sort of expedient to persuade the Miamis to join them against the French.[17] The increased English efforts to gain footholds in the Wabash and Maumee valleys, determined Vincennes upon a course of action approved by the Marques de Vaudreuil, governor of Canada. Vincennes’ plan called for the removal of the Miamis at the headwaters of the Maumee to a new center on the St. Joseph river of Lake Michigan, near the present city of South Bend.[18] It is possible that the plan might have succeeded as Vincennes was “much loved” by the Miamis; however, with his death at Kiskakon in 1719, the Miamis “resolved not to move to the River St. Joseph, [but] to remain where they are”.[19] The Miamis preserved for a long time the memory of Vincennes. Thirty years after his death, Celeron de Bienville, while urging a group of Miamis to return to Kiskakon, used the name of Vincennes to work upon their minds, speaking of him as the one “whom you loved so much and who always governed you, so that your affairs were prosperous.”[20] On hearing of the Miamis’ decision, Governor de Vaudreuil resolved, with the approval of the Council of Marine, to establish a strong post at the headwaters of the Maumee. For this purpose he sent Captain Dubuisson, the former commander at Detroit, who had already achieved success on one occasion with the Miamis, to build the fortifications.[21] Finished in May, 1722, the fort was located on the right bank of the St. Mary’s at a latitude later given by Father Joseph Pierre de Bonnecamps (professor of hydrography at the Jesuit college of Quebec who visited Fort Miami in 1749) as 41 degrees, 29 minutes. Other information Father de Bonnecamps gives indicates that the fort was about one-half mile down the river from the Maumee-Wabash portage road.[22] Writing the Council of Marine on October 24, 1722, de Vaudreuil stated: The log fort Fort Miami which he Dubuisson had build is the finest in the upper country. It is a strong fort and safe from insult from the savages. This post which is of considerable worth ought to have a missionary. One could be sent there in 1724 if next year the council will send the four Jesuits which I ask.[23] It is unlikely that the priest requested was ever stationed at Fort Miami, as there is no indication from the _Jesuit Relations_ or other sources of one being here, although it is possible that some missionaries visited this spot on occasion.