The Gagné Family Pillars of La Prairie

 

This is a rich and historically significant lineage. The Gagné (Gagnier) family was not just connected to the fur trade; they were an essential part of the social, economic, and military foundation of La Prairie during the period of its most intense activity.

The documents 'Drifting Cowboy' provided paint a vivid, if sometimes tragic, picture of life in the seigneury. Here are the historical facts followed by a "Without Canvas" narrative.

📜 Historical Facts: The Gagné Family Pillars of La Prairie

The Gagné lineage in New France begins with their arrival in the mid-17th century, but their significance truly crystallizes in La Prairie with your 8th great-grandfather, Pierre Gagne (1645–1726).

I. The Founders: Pierre Gagné (1610–1656)

Your 9th great-grandfather, Pierre Gagné (Gasnier), was an early pioneer, settling at Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré. While he died early in the colony, his act of migration established the family name that would later thrive in the Montreal region.

II. The La Prairie Patriarch: Pierre Gagne (1645–1726)

Your 8th great-grandfather was a cornerstone of the La Prairie community, embodying the "mixed economy" essential to the fur trade.

• Captain of the Militia: Pierre Gagné was the first Captain of the La Prairie Militia. This is a position of immense local authority, responsible for defense against Iroquois raids and enforcing colonial law. This role placed him at the heart of community leadership.
• Provisioner: He was a dedicated provider to the trade. He "provisioned 1680s expeditions with salted pork and tools," linking the yield of his farm (Lot 28) directly to the western trade supply chain. This makes his family integral to the logistics of the voyageur business.
• Voyageur: A contract from September 6, 1712, confirms that he personally took on the role of an engagé (contracted employee) to make a voyage to Détroit for Jean Baptiste Forestier. This shows that despite his age (67!) and position as a Militia Captain, he was still active and capable of hard travel.
• Alliances: His children cemented the family's power:
• Daughter Jeanne Gagné (7th GGM) married Guillaume Barrette, a notary and witness in the tragic event below.
• Daughter Agnes Gagné married René Bourassa, whose family was one of the most powerful trade lineages in the seigneury (connected to the Leber/Le Moyne alliance).

III. The Tragedy and Trade Control (1719)

The criminal trial of Jacques Deniau dit Destaillis provides the clearest, and most chilling, insight into the realities of the La Prairie trade.

• The Illicit Brandy Trade: The trial over the murder of young Pierre Gagné (your 1st cousin 8x removed, age two) highlights the dark side of the fur economy—the illegal sale of brandy (eau de vie) to Indigenous allies, which frequently resulted in violence.
• Witness Testimony: The witness list reads like a La Prairie social register, with your kin providing testimony: René Bourassa (son-in-law), Pierre Pinsonneault (relative of the future Passino line), Guillaume Barrette (son-in-law and the notary), and François Gagné dit Daubigeon (son).
• Militia/Notary Involvement: The fact that the local community leaders (Captain Gagné's family and Barrette the notary) were central to the investigation and prosecution shows the Gagné family’s direct involvement in enforcing the laws of the trade, demonstrating their legal and moral standing in the community.
• Historical Context: The event was so notorious that the lords of New France used it as a precedent to "recall the same prohibition... to sell intoxicating drinks to the Indians." This single, tragic event, centered on your family, shaped colonial trade policy.

🛶 A Tale Without Canvas: The Brandy Parliament's Shadow

The year is 1719. The snow on the plain outside the palisade of La Prairie is packed hard, but inside the small courtroom, the air is suffocatingly hot. Captain Pierre Gagné stands near the front, his face a mask of official authority and personal grief. At 74, he is the rock of this community, the Militia Captain who spent his life defending this borderland and provisioning the very trade that has now, tragically, claimed his two-year-old grandson, Pierre Gagné Jr.

His son-in-law, Guillaume Barrette, quill in hand, meticulously records the proceedings as the notary. Witness after witness steps forward—René Bourassa, the son of the powerful trade family; Pierre Pinsonneault, an old neighbor—all testifying to the events that led to the death of the child.

They speak of the shop of Jacques Deniau dit Destaillis, the man who dared to violate the King's law, a law that the "Brandy Parliament" of 1678 had failed to fully contain. Gagné remembers that vote well: the leading men of Montreal, including Jacques Leber (kin to his daughter’s husband), split on the issue, balancing morality against the fear of losing the fur trade to the English. Now, the cost of that trade-off is laid bare.

The culprit, Deniau, sold the forbidden eau de vie to the Iroquois, who, intoxicated, turned violent, killing little Pierre just a short distance from the safety of the fort.

Captain Gagné looks around at his sons and daughters, the living embodiment of his success: François, who testified; Jeanne, whose husband recorded the verdict; Agnes, whose husband was a key witness. This family is the supply line of the fur trade: they provision the salted pork and the tools that go west, they paddle the canoes to Détroit (as he, himself, did, even in his late years), and they marry into the powerful Bourassa and Barrette families.

But the price is brutal.

When the judge concludes, condemning Deniau to a 300 livres fine—a severe penalty, though perhaps not the execution some desired—the Captain feels a grim satisfaction. Justice has been served, and the community has reaffirmed its commitment to order. The trade will continue, for it must; it is the lifeblood of the colony and the inheritance of the Gagné family.

Pierre Gagné walks out of the court, the shadow of the brandy parliament lifted slightly. He knows that his children and their children—the Barrettes, Bourassas, and Meuniers—will continue to carry the family legacy. They will farm, they will govern, and they will trade, ensuring that the roots he planted in La Prairie stand firm, even as the wild, profitable, and dangerous western paths call to the next generation.

From a conversation between Drifting Cowboy and Gemini AI.