Let’s discover the early history of the sister city of Vincennes, France on the Wabash river in the southeastern part of Indiana.

French exploration before the settlement of Vincennes

The French explored the new world at an early time. Jacques Cartier left St. Malo to explore the new world and was the first to claim territory (land near the St. Lawrence river) for France in 1534 in the name of King Francis I.

Another French explorer, René Robert Cavalier, Sieur de La Salle, born in Normandy claimed part of the Mississippi river basin, and called it La Louisiane in 1682 for Louis XIV. (Sieur is a French title of nobility acquired with the purchase of territory.) He claimed Texas as part of the French territory. It remained French for three years. He also traveled down the St. Joseph river in Michigan in 1679 in the north. In the south, traders from North and South Carolina and Pennsylvania settled along the Ohio and Wabash rivers.

The old fort was built on the Wabash river by François Morgane de Vincenne in 1702 between what is now the Catholic Church square and the river and Barnett Street and Vigo street. It was built of logs and remained until 1820. The town grew around the fort and the first church west of the Alleghany mountains.

Who lived on this territory before the permanent settlement?

Before the French settled in the area of Vincennes, indigenous peoples inhabited the area for thousands of years. Local Indian groups such as the Shawnee, the Wabash, and the Miami tribes drove them out. Before the first settlement of the white settlers, Jesuit missionaries visited the whole territory. The French always settled and explored with the sword and the Jesuit missionary, converting the indigenous to Christianity.

The first European settlers were the French, who are thought to have come here in 1609. Some say the traders came here in 1690, stayed and married Indians, raising families. Other say traders and explorers came here as early as 1680.

Thus Vincennes became Indiana’s oldest continually inhabited European settlement and with this French settlement, one of the oldest settlements west of the Appalachias

François Bissot, sieur de la Rivière

François Bissot, sieur de la Rivière, bought land in the lordship (seigneurie) of Vincennes in Canada in 1670, for his sons, Jean-Baptiste and Charles-François, both in the army for “la Nouvelle France.” François Bissot de la Rivière was from Pont Audemer, Normandy like several families living in “La Nouvelle France” Canada.

Before this land in Canada was called the “seigneurie” de Vincennes, it was named Cap-St. Claude. Today, there is only a village called St. Luc de Vincennes in the province of Quebec, with more than 500 inhabitants.

François Bissot sieur de la Rivière became François de Vincennes when he acquired the land that he called Vincennes in Canada. Jean-Baptiste inherited the lordship of Vincennes when François, his father, died, and received the name ‘Bissot de Vinsenne.

The Lieutenant General of Montreal, Sieur Juchereau founded a trading post with the Indians about fifty miles from the town of Vincennes in Indiana in 1702. When he died the post was abandoned for a post in La Louisiane. They were part of the French colony of the Illinois county of New France.

François Marie Bissot Mogane, Sieur de Vincennes

And François Bissot de la Rivière’s son, François Marie Bissot Mogane, Sieur de Vincennes founded the first permanent settlement, a fur trading and military post in 1702. François Marie Bissot, a French military officier was born in Canada. He didn’t stay long, but he came back, as he was ordered to do so by the French government in a letter from King Louis XIV dated 1731. He was an ensign in the Carignan-Salières regiment in the service of the King of France.


In 1731, it seems François Marie Bissot sieur de Vincennes built the fort again. The Indian tribes of the Wabash country were friendly and helped them build the fort and the church. He asked the Piankashaw Indians, members of the Miami nation to settle next to the fort.

The town was never called Vincennes until 1736. It was named after the French officer, François Marie Bissot Morgane de Vincennes. He was killed in a disastrous battle with the Chicksaw Indians. He was burned at the stake on Easter Sunday 1736. Instead of fleeing with his troops, he had refused to leave his wounded soldiers. From then on, it was called Vincennes to honor the sacrifice he made for them.

French-Indian war

During the French-Indian war (lasting seven years), the French fought the British. The Indians helped both sides. The fort was ceded to the British in 1763 with the signing of the Treaty of Paris. At the time, the territory east of the Mississippi river was ceded to the British. The French lost all of their territory in mainland North America. When the British took over, the French were not eager to cooperate with the British.

The American Revolutionary war

In 1779 Virginia troops took over the fort under the command of George Rogers Clark from Albemarle county, Virginia. A French Jesuit had visited them beforehand, and let them know about the American commander of the Virginia troops coming. As most of the American army were Scottish and Irish, and got along with the French, all being against the British, the French cooperated with the American power. Vincennes remained part of the Commonwealth of Virginia until 1781. At the point, the flag with Sic Semper Tyrannis was raised. Several French women had made the new flag.

Indiana becomes a state

In 1800, when Indiana became a territory, Vincennes became its capital. William Henry Harrison became its first governor and the ninth president of the United States. Vincennes was capital of the Indiana territory from March 7, 1800 until 1813. Indiana became the sixteenth state on December 11, 1816.