Dictionary of Wisconsin History Search Results for: Keyword:
'juneau' Term: Juneau, Solomon 1793 - 1856 fur trader, founder
of Milwaukee, b. Repentigny, Quebec, Canada. He was baptized
Laurent Salomon Juneau, but dropped his first name sometime
after coming to Milwaukee and changed the spelling of his second
name to Solomon. The extent of his early education is unknown.
In 1816 he moved to Mackinac where he found employment as a
clerk for Jacques Vieau, fur trader, who had his headquarters at
Green Bay and a trading post on the Menominee River at the
present site of Milwaukee. Buying out Vieau's post on the
Menominee in 1819, Juneau became a trader for John Jacob Astor's
American Fur Co. and in 1820 married Vieau's daughter, Josette.
In 1822 he built the first log house in Milwaukee and in 1824
the first frame building. He became an American citizen in 1831,
and began to learn English the same year. In Oct., 1833, he
formed a partnership with Morgan L. Martin (q.v.) to develop a
village on the east side of th