Jean Baptiste Bissot, Sieur de Vincennes

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Jean Baptiste Bissot, Sieur de Vincennes, was a Canadian soldier, explorer, and friend to the Miami Nation.

Vincennes was born in Quebec on January 19, 1668. His father, tanner François Bissot, was granted a seigniory for his tannery on the St. Lawrence River in 1672. Later, he became a ward of his brother-in-law, Louis Joliet, who entered him in the seminary at Quebec.

Through the efforts of his godfather, Jean Baptiste Talon, he secured a commission as ensign in the French marine. In 1696, the Comte de Frontenac appointed him as commander of the French outposts in Northeast Indiana. Here he became good friends with the Miami people, settling first at the St. Joseph River, and, in 1704, establishing a trading post and fort at Kekionga, present day Fort Wayne, Indiana.

In 1712, Vincennes served as second in command at Fort Detroit. In this position, he helped defeat the forces of the Fox Nation. He acquired a young Fox slave, whom he named François-Michel. This slave eventually was owned by his son, François-Marie Bissot.^[1]

He died in 1719 and was succeeded by his son as commander of the French in Miami country.

[edit] Notes

^ Brett Rushforth, "Slavery, the Fox Wars, and the Limits of Alliance," William and Mary Quarterly 63 (January 2005), No.1, para. 32. Rushforth confuses the two Vincennes explorers. François-Marie was 12 years old during the First Fox War.