Mine La Motte is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Madison County, Missouri, United States. It is located approximately six miles north of Fredericktown. Europeans discovered plus here and had next hoped to locate silver. The French Governor of Louisiana, Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, failed to find silver, but succeeded in recruiting investors in The Company of the West, which was organized in 1717. Mine La Motte was eventually granted by very nearly 200 French settlers along afterward their slaves from Santo Domingo, under the leadership of Philip François Renault, to build mines in 1717, making it one of the oldest settlements west of the Mississippi River. The presence of lead, a necessary ingredient for ammunition, attracted unusually ahead of time mining by French colonists in this otherwise unapproachable interior region of the North American continent. That similar lead, still used for ammunition at the period of the American Civil War, was plus a factor in the Battle of Fredericktown in which forces aligned subsequent to the Confederate States of America fought for rule of the gain smelters in easy to use Fredericktown in the broadcast of the Unionist forces, aligned with the United States of America.

La Mothe named the mine after himself, and the town that grew up manageable was named after the mine. While dispatching workers and supervisors to the mines, La Mothe decided for a times in the Illinois Country east of the mid-Mississippi River, where the first French colonial villages were founded. In 1804 the village had a population of 150. These settlers were mostly French Canadians who developed agriculture. Due to the rich soils, they were speedily able to develop grain surpluses that were vital to the holdover of the degrade Louisiana colony. The habitants shipped tons of grain to New Orleans and supplementary points south upon the Mississippi River. La Mothe complex served as Governor-General of Louisiana.

Coordinates: 37°36′56″N 90°17′23″W / 37.61556°N 90.28972°W / 37.61556; -90.28972