The French in Wisconsin

On these pages, hover over a boldfaced word to see a definition!

The French in Wisconsin

Let's get started!

Which places in our state have French history??

Notice all these Midwest place names ithat are French!

France in North America

What OTHER places in Wisconsin have a French name? Make a list!

At that time, the French wanted to develop their trade with China and Asia. From France, it was difficult to go to China by traveling on land. Maybe they could to China by boat, if they could find a water route that went through North America! So, they wanted to explore.

In the 16th century (the 1500s), North America was populated by many Native American tribes. But the French, like the English and the Spanish, thought they could benefit from this rich land --a land that was unknown for the French.

Who were the Native people living in Canada?

France in North America

Next, the French founded a second settlement on an island in the St. Lawrence River, a site that was also inhabited by Native people: this is Montreal!

In 1603, Samuel de Champlain first came to North America. In 1608 he established a small "habitation" or settlement on a site where Native people lived already. Today, this is Quebec City.

The French king decided to send men to explore this new continent. First, Jacques Cartier came down the huge St. Lawrence River several times starting in 1534. He met Native people who lived in that region. But the French did not build any towns at that time.

What is a portage?

Click here to learn more about their route through Wisconsin!

Who were the Native people living in Wisconsin?

France in North America

In 1673, Louis Jolliet and Father Marquette were the first Frenchmen to see the Mississippi River. They came down Green Bay and crossed what is today Wisconsin by taking the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers. They had to portage between the two rivers! On their trip, they were guided by Native people and they met other Natives up and down the Mississippi.

By 1645, the French had founded small settlements in Canada: Quebec City, Trois-Rivières, and Montréal. Frenchmen continued to travel from these towns toward the region of the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River. Louis Jolliet and Father Marquette, Jean Nicolet, René-Robert Cavelier de LaSalle, and other men traveled into the middle of the continent.

Explore Native nations today!

The Native people were important partners for the French in the fur trade and they were very important in helping the French survive.

The Fur Trade and Native People

A fur (pelt) of a beaver, stretched on a frame. It was necessary to process the furs before trading them.

The French saw that they could buy furs (also called pelts) like beaver and send them to Europe to sell them there. In Europe, there was a large demand for furs. The French believed that they could bring in profit through buying furs from the Natives and sending them back to Europe to sell them there. This business--the fur trade--seemed like it might be very valuable!

Who were the Native people that the French traded and lived with? In Wisconsin and the larger Great Lakes area, there were many tribes: Odawa, Ojibwe, Potawatomi, Illinois, Menominee, Ho-Chunk, Miami, Meskwaki, Hurons, and more!

What have you learned?

Even though Native people lived everywhere in this region, the French said that the whole territory was a French colony. The Native people continued to see this land as their land.

• The Native people knew how to survive in this environment, which was different from France!

• The Native people supplied the furs that the French people wanted to export to Europe.

• The Native people could help the French be integrated into the trade network that already existed among Native tribes.

In North America, the French needed Native people for several reasons.

Native People and the French

Towns like Green Bay, Prairie du Chien, and Milwaukee had French speakers living there even in the 1800s!

Some forts didn't last very long and don't exist today: Fort St. Antoine is an example.

Often forts and religious missions were built together. This was true for the Green Bay area as well as the Chequamegon area.

Who came? Traders, soldiers, habitants and priests.

Forts and villages

After the explorers, French-speaking people came little by little to live in the territory that is Wisconsin today. They built:

• forts
• religious missions
• villages

What are habitants?

What have you learned?

Plaque in Québec City saying that the city was founded by Champlain

New France was divided into the regions of Canada (in the north) and Louisiana (in the south). The area around the Great Lakes, including Wisconsin, was called "the Upper Country."

More Info!

The territory in blue on this map was the French colony that they called "New France" ("la nouvelle France"). The smaller red area was the British colony. The situation changed in 1763, after the end of the French & Indian War.

The end of New France, but ...

In 1763, France lost the French & Indian War to Great Britain. As a result, all the territory east of the Mississippi became British territory. (To the west of the Mississippi it became Spanish territory.) It was no longer New France. And, at the end of the 18th century the area that is now Wisconsin became part of the new country, the United States of America. For the Native people, of course, this was still their territory. They still had to deal with European people, whether they were French or British.

This part of North America became British after 1763. This was before the existence of the United States!

East of the MIssissippi, this territory became part of the new United States after 1783.

What about Brussels?

Click here for more about French place names

Tank Cottage in Green Bay, built in 1776 by French speaker Joseph Roi

The town of La Baie--today Green Bay--was first a French fort and mission. French-speaking fur traders still lived there after it became British and then American. People who spoke French, like Charles Langlade and Pierre Grignon, were the majority of its population into the 1800s!

A fur trade post was created at the site of Milwaukee in 1795 by French speaker Jacques Vieau. His son-in-law Solomon Juneau (born in Quebec, also a fur trader) played a big role as the town grew in the early 1800s.

French continued in Wisconsin!

François Vertefeuille House (built between 1810 & 1820), Prairie du Chien

In the 1600s Nicolas Perrot traveled through today's Wisconsin. He established forts & trading posts at places like Trempealeau and Lake Pepin (on the Mississippi River). And Father Claude Allouez started a Catholic mission at La Pointe (Chequamegon). These places and others still have their French names!

Prairie du Chien was also settled by French speakers like François Vertefeuille. You can still see some of their very old houses there, and you can also visit the Old French Cemetery. The residents were fur traders but also farmers!

What have you learned?

• Choose a French site in Wisconsin and research it. Create a brochure for tourists or other visitors that gives them good information about this place.

• French settlements--forts, missions, or villages--in Wisconsin are almost always on rivers. Why?

• Research the Native tribes that were and are in Wisconsin: Meskwaki (Fox), Potawatomi, Ho-Chunk, Ojibwe, Menominee, etc. Where are there Native tribal land holdings in Wisconsin today?

• The French needed their Native trade partners in order to survive! Make a list of the things that the French needed, in this new land, which the Native people could give them or help with.

Click here to learn more

Let's think about it!!

The French in Wisconsin

For more info...

Which places in our state have French history??

State highway map link

Google map link

Here's a partial list. Look at the map of Wisconsin and find these names. Do you know someone who speaks French? Look at a map of Wisconsin and ask them to help you find more!!

Why so many French names?

French place names in Wisconsin!

How many can you find?

• Racine
• Portage
• Butte des Morts
• La Pointe
• Prairie du Sac
• Radisson
• Eau Claire
• La Crosse
• Lac du Flambeau
• Nicolet National Forest

Traders traveled a lot to trade for furs with the Natives and usually didn't have farm crops. Traders often married Native women.

"Habitants" raised crops and didn't travel as often, though they often did some fur trading. The land of much of the southern part of Wisconsin was rich and productive.

Not many French-speaking people lived in Wisconsin in the 17th and 18th centuries. The biggest villages often had no more than 200 French speakers living in them!

vertefeuille house, prairie du chien

Let's EXPLORE!

Traders and habitants

What's the difference between fur traders and habitants?

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et

Habitants

Priests

Soldiers

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et

Lorem ipsum dolor sit

Who are these people?

Traders

• Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.
• Consectetur adipiscing elit.
• Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut.

State highway map link

Google map link

Here's a partial list. Look at the map of Wisconsin and find these names. Do you know someone who speaks French? Look at a map of Wisconsin and ask them to help you find more!!

Why so many French names?

French place names in Wisconsin!

How many can you find?

• Racine
• Portage
• Butte des Morts
• La Pointe
• Prairie du Sac
• Radisson
• Eau Claire
• La Crosse
• Lac du Flambeau
• Nicolet National Forest

A view of the MIssissippi River from near Prairie du Chien

Marquette and Jolliet started their trip in St. Ignace (in today's Michigan). They came south in Green Bay and took the Fox River south and west. They portaged between the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers at the site of the city of Portage, Wisconsin. They first saw the Mississippi River near today's city of Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin.

After Wisconsin became a state and many Native people were forced to leave, newcomers could buy land. Some people from the part of Belgium where they speak French came to the peninsula next to Green Bay--now Door County. They named towns after the places they came from!

Here's a link to a Google map: Check these places out!

What about Brussels?

People from French-speaking Belgium moved to Wisconsin too!

• Brussels
• Namur

• Rosiere
• Valmy

Native American Tourism of Wisconsin Website

Many of Wisconsin's Native tribes have websites that you can explore. Here are a few: click on the blue symbol to go to their website.

• Citizen Potawatomi Nation:

• Menominee Tribe of Wisconsin:

• Ho-Chunk Nation:
• Ojibwe (Chippewa): Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa

Native people today

Learn about all of Wisconsin's Native nations at this site: https://dpi.wi.gov/amind/tribalnationswi

A view of the MIssissippi River from near Prairie du Chien

Marquette and Jolliet started their trip in St. Ignace (in today's Michigan). They came south via Green Bay and took the Fox River south and west. They portaged between the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers at the site of the city of Portage, Wisconsin. They first saw the Mississippi River near today's city of Prairie du Chien.