Pierre François Xavier Charlevoix

Jesuit-trained Pierre François Xavier Charlevoix first came to America in 1705 to teach at a Quebec college. In 1709, Charlevoix returned to France. Eleven years later, in 1720, Charlevoix returned to New France with the intention of writing the first history of Canada. In 1721, he visited the Detroit area and decided that a mission should be built in the area. Through his urging, in 1728, Father Armand Richardie founded the Huron Mission across the river in present day Windsor.

Charlevoix had studied several Native American tribes and concluded that the Hurons would be the most susceptible to Christianity. He recommended that the Jesuit order at Quebec send someone to the Detroit area to build a Huron Mission. The Jesuit's sent Father Armand de la Richardie.