Jacques Le Vieux, dit Vieau (or Vieaux) (May 5, 1757 – July 1, 1852) was a

French-Canadian French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fr ...

fur trader and the first permanent

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

settler in

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. He was born near

Montreal, Quebec Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-pea ...

, Canada and died in

Howard, Wisconsin Howard is a village in Brown and Outagamie counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 17,399 at the 2010 census. All of this population resided in the Brown County portion of the village. It is part of the Green Bay Metropolita ...

Biography

In , Vieau came to Green Bay, where he married Angelique Roy that same year. She was the granddaughter of

Potawatomi The Potawatomi , also spelled Pottawatomi and Pottawatomie (among many variations), are a Native American people of the western Great Lakes region, upper Mississippi River and Great Plains. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, a m ...

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

chief Anaugesa. They had at least twelve children together. In 1795, Vieau settled at Jambo Creek in Manitowoc County. While employed by the

North West Company The North West Company was a fur trading business headquartered in Montreal from 1779 to 1821. It competed with increasing success against the Hudson's Bay Company in what is present-day Western Canada and Northwestern Ontario. With great weal ...

, Vieau established a fur trading post in the area that would become Milwaukee in 1795, along with outposts at Kewaunee, Manitowoc, and Sheboygan. His Milwaukee cabin was built on top of a bluff overlooking the

Menomonee Valley The Menomonee Valley or Menomonee River Valley is a U-shaped land formation along the southern bend of the Menomonee River in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Because of its easy access to Lake Michigan and other waterways, the neighborhood has historically ...

and became his winter residence away from Green Bay. A historical monument marks this location in Mitchell Park as the first house in Milwaukee. In 1818, Vieau hired another French-Canadian named Solomon Juneau, who later married his daughter Josette and went on to found what was to become the City of Milwaukee. In 2016, a tombstone for his grave was placed.

Legacy

The town of Louisville, Kansas is named after Vieau's son, Louis Amable Vieau, Sr. Vieau is the

eponym An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Usage of the word The term ''epon ...

of Vieau Elementary School and also a street found in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The living descendants of Vieau are centered on Green Bay.

Notes

External links

Narrative of Andrew Vieau, Sr.

The Menomonee Valley: History

Highlights of History in Wisconsin
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vieau, Jacques 1757 births 1852 deaths American people of Québécois descent Canadian fur traders American fur traders American people of Canadian descent People from Milwaukee People from Green Bay, Wisconsin