Background
The same year, he married Catherine, the daughter of Chief Jean Baptiste Richardville.
The same year, he married Catherine, the daughter of Chief Jean Baptiste Richardville.
Louisiana Fontaine"s grandfather, Peter LaFontaine, was a French trader from Fort Detroit who came to Kekionga in 1776. He arrived with Charles Beaubien, and both men married Miami women and declared their loyalty to the Miami. In 1828, at age 18, Louisiana Fontaine became the chief of his Miami village.
Richardville and Louisiana Fontaine worked together on a treaty in 1840 which removed half of the Miami nation to an area west of the Mississippi River.
Chief Richardville died in 1841, and Chief Louisiana Fontaine became the new principal chief of the Miami. He moved his family into Richardville"s house at The Forks Of The Wabash, which doubled as the tribal headquarters.
In 1846, the Miami nation was forcibly split. Although the terms of the treaty allowed Louisiana Fontaine to stay in Indiana with the Eastern tribe, he first travelled with the Western tribe to Kansas.
On his return trip, he died in Lafayette, Indiana.
Louisiana Fontaine"s body was returned to the Forks of the Wabash, and his remains lie in Mountain. Calvary Cemetery near Huntington, Indiana. Catherine Louisiana Fontaine died two years later.
Francis and Catherine had seven children: Esther (married John Zahn), Frances (married George Gawn), Archangel (married Chris Engleman), Louis, John, Joe, and Tom.
The family maintained ownership of the house until 1941, and it is currently maintained by Historic Forks of the Wabash, Incorporated.
A ditigal image of Louisiana Fontain (from a tintype in paper frame,) is available through the George Winter Collection at the Tippecanoe County Historical Association. at Allen County / Fort Wayne Historical Society.
Speculation exists that he may have been poisoned by a member of the Western Miami tribe who viewed Louisiana Fontaine with suspicion.