Vincennes, Jean Baptiste Bissot, sieur de

Vincennes, Jean Baptiste Bissot, sieur de (vinsenz'; Fr. zhäN bätēst' bēsō' syör du văNsen') [key], 1668–1719, Canadian explorer and leader of the Miami, b. Quebec. He was sent to the Miami country by Frontenac (c.1696); he established a fort and trading post there and quickly won the esteem and confidence of the natives. In 1712 he helped to defeat the Fox tribe. He died in a Miami village near the site of Fort Wayne. His son, François Marie Bissot, sieur de Vincennes. (fräNswä' märē') [key], 1700–1736, b. Montreal, was called François Margane after his godfather and uncle. He served as a cadet under his father from 1718 until his father's death, and, like him, won the high respect of the Miami. After 1730 he established a fort on the Wabash (where the French and later the Spanish had previously had a post), and the settlement that developed there was named after him.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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