Although the French arrived on the Alabama Gulf Coast 150 years after their Spanish counterparts, their impact on the region cannot be minimized by their tardiness.

In many ways, the French presence along the Gulf Coast has had as much or more influence on our present lives than the Spanish. The French settlement in the region began in 1699 with the establishment of territorial capitols at 27 Mile Bluff, Mobile, Biloxi and New Orleans.

Settlers lived and worked along both the Eastern Shore of Mobile Bay as well as in Mobile. Many French plantations were on site and in operation when the first British “Governor” of Mobile, Major Robert Farmar, bought his acreage along the Tensaw River in 1771.

The French involvement in the Gulf Coast region of North America commenced in 1699 with the arrival of the Le Moyne brothers, Pierre Le Moyne d’Iberville and Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville. They came to shape French policy in the region until the retirement of Jean-Baptiste (Bienville) in 1743.

The Le Moyne brothers' first excursion to the Gulf Coast came in 1698 when they set sail from Brest, France with the intent of establishing a military post and colonial capitol in the Mississippi River Delta. The two were accompanied by French soldiers and somewhere around 200 potential colonists in an attempt to settle the region in the name of the French king.

In January 1699, the Le Moynes entered Pensacola Bay, but left soon after because of the presence of the Spanish already at work building their community.

The first landing in Mobile Bay came on Feb. 1, 1699 near the site of present-day Fort Morgan. The French, under the command of Iberville, explored the peninsula and rowed across the bay to examine Dauphin Island, which they named Ile du Massacre (Massacre Island) after locating several skeletons there. Even though the Spanish had visited the region decades earlier, the French explored and recorded detailed information in a search for a proper location to plant a colony.

Within three weeks of arriving off the Alabama coast, the French had an encounter with the indigenous population for the first time. The brothers met with the Indians and secured relations between them and the French nation. As with the Atlantic region, relations with the Indians along the Gulf Coast meant trade, security and a potential ally against the Spanish and the British if needed.

Bienville, the younger of the two brothers, was successful in initiating contact with the Indians of the region including the Mobile, the Biloxi and the Pascagoula, as a means of securing the fledgling French colony.

Both brothers served as top officials within the French Louisiana Colony throughout their lives. Iberville oversaw the construction of Fort Maurepas and Fort Louis and fought to maintain the French control of the region in battles with the English and Spanish.

Unfortunately the elder Le Moyne passed away in 1706 after contracting yellow fever while fighting the British in a series of naval battles.

Bienville succeeded his brother and worked to expand the French influence in the region. In 1717, he established Fort Toulouse near Wetumpka and oversaw the construction of Fort Tombecbe near Demopolis.

Bienville was named Governor of Louisiana in 1732 and retired in 1743. after serving the French government for 44 years. He lived out the last years of his life in Paris, where he died at the age of 88 in 1767.

The Le Moynes were instrumental in securing the French presence along the American Gulf Coast. They left behind a legacy of French culture that remains to this day. New Orleans, Mobile and Biloxi all display the distinct French influence made possible by the French brothers from Montreal.

Baldwin County was a recipient of this rich culture and we, too, can see that in the cultural traits found throughout our communities.