François-Marie Bissot, Sieur de Vincennes

François Marie Bissot, Sieur de Vincennes (June 17, 1700 in Montreal, Canada-March 25, 1736 near Mobile, Alabama [Cayton, pgs 17, 20] ) was a French Canadian explorer and soldier who established several forts in what is now the U.S. state of Indiana, including Fort Vincennes.

Early life

François Bissot was named François Margane after his godfather and uncle. [The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia. s.v. [http://columbia.thefreedictionary.com/Vincennes,+Jean+Baptiste+Bissot,+sieur+de "François Marie Bissot, sieur de Vincennes,"] http://columbia.thefreedictionary.com/Vincennes,+Jean+Baptiste+Bissot,+sieur+de (Accessed May 17, 2006).] He was born in Montreal to Jean Baptiste Bissot, Sieur de Vincennes and Marguerite Forestier on June 17, 1700. In 1717, he joined his father at Kekionga, a village of the Miami People in present day Fort Wayne, 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, in the 1720s. [Cayton, 5.] 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, and established a Fort Vincennes, which is modern Vincennes, Indiana.

Although the colonial government of Louisiana did not support him, Vincennes convinced local Piankeshaw to establish a village at the post. In 1733, he married the daughter of Philippe Longpré of Kaskaskia. They had two daughters, Marie Therese and Catherine- the first children of his new village. [Derleth, pg 9]

Vincennes was captured and burnt at the stake by the Chickasaw Indians on 25 March, 1736, in the modern state of Arkansas.

Notes

References

*cite book |author=Cayton, Andrew R. L. |title=Frontier Indiana |publisher=Indiana University Press, Bloomington, IN |year=1996
*cite book|author=Derleth, August |title=Vincennes: Portal to The West |year=©1968 |publisher=Prentice-Hall, Inc, Englewood Cliffs, NJ LCCN|68|0|20537
* [http://columbia.thefreedictionary.com/Vincennes,+Jean+Baptiste+Bissot,+sieur+de The Free Dictionary]
* [http://www2.marianopolis.edu/quebechistory/encyclopedia/FrancoisMarieBissotSieurdeVincennes-QuebecHistory.htm Quebec History]