Who were the first settlers in New Orleans?

In 1718, the French Governor of Louisiana, Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, sieur de Bienville, arrived at the crescent of land south of Lac Pontchartrain with a band of colonists: 29 families totaling about 250 people. Their first settlement was located on the banks of the Mississippi River near what is today known as the French Quarter, and was originally called "Nouvelle-Orléans" in honor of the then regent, Philippe d'Orléans, Duke of Orléans, and future regent of France.