Robert Silbernagel - The Cadottes: A Fur Trade Family on Lake Superior

The Cadottes

The Cadottes

A Fur Trade Family
on Lake Superior

Robert Silbernagel

WISCONSIN HISTORICAL SOCIETY PRESS

Published by the Wisconsin Historical Society Press
Publishers since 1855

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2020 by the State Historical Society of Wisconsin

E-book edition 2020

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Cover design by Tom Heffron
Typesetting by Kristyn Kalnes
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Silbernagel, Robert, 1952 author.

Title: The Cadottes : a fur trade family on Lake Superior / Robert Silbernagel.

Other titles: Fur trade family on Lake Superior Description: Madison, WI : Wisconsin Historical Society Press, [2020] | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2019046352 (print) | LCCN 2019046353 (e-book) | ISBN 9780870209406 (hardcover) | ISBN 9780870209413 (e-book)

Subjects: LCSH: Cadotte family. | Cadot, Jean-Baptiste, Sr., 17231800Family. | Fur tradersQubec (Province)History. | Fur tradersSuperior, Lake, RegionHistory. | Fur traderQubec (Province)History. | Fur traderSuperior, Lake, RegionHistory. | FrenchSuperior, Lake, RegionGenealogy. | Qubec (Province)Genealogy. | Superior, Lake, RegionGenealogy.

Classification: LCC CS71.C125 2020 (print) | LCC CS71.C125 (e-book) | DDC 971.4092 [B]dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019046352. LC e-book record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019046353

This book is dedicated to families.

First, there is my own family: my wife, Judy; our children, Derek and Kara; my five siblings; and my mother, all of whom encouraged me in this project and, in a number of instances, took an active role assisting me in my research. Sometimes, they simply joined me on visits to Lake Superior.

Additionally, there is the Cadotte family. They were the inspiration and primary reason for this book, of course. But their descendants living todayand their extended familieshave also been inspirational, graciously sharing family stories with me and demonstrating their ongoing love for their heritage while serving their communities in a multitude of ways.

Contents

cadotte family tree 2015 by john p. dulong. previously published in michigans habitant heritage. used with permission.

1395The earliest of several dates given for when ancestors of the Ojibwe arrive at western end of Lake Superior and Madeline Island.

1534Jacques Cartier explores the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

1608Samuel De Champlain establishes Qubec City.

1649Mathurin Cadot is born in France.

1659Mdard de Groseilliers visits Lake Superior and Chequamegon Bay, possibly accompanied by his brother-in-law Pierre-Esprit Radisson.

1670Hudsons Bay Company is founded.

1671Saint Lusson plants a flag at Sault Ste. Marie and negotiates a treaty with multiple Native nations. Mathurin Cadot is probably present.

1713France cedes Hudson Bay and Acadia to the British in the Treaty of Utrecht.

1723Jean-Baptiste Cadot Sr. is born in Bastican, Qubec.

1741Jean-Baptiste Sr. enters the fur trade as a voyageur.

1750Jean-Baptiste Sr. and Athanasie are living at Sault Ste. Marie when French military officers arrive.

1756Jean-Baptiste Sr. and Athanasie are married at Michilimackinac.

1761Jean-Baptiste Cadotte Jr. is born at Sault St. Marie.

1762Alexander Henry visits the Sault for the first time, signaling the arrival of the British.

1764Michel Cadotte is born at Sault Ste. Marie.

1765Jean-Baptiste Sr. and Alexander Henry enter into a fur-trade partnership, establishing a post at Chequamegon Bay.

1776The British colonies in southern North America issue the Declaration of Independence.

1783The Revolutionary War ends with the signing of the Treaty of Paris and the establishment of the United States. The southern portion of Lake Superior, including Madeline Island, officially becomes part of the new nation.

1784The North West Company is formed.

1787Michel Cadotte Jr. is born while Michel and Equaysayway are trading near Chippewa Falls.

1795Jean-Baptiste Jr. begins working as an independent trader for the North West Company.

1796Jean-Baptiste Sr. retires from the fur trade and turns his business over to his sons.

1798Michel begins working as an independent trader for the North West Company.

1800Jean-Baptiste Sr. dies at Sault Ste. Marie. Approximate date that Michel and Equaysayway Cadotte establish a permanent home on Madeline Island.

1801Jean-Baptiste Jr. becomes a partner in the North West Company.

1803Jean-Baptiste Jr. is dismissed from the North West Company.

1807Michels business is severely harmed when Ojibwe warriors who support the Shawnee Prophet ransack his Lac Courte Oreilles trading post.

1808John Jacob Astor establishes the American Fur Company.

18121814The War of 1812 is fought by Great Britain and United States. The Treaty of Ghent is signed in December of 1814, ending the war.

1817Congress passes a law banning foreign fur traders from operating in the United States.

1818Jean-Baptiste Jr. dies in Canada.

1820Michel becomes a US citizen and begins trading with the American Fur Company.

1821Lyman and Truman Warren marry Michel and Equasayways daughters. Hudsons Bay Company takes over the North West Company.

1823Lyman and Truman buy Michels fur trade business.

1837Michel dies on Madeline Island.

1840William Warren begins gathering stories on Ojibwe history.

1850Hundreds of Ojibwe perish in the Sandy Lake Tragedy.

1854Treaty of 1854, signed at La Pointe, guarantees Lake Superior Ojibwe can remain in their homeland; establishes major Wisconsin reservations and some in Upper Michigan and Minnesota.

1855The first ship goes through the locks at Sault Ste. Marie.

M y first encounter with Michel Cadotte, one of the most important fur traders of his time, occurred around 2005, nearly 170 years after his death. It was during a trip to Madeline Island when my wife, Judy, and I visited the old Catholic cemetery there. We saw Cadottes unremarkable gravestone with this inscription:

Sacred to the Memory of Michel Cadotte, who departed this
Earth July 8, 1837, Aged 72 years, 11 months & 16 days