Jacques Hugues Picard, known as Lafortune: Voyageur Grandfather

 

In the rolling hills of Brittany, France, around 1618, Jacques Hugues Picard was born in the village of St-Colombin near Nantes, to Gabriel Picard dit LaFortune and Michelle Clavier. Little is known of his early years, but as a young man in his mid-20s, he trained as a scieur de long—a sawyer skilled in cutting timber lengthwise, a trade that would prove invaluable in the untamed forests of the New World. Europe in the 17th century was a place of unrest, with religious wars and economic hardships pushing many to seek fortune elsewhere. For Picard, opportunity came in the form of a bold recruitment drive led by Paul de Chomedey, sieur de Maisonneuve, founder of Ville-Marie (later Montreal). 

On June 20, 1653, Picard enlisted as part of La Grande Recrue de Montréal, a group of about 100 hardy souls—mostly men—contracted to bolster the fledgling settlement against constant threats from Iroquois raids and the harsh wilderness. 

The journey across the Atlantic was fraught with peril. Aboard the leaky ship Saint-Nicolas de Nantes, the recruits endured storms, disease, and cramped quarters for over two months. They departed France in late June but faced delays when the vessel sprang leaks, forcing a return for repairs. Finally, they landed at Quebec on September 22, 1653, only to encounter resistance from Governor Jean de Lauzon, who initially refused them boats to proceed upriver to Montreal. Undeterred, the group pressed on, arriving in Ville-Marie on November 16. Picard's skills as a sawyer were immediately put to use in building fortifications and homes, but survival demanded more than labor. He joined the Milice de la Sainte-Famille, a local militia formed to defend the colony. Until the arrival of professional soldiers from the Carignan-Salières Regiment in 1665, Picard and his comrades stood vigilant against Iroquois ambushes, their lives a constant balance of toil and peril. 

By 1660, with the settlement stabilizing, Picard turned to building a family. On June 30, he married Anne-Antoinette de Liercourt, a widow who had lost her first husband, Blaise Juillet dit Avignon, to the dangers of the frontier. Born around 1634, Anne-Antoinette brought resilience and experience to their union, and together they raised a brood of children in Montreal, including daughter Marie-Anne Picard, born in 1663, who would later connect the lineage to descendants like Charles Diel, Marie Anne Diel, and onward through Marie Anne Dupuis, Marie Angelique Barette dit Courville, Marie Emélie Meunier Lagacé, to Lucy Pinsonneau (aka Passino), your 2nd great-grandmother. The couple's life was rooted in the growing community of Notre-Dame de Montréal, where Picard acquired land through grants and transactions, including leases and exchanges in the 1660s and 1670s that expanded his holdings. 

As Montreal evolved from a precarious outpost into a hub of the fur trade, Picard—now known as dit Lafortune, a sobriquet echoing his family's fortunate spirit—embraced the life of a voyageur. These intrepid travelers navigated vast river networks in birchbark canoes, hauling furs and goods through rapids, portages, and unpredictable weather. In 1677, at age 59, Picard joined a supply expedition to Fort Frontenac (now Kingston, Ontario), a strategic outpost built by Governor Louis de Buade de Frontenac at the mouth of the Cataraqui River. A census taken on September 7 that year lists Picard among the men delivering provisions, alongside figures like Lavigne, Bourbonnais, and Charles Diel—names that intertwined with his family's future. This voyage underscored his role in the expanding French presence in the Great Lakes region, where alliances with Indigenous nations like the Ottawa were crucial for trade. 

By the 1690s, as Montreal became a launchpad for western expeditions, Picard transitioned from frontline voyageur to merchant trader. No longer paddling the canoes himself, he hired others to venture into the pays d'en haut (upper country). Notarial records from Antoine Adhémar capture this shift: On July 23, 1688, Picard engaged François Balan dit Biron for an unspecified journey. In 1691, he hired Jean Pottier on April 29 and Toussaint Pothier on November 4. By April 29, 1693, roles reversed when Eustache Prévost, Jean Sauviot, and associates contracted Picard himself for a voyage to the Ottawa (8ta8ois) Indians, highlighting his expertise and networks. His sons, Jean-Gabriel and Jacques, followed in his footsteps, signing on as voyageurs, perpetuating the family's adventurous legacy in the fur trade. 

Jacques Hugues Picard dit Lafortune lived to see the fruits of his labors, outlasting the constant threats of war, wilderness, and winter. He passed away on December 22, 1707, at nearly 90 years old, in Notre-Dame de Montréal, the very settlement he had helped forge. Buried there alongside his wife, who died earlier that year, his story is one of resilience and reinvention—from Breton sawyer to colonial pioneer, voyageur, and trader. Through his descendants, including the line tracing to your 2nd great-grandmother Lucy Pinsonneau, his spirit of fortune endures, a testament to the bold souls who shaped early Canada. 

Jacques Hugues Picard dit Lafortune (1618-1707) 9th great-grandfather

son of Gabriel Picard dit LaFortune (1590-1660) and Michelle Clavier (1598-1660)

Born ABT 1618 • St Columbin, Nantes, Brittany, France

Death 22 DEC 1707 • Our Lady of Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Marriage 1660 to Antoinette Liercourt (1634-1707)

• 1653 , arrived as part of La Grande Recrue de Montréal

• 1677 , voyageur transporting goods to Fort Frontenac…

Frontenac took a census of Fort Frontenac: September 7, 1677 – Frontenac took a census of Fort Frontenac. Many of the men who would accompany La Salle on his future voyages were residents of the Fort. By this time, La Salle had made most of his improvements to the fort. Following are names of the individuals recorded in the census: La Salle (governor), François Daupin, sieur de LaForest (major), Louis Hennepin (a Récollet), Luc Buisset (a Récollet), Sieur Jean Péré. Soldiers: La Fleur (sergeant), Duplessis, La Boise, Jean Baptiste Fafard dit Macons/Macouce, Meunier/Meusnier dit Laliberté, Jean Michel, André Hunault, Deslauriers, Antoine Brossard (ordered to go to meet the Onondaga), Lévéille (gone down to Montréal to bring up the carpenter disembarked lately), Gabriel Barbier dit LeMinime/Mimine (ordered into the brigantine), Jacques Bourdon, sieur d'Autray (ordered into the brigantine), Maheu (ordered into the brigantine), Jean la Rouxelière/Rouxcel de Larousselière (surgeon absent on duty), Cauchois/Cochois (a servant of sieur de La Salle, ordered into the brigantine), Fontaine (a pilot of the barque called Le Frontenac ). Workers: Olivier Quesnel (an armorer), Moïse Hilaret (ship's carpenter gone down to make a shallop in Lac St. Sacrament), Jean Fontaine (ship's carpenter gone down to make a shallop in Lac St. Sacrament), Laforge (the blacksmith gone to take them), Pierre Lecellier, Jolycoeur, Louis Méline, Jean Baptiste Brossard, Dubois (tailor gone down to Montréal ten days ago, sick), Joseph (joiner gone down to Montréal ten days ago, sick), Louis Douceregnié, Larose/La Rosée (mason), Jean Baptiste Caron/Colon/Coron dit La Violette de Paris (mason), Thomas Brésil (mason), René Gervais (mason), Pierre Perrault/Perot (carpenter), Pierre Perrault/Perot (his son), Jean Barraud, Antoine Alain. Residents: Curaillon, Jean Michaud (has his wife and four children), Jacques de LaMétairie, Mathurin Grégoire (wife and three children). In addition to the individuals named in the census, the following men brought supplies to Fort Frontenac: Lavigne, Bourbonnais, Charles Diel, [Jacques Hugues? not stated] Picard , Pigoret, Larivière de Tours, Charles Ptolomée, Nicolas Bonhomme, Nicolas Gagné/Gaigner, Laforge, and Charlier.44 

Source: French-Canadian Exploration, Missionary Work, and Fur Trading in Hudson Bay, the Great Lakes, and Mississippi Valley During the 17th Century – Part 6 – 1674 to December 1681 Diane Wolford Sheppard© 2010, 2014, FCHSM member (bluecolumbine@comcast.net) 

Earlier file & documents: Jacques Hugues Picard dit Lafortune — Voyageur Grandfather

https://laprairie-voyageur-canoes.blogspot.com/2019/04/jacques-hugues-picard-dit-lafortune.html

Voyageurs Moccasins or Souliers De Boeuf

 

Not long ago I came across the term, “Souliers De Boeuf,” and I was sure I had seen it on one of my ancestors voyageur engagement contracts.

Sure enough, I found it on Gabriel Pinsonneau’s (4th great-grandfather) 1797 contract with Jacques and François Lasselle for a trip to Detroit.

His contract notes state, “uen couverte 3 ptes, six aunes de cotton, une pr souliers de boeuf,” meaning (a three-point blanket, a standard trade item valued by its woven stripes indicating size and quality), "six aunes de cotton" (six ells—about 7 yards—of cotton fabric for making shirts or other garments), and "une pr souliers de boeuf" (a pair of beef shoes).

So what exactly are “Souliers De Boeuf” (Beef or Oxen Shoes)? It turns out they were a heavy cowhide moccasin made by Montreal cordonniers (English: shoemakers) for use by the voyageurs.

The idea behind Souliers De Boeuf was the result of the blending First Nations or Native American moccasins with French colonial shoes. 

Apparently French inhabitants saw the practicality of deerhide moccasins, and decided to use very thick cowhide to make them stronger and more durable.

Coureur des Bois mariage à la façon du pays & decorated moccasins

Coureur des Bois and North men or "hivernants" most likely wore moccasins made by their Native and Mixed-Blood 'country wives,’ and some of these probably had elaborate beadwork.

It turns out that another of our ancestors was a master “Cordonnier” or shoemaker located in Montreal who made his living creating Souliers De Boeuf for La Prairie voyageurs…

The Cordonnier's Craft in the Heart of New France

In the bustling cobblestone streets of Montréal in the early 18th century, where the sharp clang of blacksmith hammers mingled with the salty tang of the St. Lawrence River drifting through open workshop doors, Jacques Marié dit Lemarié (1687-1742)(our 6th great-grandfather), a maître cordonnier of renown, bent over his worn oak bench, his calloused fingers deftly stitching layers of thick cowhide under the flicker of a tallow candle. Born in Neuville amid the rugged frontiers of New France, Jacques had inherited a legacy of craftsmanship from a line of resilient French settlers—his father Charles Marier dit Ste-Marie and mother Marie Madeleine Garnier dit Laforge had instilled in him the art of turning raw hides into tools for survival. By 1721, married to Marie Angélique Duquet dit Desroches in Rivière-des-Prairies, he had fathered a growing family, their modest home echoing with the laughter of children like Marie-Angélique and Jacques Jr., while the scent of curing leather permeated every corner, a constant reminder of his trade's vital role in the fur empire.

As a master shoemaker, Jacques specialized in souliers de boeuf—those sturdy, unyielding moccasins that bridged the wild ingenuity of Indigenous designs with the robust practicality of colonial needs. Each pair began with the selection of prime cowhide, tanned to a deep mahogany sheen in vats bubbling with oak bark solutions that filled the air with a pungent, earthy aroma. He cut the soles thick and broad, double-layered for the punishing portages where voyageurs hauled canots over jagged rocks, their feet sinking into mud that squelched like wet clay. The uppers, soft yet resilient, were molded from supple leather, often reinforced with rawhide laces drawn tight like bowstrings, ensuring they hugged the foot through endless days of paddling foaming rapids or trudging snow-laden trails. Jacques would pound the hides with a wooden mallet, the rhythmic thuds echoing like distant thunder, before sewing them with waxed sinew threads that resisted the bite of river water and the grind of gravel.

Word of his craftsmanship spread among Montréal's merchants and outfitters, who commissioned dozens for their voyageur crews. Imagine a crisp autumn morning in 1730: a burly engagé like your distant kin Gabriel Pinsonneau—though generations apart—might have stepped into Jacques's shop, the bell tinkling softly as he entered, carrying the faint musk of beaver pelts from his last expedition. "Maître Lemarié," he'd say, his voice gravelly from chansons sung around campfires, "I need shoes that won't fail me on the Detroit run—something to outlast the devil's own portages." Jacques, wiping sweat from his brow with a leather apron stained by years of toil, would measure the man's feet with a notched stick, then set to work, hammering brass tacks for extra grip and rubbing in bear grease that left a glossy sheen, repelling the chill spray of the Ottawa River. These souliers de boeuf weren't mere footwear; they were lifelines, blending the soft, silent tread of deerhide moccasins worn by coureurs des bois—often beaded intricately by Indigenous women at posts like Michilimackinac—with the enduring strength of ox leather, perfect for the hivernants overwintering in frozen lodges.

Jacques's legacy wove through the veins of New France's fur trade, his shoes carrying men like the Lasselle brothers' hires across vast waters, their soles imprinting the paths that mapped a continent. By the time of his passing in 1742, buried in the soil of Pointe-aux-Trembles where his descendants would continue the craft, his work had outfitted countless souls chasing fortunes in pelts. In the glow of his forge, amid the scrape of awls and the warm scent of polished hides, Jacques Marié dit Lemarié embodied the quiet artisans who armed the adventurers, one stitch at a time, ensuring the river's call was met with feet unyielding.

Native women living in New France or at trading posts often made moccasins for sale to voyageurs, soldiers, and other inhabitants.

Reproduct moccasins are still available from makers like Loyalist Arms

http://www.loyalistarms.freeservers.com/oxhideshoes18thcentury.html

SOURCES:

NativeTech: Native American Technology and Art

http://www.nativetech.org/clothing/moccasin/moctext.html

Gabe the Shootist

https://gabetheshootist.com/2012/02/21/souliers-de-boeuf/

Posted February 21, 2012

Mlle Canadienne

http://mllecanadienne.blogspot.com/2016/06/souliers-de-boeuf.html

mercredi 22 juin 2016

Updated from 2019, with enhanced narrative courtesy of Grok xAI. Thank you.

An interesting quote from: “The Story of the Trapper,” by A. C. Laut, 1902

 

“To live hard and die hard, king in the wilderness and pauper in the town, lavish to-day and penniless to-morrow—such was the life of the most picturesque figure in America's history. 

Take a map of America. Put your finger on any point between the Gulf of Mexico and Hudson Bay, or the Great Lakes and the Rockies. Ask who was the first man to blaze a trail into this wilderness; and wherever you may point, the answer is the same—the French trapper.

Impoverished English noblemen of the seventeenth century took to freebooting, Spanish dons to piracy and search for gold; but for the young French noblesse the way to fortune was by the fur trade. Freedom from restraint, quick wealth, lavish spending, and adventurous living all appealed to a class that hated the menial and slow industry of the farm. The only capital required for the fur trade was dauntless courage. Merchants were keen to supply money enough to stock canoes with provisions for trade in the wilderness. What would be equivalent to $5,000 of modern money was sufficient to stock four trappers with trade enough for two years.”

Note: The illustration, “The French trapper” (above) by Charles M. Russell was added to one edition of the book. 

Voyageurs, Coureurs des Bois, and the Indispensable Knife

 

The knife was the single most vital, universal tool of the 18th- and 19th-century frontier. For the Voyageur and the Coureur des Bois, it was more than a weapon; it was a primary piece of equipment for survival, trade, and daily life. While we cannot consult with the men of the past, we can draw a logical conclusion from historical necessity and period art: every frontiersman carried a sheath knife.

1. The Two Worlds of the Voyageur's Blade

The type of knife carried was determined by the man's job and how long he spent in the wilderness, categorizing the blades into two distinct groups:

Category	"Montreal Men" (The Navigators)	"North Men" (The Winterers)
Role	Paddled large brigades from Montreal to Grand Portage and back; did not hunt for subsistence.	Wintered deep in the interior; responsible for trading, survival, and hunting their own food.
Knife Style	Trade Knife (Sturdy, general purpose).	Hunting and Utility Knives (Variety of types for specialized tasks).
Typical Blade	Roughly 5-inch blade.	Wider variety, including large Butcher Knives, Skinning Knives, and small Patch Knives.
Primary Use	Cutting tobacco, preparing food, minor canoe repairs (like patching bark), and general camp chores (kindling).	Skinning game, butchering, fighting, and specialized tasks like cutting rifle patches.

Conclusion: The typical Montreal Man carried a robust, medium-sized Trade Knife—the equivalent of today's versatile camp knife. The North Man required a specialized arsenal for deep wilderness survival. [Image: A typical French Trade Knife from last half of the 18th century]

A typical French trade knife commonly carried by coureurs des bois

2. Styles of the Frontier Blade

The historical record confirms a vast diversity of blades available through the colonial trade networks. The names themselves tell a story of function:

• Utility & General Use: Butcher Knives, Camp Knives, Paring Knives, and the general purpose Trade Knife.
• Specialized Tasks: Skinning Knives (for furs) and Patch Knives (small knives used by riflemen to cut patches of fabric or leather wrapped around the ball in the muzzleloader).
• Cultural Adaptations: Crooked Knives (a distinctly Indigenous and Métis woodworking tool) and daggers.

This forged trade knife & Iroquois beaded sheath (above) can be worn either as a belt or a neck knife

3. Carrying the Knife: Belt vs. Neck

The sheath was as important as the blade, determining how readily the tool could be accessed.

• The Belt Knife: The standard mode for most Voyageurs (especially the Montreal men) was a simple leather sheath attached to the belt or the brightly colored ceinture fléchée (sash). This was the practical, European-derived method for easy access while standing or portaging.
• The Neck Knife: The Coureur des Bois, who often adopted the survival and aesthetic customs of their Native trading partners, were more likely to wear a knife in a sheath suspended from the neck. This style, known as the Neck Knife, was secure, easily concealed beneath outer garments, and rapidly accessible. [Image: Ah-yaw-ne-tak-oár-ron, a warrior wearing a neck knife by George Catlin]
• Concealment and Utility: Smaller knives, often Patch Knives, were sometimes fastened to the garter strap on leggings or attached to the strap of a shooting bag for discrete access or specific tasks.