Fort L'Huillier

 (1700-1703) - A French Colonial era Fort established in 1700 by Pierre Charles Le Sueur near the confluence of the Blue Earth River and the Le Sueur River below present-day Mankato, Minnesota. Named Fort L'Huillier after Remy-François L'Hullier, the Farmer-General in Paris, who aided the project. Abandoned in 1703.

History of
Established in 1700 by Pierre Charles Le Sueur and his nineteen men as a set of three or four log cabins surrounded by a palisade. The fort was completed on 14 Oct 1700. Le Sueur believed the area to be rich in copper ore as evidenced by the blue earth deposits he found locally. He reportedly took two tons of the blue earth to France, sailing in the early summer of 1702 from Mobile. In France, he found that his blue earth was just blue clay and of no value.

In the face of Indian hostility and a lack of supplies the remaining men at Fort L'Huillier left the fort in 1703 and also journeyed back to Mobile. On Le Sueur's return from France, he found his fort abandoned and the area too dangerous to resettle and the fort remained abandoned.

Current Status
Exact location unknown. Marker near the intersection of old highway 66 and highway 90 near Mount Kato.

See Also:

Sources: Links:
 * , page 431.
 * "Early French Forts and Footprints of the Valley of the Upper Mississippi", United States Service Magazine, I:356‑362 (1864)
 * North American Forts - Fort L'Huillier
 * Wikipedia - Fort L'Huillier
 * Mankato Free Press - Search for Fort L'Hullier continues into the modern age, 1 Aug 2015