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Ft Pontchartrain at Detroit, Volumes I & II A Guide to the Daily Lives of Fur Trade and Military Personnel, Settlers, and Missionaries at French Posts Timothy J. Kent

When Cadillac departed from Montreal in June 1701, he led an expedition of 100 voyagers and soldiers in 25 birchbark canoes. Sent by King Louis XIV, he had been ordered to establish Fort Pontchartrain at Detroit as the new center of fur trade and military power in the interior regions. Timothy J. Kent has gleaned information from records such as the cargo manifest for the expedition, inventories of private households at the fort, and hundreds of other period documents, to create this unique reference work. The items listed in these records have been divided into the various activities which took place in daily life at such a fort. An extensive chapter is devoted to each activity: canoe transportation; provisions, cooking, and eating; hunting and warfare, trapping, and fishing; buildings, hardware, and furnishings; woodworking, metalworking, and masonry-working; recreation; trade and commerce; and more.

"These monumental volumes are based on a massive amount of meticulous research into over a hundred archaeological reports, French inventories (many of which have been translated and included), and also comparisons with buildings and artifacts throughout New France. Organized topically, the books are an indispensable resource for anyone interested in the material culture of colonial New France."—David Armour, Deputy Director and historian, Mackinac State Historic Parks

Published by Silver Fox Enterprises Distributed by Wayne State University Press $125.00l cloth (sold as a two volume set) ISBN 0-9657230-2-X 523 pages / 8.5 x 11 (Vol. I) 624 pages / 8.5 x 11 (Vol. II) Over 600 drawings and photographs 2001