Wilmont Kreis

As Detroit begins to prosper, it is interrupted by the Indian wars with Tecumseh and the War of 1812. The Indian twins, Michel and Lucien have lived with the Allards since the death of their father and the family is torn apart as Michel sides with the Americans and Michel with the Indians. Read More 

Father Gabriel Richard was undoubtedly the most revered man in the city, and one year after his arrival, the obstreperous Augustus Woodward was the most despised. Oddly enough, the two men got along famously and proceeded to make Detroit “arise from the ashes”. Woodward’s proposed plan of the new city can still be seen in the streets of Detroit today. In spring of 1807, Woodward visited many French citizens including Jacques Allard. His report to President Jefferson on these bizarre and enigmatic French habitants is classic and found in chapter 19 of the book. Read More 

Soon after the Detroit fire of 1805, four men arrived in Detroit Harbor. As they had left Washington before news of the disaster, they were shocked at what they found. All sent by President Jefferson, William Hull was to be Governor of the new Michigan Territory, Stanley Griswold, Secretary of the Territory, Fredrick Bates, Supreme Court Justice, and Augustus Woodward Chief Justice. Of the four disappointed men, Woodward would have by far the greatest effect on Cadillac’s old village. Read More 

Two years from their departure, Jacques and the three boys return to Detroit only to find it in ruins. They soon land and learn that one year ago a barn fire spread through the city leaving only one warehouse building standing within the city proper. Gabriel Richard, the French priest and spiritual leader of the city had been considering his return to France the night of the fire, but in the morning, examining the devastation, he deemed it a sign from God that he remain. Exploring the ashes, he remembered a verse he was obligated to memorized in the seminary, “Speramus meliora; resurget cineribus.” We hope for better things; it will arise from the ashes.” This phrase is now the motto of Detroit found on the city seal. Read More 

Reaching the large village of the Mandan Indians in October during a blinding snowstorm, Jacques and Drouillard find the inebriated Toussaint Charbonneau along with his Indian wife who is at that moment giving birth. One of the most outrageous characters from history, Toussaint makes this already interesting voyage much more so. His wife, Sacagawea who he claims to have won in a poker game, is more help to the voyage than her voyageur husband. She and her then newborn son, Jean-Baptiste are immortalized on the one-dollar American coin. The best and most interesting account of them can be found in the wonderful book, Sacagawea’s Child by Susan M. Colby. You can get it on Amazon. Read More 

Along the famous voyage they have numerous experiences exciting, terrifying, excruciatingly difficult and sometimes humorous arriving back in civilization two years later with the loss of only one life. Early in the voyage, Jacques tells Lewis there is only one man who knows the way to the Northwest Passage, Toussaint Charbonneau, the son of Jacques’ old teacher. Unfortunately, no one knows of his whereabouts or even if he is alive. Read More 

Book five follows the famous voyage of Lewis and Clark as seen through the eyes of old Jacques Allard. Beginning in Lake St. Clair, they travel to Lake Erie, down the Ohio River to the Mississippi River and St. Louis then up the Missouri River where they meet the expedition. From there they continue up the Missouri and westward through terrain never seen by white men. (Well, maybe one). Encountering brutal winter, giant waterfalls, attacks by bears and encounters with natives hostile and friendly, they finally arrive in view of the Pacific Ocean. Read More 

Although he is facing his 58th birthday, Jacques Allard is as active as ever. So when his friend, the great Indian translator, Georges Drouillard, appears with prospects for the greatest adventure in American history, Jacques agrees instantly. Against his wife’s judgment, he proposes to take his young son, Louis-Pierre, and his two metis or mixed-blood friends Lucien and Michel de Baptiste. The story of their travels with Lewis and Clark follow closely the descriptions in Lewis’s excellent diary. With some fun added by yours truly. Read More 

By the grace of Almighty God, I claim these lands for his majesty the King of France, and today on her feast day, I dedicate this church to the patron saint of New France, Sainte-Anne. And I hereby christen this fort “Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit.” It is here I shall build a city in the wilderness.
Antoine Lamothe Sieur de Cadillac: July 26, 1701
It was with this speech Cadillac began what would later become the Motor City and arsenal of democracy, but would linger as a frontier outpost for a century. Book Five covers the beginning of its emergence as a great American city. Read More 

THE ALLARDS BOOK FIVE: THE CITY IN THE WILDERNESS: The Trailer
Old Jacques Allard and his young son, Louis-Pierre, are invited to participate in the grandest American wilderness adventure of them all, to travel west with Lewis and Clark in search of the Northwest Passage to the sea. Returning two years later, they find their city in ruins following the great Detroit fire of 1805.
The epic rebirth of a new city in the wilderness is hampered first by the War of 1812 and finally the world-wide cholera epidemic of 1832. It is during this time that Detroit is transfigured from a military outpost to a true city. Historical figures such as Meriwether Lewis, Augustus Woodward, and Gabriel Richard are accurately portrayed but with the author’s own touch of personalization.
All of Dr. Kreis’ books are available in print and Kindle format on Amazon.com. Read More