Antoine de la Mothe, sieur de Cadillac (, French: [kadijak]; March 5, 1658 – October 16, 1730), born Antoine Laumet, was a French explorer, military officer, colonial administrator in New France, and founder of Detroit, Michigan.
Born in Gascony, Cadillac arrived in Acadia in 1683 at age 25. He was the commander of Fort de Buade in St. Ignace and founded Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit in 1701. Cadillac envisioned Detroit as a major settlement in the Pays d'en Haut, which he referred to as the "Paris de la Nouvelle-France" (Paris of New France), and he planned its early development. In 1710, Cadillac was appointed colonial governor of French Louisiana. King Louis XIV awarded him the Order of Saint Louis.
Cadillac's bold personality and to a lesser extent his Franciscan affiliation earned him many enemies, including the Jesuits in Quebec, who accused him of various crimes. This led to his detention in 1704, although he cleared his name the following year. In 1717, Cadillac was removed from his colonial office and was briefly imprisoned twice during a power struggle with financier Antoine Crozat. Later, Cadillac held the mayoral office of Castelsarrasin, where he died in 1730.
In contrast to many French aristocrats and officials of his time, Cadillac, despite holding various high-ranking positions both in the colonies and in France, has no surviving authentic portrait. The images that do exist are primarily artistic sketches created long after his death. Historians suggest that the absence of an authenticated portrait of Cadillac is likely a damnatio memoriae instigated by his numerous enemies. Nevertheless, Cadillac's name is commemorated by an automobile company established in 1902 by William Murphy and Henry M. Leland. Western culture has historically idealized him as a hero, with numerous places named after him. However, contemporary liberal scholars often critique his colonial activities.
Cadillac was born Antoine Laumet on March 5, 1658, in Saint-Nicolas-de-la-Grave in the province of Gascony (today in the Tarn-et-Garonne, Occitanie). His father, Jean Laumet, was born in Caumont-sur-Garonne. He became a lawyer in the Parlement of Toulouse. In 1652 Jean was appointed lieutenant to the judge of Saint-Nicolas-de-la-Grave by Cardinal Mazarin and appointed as a judge in 1664. Antoine's mother, Jeanne Péchagut, was the daughter of a merchant and landowner. His youth included rigorous study at a Jesuit institution where he learned theology, law, agriculture, botany and zoology.
In a record of service he filled out in 1675, he said that he had enlisted in the military as a cadet at age 17 in the Dampierre regiment, in Charleroi, nowadays Belgium. Two years later in personal letters, however, he reported that he had been an officer in the Clérambault regiment in Thionville, and in 1682 he had joined the Albret regiment, in Thionville.
At age 25, he fled from France for North America. His father lost a lawsuit against a lawyer in Castelsarrasin that caused him financial difficulties. In addition, he had lost financial support following the death of Cardinal Mazarin and suffered intolerance from Protestants. Laumet may have immigrated illegally, as historians have not found his name on any passenger list of ships departing from a French port.
In 1683, Antoine Laumet arrived at Port Royal, the capital of Acadia. During the next four years, he wandered from New England to New Holland, and south to the Province of Carolina, while learning some Native American languages and habits. He probably entered into a business relationship with Denis Guyon, a merchant of Quebec. On June 25, 1687, at age 29, he married Guyon's daughter Marie-Thérèse in Quebec. The marriage certificate is the first document that records his new identity. He identified as "Antoine de Lamothe, écuyer, sieur de Cadillac", and signed as "De Lamothe Launay". Like many immigrants, he took advantage of emigrating to the New World to create a new identity, perhaps to conceal the reasons that drove him from France. This new identity "ne sort pas de son sac" ("I did not create this identity out of nowhere"), as he wrote later. Antoine Laumet based his new titles on those Sylvestre d'Esparbes de Lussan de Gout, baron of Lamothe-Bardigues, lord of Cadillac, Launay and Le Moutet; adviser to the Parliament of Toulouse. He knew him for at least two reasons: Bardigues, Cadillac, Launay and Le Moutet are villages and localities close to his birthplace, Saint-Nicolas-de-la-Grave, and Antoine's father Jean Laumet was a lawyer in the Parliament of Toulouse.
The sons likely encountered each other during their studies. Second son in his family, Laumet identified with the second son of the baron. He used the phonic similarity between his own name and that of Launay, creating the name: Antoine de Lamothe-Launay. He took the title of écuyer (squire), the rank held by a family's second son, followed by the title sieur (sire) of Cadillac. This accorded with the Gascon custom whereby the junior family member succeeds the elder son upon the latter's death. Laumet created a new name, identity and noble origin, while protecting himself from possible recognition by persons who knew him in France. In addition, he presented his own titles of nobility, as illustrated by armorial bearings that he appropriated, in a lightly altered form, from Sylvestre d'Esparbes de Lussan, which would later become known as the logo of Cadillac.
They had six daughters and seven sons: Judith (1689), Magdeleine (1690), Marie Anne (1701), ? (1702), Marie-Thérèse (1704), Marie-Agathe (December 1707) and Joseph (1690), Antoine (1692), Jacques (1695), Pierre-Denis (1699–1700), Jean-Antoine (January 1707 – 1709), François (1709), René-Louis (1710–1714).
In 1688, the Governor General of New France Jacques-René de Brisay de Denonville gave him the concession of the seigniory (estate) of Les Douacques (which later became Bar Harbor, Maine). His concession brought him no income, even from agriculture. Cadillac entered into a trading partnership with officers of Port Royal, an activity facilitated by using a ship owned by his brothers-in-law Guyon. In 1689, he was sent on an expedition in the vicinity of Boston. Upon his return, he asked the governor of Acadia, Louis-Alexandre des Friches de Méneval, for a job as notary, to bring in a minimum income; his request was turned down. Then, Cadillac was introduced to Governor Louis de Buade de Frontenac in Quebec, who sent him on an exploratory mission along the coasts of New England, aboard the frigate L'Embuscade (The Ambush). Strong head winds forced the ship to return to France.
In 1690, Cadillac was in Paris. He became part of the circle of the Secretary of State for the Navy, the marquis de Seignelay, then of his successor Louis Phélypeaux, comte de Pontchartrain, who appointed him officer of marine troops. On his return to Port Royal, Cadillac learned that the English admiral William Phips had seized the city and that his wife, daughter, and son were being held captives. They were released in exchange for some English prisoners. In 1691, Cadillac repatriated his family to Quebec, but their ship was attacked by a privateer out of Boston, who took possession of all their goods.
Cadillac was promoted to lieutenant in 1692. He was sent with cartographer Jean-Baptiste-Louis Franquelin to draw charts of the New England coastline in preparation for a French attack on the English colonies. He set out again for France to hand over the charts, together with a report, to Pontchartrain. In 1693, he received an allowance of 1,500 pounds for his work and was sent back on a further mission to supplement his observations. Frontenac promoted him to captain then to lieutenant commander in 1694.
Cadillac was appointed commander of all the stations of the Pays d'En-Haut (the upper countries). He left France at the peak of his career to take up his command of Fort de Buade or Michilimackinac, which controlled all fur trading between Missouri, Mississippi, the Great Lakes, and the Ohio valley.