Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
FacilitatingboththefurtradeandFrenchcontroloverthecolonieswerethemissionaries
of the Society of Jesus—the Jesuits. These “Black Robes” (so-called by the Huron and Ott-
awa) first arrived during a time of atavistic religious fervor in France. The Franciscans had
originally set down here, but found the task of conversion too daunting for their small or-
der. The Jesuits became the very foundation upon which New France operated. The traders
needed them to foster harmony with Native American traders. More important, the often-
complicated French systems of operation required that all day-to-day affairs be carried out
at the local level. By 1632, all missionary work in French Canada was under the auspices
of the Jesuits.
The Jesuits also accompanied
voyageurs
(explorers) as New France attempted to widen
its sphere of influence westward. Eventually, the Black Robes themselves, along with
renegade fur traders, were responsible for the initial exploration and settlement of present-
day Wisconsin.
SamueldeChamplain,whofirstarrivedinQuebecin1603,wastheprovince'smostfamous
and effective leader, despite an obsession with the legendary route to the Great Khan. After
arrivingandhearingofthe“PeopleoftheStinkingWaters”(theWinnebago),whichhesur-
mised to mean an ocean-dwelling people, he dispatched the first Europeans from Acadia to
explore the wild western frontier.
Though there is speculative evidence that Étienne Brulé, Champlain's first explorer,
may have poked around Wisconsin as early as 1620—the same year many assume the pil-
grims founded the new colonies—most historians credit Jean Nicolet with being the first
European to turn up in Green Bay, landing at Red Banks in 1634. Garbed in Chinese dam-
askandusingthunderstickhistrionicstoimpressthenatives(thePotawatomihemetimme-
diately dubbed him Thunder Beaver), Nicolet efficiently and diplomatically forged imme-
diate ties with the Indians, who guided him throughout the region to meet other tribes.
Asbefore,Nicoletcouldn'trousethewiltedinterestoftheFrenchroyalty—allitwanted
toseewasbagsofChinesesilk—andthecountryonceagainletthematterdrop.Legitimate
French fur traders were scooped by Pierre Esprit Radisson and Médard Chouart des Gro-
seilliers, two pesky
coureurs-de-bois
(renegade trappers) who couldn't be bothered to get
licensed by the crown. They delved farther into Wisconsin than any had before, but had
nowheretotradetheirfursafterbeingblacklisted bytherulingpowersinNewFrance.This
led them to England, which gave them a charter to establish the Hudson's Bay Company
northofNewFrance—onereasonforthelaterconflictbetweenFranceandBritain.In1666,
