Charles Michel de Langlade
Charles Michel Mouet de Langlade (May 9, 1729 – around 1801) was a fur trader and war leader on the Great Lakes. His mother was Odawa and his father was a French-Canadian fur trader. He grew up speaking Ottawa and French and was educated by Jesuit missionaries.
In 1745, Langlade and his father started a trading post at Green Bay, in present-day Wisconsin. He used his influence with Native nations to protect the French fur trade in the region.
In 1752, Langlade led a war party against Pickawillany (in present-day Ohio), a Miami village and British trading post. The attack helped trigger broader conflict over the fur trade.
During the Seven Years’ War, Langlade helped defend Fort Duquesne (now Pittsburgh) and fought at the Battle of the Monongahela. He also took part in the Siege of Fort William Henry and led Ottawa warriors at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham near Quebec.
In 1757, Langlade became second in command at Fort Michilimackinac. He surrendered the fort to the British in 1761. After France lost the war, Langlade switched allegiance to the British and moved with his family to Green Bay in 1762, where the British took the lead in the fur trade.
During the American Revolutionary War, Langlade led Great Lakes Indians on the side of the British. He rose to captain in the British Indian Department.
After the war, Langlade lived again in Green Bay, which helped him become known as the Father of Wisconsin because he had operated a trading post there since 1745 and helped settle the area.
Langlade died in the early 1800s, in Green Bay.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 18:25 (CET).