they chose not to show mercy.
After nineteen days, during a thunderstorm at night, the Fox escaped their village and fled north. The French-allied Native Americans trapped them near the top of the Detroit River. They fought for four more days.
By the end of this siege and chase, about 1,000 Fox and Mascouten people were killed. The French lost 30 men, and their allies had 60 deaths. It wasn't until 1726, when Charles de Beauharnois de La Boische arrived, that the Fox and French finally made peace. There had been several attempts at peace before, but each one failed, causing the Fox to return to war. During this time, captured Fox people were brought to Canada and became a main source of forced labor in the Saint Lawrence Valley.
The Second Fox War (1728–1733)
| Second Fox War | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
| Fox Indians (Meskwaki) | France and its indigenous allies |
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Fox commanders | Jacques-Charles Renaud Dubuisson and allied commanders | ||||||
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| Unspecified number of Fox warriors | Unspecified number of French soldiers and allied warriors | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Nearly the entire total population | Unknown | ||||||
For the Fox people, the issue of captured people was central to their conflict. The Fox were still willing to rejoin the French alliance if they could get their captured family members back. They just wanted to be seen as friends and family, not enemies. However, French officials supported the Illinois, Ottawa, Ojibwa, and Huron, who were against the Fox. Because of this, the peace treaty from 1726 was canceled in the summer of 1727.
With the peace treaty canceled, the Fox declared war on the French and all their Native allies. For the next four years, the French spent a lot of money. With their allies, they attacked Fox villages with a huge advantage. The French tried to destroy the Fox so much that it even hurt their relationships with other tribes. The Sioux and Iowa tribes refused to give the Fox a safe place.
By the summer of 1730, the Fox population was getting weaker. They continued to be attacked until the Sauk people finally gave them a safe place. The Sauk and Fox fought off the French with help from western Native Americans. These western groups knew about Beauharnois' plan to wipe out the Fox. This final push led Beauharnois to grant a "General Pardon" in 1738, and peace was finally restored.
The historical conflicts between the Fox and New France encouraged many Sauk and Fox warriors to form ties with France's rivals, the British. These connections remained important even as late as the War of 1812, when many Sauk and Fox fought alongside British North America.
French Money Problems
Before the First Fox War, the French colony was almost bankrupt. The War of the Spanish Succession had cost France a lot of money. This meant there were fewer resources for the colony of New France. So, the colony had to make as much money as possible and spend as little as possible. This was a big problem because of the ongoing tensions with the Fox people and their enemies, the Cree and Assiniboines.
The French didn't want war because it was bad for business. Wars slowed down the fur trade, and New France couldn't afford to lose any more money. This lack of funds made the French rely on their Native allies for furs. Large expeditions couldn't be carried out by French voyageurs. Instead, the voyageurs traveled into Native hunting grounds to trade and keep good relationships. These relationships were key to French economic success. But this also meant the French had to get involved in conflicts between Native groups as part of their trade deals.
Captured People and the Fox Wars
The Fox Wars led to Fox people being captured and forced into labor in colonial New France in two ways: as prizes of war for French military officers or through direct trading. Starting with the 1716 peace agreement, the capture of Fox people became a regular part of the relationship between the Fox and the French.
Historian Brett Rushforth explains that when the French accepted these captured Fox people, they were showing their hostility towards the Fox. This also meant they were promising military support to their allies in future fights. So, the capture of Fox people in New France had a complicated meaning. On one hand, exchanging captured people could signal the end of a conflict. But on the other hand, it also gave a reason for more fighting.
An old French document about the history of Green Bay suggests that to make peace with the Fox, it was better for opposing groups to simply return captured Fox people than to fight them. The document said that if captured people were not returned, and if the Fox started fighting again, then both colonies would need to work together to defeat them. The issue of captured people was so important that "every complaint made by the Fox against the French and their Native allies was about getting their captured people back. This was the biggest reason the Fox Wars continued for decades."
Even long after the conflicts, captured Fox people worked in homes, did unskilled labor, and worked in fields throughout New France. Even though forced labor was officially outlawed in New France in 1709, the capture of Fox people was widespread. This shows that life in New France could sometimes be very harsh.
Tensions and Trading Partners
After the First Fox War, about 1,000 Fox people were captured by the Native groups fighting the Fox (especially the Illinois). Some were also taken and sold to the French in Detroit in exchange for goods and credit. The fact that so many Fox people were held captive led to tensions that sparked the Second Fox War. This also showed that the French didn't have full control over the trade they relied on in early New France.
After the First Fox War, there were tensions between the Fox and the French in Detroit because the French held captured Fox people. The Governor General of Canada, General Philippe de Rigaud de Vaudreuil, wanted to keep trade agreements with the French. So, he agreed to return the captured Fox people he had. But there were conditions. First, the Fox had to return any captured people they held from other Native groups. Second, they had to bring new captured people to the French the next year. The French desire for captured people led the Fox to conduct more raids, which increased tensions between Native groups.
The Illinois group kept denying that they held any captured Fox people. But the French couldn't force the Illinois to return them. This caused tensions to boil over and start the Second Fox War. By the end of the Second Fox War, France had lost a trading partner and some of its economic power. This situation also made it clear that New France didn't have full control over the trade it depended on. This lack of control came from the political nature of the trade in captured people and how cleverly the Illinois Native Americans used it to anger the Fox and force the French into alliances. As a result, this was another event that led to the French losing power in the Great Lakes Region.
