A Tale of Adventures: From Beaver Pelts to Buffalo Robes

 

In the crisp dawn of 1665, André Robidou dit L’Espagnol stepped off a creaking ship onto the rocky shores of Québec, the salty tang of the Atlantic still clinging to his Spanish wool coat. Born under the sun-baked skies of Galicia, he had traded the old world's wars for the promise of New France's wild rivers. Hired as a voyageur by the cunning Eustache Lambert, André paddled birchbark canoes laden with axes, kettles, and beads up the St. Lawrence, his muscles aching against the current's relentless pull. The forest whispered secrets—beaver dams hidden in misty creeks, Iroquois shadows lurking beyond the treeline. In La Prairie, amid the smoke of hearth fires and the lowing of newly cleared cattle, he wed Jeanne Denot, her fille du roi spirit as fierce as the rapids. Together, they carved a life from the wilderness, André slipping away each spring to trade pelts that gleamed like silver in Montréal's markets.

But fate claimed André too soon in 1678, leaving Jeanne to raise their brood in the fertile concessions of La Prairie. Young Guillaume, with his father's wanderlust, grew amid the clatter of trade canoes docking at the river's edge. By the 1690s, he ventured into the fur trade's heart, his earnings buying a bustling cabaret in Montréal where voyageurs swapped tales of Great Lakes storms and Ottawa alliances over mugs of spruce beer. Meanwhile, brother Joseph tended the family lands but eyed the horizon, his sons inheriting the call of the paddle.

As the 18th century dawned, Joseph I navigated the trade's golden age, only to flee southward amid beaver shortages and British cannons echoing from Québec's fall. His son Joseph II, a seasoned voyageur, signed contracts in 1756 for Detroit runs, his canoe slicing through Lake Erie's swells, bartering with Ojibwe for stacks of glossy pelts. By 1760, the family crossed the Chicago Portage, muddy boots sinking into Illinois prairies, settling in Spanish-controlled St. Louis—a crossroads of empires where French accents mingled with Osage drums.

There, Joseph III built an empire of outposts, his ledgers filled with debts from risky ventures up the Missouri River. Meriwether Lewis noted his sharp dealings with the Oto, pelts piled high in warehouses redolent of musk and tobacco. But it was his sons who blazed the trails westward. Joseph IV, the eldest, forged Blacksnake Hills into St. Joseph in 1826, his trading post a beacon for wagon trains, where buffalo robes replaced beaver hats amid the thunder of herds on the plains. François pushed into California’s untamed valleys, trapping along the Yellowstone’s icy bends, while Antoine erected forts in Utah’s rugged canyons, negotiating with Ute warriors under starlit skies. Pierre Isidore bartered at Scotts Bluff, winds howling through Nebraska badlands; Louis claimed Riverside’s sun-drenched lands; and Michel roamed the Kansas River, his rifle at the ready against Pawnee raids.

Generations later, Métis descendants like Charles Roubideaux carried the legacy into the Sioux Wars. In 1877, at Camp Robinson, Charles stood sentinel as Crazy Horse fell, the chief's final breath a echo of the family's long dance with Indigenous worlds—from La Prairie's alliances to the Rosebud Reservation's resilient hearths. Through floods, famines, and frontiers, the Robidoux wove their thread into North America's tapestry, their adventures a saga of rivers conquered and horizons chased.

Historical Facts About the Robidou Family and Their Fur Trade Connections

The Robidou (often spelled Robidoux or Robidoux in later records) family traces its roots to Spanish and French origins, with early members arriving in New France during the 17th century. Their involvement in the fur trade began modestly in the St. Lawrence River region, particularly around La Prairie (a key settlement south of Montréal), and expanded westward over generations, influencing exploration, trade networks, and settlement in North America. La Prairie served as a hub for voyageurs—French-Canadian fur traders who paddled canoes laden with goods—due to its strategic location along river routes connecting to the Great Lakes and beyond. The family's story reflects the broader evolution of the fur trade from beaver pelts in New France under French control to buffalo robes and other commodities in the American West under shifting colonial powers.

Below is a generational breakdown based on historical records, focusing on key figures, their lives, and fur trade roles. The lineage emphasizes the user's provided tree while incorporating broader family branches involved in the trade.

Generation 0: Ancestors in Europe

• Manuel Robidou (1620–1667) and Catherine Alve (1618–1667): Born in St. Germain, Paris, France, Manuel married Catherine, and they relocated to Galicia, Spain, where their son André was born. They died in Spain and had no direct involvement in New France's fur trade, but their son's migration laid the foundation for the family's North American legacy. 

Generation 1: Arrival in New France

• André Robidou dit L’Espagnol (1643–1678): Born in Ste. Marie, Galicia, Burgos, Spain, André arrived in New France around 1665 at age 22 as a sailor. Nicknamed "L’Espagnol" due to his Spanish heritage, he initially worked as a voyageur under Eustache Lambert, a prominent fur trader and interpreter, ferrying goods along the St. Lawrence River for low wages plus board. By 1667, he married Jeanne Denot (1645–1710), a fille du roi from St. Germain-en-Laye, France, who arrived in 1666 aboard the ship Le Saint-Jean-Baptiste with a royal dowry to encourage settlement. They settled in La Prairie de la Madeleine by 1670, among the first families in the area, farming a concession along the St. Lawrence while André participated in early fur trade networks. He acquired and exchanged properties in La Prairie, including lands on Côte de la Rivière Saint-Jacques. André died young at 35 in La Prairie, buried in Montréal. His role marked the family's entry into the fur trade, balancing agriculture with seasonal voyages amid threats from Iroquois raids. 

Generation 2: Settlement in La Prairie

André and Jeanne had five children, with three surviving to adulthood and contributing to the family's expansion. Jeanne remarried Jacques Suprenant dit Sanssoucy (1650–1710), a Carignan-Salières Regiment soldier, after André's death, blending families in La Prairie.

• Romaine Robidoux (1669–1697): Born in Québec, baptized there; died young at 28 in La Prairie. Limited records suggest no major fur trade involvement, focusing instead on family life in the settlement.
• Marguerite Robidoux (1671–1672): Born and died in La Prairie as an infant; no trade connections.
• Jeanne Robidoux (1673–1736): Born in La Prairie; married Gabriel Lemieux (1663–1739) in 1690. While not directly a voyageur, she connected the Robidoux to the Lemieux family, which had ties to La Prairie's fur networks through farming and occasional trade support. Their daughter, Marie Anne Lemieux (1706–1777), married Joseph Poupart (1696–1726), extending the lineage but shifting away from core Robidoux fur trade branches. 
• Guillaume Robidoux (1675–1754): Born in La Prairie; married Marie Françoise Guérin in 1697 in Montréal. He engaged in the fur trade, using earnings to own a cabaret in Montréal, a common venture for traders. His activities bridged La Prairie's rural base with urban trade hubs, and he fathered descendants who migrated west, evading restrictive New France laws on unlicensed trading. 
• Joseph Robidoux (1678–1726): Born posthumously in La Prairie after André's death; married and fathered the line that migrated southward. His early life in La Prairie involved peripheral fur trade support, setting the stage for his descendants' deeper involvement. 

Generation 3: Expansion During Peak Fur Trade

• Joseph Robidoux I (1701–1778): Son of Joseph (1678); born in La Prairie, died in Yamaska, Québec. Married Marie-Anne Fonteneau and later Marie-Louise Robert. Entered the fur trade at its height in the early 18th century, but as beaver stocks declined mid-century amid French-British conflicts, he and his family migrated south to Detroit, Chicago, and St. Louis for new opportunities. 
• Charles François Robidoux (1720–1801): A relative through Guillaume's line; involved in fur trade in River Raisin, Michigan. 

Generation 4: Migration to the American Midwest

• Joseph Robidoux II (1722–1771): Son of Joseph I; born in La Prairie, died in St. Louis, Missouri. Married Marie Anne Le Blanc. Worked as a voyageur, signing a 1756 contract to Detroit via Louis Lamy Desfonds & Co. Relocated family via Chicago Portage around 1760 amid British takeover of New France. 

Generation 5: Establishment in St. Louis

• Joseph Robidoux III (1750–1809): Son of Joseph II; born in Sault-au-Récollet, Québec, died in St. Louis. Married Catherine Rolet. Established trading posts in St. Louis under French, British, and Spanish rule. Traded with Indigenous groups like the Oto and Missouri; noted in Meriwether Lewis's journals for trade breaches. His estate was sold post-death to cover fur trade debts. 

Generation 6: Western Expansion and Exploration

Joseph III's six sons became legendary fur traders, mountain men, and founders of Western settlements, shifting from beaver to buffalo and other furs.

• Joseph Robidoux IV (1783–1868): Born in St. Louis; founded St. Joseph, Missouri, in 1826 as a trading post. Began trading at 16; married multiple times, including to an Otoe-Ioway woman. Rivaled figures like Manuel Lisa in the Missouri River trade. 
• François Robidoux (1788–1856): Born in St. Louis; early California explorer and trapper along the Missouri, Kansas, and Yellowstone Rivers. 
• Pierre Isidore Robidoux (1791–1852): Born in St. Louis; traded at Fort Laramie and Scotts Bluff, Nebraska. 
• Antoine Robidoux (1794–1860): Born in St. Louis; traded in Utah, Colorado, and Santa Fe, New Mexico; established posts west of the Rockies. 
• Louis Robidoux (1796–1868): Born in Florissant, Missouri; founded Riverside, California; married Maria Guadalupe Garcia. 
• Michel Robidoux (1798–1858): Born in St. Louis; mountain man trading along the Kansas River and with Pawnee villages. 

Later Generations: Métis and Indigenous Connections

• Descendants intermarried with Indigenous groups, forming Métis lines. For example, Joseph Sellico Robidoux (1815/1820–1864) (son of François) married into Sioux communities. His sons Louis Roubideaux (1846/1847–1913/1914) and Charles Roubideaux (1854–1931) served as U.S. Army Indian Scouts; Charles witnessed the death of Crazy Horse in 1877 at Camp Robinson, Nebraska. Further descendants like Katie Roubideaux (1890–1991) lived on the Rosebud Reservation, blending fur trade legacies with Indigenous roles as interpreters and police. 

The family's influence waned with the fur trade's decline by the mid-19th century, but their posts facilitated U.S. expansion, as detailed in works like Robidoux Chronicles. 

The above courtesy of Drifting Cowboy & Gemini AI.