Where Were The French?

[Larry Koschkee]

Why didn't the early French inhabitants in the Northwest Territory capitalize on the rich lode of lead?

While the fur trade was waning in the early half of the 19th century would it not have been a easy transition to the exploitation of mineral? The idea did occur to one prominent Frenchman. Nicholas Boilvin was employed by the United States as Indian Agent at Prairie du Chien. Boilvin saw first hand the fur trade dominance in the fur trade from the British and French in the Old Northwest Territory and had the vision to see that the fur trade would not last much longer. His proposal to the U.S. Government was to change their "factory" trade system from focus on fur trade to one of lead trade with the local Indians. With the Indians mining lead and trading for goods with the U.S. it could trump the Indians reliance and preference to trade with the French and British.

Is the answer as simple as the French did not have the expertise to extract and smelt or were there other factors in play at the time?

I may be wrong, but the only French individuals to be successful in the mining district were the Gratiots, John P. B. and Henry. The Gratiots descended from a noble Hugnonot family of La Rochelle, France.

When the Winnebago War broke out in 1827 there were few if any names on the militia muster rolls except for Captain Thomas McNair's company based at Prairie du Chien. Looking at the 1832 militia muster rolls of Illinois there are few if any French names and the same could be said for Michigan Territory muster rolls that are currently noted.

Your thoughts and opinions are encouraged.

Larry

[Robert Braun]

Larry... I think early French settlers DID go after the lead deposits. They didn't get as far as the upper Mississippi; the primary concentration appears to have been in present-day Missouri.

Further, there didn't seem to be the interest expressed in lead by the French-- at least not as much as their curiosity in furs. The Choteau enterprise in St. Louis build a burgeoning fur trade, and other interests (salt boilding, lead digging, etc.) seemed to be more side-lines than anything else. Regardless, many French diggers worked what would become the Missouri "lead belt," having recived grants from Spain to work such storied mines as "Shibboleth" and "Belle Fountain."

As we may have discussed earlier, after the American purchase of the land from the French, John Smith T. eventually acquired claims to both Shibboleth and Belle Fountaine (the former from Jacques St. Vrain), and kept on dozens of expereinced French diggers. Smith T. appetite for land acquisition was enormous...and eventually he locked horns with another lead digging operation headed by Moses Austin and son Stephen (of Texas fame.)

I would guess that the reason more French didn't emigrate was becasue they didn't have to. What would be come the U. S. Mineral District seemed to be populated mostly by folks looking to improve their lot. Certainly, the Creoles were welcomed into the lead lands of the upper Mississippi, based upon previous good relations with the fur-trading "Choteaus." The Winnebago were less hospitable to the Americans.. and some would say with good reason.

Regards, Bob.

[DJ Palama]

Most of the Meti, the half breeds, started to leave this region in the early 19th cent. after the fur trade lost it's influence, most moved to modern Saskatchewan and Alberta Canada. Though many married other Catholics, like the Irish, so that may explain why that there's few French surnames.

[Robert Braun]

Interesting. I am not sure that the Metis were the only people with French surnames, however. There are many that stayed on in old Missouri (although the influx of American settlers clearly diluted out the French and Spanish populations), and a few that emigrated to the U. S. Mineral District in the late 1820s. Some of these were among the first emigrees to the region, and more than a few of their surnames endured for decades.

Regards,

Bob.

[richw]

The French and Metis do seem to have been wedded to the voyageur lifestyle.

However, if you drive around the Wisconsin countryside today, you will see plenty of French names, showing that "they" are still here. I recently saw a Decorra mentioned in the Montello paper.

[Larry Koschkee]

I agree, the French were active in lead mining in Old Louisana. Julien Dubuque is an excellent example. The perplexing fact is they were not prominent in the lead mining business of the Old Northwest Territory. Sure, there were French-Canadian workers doing the "grunt" work in the mines, but there were no "movers and shakers" the likes of Meeker, Brigham, Rountree, Van Matre, Dodge, Parkinson, Hamilton, Jones, Shull and etc.

The French-Canadians were entrenched in the upper Mississippi Valley long before the arrival of the "Johnny Come Lately" Americans. They had wealthy individuals among them; money made in the fur trade and for the most part were on good terms with the Indians. In fact the Indians preferred to do business with them. In 1789 when Washington entered upon his first term as president, there was not a single American trader at Prairie du Chien. Before the French and Indian War, the French-Canadians had held the trade exclusively.

The conditions were right for the French-Canadians to exploit the mineral resource, but for some reason, they did not act upon the opportunity. There appears to be a disconnect here.