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Jean Nicolet (Nicollet), Sieur de Belleborne (c. 1598 – October 1642) was a French coureur des bois noted for exploring Lake Michigan, Mackinac Island, Green Bay, and being the first European to set foot in what is now the U.S. state of Wisconsin.
Jean Nicolet was a French North American explorer who was the first known European to discover Lake Michigan and what is now the state of Wisconsin. The son of a dispatch carrier, Nicolet was 20 years old when he traveled to New France (Canada) at the request of Samuel de Champlain.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Learn about Jean Nicollet, a French interpreter, explorer and colonist who discovered Lake Superior and the Winnebago people. Find out his biography, his travels, his achievements and his legacy in the history of North America.
Jean Nicolet (né à Hainneville ou à Cherbourg 1 en 1598 et mort le 28 octobre 1642 près de Québec) était un coureur des bois français connu pour avoir exploré le lac Michigan, l' île Mackinac, Green Bay et avoir été le premier Européen à mettre les pieds dans ce qui est aujourd'hui l'État américain du Wisconsin.
May 14, 2018 · Jean Nicolet de Belleborne became an interpreter, clerk, and trader in New France, as well as an explorer. The son of a royal postal messenger, he was born about 1598 near Cherbourg, Normandy.
French North American explorer Jean Nicolet was the first known European to discover Lake Michigan and what is now the state of Wisconsin. He negotiated with several Native American tribes and acted as an interpreter between the Indians and the French.
NICOLLET DE BELLEBORNE, JEAN, interpreter and clerk of the Compagnie des Cent-Associés, liaison officer between the French and the First Nations, explorer; b. c. 1598, probably at Cherbourg (Normandy), son of Thomas Nicollet, king’s postal courier between Cherbourg and Paris, and of Marie de Lamer; drowned near Sillery in 1642.
