Mine à Breton (Mine à Burton), McArthur mines, Potosi Barite Mining District, Washington County, Missouri, USAi

Regional Level Types
Mine à Breton (Mine à Burton)	Mine
McArthur mines	Mine
Potosi Barite Mining District	Mining District
Washington County	County
Missouri	State
USA	Country

Discovered about 1773 by Francois Azor dit Breton (1710-1821), a native of Brittany, while on a hunt. The dates 1760 and 1763 are also given for the discovery; but ... the exact date would be difficult to ascertain, since Breton himself could not do so. The spelling Mine a Burton is sometimes used. The settlement which sprang up around the mine became known as Mine a Breton. It is now a part of Potosi, south of the courthouse. Until Potosi was founded and made the county seat on February 26, 1814, Mine a Breton was the county seat. Francois Azor dit Breton, for whom the mine and settlement were named, had his "by-name" from the province of France where he was born: Breton is the French term for an inhabitant of Brittany. He served under Marshall Saxe at the Battle of Fontenoy in 1745, where the British were defeated. Later he came to America, and was present at Braddock's defeat in 1755. He settled in Missouri at Ste. Genevieve.