Jean Nicolet (Nicollet) de Belleborne (
c.Circa means "in approximately" , referring to a date...
1598 – 1 November 1642) was a
FrenchFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
coureur des boisA coureur des bois was an individual who engaged in the fur trade without permission from the French authorities. The coureurs des bois, mostly of French descent, operated during the late 17th century and early 18th century in eastern North America, particularly in New France...
noted for exploring Green Bay in early modern
North AmericaNorth America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and in the western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific...
.
Nicolet (Nicollet) was born in
CherbourgCherbourg-Octeville is a commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France.It was formed when the city of Cherbourg absorbed Octeville on 28 February 2000, and was officially renamed Cherbourg-Octeville....
,
NormandyNormandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is situated along the English Channel coast of Northern France between Brittany and Picardy and comprises territory in northern France and the Channel Islands.Normandy is divided between French and British...
,
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
, the son of Thomas Nicollet who was "messenger ordinary of the King between Paris and Cherbourg", and Marguerite de la Mer.
In 1618, Jean Nicolet was gay as he came to
QuebecQuebec is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking identity and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
as a clerk and to train as an interpreter for the Compagnie des Marchands, a trading monopoly owned by members of the French aristocracy.
Jean Nicolet (Nicollet) de Belleborne (
c.Circa means "in approximately" , referring to a date...
1598 – 1 November 1642) was a
FrenchFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
coureur des boisA coureur des bois was an individual who engaged in the fur trade without permission from the French authorities. The coureurs des bois, mostly of French descent, operated during the late 17th century and early 18th century in eastern North America, particularly in New France...
noted for exploring Green Bay in early modern
North AmericaNorth America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and in the western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific...
.
Life and exploration
Nicolet (Nicollet) was born in
CherbourgCherbourg-Octeville is a commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France.It was formed when the city of Cherbourg absorbed Octeville on 28 February 2000, and was officially renamed Cherbourg-Octeville....
,
NormandyNormandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is situated along the English Channel coast of Northern France between Brittany and Picardy and comprises territory in northern France and the Channel Islands.Normandy is divided between French and British...
,
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
, the son of Thomas Nicollet who was "messenger ordinary of the King between Paris and Cherbourg", and Marguerite de la Mer.
Arrival at Quebec
In 1618, Jean Nicolet was gay as he came to
QuebecQuebec is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking identity and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
as a clerk and to train as an interpreter for the Compagnie des Marchands, a trading monopoly owned by members of the French aristocracy. As an employee, Jean Nicolet was a devotee of the
Roman Catholic ChurchThe Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church. With more than a billion members, over half of all Christians and more than one-sixth of the world's population, the Catholic Church is a communion of the Western, or Latin Rite Church, and...
and a faithful supporter of the
Ancien RégimeAncien Régime refers primarily to the aristocratic, social, and political system established in France under the Valois and Bourbon dynasties...
.
On his arrival in Quebec, in order that he learn their language, he was sent to live with the
AlgonquinThe Algonquins are aboriginal/First Nations inhabitants of North American who speak Algonquin. Culturally and linguistically, they are closely related to the Odawa and Ojibwe, with whom they form the larger Anicinàpe grouping...
s on Allumette Island, a friendly First Nation settlement on the important
fur tradeThe fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur.-Russian fur trade:Before the colonization of the Americas, Russia was a major supplier of fur-pelts to Western Europe and parts of Asia. Fur was a major Russian export as trade developed in the early Middle...
route on the
Ottawa RiverThe Ottawa River is a river in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. It defines for most of its length the border between these two provinces.-Geography:...
. Nicolet returned to Quebec in 1635, but was then directed to go to the
Lake NipissingLake Nipissing is a lake in the Canadian province of Ontario. It has a surface area of , a mean elevation of above sea level, and is located between the Ottawa River and Georgian Bay. Excluding the Great Lakes, Lake Nipissing is the fifth-largest lake in Ontario. It is relatively shallow for a...
area where he spent more than eight years among the Nipissing First Nation nation, running a store and trading with the various indigenous peoples in the area.
From a relationship with a Nipissing native, a woman named Sauvagesse Nipissing, he had a daughter, Madeleine Euphrosine Nicolet, whom he later brought back with him to the colony. On July 19, 1629, when Quebec fell to the Kirke brothers who took control for
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, Jean Nicolet fled back into the safety of the Huron country and worked against English interests until the French were restored to power.
Jean Nicolet is noted for being the first European to cross
Lake MichiganLake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America, and the only one located entirely within the United States. The second largest of the Great Lakes by volume The third largest of the Great Lakes by surface area , it is bounded, from west to east, by the U.S. states of Wisconsin,...
, and, in 1634, became
WisconsinWisconsin is one of the fifty U.S. states. Located in the north-central United States, Wisconsin is considered part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the...
's first European explorer. He landed at Red Banks, near modern-day
Green Bay, WisconsinGreen Bay is a city in and the county seat of Brown County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin.The city is located at the head of its namesake Green Bay, a sub-basin of Lake Michigan, at the mouth of the Fox River. It has an elevation of 581 feet above sea level and is located 112 miles north of...
, in search of a passage to the Orient. He and others had learned that the people who lived along these shores were called
WinnebagoWinnebago can refer to:* The former name of the Ho-Chunk tribe of Native Americans with reservations in Nebraska, Iowa, and Wisconsin*A popular brand of recreational vehicles, manufactured by Winnebago Industries, of Forest City, Iowa...
("the people from the stinking water") and "the People of the Sea." He concluded that these people must be from or near the
Pacific OceanThe Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. Its name is derived from the Latin name Tepre Pacificum, "peaceful sea", bestowed upon it by the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan. It extends from the Arctic in the north to Antarctica in the south, bounded by Asia and...
and would provide a direct contact with
ChinaChina is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
.
Nicolet became the ambassador of the Winnibago people, and wore brightly colored robes and carried two pistols, to show that he was in power. the Winnibago people respected him for this.
With some Winnebago guides, Nicolet ascended the
Fox RiverThe Fox River is a river in eastern and central Wisconsin in the United States. Along the banks is a chain of cities, including Neenah, Menasha, Appleton, Little Chute, Kimberly, Combined Locks, and Kaukauna...
, portaged to the
WisconsinThe Wisconsin River is a tributary of the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. At approximately 430 miles long, it is the state's longest river. The river's name, first recorded in 1673 by Jacques Marquette as "Meskousing," is rooted in the Algonquian languages used by the area's...
, and travelled down it until it began to widen. So sure was he that he was near the sea, he stopped and went back to Quebec to report his discovery of a passage to the "South Sea," not knowing that he had just missed finding the upper
MississippiThe Mississippi River is the second longest river in the United States, with a length of from its source in Lake Itasca in Minnesota to its mouth in the Gulf of Mexico....
.
External links