Jean Nicolet
Overview
Circa
Circa , usually abbreviated c. or ca. , means "approximately" in the English language, usually referring to a date...
1598 – 1 November 1642) was a French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
coureur des bois
Coureur des bois
A coureur des bois or coureur de bois was an independent entrepreneurial French-Canadian woodsman who traveled in New France and the interior of North America. They travelled in the woods to trade various things for fur....
noted for exploring Green Bay in what is now the U.S. state of Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
.
Nicolet (Nicollet)was born in Cherbourg, Coutances, Normandie, France,the son of Thomas Nicollet who was "messenger ordinary of the King between Paris and Cherbourg", and Marguerite de la Mer. He got married and moved to Canada to serve for Champlain.
In 1618, Nicolet came to Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
as a clerk and to train as an interpreter for the Compagnie des Marchands, a trading monopoly owned by members of the French aristocracy.
