Jean Joseph Rolette was Canadian born , his grandfather having emigrated from Normandy about the middle of the eighteenth century. His father, Jean Joseph Rolette, and his mother, Angelique (Lortie), destined him, their eldest son, for the priesthood.
Parents sent him to the Jesuit college at Quebec.
Young Joseph preferred a fur-trading career and in 1805 left for the West, spending one year opposite Detroit, in British territory. In 1806 he formed a partnership with a Scotchman. Murdoch Cameron, for trade at Prairie du Chien and on the Upper Mississippi, then entirely within the British sphere of influence. Lieutenant Zebulon M. Pike, sent in 1805 to recover this region for the United States, found Rolette on the Upper Mississippi, and later dined with him at Prairie du Chien. During the War of 1812, like all his fellow traders, he served the British cause. He participated in the capture of Mackinac in 1812 and was in the British force that recaptured Prairie du Chien in 1814. After the latter expedition he was sent to Mackinac to announce the victory. Following the American reoccupation of Prairie du Chien, Rolette was distrusted by the officers at Fort Crawford and for one winter was imprisoned on an island in the Mississippi. He was pardoned by Calhoun, when secretary of war, and became a citizen of the United States in 1823. Three years previously he had accepted the agency for the American Fur Company under Astor. He was a most successful trader. The Indians called him Zica (the pheasant) because he traveled so rapidly, and also Ah-kay-zaup-ee-tah (five more) because of his demands when trading. Many stories are told of his humor, vivacity, and good temper. By the voyageurs he was known as "King" Rolette, and when appointed (in 1830) chief justice for Crawford County he aided in keeping good order among the French-Canadians of Prairie du Chien. Nevertheless he had a reputation among the chief traders of this region for sharp practice, and his dealings were watched with suspicion. Astor trusted him, and at one time Rolette took his family to visit Astor in New York. He was reputed to be wealthy, but after his death there was much difficulty in settling his estate.
Many stories are told of his humor, vivacity, and good temper.
Rolette married in 1807 Marguerite Dubois, ward of Julien Dubuque, and by her had three daughters.
His first wife died in 1817, and two years later he married Jane Fisher, a very young girl.
He was survived by two daughters and a son, together with his widow, who later became the wife of his former clerk, H. L. Dousman.
