From its beginning, Kaskaskia was a French/Indian settlement, with a few French men and many Illinois and other Native Americans. In 1707, the population was about 2,200. Most were Illinois, who lived somewhat apart from the Europeans. From the French, the Native Americans, and their mixed-race descendants at Kaskaskia came the voyageurs and coureurs des bois. They explored and hunted in the Missouri River country. The French wanted to trade with all the Prairie tribes, and with the Spanish colony in New Mexico. This idea horrified the Spanish. The explorer Claude Charles Du Tisne set up trade relations with the Plains Indians in 1719.