Daniel Greysolon, Sieur du Lhut
Daniel Greysolon, Sieur du Lhut (c. 1639 – 25 February 1710) was a French soldier and explorer who is the first European known to have visited the area where the city of Duluth, Minnesota is now located and the headwaters of the Mississippi River near Grand Rapids. His name is sometimes anglicized as "DuLuth" and is the namesake of Duluth, Minnesota.
Contents |
[edit] Early life
He was born in Saint-Germain-Laval, near Lyon, France, and first visited New France in 1674.
[edit] Exploration
In September 1678, he left Montreal for Lake Superior, spending the winter near Sault Sainte Marie and reaching the western end of the lake in the fall of the following year where he concluded peace talks between the Saulteur and Sioux nations. Lured by native stories of the Western or Vermilion Sea (likely the Great Salt Lake in Utah), he reached the Mississippi River via the Saint Croix River in 1680 and then headed back to Fort de Buade, where he heard that jealous Quebec merchants and the intendant Jacques Duchesneau de la Doussinière et d'Ambault were slandering him. He was forced to return to Montreal and then France in 1681 to defend himself against false accusations of treason, returning the following year.
He subsequently established fur trading posts to further French interests at Lake Nipigon and Fort Caministigoyan at the mouth of the Kaministiquia River on Lake Superior, the site of the city of Thunder Bay, Ontario, probably 1684/85, not 1679 as many sources suggest, and at Fort St. Joseph (Port Huron) between Lake Erie and Huron, which was garrisoned wth 50 men.
[edit] Death
He died of gout in Montreal 25 February 1710.
[edit] Legacy
Montreal, Quebec has a Duluth Avenue (Avenue Duluth in French) named after Greysolon located in "The Plateau" borough of the city (known as Le Plateau-Mont Royal in French). The avenue is quite popular with both residents and tourists alike after is was redesigned in the early 1980s. It was made to be more pedestrian-friendly with pleasantly-designed sidewalks along with many trees and flower boxes. It is said to have been modeled after Woonerf streets in the Netherlands and Belgium where pedestrians and cyclists have priority over motorized vehicles which have a reduced speed limit.
[edit] References
- Antoine d’Eschambault, “La vie aventureuse de Daniel Greysolon, sieur Dulhut,” Revue d'histoire de l'Amérique française, V (1951–52), 320–39. The best written account.
- Gérard Malchelosse, “Un gentilhomme coureur de bois: Daniel Greysolon, sieur Du Lhut,” Cahiers des Dix, XVI (1951), 195–232. Useful primarily for Dulhut's ancestry with a helpful chronology of his early years in New France.
- Yves F. Zoltvany, GREYSOLON DULHUT (sometimes written Du Lhut or Du Luth), DANIEL, Dictionary of Canadian Biography, v. 2 (1701-1740). The most recent and authoritative short biography.
