Fort L'Huillier (sometimes spelled Le Hillier) was a short-lived fortification in New France located near the confluence of the Blue Earth and Le Sueur Rivers in what is now Minnesota.
The garrison, which originally held about 30 men, was built beginning in the autumn of 1700 under the direction of Pierre-Charles Le Sueur, a French trader and explorer interested in mining a blue clay that he thought was copper ore. [1] It was named in honor of a metallurgical assayer, Rémy-François L'Huillier. [2]
Le Sueur left the fort in 1701 to take samples to New Orleans for further analysis. While he was gone, however, the fort was apparently attacked and abandoned by 1702, and no more was heard of the remaining men. In addition, the blue clay was found to be worthless, not the copper ore Le Sueur had hoped.
The fort was southwest of the present city of Mankato (from "mah kato: "blue earth" in the Sioux language). Its exact location is unknown, although attempts have been made to find it. [3]
Le Sueur County is a county located in the south central portion of the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 28,674. Its county seat is Le Center.
Blue Earth County is a county in the State of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 69,112. Its county seat is Mankato. The county is named for the Blue Earth River and for the deposits of blue-green clay once evident along the banks of the Blue Earth River. Blue Earth County is part of the Mankato-North Mankato metropolitan area.
Mankato is a city in Blue Earth, Nicollet, and Le Sueur counties in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The population was 44,488 according to the 2020 census, making it the 21st-largest city in Minnesota, and the 5th-largest outside of the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area. It is along a large bend of the Minnesota River at its confluence with the Blue Earth River. Mankato is across the Minnesota River from North Mankato. Mankato and North Mankato have a combined population of 58,763 according to the 2020 census. It completely encompasses the town of Skyline. North of Mankato Regional Airport, a tiny non-contiguous part of the city lies within Le Sueur County. Most of the city is in Blue Earth County.
Le Sueur is a city in Le Sueur County in the U.S. state of Minnesota, between Mankato and the Twin Cities. It lies along the Minnesota River and U.S. Highway 169. Le Sueur was named in honor of the French explorer Pierre-Charles Le Sueur. The population was 4,213 at the 2020 census.
Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville or Sieur d'Iberville was a French soldier, explorer, colonial administrator, and trader. He is noted for founding the colony of Louisiana in New France. He was born in Montreal to French colonist parents.
The Minnesota River is a tributary of the Mississippi River, approximately 332 miles (534 km) long, in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It drains a watershed of 14,751 square miles (38,200 km2) in Minnesota and about 2,000 sq mi (5,200 km2) in South Dakota and Iowa.
Pierre-Charles Le Sueur was a French fur trader and explorer in North America, recognized as the first known European to explore the Minnesota River valley.
Green Giant and Le Sueur are brands of frozen and canned vegetables owned by B&G Foods. The company's mascot is the Jolly Green Giant.
The Blue Earth River is a tributary of the Minnesota River, 108 miles (174 km) long, in southern Minnesota in the United States. Two of its headwaters tributaries, the Middle Branch Blue Earth River and the West Branch Blue Earth River, also flow for short distances in northern Iowa. By volume, it is the Minnesota River's largest tributary, accounting for 46% of the Minnesota's flow at the rivers' confluence in Mankato. Via the Minnesota River, the Blue Earth River is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River, draining an area of 3,486 square miles (9,030 km2) in an agricultural region. Ninety percent of the river's watershed is in Minnesota. It is a Minnesota Department of Natural Resources designated Water Trail.
The Le Sueur River (lay-SEWER) is a tributary of the Blue Earth River, 111 miles (178 km) long, in southern Minnesota in the United States. Via the Blue Earth and Minnesota Rivers, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River, draining an area of 1,089 square miles (2,280 km2). It is the largest tributary of the Blue Earth River, draining 31% of its watershed.
The Cobb River and its tributary the Little Cobb River are small rivers in southern Minnesota in the United States. The Cobb River is a 78.6-mile-long (126.5 km) tributary of the Le Sueur River. Via the Le Sueur, Blue Earth and Minnesota rivers, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River.
Minneopa State Park is a state park in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It was established in 1905 to preserve Minneopa Falls, a large waterfall for southern Minnesota, and was expanded in the 1960s to include the lower reaches of Minneopa Creek and a large tract of prairie. Minneopa is Minnesota's third oldest state park, after Itasca and Interstate. Two park resources are listed on the National Register of Historic Places: the 1862 Seppman Mill and a district of seven Rustic Style structures built by the Works Progress Administration in the late 1930s. The park is located almost entirely on the south side of the Minnesota River, three miles (4.8 km) west of Mankato. In 2015 the state reintroduced American bison to the park in a 330-acre (130 ha) fenced enclosure, through which visitors can drive in their vehicles.
The sieur de Sauvolle, known for certainty only by his surname, was the first governor of the French territory of Louisiana. He accompanied the brothers Iberville and Bienville on their first voyage to Louisiana in 1699 and their explorations inland. On May 2, 1699, he was appointed commander of the new Fort Maurepas, and in January 1700 he became the territory's governor. His journal is one of the earliest sources for the history of the region. Sauvolle died suddenly, likely from yellow fever, on August 21, 1701.
Minnesota State Highway 66 (MN 66) was a highway in south-central Minnesota, which ran from its intersection with Blue Earth County Roads 1 and 10 near Good Thunder and continued north to its northern terminus at its interchange with U.S. Highway 169 / State Highway 60 in the city of Mankato. The highway is currently known as Blue Earth County Road 1.
The Free Press is an American, English language daily newspaper published in Mankato, Minnesota.
Fort Maurepas, later known as Old Biloxi, was developed in colonial French Louisiana in April 1699 along the Gulf of Mexico . Fort Maurepas was designated temporarily as the capital of Louisiana in 1699. The capital was moved from Ocean Springs to Mobile in 1710, then to New Orleans in 1723 on the Mississippi River. Government buildings in the latter city were still under construction.
Kern Bridge or Yaeger Bridge crossed the Le Sueur River in Blue Earth County in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It was built in 1873 using a bowstring through truss design by the Wrought Iron Bridge Company. It was 183.5 feet (56 m) long and carried a local road. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980 as Minnesota's only bowstring arch truss bridge and oldest road bridge still in use. However, it was closed to vehicle traffic in 1991.
The Mankato — North Mankato Metropolitan Statistical Area, as defined by the United States Census Bureau, is an area consisting of two counties in south central Minnesota, anchored by the cities of Mankato and North Mankato. It was upgraded from a Micropolitan Statistical Area (μSA) to a Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) by the Office of Management and Budget on November 20, 2008. As of the 2020 census, the μSA had a population of 103,566.
Marysburg is an unincorporated community in Blue Earth and Le Sueur counties in the U.S. state of Minnesota.
Lake Washington is a lake in Le Sueur County, Minnesota and Blue Earth County, Minnesota, in the United States. The lake has a regional park, located on the northwest shore, which was acquired in two phases in 1971 and 1978. The park serves as a campgrounds area. The first structure on the lake was built in 1898. The lake has a summer camp for children on the lake, Camp Patterson, which hosts an average of 2,500 kids throughout the summer.
Le Sueur returned to the Blue Earth in 1700 and built an outpost called Fort Le Huillier (Le Hillier) as a base of operations.