Hi everyone,
My name is Mary Ellen and I am an FSJ addict. I was asked to share the story of how that came to be. Over the years, I have had privilege to be part of the Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project in many different ways—as a summer camper, volunteer on the site, member of the Advisory Committee, cook, etc. But the interest and commitment to FSJ began long before there was an archaeological project, and, I am not the only member of my family to be involved. So, how did it happen? (If you were ever my pit partner, you have heard all of this so can just skip to the end?)
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| Mary Ellen's niece Abby was a summer camp participant in 2002. Photo by Mary Ellen. |
For as long as I can remember, my mother would frequently drive past the giant Fort St. Joseph boulder at the intersection of Bond and Fort Street in Niles. She would tell us all about the day her third grade class had walked there in 1933, and the teacher would say “someday they are going to find the fort”. But it wasn’t just my sisters and I that she would tell this story to. In later years, she would find a way to drive by the boulder when she took her grandchildren or great-grandchildren to preschool or to McDonald’s for lunch. Obviously, finding the fort and keeping its history alive has been her passion, and she has made it ours too.
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| The 2015 Appreciation Award stands as a recognition to the commitment of the Drolet family to the history and legacy of Fort St. Joseph. Photo by Mary Ellen. |
She would also tell us about how the Fort St. Joseph boulder had been dedicated in 1913. Moving the 7-ton boulder, which is nearly 11 feet in diameter, from a farm about a mile away to its current location, was a project of the Women’s Progressive League. When the project proved more expensive than expected, the school children in Niles had collected nickels to complete the project. The point being that preserving the fort’s history has always been a grass roots and community-based effort.
Mom’s walk to the site was 20 years later. But it was another 65 years before, as a result of another community lead effort, archeologists from Western Michigan University came to Niles in 1998 and found credible evidence that the location of the boulder was very close to the actual site of the fort.
From the 1930s to the present, the City has hired consultants to recommend ways to promote the local economy—and every report has included “build on the unique history of Fort St. Joseph”. And throughout that time, there have been many efforts to “find the Fort” and build a replica. For years, whenever the City was considering a proposal involving the fort or development in the area, we would spend an afternoon delivering her letters to members of the City Council expressing her support.
In the late 1970’s, when the City hired Dr. Joseph Peyser to translate French historical documents to help locate the site, my Dad was a member of the City Council. He encouraged my Mom to enroll in Dr. Peyser’s class on Fort St. Joseph at IUSB. Not surprisingly, for months conversation at home was dominated by what she had learned in that class.
In 1991, Mom was particularly chagrined that the 300th anniversary of the Fort had passed without a celebration, and although there were many people interested in the fort, they were not working together and there was no common vision. So, there was another day of hand-delivering invitations to anyone who had expressed interest in a meeting at the lower level of the Mini Mall. The outcome of that meeting was an agreement to form Support the Fort, Inc., a non-profit organization, with the mission of preserving the history of Fort St. Joseph, and eventually constructing and operating a reconstruction. Support the Fort has raised money, put on reenactments, educated local groups, and worked with schools to increase the visibility and importance of our local history.
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| Mary Ellen with her mother, cousin, and nephew at a rendezvous in the late 90's. |
By 1998, Support the Fort had gained community support and had raised enough money to finance limited exploration. In October 1998, Professor Michael Nassaney from WMU’s anthropology department, with the help of student volunteers and some of our local Support the Fort members, explored the site and found enough artifacts and other evidence to believe that the actual fort site had been found.
Since that time, public archaeology has offered so many opportunities to be involved. And as the project continues, these opportunities keep expanding!
It’s in the DNA!
Best,
Mary Ellen Drolet
