François Marie Bissot, Sieur de Vincennes (June 17, 1700 in Montreal, Canada-March 25, 1736 near Mobile, Alabama

Mobile, Alabama

Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest...

) was a French Canadian

French Canadian

French Canadian or Francophone Canadian, , generally refers to the descendents of French colonists who arrived in New France in the 17th and 18th centuries...

 explorer and soldier who established several forts in what is now the U.S. state of Indiana

Indiana

Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...

, including Fort Vincennes.

Early life

François Bissot was named François Margane after his godfather and uncle. He was born in Montreal

Montreal

Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

 to Jean Baptiste Bissot, Sieur de Vincennes

Jean Baptiste Bissot, Sieur de Vincennes

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...

 and Marguerite Forestier on June 17, 1700. In 1717, he joined his father at Kekionga

Kekionga

Kekionga, also known as Kiskakon or Pacan's Village, was the capital of the Miami tribe at the confluence of the Saint Joseph, Saint Marys and Maumee rivers on the western edge of the Great Black Swamp...

, a village of the Miami People

Miami tribe

The Miami are a Native American nation originally found in what is now Indiana, southwest Michigan, and western Ohio. The Miami Tribe of Oklahoma is the only federally recognized tribe of Miami Indians in the United States...

 in present day Fort Wayne, Indiana

Fort Wayne, Indiana

Fort Wayne is a city in the US state of Indiana and the county seat of Allen County. The population was 253,691 at the 2010 Census making it the 74th largest city in the United States and the second largest in Indiana...

. When Jean Baptiste died in 1719, François seemed to be the natural replacement for his father.

Military career

In May of 1722, Vincennes was commissioned an Ensign. He took control of the fort at Ouiatanon, near present day Lafayette, Indiana

Lafayette, Indiana

Lafayette is a city in and the county seat of Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States, northwest of Indianapolis. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 67,140. West Lafayette, on the other side of the Wabash River, is home to Purdue University, which has a large impact on...

, in the 1720s. He was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant in 1730, and made commandant in what is now southern Indiana. He was commissioned to build a trading post on the Wabash River

Wabash River

The Wabash River is a river in the Midwestern United States that flows southwest from northwest Ohio near Fort Recovery across northern Indiana to southern Illinois, where it forms the Illinois-Indiana border before draining into the Ohio River, of which it is the largest northern tributary...

, and established a Fort Vincennes, which is modern Vincennes, Indiana

Vincennes, Indiana

Vincennes is a city in and the county seat of Knox County, Indiana, United States. It is located on the Wabash River in the southwestern part of the state. The population was 18,701 at the 2000 census...

.

Although the colonial government of Louisiana did not support him, Vincennes convinced local Piankeshaw

Piankeshaw

The Piankeshaw Indians were Native Americans, and members of the Miami Indians who lived apart from the rest of the Miami nation. They lived in an area that now includes western Indiana and Ohio, and were closely allied with the Wea Indians...

 to establish a village at the post. In 1733, he married the daughter of Philippe Longpré of Kaskaskia

Kaskaskia

The Kaskaskia were one of about a dozen cognate tribes that made up the Illiniwek Confederation or Illinois Confederation. Their longstanding homeland was in the Great Lakes region...

. They had two daughters, Marie Therese and Catherine- the first children of his new village.

Vincennes was captured and burnt at the stake by the Chickasaw

Chickasaw

The Chickasaw are Native American people originally from the region that would become the Southeastern United States...

 Indians on 25 March 1736, near the present town of Fulton, Tennessee

Fulton, Tennessee

Fulton is a rural unincorporated community in Lauderdale County, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1827, Fulton is the oldest settlement in Lauderdale County.-History:...

.