They rented land from the Ojibwe .
As French traders , missionaries and farmers spread out from the Atlantic coast along the waterways , some French and French - Canadian colonists began to settle here in the mid-1700s .
traders rented land from the Ojibwe .
As French traders , missionaries and farmers spread out from the Atlantic coast along the waterways , some French and French - Canadian colonists began to settle here in the mid-1700s .