Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac

Uncommon card · No. 177516

Antoine de la Mothe, sieur de Cadillac (, French: [kadijak]; March 5, 1658 – October 16, 1730), born Antoine Laumet, was a French explorer, military officer, colonial administrator in New France, and founder of Detroit, Michigan. Born in Gascony, Cadillac arrived in Acadia in 1683 at age 25. He was the commander of Fort de Buade in St. Ignace and founded Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit in 1701. Cadillac envisioned Detroit as a major settlement in the Pays d'en Haut, which he referred to as the "Paris de la Nouvelle-France" (Paris of New France), and he planned its early development. In 1710, Cadillac was appointed colonial governor of French Louisiana. King Louis XIV awarded him the Order of Saint Louis. Cadillac's bold personality and to a lesser extent his Franciscan affiliation earned him many enemies, including the Jesuits in Quebec, who accused him of various crimes. This led to his detention in 1704, although he cleared his name the following year. In 1717, Cadillac was removed from...

Read on Wikipedia · Image op unknown, Public domain