Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville

Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville (February 23, 1680 – March 7, 1767) was a colonizer, born in Montreal, Quebec, and an early, repeated governor of French Louisiana, appointed 4 separate times during 1701-1743. A younger brother of explorer Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville, he is also known as Sieur de Bienville.

Exploration in the New World

Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne was the son of Charles le Moyne, born in Longueil, near Dieppe, and Catherine Primot (known as Catherine Thierry too), born in Rouen, both cities in the Province of Normandy. Charles le Moyne established his family in the settlement of Ville-Marie (present day Montreal) at an early age and had fourteen children total. At the age of seventeen, Bienville joined his brother Iberville on an expedition to establish the colony of Louisiana. Bienville explored the Gulf of Mexico coastline, discovering the Chandeleur Islands off the coast of Louisiana as well as Cat Island and Ship Island off the coast of what is now the state of Mississippi before moving westward to sail up the mouth of the Mississippi River. Eventually the expedition ventured all the way to what is now Baton Rouge and False River. Before heading back to France, Iberville established the first settlement of the Louisiana colony, in April 1699 as Fort Maurepas or Old Biloxi (at present-day Ocean Springs, Mississippi), and appointed Sauvolle de la Villantry as the governor with Bienville as Lieutenant and second in command.

Bienville (disambiguation)

Bienville may refer to:

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