Pierre Poupart — Voyageur Grandfather

Pierre Poupart (1653-1699) 8th great-grandfather

son of Jean Poupart (1625-1682) and Marguerite Frichet (1625-1682)

Birth Abt. 1653 • Bobigny, Paris, Ile-de-France, France

Death 7 JUN 1699 • La Prairie-de-la-Madeleine, Quebec, Canada

Marriage 1682 to Marguerite Perras dit La Fontaine (1665-1708)

1670, Pierre Poupart, 8th great-grandfather, signed on as a voyageur to accompany explorers Daumont de Saint-Lusson and Nicolas Perrot when they claimed the Great Lakes for France…

On 3 Sept. 1670 Intendant Jean Talon appointed Simon-François Daumont de Saint-Lusson a deputy commissioner “to seek out the copper mine in the country of the Ottawas, the Nez-Percés [Amikoues], and the Illinois, and of other nations discovered or to be discovered in North America in the region of Lake Superior or Freshwater Sea.” 

Nicolas Perrot was asked by Talon to accompany Daumont de Saint-Lusson as an interpreter.  Perrot then formed a new trading company, this time with Jean Dupuis, Denis Masse, Pierre Poupart, Jean Guytard and Jacques Benoît, and set out with Saint-Lusson. 

What was being undertaken was a systematic study of the country, following the accounts brought back by the first travelers and the details supplied by the first explorers Cavelier de La Salle, Bréhant de Galinée, Dollier de Casson, Adrien Jolliet, and Marquette.

Indeed Daumont de Saint-Lusson, as well as making soundings at the Lake Superior copper mine, was to attempt to discover the northwest passage in a northerly direction, whereas La Salle was instructed to proceed towards the “southern sea.” It was Talon’s reply to the English expansion into Hudson Bay.

Saint-Lusson, accompanied by the interpreter Nicolas Perrot, left Montreal in October 1670 via the Ottawa River, Lake Nipissing, the Rivière des Français (French River), and the Great Lakes; he went ashore at the village of Sault Ste. Marie, where the Jesuits maintained a fairly prosperous mission. 

On 4 June 1671 he called together all the Indian nations that could be reached; there were 14 of them.  In the presence of this important gathering of nations and a few prominent Frenchmen a ceremony took place which had important diplomatic consequences. 

The interpreter Perrot, in the name of the king of France, began to read in the Indian language from the document that confirmed the appropriation by France of this immense territory, discovered and yet to be discovered, which stretched from the seas of the north and west to that of the south. 

Then they erected a cross, “to bring forth there the fruits of Christianity,” and immediately beside it a cedar post bearing the arms of France. As the crowd, made up of both French and Indians, uttered repeated cheers of “Long live the king,” a “sod of earth” was lifted in the air three times, in a symbolic gesture. Henceforth this part of a continent belonged to the king of France, and these 14 nations were dependent on His Majesty and subject to his laws and customs.  In return they could count on his protection. 

The French intoned the Vexilla Regis, to the great wonderment of the Indians. Then Father Allouez delivered a harangue to the Indians in which he extolled the power of Louis XIV, “the Captain of the greatest Captains.” 

Daumont de Saint-Lusson then spoke, and expressed himself “in martial and eloquent language.” In the evening a splendid bonfire was lighted, presents were exchanged, and aTe Deum was sung to thank God, in the Indians’ name, for having made of them “the subjects of so great and powerful a Monarch.”

Some Hurons and Ottawas, who arrived late for the ceremony, likewise swore allegiance to Louis XIV. Saint-Lusson’s official journey, which cost the king of France nothing and which added a segment – somewhat symbolically it is true – to his empire, in fact marks the beginning of the planned explorations that were to lead to James Bay, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Rocky Mountains.

Source: FRENCH-AMERICAN HERITAGE FOUNDATION OF MINNESOTA, Nicolas Perreault Article

• 1685, Jul. 23, Agreements between Pierre Poupart, Joseph Demers and Jean Perras dit Lafontaine of the Prairie de la Madeleine, for the voyage of the Outaouais [Ottawas].

• Records of Notary Hilaire Bourgine 1948 P15

• 1685, aout. 4, Obligation by Pierre Poupart of the Prairie de la Madeleine to François Hazeur, for 132 books eighteen sols eleven deniers for goods, payable on return from his trip to the Ottawa.

• Records of Notary Hilaire Bourgine 1948 P16

NOTE: Pierre Poupart died on 07 Jun 1699 in LaPrairie de la Madeleine, Quebec, Canada; where he was killed by the Iroquois at age 40.

LINEAGE:

Pierre Poupart (Poupard) (1653 - 1699) -- 8th great-grandfather

Joseph Poupart (1696 - 1726) -- Son of Pierre Poupart (Poupard)

Marie Josephe Poupart (1725 - 1799) -- Daughter of Joseph Poupart

Pierre Barette dit Courville (1748 - 1794) -- Son of Marie Josephe Poupart

Marie Angelique Barette dit Courville (1779 - 1815) -- Daughter of Pierre Barette dit Courville

Marie Emélie Meunier Lagacé (1808 - 1883) -- Daughter of Marie Angelique Barette dit Courville

Lucy Pinsonneau (aka PASSINO) (1836 - 1917) -- Daughter of Marie Emélie Meunier Lagacé -- 2nd great-grandmother