1684: The Iroquois Lay Siege to the Fort

This chapter focuses on the six-day Iroquois siege at Starved Rock. This attack on Fort St. Louis is an important event in French history in the West because, in the eyes of the Illinois Indians, it diminished the power of the French, both as protector and trade partner—the very reasons that the tribes had been drawn to the upper Illinois River Valley. The siege, which underscored French weaknesses, occurred during a time of social and commercial instability in the region. The near-success of the Iroquois validated their strength and encouraged their arrogance. It was clear that if the Iroquois could wrest the Canadian fur market from the French and control it themselves, then the Western tribes would trade with the Iroquois. The Iroquois would then trade those furs to the English. Had the outcome been reversed and Fort St. Louis had fallen to the Iroquois, the English would have achieved a major victory by gaining a greater role as a supplier of goods to the Western Indians. In the end, however, the repulse of the Iroquois at Starved Rock kept the important Franco-Native American trade alliance intact, and securely maintained French control of the gateway to the Mississippi through the Illinois Country.