Ohio’s 18th Century French/ American-Indian Renegade
Dr. Roger Anderson, Assistant Professor of International Languages & Cultures
Central State University
Situated in what was once called the “French Crescent” of west central Ohio (Fox & Piston-Hatlen, 2019, p. 174) is the village of Fort Loramie in rural Shelby County. French immigrants populated the area, including nearby towns of Versailles, Frenchtown, and Russia (supposedly named by former soldiers of Napoleon, who immigrated here and likened its flatness to the plains of Russia).
Today’s Fort Loramie is named after the War of 1812-era fort, built at the orders of General “Mad” Anthony Wayne. The fort once stood upon the earlier site of the infamous “Frenchman’s Store”, the trading post of Pierre-Louis Lorimier (a.k.a. “Peter Loramie”) (“Fort Loramie History,” 2023).
Mastering North America’s extensive waterways, French “voyageurs” or “coureurs de bois” (woodsmen, fur trappers) preceded British and American settlers. Lorimier belonged to this prototype. He was born in Montreal before France lost the North American continent to the British in the French and Indian War (Seven Years’ War). Lorimier arrived in the Ohio Country in 1769 where he established a trading post with the American Indians of the region. Of mixed
French and indigenous ancestry, Lorimier always wore long hair that could touch the floor. (See Image 1.) Lorimier married three times, the first being to a Shawnee woman with whom he had eight children.
Wax figure of Lorimier in the Wilderness Trail Museum in Fort Loramie, OH
Lorimier opposed the settlers’ westward expansion. He supplied American Indians with weapons to attack settlers, and his Ohio trading post became a launching point of American Indian attacks. Even the 1778 raid on Boonesborough, Kentucky, which captured Daniel Boone and brought him captive to today’s Greene County (OH), was planned and led by Lorimier and Shawnee chief Blackfish (The Fascinating Story of Peter Loramie – Sidney Daily News, 2023). (See Image 2.)
Painting: Lorimier plotting with American Indians and British Army to attack settlers, in aforementioned museum
For this reason, the Kentucky Militia marched through Ohio to find and burn “the Frenchman’s Store”, (and indigenous villages, too). Lorimier had already moved westward (Shelby County Historical Society – Archives – Loramie Had No Tender Feelings for Americans, 2023) .
As was made clear at the museum previously mentioned, calling him “Father” Lorimier is a mistake. The erroneous theory that he was a Jesuit priest, according to the museum docent, gained traction amongst the predominantly Catholic population of this “French crescent” after a silver cross was unearthed below an uprooted tree not far from the site of Lorimier’s post (and/or subsequent Fort Lorimier). This cross, authentic to Lorimier’s period but without any clear connection to him, is housed at the museum. Locals nonetheless embraced it, embedding its image in the village’s logo alongside images honoring later German immigration to the village. (See Image 3.)
Village logo of Fort Loramie, centering the discovered cross
In 1793, Lorimier was commissioned by the Spanish – who owned the lands that would become the “Louisiana Purchase”– to establish a trading post. After founding the city of Cape Girardeau (in today’s Missouri) on the Mississippi River (see Image 4), he became the region’s governor. Today visitors can explore a replica of his trading post, called the Red House Interpretive Center.
Cape Girardeau’s flood walls depict the region’s history while retaining the “Mother of Rivers”
Behind the house, Lorimier’s image adorns the floodwalls that hold back the Mississippi River, depicting him receiving his commission from the Spanish authorities. (See Image 5.)
At the Red House (see Image 5), Lorimier hosted the Lewis & Clark Expedition (History of Cape Girardeau, 2023). George Drouillard, Lorimier’s half-Shawnee nephew, served as an interpreter and hunter on the expedition (George Drouillard Historical Marker, 2023).
Lorimier’s Red House, in Cape Girardeau, Missouri on the Mississippi River
The lands west of the Mississippi River rapidly passed from the Spanish to French and finally American ownership. Ultimately, Lorimier remained a central figure in governing the region throughout this eventful period. He worked as a Federal Indian Agent of the US Government until his death in 1812 (Englebert, 2018, p. 65). This role existed to mediate conflicts between settlers and Indians, and to “promote ‘civilization’ among the tribes” (Indian Agents | Encyclopedia.Com, 2023). Ultimately, Pierre-Louis Lorimier of Montreal, a.k.a. Peter Loramie, is crucial to U.S. history because, “(his) life story turns the traditional narrative of métissage upside down by challenging racial-essentialist understandings of ethnicity” (Englebert, 2018, p. 65) .
*All images were taken by the author and may be used for educational purposes. Contact the author for references.
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