Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac

He rose from a modest beginning in Acadia in 1683 as an explorer, trapper, and a trader of alcohol and furs, achieving various positions of political importance in the colony.[1] His knowledge of the coasts of New England and the Great Lakes area was appreciated by Frontenac, governor of New France, and Pontchartrain, Secretary of State for the Navy.The Jesuits in Canada, however, accused him of perverting the Native Americans with his alcohol trading, and he was imprisoned for a few months in Quebec in 1704, and again in the Bastille on his return to France in 1717."[4] Cadillac was born Antoine Laumet on March 5, 1658, in the small town of Saint-Nicolas-de-la-Grave in the province of Gascony (today in the Tarn-et-Garonne, Occitanie).La Mothe's adult correspondence reveals that his youth included rigorous study at a Jesuit institution where he learned theology, the law, agriculture, botany and zoology.[6] In a record of service he filled out in 1675, he said that he had enlisted in the military as a cadet at the age of 17 in the Dampierre regiment, in Charleroi, nowadays Belgium.Laumet may have immigrated illegally, as historians have not found his name on any passenger list of ships departing from a French port.He knew him for at least two reasons: Bardigues, Cadillac, Launay and Le Moutet are villages and localities close to his birthplace, Saint-Nicolas-de-la-Grave, and Antoine's father Jean Laumet was a lawyer in the Parliament of Toulouse.In addition, he presented his own titles of nobility, as illustrated by armorial bearings that he appropriated, in a slightly altered form, from Sylvestre d'Esparbes de Lussan, which would later become known as the logo of Cadillac.Lamothe entered into a trading partnership with officers of Port Royal, an activity facilitated by using a ship owned by his brothers-in-law Guyon.Upon his return, he asked the governor of Acadia, Louis-Alexandre des Friches de Méneval, for a job as notary, to bring in a minimum income; his request was turned down.On his return to Port Royal, LaMothe learned that the English admiral William Phips had seized the city, and that his wife, daughter, and son were being held captives.He left France at the peak of his career to take up his command of Fort de Buade or Michilimackinac, which controlled all fur trading between Missouri, Mississippi, the Great Lakes, and the Ohio valley.In 1697, he was authorized to return to France to present his project of a new fort on the strait to the Secretary of State Pontchartrain; Frontenac requested that he be promoted to lieutenant commander.[6] On July 24, 1701, Antoine de La Mothe-Cadillac founded Fort Pontchartrain and the parish of Sainte-Anne on the straits ("le détroit " in French).In 1702, Cadillac went back to Quebec to request the monopoly of all fur-trading activities and the transfer to his authority of the American tribes in the area of the straits.[citation needed] Two years later, Cadillac was charged with multiple counts of abuse of authority; Pontchartrain appointed a representative, Daigremont, to investigate.In 1710, the king named Cadillac governor of La Louisiane, the expansive Louisiana (New France) territory, and ordered him to take up his duties immediately, traveling via the Mississippi River.Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac was honored with a 3-cent stamp on July 24, 1951, to commemorate the 250th anniversary of his landing at Detroit in 1701.
House where Antoine Laumet was born
Self-created armorial
Cadillac motor car logo, c. 1950s , being the coat of arms of Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac
A historical marker that reads: "This tablet marks the site of the first lead mine opened in the Mississippi Valley about the year 1700. It is named for Antoine De LaMotte Cadillac, governor of Louisiana 1710–1717."
United States postage stamp commemorating Cadillac's landing at Detroit
Coat of Arms of New France
Coat of Arms of New France
Coat of Arms of the Province of Louisiana
Coat of Arms of the Province of Louisiana
French Colonial Governor of LouisianaLouis XIVLouis XVJean-Baptiste Le Moyne de BienvilleSaint-Nicolas-de-la-GraveKingdom of FranceCastelsarrasinFrench NavyOrder of Saint LouisNew FranceLouisianaGulf of MexicoAcadiaFort de BuadeSt. Ignace, MichiganFort Pontchartrain du DétroitDetroitNew EnglandGreat LakesFrontenacPontchartrainBastilleCadillac, GirondeHenry M. LelandCadillacCadillac MountainCadillac, MichiganW. J. EcclesGasconyTarn-et-GaronneOccitanieCaumont-sur-GaronneParlement of ToulouseCardinal MazarinJesuitCharleroiThionvilleAlbretPort RoyalNew HollandQuebecd'Esparbes de LussanLaunayToulouseBardiguesBar Harbor, MaineLouis-Alexandre des Friches de MénevalLouis de Buade de FrontenacSeignelayLouis Phélypeaux, comte de PontchartrainWilliam PhipsJean-Baptiste-Louis FranquelinMichilimackinacfur tradingÉtienne de CarheilMontrealFort Pontchartrainparish of Sainte-AnneLa LouisianeLouisiana (New France)Mississippi RiverAntoine CrozatFort LouisSpanish coloniesIllinois CountryMissouriMine La MotteslavesSoutheast Missouri Lead DistrictLa RochelleJacques Baudry de LamarcheNew OrleansFort DetroitFort WayneFort AmherstburgFort MaldenA museum in his birthplaceMercierisland of MontrealCadillac stationMontreal MetroJacques MarquetteJean-Baptiste Bissot, Sieur de VincennesJean Baptiste Point du SableBase MériméeFrench Governor of LouisianaColonial governors of LouisianaFirst French Louisiana (1682–1762)SauvolleBienvilleLepinayBoisbriandPerierVaudreuilBillouartd'AbbadieSpanish Louisiana (1762–1802)O'ReillyUnzagaGálvezCarondeletGayosoBoulignySalcedoSecond French Louisiana (1802–1804)Laussat