Fort Rouillé was a French trading post located in what is now Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Fort Rouillé was constructed by the French in 1751, building upon the success of a trading post they established in the area a year earlier, known as Fort Toronto. Fort Rouillé was named for Antoine Louis Rouillé, who at the time of its establishment was Secretary of State for the Navy in the administration of King Louis XV of France. It served as a trading post with the local indigenous peoples from the region.
Fort Rouillé was evacuated and burnt down by its French garrison after the French defeat at Fort Niagara in July 1759, during the French and Indian War. The remains of the fort were demolished in the 19th century. The fort site is now part of the public lands of Exhibition Place. The location is marked by an obelisk monument, with the outline of the fort marked in concrete.
History
During the late 17th and 18th centuries, the area surrounding Toronto was frequently used by French fur traders as a shortcut to the upper Great Lakes and the area north of Toronto. In an attempt to secure the trade route from the British, the French established Magasin Royal (Fort Douville), a trading post along the Humber River near Baby Point. Completed in 1720, the trading post was abandoned shortly after the British Fort Oswego was completed in 1727, which had diverted trade away from Magasin Royal.
Fort Toronto (Fort Portneuf) In 1750, the French built another trading post named Fort Toronto near the mouth of the Humber River, with the intention of diverting aboriginals using the Toronto Carrying-Place Trail from proceeding to the British fort in Oswego, New York. Known as Fort Toronto (or Fort Portneuf), the trading post saw immediate success, with demand outstripping the supply of goods that the post was able to provide. Fort Toronto was built by Pierre Robineau de Portneuf and was located west of Grenadier Pond, next to Jean-Baptiste Rousseau's home at the start of the Toronto Carrying-Place Trail. This encampment was typical of other New France installations in that it commanded an old riverine trade route.
Fort Rouillé
The success of Fort Toronto persuaded the Governor General of New France, the Marquis de la Jonquière, to order the construction of a larger fort, with more trading capacity and military potential, in an effort to consolidate France's hold of the region and its trade routes. Fort Rouillé, located on the site of present-day Exhibition Place, was completed in the spring of 1751. The new fort was named for Antoine Louis Rouillé, Comte de Jouy and French Minister of Marine and Colonies from 1749 to 1753. It was also known as Fort Toronto since it replaced the small trading post that was built in 1750.
The fort's construction had been ordered to further establish a French presence in the area, and to intercept the trade of indigenous people travelling towards a British fur-trading post in present-day Oswego. According to a report of the Abbé Picquet, the indigenous people received a larger amount of silver for their beavers at Oswego. Although they preferred French brandy, this was not enough to dissuade the natives from going to Oswego. "To destroy the trade there, the King's posts ought to have been supplied with the same goods as Chouegen (Oswego) and at the same price." Learning that the indigenous people travelled south along the Toronto Carrying-Place Trail, the decision was made to locate the fort at Toronto.
Abbé Picquet visited Rouillé in 1752. He found good bread and wine there and it was better equipped than other outposts. The Mississaugas there expressed a wish for Picquet to build a church there; they had only built a canteen. Picquet had worked among the Iroquois south of the lake and the Mississaugas felt that the Iroquois had been better treated.
In 1756, war was declared between Britain and France. In 1757, with the garrison elsewhere, the Mississaugas looted the fort. A message was sent to Fort Niagara and the French returned the next day to take back the fort. The Mississaugas confessed to the plot, saying that they thought the French had been driven out and they were taking items away from the British. According to a report of a Captain Pierre Pouchot, he believed that they had only wanted the French brandy.