Detroit's founder is Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, a French explorer and trader who founded the city in 1701. He was born in 1658 in Saint-Nicolas-de-la-Grave, France and was sent to New France (now Canada) in 1683. He established Fort Pontchartrain du Detroit in 1701, which later became the city of Detroit. Cadillac was also responsible for the establishment of other settlements in the Great Lakes region.