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Cerré, Jean Gabriel

(Encyclopedia)Cerré, Jean Gabriel zhäN gäbrēĕlˈ sĕrāˈ [key], 1734–1805, frontiersman and trader in the American Midwest, b. Montreal, Canada. By 1755 he had established a fur-trading post at Kaskaskia, I...

Juneau, Solomon Laurent

(Encyclopedia)Juneau, Solomon Laurent jo͞onōˈ, jo͞oˈnō [key], 1793–1856, French Canadian fur trader and founder of Milwaukee, Wis., b. near Montreal. In 1818, as an agent of the American Fur Company, he mov...

Austin, Moses

(Encyclopedia)Austin, Moses, 1761–1821, American pioneer, b. Durham, Conn. After developing lead mines in SW Virginia, he went to inspect (1796–97) prospects in Missouri, then Spanish territory. In 1798 he foun...

Mille Lacs Lake

(Encyclopedia)Mille Lacs Lake mĭl lăks [key], 207 sq mi (536 sq km), E central Minn., N of Minneapolis. It drains into the Rum River. Sieur Duluth, a French explorer, visited (1679) the Ojibwas who lived on the l...

Gratz, Barnard

(Encyclopedia)Gratz, Barnard grăts [key], 1738–1801, American merchant, b. Langensdorf, Upper Silesia. Having worked in his cousin's countinghouse in London, Gratz emigrated (1754) to Philadelphia, where he beca...

Fort Union

(Encyclopedia)Fort Union, trading post of the American Fur Company, erected in 1828 near the confluence of the Yellowstone and Missouri rivers, on the Mont.-N.Dak. line; it controlled converging routes of travel fr...

Vigo, Francis

(Encyclopedia)Vigo, Francis vēˈgō, vīˈgō [key], 1747–1836, American frontier trader and merchant, supporter of the American Revolution. He was born at Mondovi, Italy, and originally named Giuseppe Maria Fra...

Cox, Ross

(Encyclopedia)Cox, Ross, 1793–1853, American fur trader. He joined John Jacob Astor's Pacific Fur Company in 1811 and went to the Astoria post on the supply ship Beaver. He was active in the trade in the Columbia...

Barry, John

(Encyclopedia)Barry, John, 1745–1803, U.S. naval officer in the American Revolution, b. Co. Wexford, Ireland. He went as a youth to Philadelphia, where he was a trader and a shipmaster. In the Revolution he comma...

Jolliet, Louis

(Encyclopedia)Jolliet or Joliet, Louis both: jōˈlēĕtˌ, jōˌlēĕtˈ, Fr. lwē zhôlyāˈ [key], 1645–1700, French explorer, joint discoverer with Jacques Marquette of the upper Mississippi River, b. Quebec ...