The French in Iowa

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

The French in Iowa

Click here to start!

Which places in our state have French history??

Notice all these Midwest place names that are French!

France in North America

Are there OTHER places in Iowa that 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 hard to go to China by traveling on land. Maybe they could travel 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 new to 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 was Montreal!

In 1603, Samuel de Champlain first came to North America. In 1608 he founded 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.

Who were the Native people living in Iowa?

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 entered the Mississippi River near Marquette, Iowa. They traveled south partway to the Gulf of Mexico and returned home through Illinois and Lake Michigan. On their trip, they were guided by Native people and they met other Natives up and down the Mississippi. CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THEIR TRIP!

By 1645, the French had founded small settlements in Canada: Quebec City, Trois-Rivières, and Montreal. 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 in Iowa 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. They had 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. 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 Minnesota and the larger Great Lakes area, there were many tribes: Odawa, Ojibwe, Potawatomi, Illinois, Menominee, Ho-Chunk, Miami, Meskwaki, Huron, Ioway, and more!

What have you learned?

The French said that the whole territory was a French colony. But the Native people lived everywhere in this region, and they continued to see this land as their land where they had the right to live.

• 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

The city of Des Moines is named for the Des Moines River--and that river was named by the French for a Native tribe they called the Moingona.

Who came? Soldiers, priests, traders, and habitants.

Some towns like Dubuque and LeClaire were named after French-speaking people who settled here with their families early in the 1800s.

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

Learn about voyageurs!

Look at this old map to see the name of the Moningona people!

Forts and villages

After the explorers, French-speaking people came little by little to live in the territory in and around Iowa 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 two regions: Canada (in the north) and Louisiana (in the south). The area including Iowa was called "Upper Louisiana" or "the Illinois country" after the Illinois Native tribes who lived here.

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 land east of the Mississippi became British territory. To the west of the Mississippi, like in Iowa, it became Spanish territory. It was no longer New France. And in 1803, with what we call the "Louisiana Purchase," the area that is now Iowa 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 or Spanish.

After 1763, the French territory in North America became British land. But this was only true for the part EAST of the MIssissippi River. The land that was WEST of the river became land claimed by Spain. (This includes Iowa!)

The land east of the MIssissippi River became part of the new United States after 1783. The part west of the River including Iowa became part of the U.S. in 1803!

Notice the name of this river, on this map from 1744!

In 1858 a group of people from France arrive in southwest Iowa. They were idealistic: they wanted to create a new community where everyone would be equal and where they would share everything. They were called “Icarians.” They spoke French in their community and believed strongly in education for everyone. But the community didn’t last very long: it disappeared before 1890.

Antoine LeClaire, a French speaker, played an important role in the development of the city of Davenport. His father was from Quebec and his mother was Potawatomi. The town of LeClaire was named after him!

French in Iowa!

Louis Arriandeaux cabin dating from around 1828, near Dubuque (Photo: Iowa Road Trip)

At the beginning of the 1800s several French-speaking people settled in Iowa, near the Mississippi. Julien Dubuque established lead mines near what is now Dubuque, the city named after him!

When Marquette and Jolliet came south on the Mississippi, they met Native people at the spot where the river we call the “Des Moines River” flows into the Mississippi. “Who are the Native people who live upstream on this river?” Jolliet asked the Natives. “They are the Moingona” was the answer. So the French called it the river “of the” (“des”) Moingona, which became Des Moines!

What have you learned?

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

• French settlements--forts, fur trade posts, or villages--in Iowa are almost always on a river or a lake. Why?

• Research the Native tribes that were and are in Iowa: Ioway, Dakota, or Meskwaki . Which tribe has land in Iowa today? (How did they gain the rights to this land? It's not a reservation!)

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

Click here to learn more about tribes in Iowa!

Let's think about it!

The French in Iowa

For more info...

Which places in our state have French history??

"Shooting the Rapids," painting by Frances Anne Hopkins (1879)

And you can go to Voyageurs National Park to travel on lakes and rivers just like the "voyageurs" (the French name for the men who paddled the canoes. They were mostly French-Canadian!).

Today you can visit Grand Portage National Monument and see a replica of the original fort and trading post.

Voyageurs

Starting in the late 1700s, fur traders from Canada used Lake Superior and the lakes in northern Minnesota to travel farther north and west to get more furs. The French trading post at Grand Portage became very important! And the men and goods traveled in very large canoes.

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. Not many habitants settled in what is now Iowa, but some did in Illinois and in Missouri.

Reconstructed Trading post, stockade, and dock at Grand Portage

Let's EXPLORE!

Traders and habitants

What's the difference between fur traders and habitants?

A view of the MIssissippi River from Effigy Mounds National Monument in Iowa , where they entered the Mississippi

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 (they carried their canoes over land) 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, across from today's town of Marquette, Iowa. When they returned, they came north through what is today Illinois.

Meskwaki Nation: https://www.meskwaki.org/ Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska: https://iowatribeofkansasandnebraska.com/

You can get more information on Native tribes who lived in Iowa by exploring the sites of these Nations::

Native people in Iowa

You can access a presentation here for more information: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWJHoMa_CxQ

Look in the middle of the maps to see "le Moingona Riviere" circled in red! This is the Des Moines River.