Who founded Detroit?

Zbeckabee

Antoine de la Mothe, Sieur de Cadillac, born April 26, 1692 in Quebec. He traveled with Cadillac to found Detroit. http://www.historydetroit.com/people/antoine_cadillac.asp The city name comes from the Detroit River (French: le détroit du Lac Érié), meaning the strait of Lake Erie, linking Lake Huron and Lake Erie; in the historical context, the strait included Lake St. Clair and the St. Clair River. Traveling up the Detroit River on the ship Le Griffon (owned by Cavelier de La Salle), Father Louis Hennepin noted the north bank of the river as an ideal location for a settlement. There, in 1701, the French officer Antoine de La Mothe Cadillac, along with fifty-one additional French-Canadians, founded a settlement called Fort Ponchartrain du Détroit, naming it after the comte de Pontchartrain, Minister of Marine under Louis XIV. France offered free land to attract families to Detroit, which grew to 800 people in 1765, the largest city between Montreal and New Orleans. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detroit#History The city of Detroit was founded on July 24, 1701, by Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac. With a pledge of patriotism, he demonstrated community ideals and the courage to foster them. http://www.city-data.com/world-cities/Detroit-History.html Mar 17 10, 8:43 PM

star_gazer

William H. Murphy and Henry M. Leland, founders of the Cadillac auto company, paid homage to him by adopting his name for their company and his armorial bearings as its emblem in 1902. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoine_Laumet_de_La_Mothe,_sieur_de_Cadillac Mar 17 10, 9:52 PM