1876, The French begin exploring our homelands, beginning with the territory of the Sedang tribe in Kontum province in the north, the Rhade tribe in Daklak province in the west and south from Saigon to the Chrau tribal regions.
1883, The French complete their conquest of Vietnam and begin moving into the Central Highlands. When they first arrived in our country in 1890, our people trusted the French and believed that they would help us regain our coastal areas, which were taken by the Annam people. Most of our people welcomed them into our open arms with the exception of a few tribes who resisted this invasion. However, after pacifying the Dega people, the French organized our various tribes into a cohesive political entity and gave us the name "the Montagnard people of southern Indochina."
1895, The French begin their active colonization in our homeland. A small military administrative post was established in Ban Don on January 31, 1899. On November 2, 1899, the French created the autonomous administration for the Dega people in the province of Daklak in the land of the Rhade tribe. At this time, there were no Vietnamese living in our territories. It was 1918 when the French first introduced Vietnamese to our Central Highlands through their Vietnamese servants.
1914 - 1929, Leopold Sabatier was assigned to the province of Daklak and he begins to launch ambitious development plans for the Central Highlands. He built the city of Banmethuot, established schools, health care, agricultural services and arranged the construction of roads, bridges and runways.