French Canadians in Michigan: Discovering the Peoples of Michigan

As the first European settlers in Michigan, the French Canadians left an indelible mark on the place names and early settlement patterns of the Great Lakes State. Because of its importance in the fur trade, many French Canadians migrated to Michigan, settling primarily along the Detroit- Illinois trade route, and throughout the fur trade avenues of the Straits of Mackinac. When the British conquered New France in 1763, most Europeans in Michigan were Francophones. John DuLong explores the history and influence of these early French Canadians, and traces, as well, the successive 19th- and 20th-century waves of industrial migration from Quebec, creating new communities outside the old fur trade routes of their ancestors.