1st Class: A little background on the origins of the Vincennes settlement

The first class began with the questions of Who were the settlers in the Vincennes area and How did they get here?

Rivers were a major form of transportation, of course, and an important concept is that the Wabash River actually united Indiana and Illinois, instead of dividing us as we view it today.

The original settlers were Indians, the earliest discovers who lived here perhaps 12,000 years ago (70,000 years ago people crossed the Bering Land Bridge by Alaska).

The early European settlers in our area.

The French were the first Europeans to come to Vincennes, and were from Normandy and Brittany and spoke this dialect. There are recordings made (Rose Valley?) in 1947 showing the language was not Parisian.

The French sought fish off the Great Banks, smoked fish off St. Laurence River, and trade began. The fur trade was established, and the French entered the Great Lakes as fur bearing animals were gradually exterminated. Men’s fashion in Europe actually dictated the settlements here.

The Iroquois tribe in the Great Lakes Region was especially powerful south of the St. Laurence River and the south side of the Great Lakes. The French had to avoid this area. The Jesuit Missionaries came with the fur trade.

In 1673 Fr. Marquette discovered the Wabash River, met Indians drive out of Indiana by the Iroquois. The French learned about a “great river,” the Mississippi. Marquette and Joliette voyages to the Mississippi River and passed the entrance to the Wabash River. Wabash was pronounced by Indians Ouabache.

The French came here mainly from Canada (came also to Peoria, Kaskakia, Cahokia); they heard rumors about English traders in the region. The French mainly had about 100,000 settlers, the English had about 1 million; as a result of this lower population, the French used Indian allies.

The Sieur de Vincennes came here with the Piankishaw Indians with the goal of seizing the mouth of the Ohio and Wabash rivers. It is believed the Piankeshaw Indians refused to go further South than Vincennes due to the Chickasaw warriors who had been fighting a 200-year war against the (?) tribes. On 50 miles each side of the Ohio was considered a No Man’s Land, similar to northern Kentucky.

Vincennes probably was in the southern edge of the Piankeshaw hunting grounds. The area was a natural crossroads due to both rivers and the Buffalo Trace.

The Buffalo Trace began at the Falls of the Ohio and passed through Vincennes; the Trace was very prominent in its day. Note the routes in Knox Co. on these maps (Map 1 and Map 2).