WSU Teaching & Learning Blog

While aimed at a 5th-grade audience, all ages can appreciate the old songs, folktales, legends and history presented by the Windsor Public Library in their online exhibit known as The Folklore of le Détroit. The exhibit focuses on the Detroit River French who lived on both sides of the River through most of the 1700’s. Here’s a quick history lesson from the site: 

The French founded a colony at le Détroit du lac Érié in 1701. Détroit means “strait”, and that’s exactly what the Detroit River is: the strait between Lake Erie and Lake Saint Clair. The colony was the brainchild of Antoine Cadillac, first commander of Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit. He brought soldiers, farmers and merchants, as well as members of several First Nations, to settle in the area, in order to help defend the Great Lakes and French possessions in the interior against advances by the British and their Iroquois allies. Initially, the colonists settled on the north shore of the river (on what is now the American side). But from1749 on, they began occupying the south shore as well. Some of the settlers came directly from France, others from the Saint Lawrence River Valley. They practised a bit of agriculture, but most of them relied on hunting and fishing and the fur trade to earn a living. The colony became a British possession in 1760, but Francophones continued to settle in the area. Even after the north shore became part of the United States in 1796, the Detroit River remained for all intents and purposes a French river.      

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 21st, 2008 at 8:43 am and is filed under Case Studies, Online Learning. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.