François Vallé (1716–1783) son of Charles Vallée and Geneviève Marcou, was a French Canadian who immigrated to

Upper Louisiana Upper may refer to: * Shoe upper or ''vamp'', the part of a shoe on the top of the foot * Stimulant, drugs which induce temporary improvements in either mental or physical function or both * ''Upper'', the original film title for the 2013 found fo ...

of Beauport, Quebec City sometime in the early 1740s. Beginning as a laborer of no means, he engaged in

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people t ...

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic ...

, and trade with Indians. Upon his death, he was the wealthiest man in Upper Louisiana. Vallé also aided greatly in the

battle of St. Louis The Battle of St. Louis ( es, Batalla de San Luis), also known as the Battle of Fort San Carlos, was an unsuccessful attack by British-allied Indians on St. Louis (a French settlement in Spanish Louisiana, founded on the West Bank of the Miss ...

, during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

,François Vallé (1716 - 1783)
, on ''shsmo.org'' (The State Historical Society of Missouri) because he gave the defenders of both forts a major tactical advantage by supplying them with genuine lead (instead of pebbles or stones) from his mines for musket balls and cannon balls. He was successively officer of the local French militia then Spanish lieutenant of the militia of

References

1716 births 1783 deaths People from Quebec City People of New France Commandants and Lieutenants of the Illinois Country People of Colonial Spanish Louisiana {{Canada-bio-stub