- Michigan was originally inhabited by Native American tribes like the Ojibwa, Ottawa, and Potawatomi. The first European to arrive was French explorer Étienne Brulé in 1618. Later French explorers, traders, and missionaries established fur trading posts across Michigan, including Fort Pontchartrain which was founded in 1701 by Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac and became the settlement of Detroit. France lost control of Michigan and other territories to Britain after the French and Indian War in the 1760s.