Fort Beauharnois

Fort Beauharnois is a Minnesota historical marker in just below Frontenac, Goodhue County.

U. S. highway 61, entrance to Villa Maria Academy, just below Frontenac · location approximate

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On the shore of Lake Pepin about a quarter of a mile east of here, a French expedition commanded by La Perriere and accompanied by two Jesuits in September 1727 built a substantial log fort and the mission of St. Michael the Archangel. The post was occupied periodically until about 1756.

Verbatim 1940 text, presented as a historical record, not current interpretation. Minnesota now calls the 1862 conflict the U.S.-Dakota War and has since replaced the wording on some of these signs.

Maps this old were drawn largely by eye, so places on them can sit miles from where they really are. The pin is ours and marks the marker's location today.

TodayHistorical map

Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.

Digital Commonwealth, Boston Public Library

Historical maps covering this location

1733 · A map of the British Empire in America with the French and Spanish settlements adjacent… (Digital Commonwealth, Boston Public Library)
1849 · Map of Iowa (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1873 · Minnesota. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1940 · Maiden Rock, Wisconsin (USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection)

Minnesota, 1873, covering the location of Fort Beauharnois, with a pin at the marker's coordinates — Minnesota, 1873, covering this location. David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries. The pin is ours and the location is approximate.

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What that marker records spans 1777 to 1789, overlapping William Gabby's years there.

From one family's 77-marker roster

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The marker isn't at this spotOur pin may be off. If you know where it stands, tell us.I couldn't find the markerWe record what the source recorded. We have not been to look.The sign reads differentlyExpected here. This page shows the older published text, and some signs were recast later. Telling us still helps.The historical map looks wrongThe period map behind the pin, not the marker itself.Something else

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Marker data: Minnesota Historical Records Survey Project, Work Projects Administration, Guide to Historic Markers Erected by the State Highway Department Cooperating with the Minnesota Historical Society (1940)

Fort Beauharnois

Historical maps covering this location

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