<P> A few months after Nicolet returned to Quebec, Champlain died . His death halted other journeys to La Baie Verte (French for "The Green Bay"). Père Claude Allouez sent Nicolas Perrot to La Baie . After this, the French avoided the area for some decades, because of the intensity of First Nations and European conflicts in the east . In 1671, a Jesuit Mission was set up in the area . A fort was added in 1717 and gradually associated development took place . The town was incorporated in 1754 . As Great Britain took control of French areas during the Seven Years' War, known as the French and Indian War in some areas of North America, this town came under British control in 1761 . The French ceded their North American lands East of the Mississippi River to the British following defeat in 1763 . </P> <P> The first permanent French settlers were Charles de Langlade and his family from Canada, who moved to Green Bay in 1765, becoming the first European - American settlers in today's Wisconsin . Langlade, called the "Founder and Father of Wisconsin", was an Ottawa war chief with a French father . He is credited with planning the ambush of British General Braddock and George Washington in the French and Indian War . The Grignons, Porliers and Lawes, who followed, brought Canadian - French culture with them . Colorful "jack - knife Judge" Reaume dispensed British justice in the territory . These early French settlers set the tone for many who followed . </P> <P> The British gradually took over Wisconsin during the French and Indian War, taking control of Green Bay in 1761 and gaining control of all of Wisconsin in 1763 . Like the French, the British were interested in little but the fur trade . One notable event in the fur trading industry in Wisconsin occurred in 1791, when two free African Americans set up a fur trading post among the Menominee at present day Marinette . The first permanent settlers, mostly French Canadians, some Anglo - New Englanders and a few African American freedmen, arrived in Wisconsin while it was under British control . Charles Michel de Langlade is generally recognized as the first settler, establishing a trading post at Green Bay in 1745, and moving there permanently in 1764 . Settlement began at Prairie du Chien around 1781 . The French residents at the trading post in what is now Green Bay, referred to the town as "La Bey", however British fur traders referred to it as "Green Bay", because the water and the shore assumed green tints in early spring . The old French title was gradually dropped, and the British name of "Green Bay" stuck . The region coming under British rule had virtually no adverse effect on the French residents as the British needed the cooperation of the French fur traders and the French fur traders needed the goodwill of the British . During the French occupation of the region licenses for fur trading had been issued scarcely and only to select groups of traders, whereas the British, in an effort to make as much money as possible from the region, issued licenses for fur trading freely, both to British and French residents . The fur trade in what is now Wisconsin reached its height under British rule, and the first self - sustaining farms in the state were established as well . From 1763 to 1780, Green Bay was a prosperous community which produced its own foodstuff, built graceful cottages and held dances and festivities . </P> <P> The Green Bay area was still under British control until the 1783 treaty formally ended the American Revolutionary War . Following the War of 1812, which in part was over disputes related to the border with Canada, the United States built Fort Howard on the Fox River in 1816 to protect its northern border . Doty, Whitney, Arndt, Baird and Martin were among the many British - American settlers whose numbers pushed French culture into the background . As British settlers in the area came to outnumber the French, they referred to the town as "Green Bay" (from the French: Baie Verte). </P>

Where did the name green bay come from