Your Great Catholic Minnesota Road Trip #4: Fort St. Charles, Lake of the Woods

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It is possible to be north of International Falls and still be in Minnesota!

Fort St. Charles

Magnuson’s Island, Lake of the Woods

Located in Minnesota’s Northwest Angle — that piece of land in that funny geographic knob at the top of the state — Fort St. Charles has been called the resting place of “Minnesota’s forgotten martyr.” In 1736, Sioux American Indians beheaded missionary Jesuit priest Jean Pierre Aulneau and the 19 men he accompanied. They are buried at the fort. In 1949-51, the Knights of Columbus built a shrine for the priest.

Did you know? Built in 1732 (the same year George Washington was born), the site’s importance as a fur trading post extends beyond Father Aulneau. Fort St. Charles is also only one of three French forts found in Minnesota established before 1763, when Spain received the Louisiana Territory from the French after the French and Indian War. (France got the territory back in 1800.) Catholic Spirit