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Monday, October 2, 2023
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Henri De Tonti was an Italian-born soldier, explorer,
and fur trader in the service of France. Henri de Tonti was probably
born near Gaeta, Italy, in either 1649 or 1650. He was the son
of Lorenzo de Tonti, who was a financier and former governor
of Gaeta. Lorenzo de Tonti was the inventor of the form of life
insurance known as the tontine. Alphonse de Tonti, who was one
of the founders of what is now Detroit, was his younger brother.
Lorenzo was involved in a revolt against the Spanish viceroy
in Naples, Italy and was forced to seek political asylum in France
around the time of Henri's birth. In 1668, Henri joined the |
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French
Army and later served in the French Navy. During the Sicilian Wars,
Henri lost his hand in a grenade explosion and from that time on
wore a prosthetic hook covered by a glove thus earning the nickname "Iron
Hand". In the summer of 1678, Tonti journeyed with the famous
René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle who recognized him
as an able associate. La Salle left Tonti to hold Fort Crèvecoeur
in Illinois while La Salle returned to Ontario. When La Salle returned
to France in 1683, he left Tonti behind to hold Fort Saint Louis
on the Illinois River. Three years later he learned that La Salle
was
returning to ascend the Mississippi from the Gulf of Mexico and proceeded
south on his own to try and meet La Salle on his ascent. He failed
to find La Salle and made it to the Gulf of Mexico before turning
back. Henri left several men at the mouth of the Arkansas River to
establish a trading post which would later become the historical
town of Arkansas
Post, Arkansas. Tonti experienced several financial difficulties
in the 1690s. In early 1700, he commenced a journey down the Mississippi
to make contact with Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville who had established
the Louisiana colony. Tonti reached Louisiana and joined the colony.
In 1702, he was chosen as an ambassador to the Choctaw and Chickasaw
tribes and conducted several negotiations as well as leading punitive
expeditions until 1704. In August of 1704, Tonti contracted yellow
fever and died at Old Mobile near present day Mobile, Alabama.
(Courtesy
of www.wikipedia.org) |
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The
opinions and interpretations in this publication are those of the author
and do not necessarily reflect those of the Government of Canada. |
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