tribes, Ho Chunk (Winnebago), Menominee, Kickapoo and Chippewa tribes among them. The earliest French explorers were Father Marquette and Joliet in the summer of 1673. The French controlled the area for roughly 100 years until the end of the French and Indian War. Pressures from the French colonization of the eastern St Lawrence River and Great Lakes region eventually forced Fox and Sac tribes to the region, displacing the original tribes. The Fox and Sac, realizing the importance of the Waterway, set up toll stations at portage locations. The French, resentful of lost trade, engaged the Fox in a series of wars known as the Fox Wars. French traders dominated the Waterway. They set up forts or settlements at La Baye (Green Bay), Portage (eventually Fort Winnebago), and Prairie du Chien. Their influence is apparent from the remaining place names and features: Prairie du Chien, Portage, De Pere, and Lake Butte des Morts to name a few. In fact, property in parts of Prairie du Chien, Portage, Kaukauna and Green Bay, all along the Waterway, still use French long-lot descriptions. All four cities are among the oldest in Wisconsin and the region. The British officially controlled the area until the end of the American Revolutionary war and nominally until the end of the War of 1812, after which the American government was in firm control. The Fox were not totally displaced from the Waterway until 1832, when American troops forced them out during the Blackhawk War. Modifications The arrival of steamships to the region and the success of eastern canal systems, especially the Erie Canal, prompted various groups to look for improvements to the Waterway. In fact, there was great speculative pressure to capitalize on the natural extension of the Erie Canal to the Mississippi and beyond. Into the 1850s, most products from the Midwest traveled the long journey down the Mississippi and east from New Orleans. This shipment was expensive, absorbed farmers' profits and retarded economic growth. Promotion of the Portage Canal pointed to the economic advantage of a direct waterway connecting the Great Lakes to the Mississippi to spur local economic growth. The earliest improvements along the Fox–Wisconsin Waterway began with a canal and lock at Portage. In 1829, Morgan Martin founded the Summit Portage Canal and Road Company to build the Portage canal. Chronically short of funds and impacted by depression in the 1830s, the company failed