History[edit]
Jean Nicolet was commissioned by Samuel de Champlain, the founder of New France, to form a peaceful alliance with Indians in the western areas whose unrest was interfering with French fur trade. In addition, he was to explore in hopes of finding a shorter trade route to China through Canada. Nicolet and others had learned from other First Nations of the Ho-Chunk (Winnebago) people, who identified as "People of the Sea", and believed they must reside on or near the Pacific Ocean.[9] Champlain had also heard about natural resources in the area, including fertile soil, forests, and animals. Nicolet set out on his journey for this new land shortly before winter in 1634.[10] In what later became a French fur-trading route, he sailed up the Ottawa River, through Lake Nipissing and down the French Riverto Lake Huron, then through the straits of Michilimackinac into Lake Michigan. He is believed to have landed at Red Banks, near the site of the modern-day city of Green Bay, Wisconsin.[11]
Nicolet founded a small trading post here in 1634, originally named La Baye or La Baie des Puants (French for "the stinking Bay").[12] From this, Green Bay claims to be one of the oldest European permanent settlements in America, but a 1671 Jesuit mission was the first true European outpost. When Nicolet arrived in the Green Bay area, he encountered the Menominee, as this was their territory. He also met the Ho-Chunk, also known as the Winnebago, a people who spoke a Sioux language. Besides hunting and fishing, the Winnebago cultivated corn, bean, squash, and tobacco. Wild rice, which they had incorporated as a dietary staple, grew in abundance along the riverbanks. They regularly harvested and cooked this, along with a wide variety of nuts, berries, and edible roots of the woods.[13]
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