Jean Nicolet - Exploration of Wisconsin

Exploration of Wisconsin

Nicolet is noted for being the first European to cross Lake Michigan. In 1634 he became the first European to explore what would become Wisconsin. He landed at Red Banks, near modern-day Green Bay, Wisconsin, in search of a passage to the Orient. He and other French explorers had learned from their native contacts that the people who lived along these shores were called Ho-Chunk, which the French translated as "People of the Sea". In their language, it meant "harvest (cutting) the rice," as they used wild rice as a staple of their diet. Nicolet concluded that the people must be from or near the Pacific Ocean, and would provide a direct contact with China.

Nicolet became the French ambassador to the Ho-Chunk people. He wore brightly colored robes and carried two pistols, to convey his authority. The Ho-Chunk people appreciated his ritual display. With some Ho-Chunk guides, Nicolet ascended the Fox River, portaged to the Wisconsin, and travelled down it until it began to widen. So sure was he that he was near the ocean, that he stopped and went back to Quebec to report his discovery of a passage to the "South Sea," unaware that he had just missed finding the upper Mississippi River.