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Historical Essay

Duluth [Dulhut], Daniel Greysolon Sieur (1639-1710)

Explorer and Trader
Biography of Daniel Greysolon Sieur Duluth who helped protect the Wisconsin area against raids of the Iroquois.
Historical Essay

Marin, Paul, 1692-1753

French Official, Captain and Fur Trader
Biography of French Official, Captain and Fur Trader Paul Marin.
Historical Essay

The Search for Wisconsin's First Priest

A Priest Follows Another Priest's 300-Year-Old Path to Death
Learn how Rev. A. A. A. Schmirler traced the path Fr. Rene Menard took in 1661 down northern Wisconsin's rivers to the likely spot of his death.
Historical Essay

The Man With the Iron Hand

A Frenchman's Disastrous Expedition
Learn about explorer Robert de La Salle's iron-handed chief lieutenant, Henri de Tonty, and what resulted in the worst winter of his life.
Historical Essay

Wisconsin's First Thanksgiving

Discover the story of French traders saved from starvation by Ottawa Indians at the headwaters of the Chippewa River in 1659.
Historical Essay

The Iroquois Wars

New Tribes Brought to Wisconsin by French Commerce
Learn how contact with Europeans, the fur trade and warfare among their tribes drove many Indians to the Wisconsin territory in the 17th century.
Historical Essay

European Exploration in Wisconsin

How the French Began the Fur Trade
Discover how early French explorers mapped Wisconsin and began the state's fur trade.
Historical Essay

Colonialism and Indian Life in Wisconsin

How Native Life was Transformed
Discover how white contact disrupted and transformed Indian life in Wisconsin in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Historical Essay

Nicolas Perrot: French Fur Trade in Wisconsin

Read an account of the French explorer who claimed much of Wisconsin for France and who traded with several Indian tribes near Green Bay, Wisconsin.

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