Red Banks
Steven Dutch, Professor Emeritus, Natural and Applied Sciences, University of Wisconsin - Green Bay
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SE 1/4 Sec 32, T25N R22E, Brown County. Wayside commemorating Jean Nicolet's arrival in Wisconsin in 1634, on State Route 57 about 7 miles northeast of Green Bay. |
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Statue of Jean Nicolet on the escarpment near Red Banks. It was moved as the highway was widened and moved again to Wequiock Falls Park. |
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"Many of the explorers who followed Columbus were more interested in finding an easy route to Asia than they were in exploring and settling this continent. In 1634 Jean Nicolet, emissary of Gov. Samuel de Champlain of New France, landed at Red Banks on the shore of Green Bay about a mile west of here. His mission was to arrange peace with the "People of the Sea" and to ally them with France. Nicolet half expected to meet Asiatics on his voyage and had with him an elaborate Oriental robe which he put on before landing. The Winnebago Indians who met him were more impressed with the "thunder" he carried in both hands as he stepped ashore firing his pistols. Nicolet reported to his superiors that he was well entertained with "sixscore beavers" being served at one banquet, but it was the pelts and not the flesh of the beaver that were to be highly prized by those who followed him." |
Silurian Escarpment at Red Banks
Views of outcrops near the Nicolet statue
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Road cut on County A just northeast of the monument. |
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Created 22 September 2000, Last Update 12 January 2020