Jean Baptiste Bissot, Sieur de Vincennes

Jean Baptiste Bissot, Sieur de Vincennes
Born	19 January 1668 Quebec, Canada
Died	1719 Kekionga
Parent(s)	François Byssot de la Rivière Marie Couillard

Jean Baptiste Bissot, Sieur de Vincennes, (19 January 1668 – 1719) was a Canadian soldier, explorer, and friend to the Miami Nation. He spent a number of years at the end of his life as an agent of New France among the Miami.

Vincennes was born in Quebec on 19 January 1668. His father, tanner François Byssot de la Rivière, was granted a seigniory for his tannery on the St. Lawrence River in 1672. Later, he became a ward of his brother-in-law, Louis Joliet, who entered him in the seminary at Quebec.

Vincennes married Marguerite Forestier in Montreal in 1696. They had four daughters and three sons, including François-Marie.

Through the efforts of his godfather, Jean Baptiste Talon, he secured a commission as ensign in the French marine. In 1696, the Comte de Frontenac appointed him as commander of the French outposts southeast of Lake Michigan (in present-day northeastern Indiana). Here he became good friends with the Miami people, settling first at the St. Joseph River, and, in 1704, establishing a trading post and fort at Kekionga, the location of present-day Fort Wayne, Indiana. The same year, the current governor-general of New France, Philippe de Rigaud de Vaudreuil, wrote the French court to emphasize the importance of Bissot's services to New France among the Miami people.

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