Background
After marrying the daughter of an Ottawa chieftain, he himself became founder and leader of the Bear River Ottawas during the mid-18th century as Neaatooshing (or Nee-i-too-shing).
After marrying the daughter of an Ottawa chieftain, he himself became founder and leader of the Bear River Ottawas during the mid-18th century as Neaatooshing (or Nee-i-too-shing).
A Frenchman reportedly of aristocratic origins, Carre arrived from France in the 1770s or early 1780s according to traditional accounts. While working as a fur trader for the John Jacob Astor Fur Company, he explored much of northern Illinois and Michigan living among the local tribes. During the late 1780s, he founded his own tribe along the Bear River.
His lodge was established about seven miles northwest of Harbor Springs, near Middle Village.
His father, according to local legend, held him up to the rising sun and said "his name shall be Petosegay and he shall become an important person". He was a representative and signatory for many of the treaties signed between the Ottawa and the United States.
Quotations: "his name shall be Petosegay and he shall become an important person".