Question: French exploration of Pacific-Northwest

Hi folks, I was just wondering does anyone know what the earliest records are of French or French-Canadians around the Columbia River region in the Pacific Northwest?

I know there were plenty of French-Canadians who came with companies like the HBC in the early 19th century, however I'm curious just how far back in to the previous century a French or French-Canadian presence can be traced? I've seen it claimed that tribes around the Columbia River and its tributaries actually had their first contacts with whites among French-Canadian fur traders, before Lewis and Clark showed up. I know the English name of my ancestors, the Nez Perce, comes from the French term for "pierced nose" (though it was somewhat of a misnomer as that wasn't a super-common practice with us), so I was curious if people knew examples of French/French-Canadians in the region prior to the 1810s?


Edited by hama - 06-Apr-2017 at 12:06