Old French Maps--Minnesota

created in connection with French Heritage Corridor: frenchheritagecorridor.org

France in North america

Old French Maps

discovering minnesota's past

What year was it, 400 years ago today??? Click here to check your answer!

Starting in about 1600, people from France came across the Atlantic Ocean to live in North America. They founded some towns, like Montreal.

When were the French in Minnesota?

Four hundred years ago, Minnesota was not yet a state, and the United States of America was not yet a country. The land that is Minnesota today was home to Native Americans (sometimes called Indians).

From France to North America

What is this?

What is this?

Here are some hats made out of fur! Do you know anyone who wears one of these hat styles today?

Trading for furs

The French also came to the land that is now Minnesota, where they wanted to trade with the Native people who were here. The French people saw the furs that the Native people used, like mink, beaver, and otter, and they knew that they could sell those furs back in France. Often, hats were made from the furs.

Test your knowledge about Trade Goods

Click here!

What are these? Click here to find out!

What are these? Click here to find out!

Trade Goods

The Native people traded the furs of animals that they had trapped for useful objects that the French people brought over from France. We call these objects “trade goods." The trade goods were things like cloth, metal pots, and metal knives and axes. (We talk about “trading” these things, not “selling” them, because the French and Natives didn’t use paper money, they just traded furs for goods!)

The first French people to come here traveled through Minnesota on its rivers, mostly in canoes. As they traveled, they made notes and drew maps of what they were learning. Later, they built some forts and villages in Minnesota so that they could trade with the Native people and could grow some crops.

The French Arrive

You can click on each map's image to see that map online

Minnesota Map 2025

Google Map 2025

LOOKING AT MAPS

When you use a map, you can learn many kinds of information. On a map, you will see things like lakes and rivers, of course, but mapmakers can put other information on maps, too.

Bellin's Map 1744

Jolliet,'s Map 1679

OLD and NEW MAPS

Let’s look at some maps of Minnesota. First, let’s look at some modern maps, and next, some maps that the French people made in the 1600s and 1700s. We’ll compare the maps and see what is different! And, we’ll think about what the French mapmakers thought it was important to show on their maps.

What lakes do you see?

What roads do you see? Name three of the interstate highways that you see.

What rivers do you see? Name three!

What cities and towns do you see?Name four! (What's your town?)

Minnesota today

Remember the directions, North, South, East, and West!

Let's take a look at what is on this modern map.

What language is used on this French map??

Map by Louis Jolliet, drawn after his trip on the Mississippi in 1673

Louis Jolliet and Father Jacques Marquette traveled down the MIssissippi River in 1673.They were the first Europeans to travel down the Mississippi. They met Native people who helped them to learn something about this territory, which was unknown to European people. What geographical features like lakes and rivers can you recognize on this map? Do their shapes look a little different from what you see on modern maps? Why?

Click here to see the map online

Map by N. Bellin, 1755

From New York Public Library

Can you recognize the Great Lakes? Can you see some of the land that is now Minnesota? Why do you think the map doesn't look exactly like a modern map of the United States and North America? What do you think the curvy lines on the map (like this) represent?

And now a French map made in 1755!

Take a look at this map, which was published in 1755. You can see that it shows the eastern part of North America.

You'll find the answers on the next page!

Guess the English names of the rivers and lakes that are circled! (Click on the dots to find out.)

Click here to see this map online!

Let's Compare Maps!

Now, find those rivers and lakes on this map of Minnesota waterways!

VS

2024 Map

1746 Map

This map doesn't show St. Anthony Falls or Lake Pepin--can you find them on another map?

The Minnesota River used to be called the St. Peter River--in French, St. Pierre!

The rivers and the lake are circled on the old map.

Let's Compare Maps!

Here are those rivers (and the lake!) on the modern map of Minnesota

VS

2025 Map

1744 Map

Click to learn more about Native tribes in Minnesota :

Today in Minnesota there are many Ojibwe or Chippewa people but they are not on this particular map.

Here are the names of the groups: Sioux (French name for the Dakota) Outagamis ou Renards (French name for the Meskwaki) Outaouacs (French spelling of Odawa or Ottawa)

On this map, the names of different Native American tribes are written. It shows where these groups lived when the map was created in about 1746. All of these people lived in or near what is today Minnesota!

Native Americans on the Map

Why was it important for the French to show where people of different Native tribes lived? And how did the French interact with the Native people?

Here's an answer!

Think about it!

On the modern map of Minnesota, we noticed highways and roads. Why do you think there are no roads on the old maps created by the French?

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Names of... 1) 2) 3) Shapes of... 1) 2) Anything else??

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Think about it!

So... what information did the French people put on their maps? What have you observed?

You can use an online app like this one or you can draw and write the information on paper!

On that map, put in the labels that you think are important for someone looking at the map to know!

What kinds of labels will you include? Why? Who will think that these labels are useful (that means, who is the audience for your map, who will look at it?)?

Choose a place you know well: your classroom or your home or the state of Minnesota or another place. Draw or find a map of that place that doesn't already have labels on it. (Your teacher can find some maps at frenchheritagecorridor.org)

Create your own map!

then, show your map to the class and explain what you labeled and why!

Map Activity

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© 2025 French Heritage Corridor

You can learn more! Go to the French Heritage Corridor website:

More information!

What are these?

These are kettles made of metal. They could be used for cooking.

1625Remember: we call the century of 1625 "the 17th century"

(2025 - 400 = 1625).

Today, it's 2025: 400 years ago, it was 1625 !!

What year was it?

400 years ago...

The name on the map for this river is "R. Colbert." ("R." stands for "Rivière) What is the name of this river today? MISSISSIPPI, of course!

Each group of Native people was different! They had different languages and different customs. If the French wanted to trade with different groups, they had to know the different groups well. They also tried to make sure that there were not conflicts among groups!

French and Native people

(It's Lake Michigan, of course!)

What is the English name today for "Lac des Illinois"?

West is the "left" direction

East is the "right" direction

South is the "down" direction

Remember the directions of the compass!

N means North: it is the "up" direction

With this function... You can add additional content that excites the brain of your audience: videos, images, links, interactivity... Whatever you want!

Cool Title

Cool Title

Cool Title

Cool Title

What are these?

These are fish hooks made of metal.

What are these?

These are fish hooks made of metal.

Traveling on water

Remember that the Native people and the French mostly traveled on rivers and lakes! Cars did not exist, and you needed horses to pull wagons. It was much simpler to travel on water! There were very few actual roads in North America at that time! Native people traveled on paths, but rivers and lakes were the fastest way to travel. So it was important for the French to show the rivers and lakes on maps. This helped them navigate! The Native people also traveled by water much of the time. The French adopted the bark canoes used by the Native people! Have you traveled in a canoe??