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FrancoGene: Genealogy of French forts of the West

History at a glance

The European colonization was made from three places: Spanish from the South, French from the St.Lawrence Valley and English from the Atlantic Coast.

In 1538, the Spaniard Hernando de Soto navigated along the Mississippi River, but the Spanish settlements were limited to the South.

French, who settled the St.Lawrence Valley (Quebec City, 1608, then Montreal, 1642), explored the continent looking for furs. In 1615, Samuel de Champlain and Étienne Brûlé reached the Great Lakes (Ontario). In 1621, Étienne Brûlé was in Sault Ste.Marie (Ontario). In 1634, Jean Nicolet reached Michigan Lake (Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin). In 1657-58, Medard Chouart dit Desgroseillers and Pierre-Esprit Radisson explored the Superior Lake and the North of Mississippi River (Illinois). In 1669-70, Robert Cavelier de La Salle explored Ohio and Illinois. In 1673, Louis Jolliet and father Jacques Marquette discovered the Mississippi River. In 1699, D’Iberville arrived in the mouth of the Mississippi, later known at the New Orleans (Louisiana). In 1731, Pierre Gauthier, sieur de La Vérendrye, was in the West. He visited the Rocky Mountains in 1738.

Despite many fur traders were already living in the area, sometimes like Natives, it is only in 1701 that the earlier permanent forts were settled, like Détroit (Michigan) and Mobile (Alabama). Many more were built, for example in 1711, with Michillimakinac (Michigan) or in 1718, with New Orleans (Louisiana).

While France was occupying, with her forts, the inner continent, and more particularly the Mississippi area, they were surrounded by English of the colonies, later American, on the East border, and by Spanish on the South-West side. In 1763, after loosing the Seven Year war, France gave way Louisiana to Spain who then owned half of the continent. This was in short the West Bank of Mississippi, from New Orleans to future Manitoba. The Northern area East of Mississippi to the Great Lake was a part of Canada becoming at that time a British colony and included in what was then called the Province of the Quebec Government.  At that time, american colonies continued to expand thru the inner continent. In 1801, during the Napoleon wars, France took back Louisiana to resell it in 1803. Then, Napoleon received from the Americans $15 millions.

During that time period and after it, the interior of the continent was divided in territory and then in States member of the United States.

Some French pioneers

Principal genealogical sources

• Denissen, Révérend Frère Christian, Genealogy of the French Families of the Detroit River Region, 1701-1911, edit. by Harold Frederic Powell, The Detroit Society for Genealogical Research, " Burton Historical Collection ", Detroit Public Library, 5201 Woodward Ave., Detroit, Michigan, 1976, 2 vol.
• PFF: Faribault-Beauregard, Marthe, La population des forts français, 2 vol., covering BMS occuring in French Forts
• Vidrine, Jacqueline, Love's Legacy, by University of Southwestern Louisiana, Center for Louisiana Studies, 19..., Lafayette, La. Includes the early marriages of Mobile (Alabama), 1724-1786
• ANF: Archives nationales de France (original records)
• LDS: Latter Day Saints church(microfilms)
• NAC: National Archives of Canada (microfilms)
• Drouin: registers of many French forts are available with the Drouin microfilms.

List of old French forts with records