Some Destinations of Pilon Voyageurs The Detroit Region

1755	1787

The Detroit Region was the most important centre of French-Canadian settlement in Ontario during the XVIIIth century. In fact, in 1701 Lamothe Cadillac built Fort Pontrartrain du Détroit to serve as a distribution centre in the fur trade and settlers established themselves on either side of the Detroit River shortly thereafter.

Extreme south-western Ontario remained primarily a francophone region long after New-France was ceded to the English. Even the west shore, today American, remained a part of Canada until the end of the 1780s when the border was finalized.

On the 1755 map (the one on the left), it is interesting to note the many different First Nations settlements which had sprung up within proximity to Fort Pontchartrain and the French colony.