b. Mackinac, Michigan, 1729
d. Green Bay, Wisconsin, July, 1801

Charles Michel Langlade was a soldier and a fur trader, known as the "Father of Wisconsin." His father, Agustin, was an Indian trader from France and his mother was the sister of the head chief of the Ottawa. He was educated by Jesuit missionaries. Charles Michel Langlade was a bold, resourceful leader who was loved and respected by the Indians. He held military office under the French, English and American governments.

Battles

Langlade's relationship to the Ottawa and his great prestige as a soldier were valuable assets when he and his father established a trading post at Green Bay around 1745. In 1755, at the outbreak of the French and Indian War, Langlade led warriors of the western tribes to Fort Duquesne where he helped defeat Braddock. During the war he also fought at Crown Point, Lake Champlain, Fort William Henry and on the Plains of Abraham. He was appointed second in command at Mackinac in 1757, surrendered the post to the British in 1761 and transferred his allegiance to them in 1763.

Father of Wisconsin

Despite Langlade's warnings, Fort Mackinac was surprised during Pontiac's conspiracy. Langlade was able to persuade the Indians to spare many of the survivors of the massacre. Around 1764, Langlade moved permanently to Green Bay. He founded and settled at the post, and soon became known as the "Father of Wisconsin." He led Indian reinforcements to the aid of the British during the Revolutionary War. After the war, he returned to Green Bay, where he remained the area's most famous person.

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Dict. Amer. Biog.; Parkman Club Papers, 1: 205-223 (1896); P. V. Lawson, Bravest of the Brave (Menasha, Wis., 1904); WPA MS.