The French in Missouri

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The French in Missouri

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 Missouri 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 Missouri?

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 rivers in what is now Wisconsin to the Mississippi River. They traveled south past what is now Missouri, partway to the Gulf of Mexico. They 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 Missouri's Native nations!

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 Missouri and the larger area around the Great Lakes and Mississippi River, there were many tribes: Odawa, Ojibwe, Potawatomi, Illinois, Menominee, Ho-Chunk, Miami, Meskwaki, Missouria, 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 towns of St. Louis and Ste. Genevieve were founded by French-speaking fur traders and habitants in the 1700s.

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

The town of Cape Girardeau was 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 Orleans is an example.

Forts and villages

After the explorers, French-speaking people came little by little to live in the territory in and around Missouri 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 Missouri 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 Missouri, 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 Missouri 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 Missouri!)

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

In 1763 two Frenchmen arrived on the site of the present city of St. Louis in order to found a trading post. This territory was claimed by Spain, but the post and the village were in the French style. The town quickly became a business center.

Bolduc House, Ste. Genevieve

The town of Ste. Genevieve formed in around 1750. Many of its residents worked in farming, and their products like wheat were sent south to the French city of New Orleans. Today there are many houses from the 1700s and 1800s still standing in the town. They use the same construction style as French houses in all of New France!

The French wanted to take advantage of the minerals that could be found here, and in about 1723 they started mining lead in the region called “Old Mines.” The residents here spoke French until the 1900s! Their language is often called “Missouri French.” This region is proud of its French heritage!

French in Missouri!

Sign at Old Mines: "On est toujours icitte!" -- "We are still here!"

Fort d’Orléans was founded by Le Sieur de Bourgmont in 1723, near the Missouri River (in the central part of today’s state of Missouri). The French wanted to be able to meet up with the Native people of this region in order to trade with them. The fort disappeared after 1736.

What have you learned?

• Choose a French site in Missouri 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 Missouri are almost always on a river or a lake. Why?

• Research the Native tribes that were and are in Missouri: Missouria, Otoe, or Osage . Where do these nations have territory today?

• 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 Missouri tribes!

Let's think about it!

The French in Missouri

For more info...

Which places in our state have French history??

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. Many of the people who settled in Ste. Genevieve were habitants. Their crops were shipped down the Mississippi River to the French town of New Orleans!

Old map of Ste. Genevieve. Can you see the houses at the bottom, near the mississippi, and the lines for the long narrow farm fields behind?

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. They traveled south past today's Missouri to the Arkansas River and then turned back north. When they returned, they came through what is today Illinois.

Otoe-Missouria Tribe: https://www.omtribe.org/ Osage Nation: https://www.osagenation-nsn.gov/ Pawnee Nation: https://pawneenation.org/ Kanza/Kaw Nation: https://www.kawnation.gov/ For more information: https://libguides.jeffco.edu/missouritribes

Missouri's Native people

Otoe-Missouria Tribe: https://www.omtribe.org/ Osage Nation: https://www.osagenation-nsn.gov/ Pawnee Nation: https://pawneenation.org/ Kanza/Kaw Nation: https://www.kawnation.gov/ For more information: https://libguides.jeffco.edu/missouritribes

Missouri's Native people