Confessions of an Obsessive Compulsive Genealogist

I’ve never actually been diagnosed with an Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, but I do tend to do things with extreme passion.

Since the 1970s I’ve had a passion for canoeing and studying North America’s fur trade.

As far as canoeing is concerned I’ve managed to do canoe trips on a number of lakes and rivers.

The most notable being Canada’s Algonquin Park, Minnesota’s Boundary Waters Canoe Area, Montana’s Upper Missouri River, as well as National Parks including the Grand Tetons, Yellowstone, Yosemite and Canada’s Jasper Park.

My interest in the fur trade led me get involved in historical rendezvous reenactments during the 1980s and 1990s.

I participated in rendezvous camps in several states including California, Arizona, Wyoming and Montana.

Over the years I’ve also acquired a huge collection of books dealing with the North American Fur Trade, its history, art and fiction.

Then, about a decade ago I discovered my previously unknown French-Canadian Voyageur Heritage.

Since then I’ve studied and written extensively about more than 125 relatives involved in the fur trade during the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. Most recently I’ve collected documentation for more that two dozen direct great-grandfather voyageurs.

Fur trade collectibles, both historical and replicas, are expensive and hard to come by.

Now, in my late 70s, my options for adventure and exploration are limited, so my passion has turned to collecting.

I am intrigued and consumed with collecting fur trade accoutrements such as trade beads, trade silver, assumption sashes, beaded and quilled knife sheaths, trade knives, canoe cups and replica voyageur clothing items like capotes, tuques and sashes. 

I’ve even managed to get some copies of great-grandfathers’ voyageur contracts. I have one for a great-uncle that is signed by Alexander MacKenzie the famous Canadian explorer.

My kids have no interest in learning about their genealogy and Fur Trade Heritage, but maybe when they are forced to sell my collection, they’ll find something worth knowing.

In case you’ve been following my blogs you know my other passions include horses and Western movies.

I hope you are lucky enough to find some silent places that can only be reached by paddle and portage.

Voyageurs, Coureurs des Bois and Their Knives

Étienne Brûlé at the mouth of the Humber River by CW Jefferys

While there are no old voyageurs around to consult with — it’s reasonable to believe early Voyageurs and Coureurs des Bois carried a knife of some sort.

We know for sure that everyone in the 18th century used a knife as a primary food preparation and eating tool, and a sheath was necessary to carry a it, so we can logically conclude early Voyageurs and Coureurs des Bois carried a sheath knife. 

Also early artist’s paintings often show frontiersmen or coureurs des bois carrying a sheath knife of some sort.

Davy Crockett by William Henry Huddle

During the 18th and 19th centuries there was a huge variety of knife blade-shapes and styles available. 

Among colonial period knives found and studied there are butcher knives, skinning knives, scalping knives, daggers, patch knives, roach belly knives, camp knives, paring knives, and crooked knives.

Remember there were two categories of voyageurs:

The "Montreal men,” who paddled from Montreal to Grand Portage for the annual rendezvous and back to Montreal. These fellows did not need a heavy butcher knife used by hunters or a patch knife used by a riflemen. They most likely carried a sturdy trade knife, with roughly a 5” blade, that could be used for cutting tobacco, eating, minor canoe repairs, and general camp chores such as cutting kindling or fire tinder.

The "North men,” voyageurs who wintered in the interior and brought down furs to Grand Portage to meet the summer brigades coming from Montreal, spent long periods of time in the wilderness and were required to feed themselves by hunting, so they carried a variety of knives used for hunting and fighting as well as for everyday use.

Ah-yaw-ne-tak-oár-ron, a warrior wearing a neck knife by George Catlin

Knife sheaths

18th century knife sheaths were made of buckskin, leather, rawhide or sometimes even birch bark and could be carried several ways.

I believe most voyageurs carried a sheath knife attached to their belt or sash. These were commonly referred to as belt knives.

Coureurs des bois, on the other hand, often adopted the customs of their native hosts, and may have worn a knife in a sheath hanging on their neck.

Another way a coureurs des bois might have carried a knife would be fastening a small sheath to the garter on his leggings, or on the strap of his shooting bag. These would usually be smaller patch knives. 

Patch knives were primarily used to cut patches, pieces of cloth or leather which were wrapped around the rifle ball to insure a tight fit against the rifling in the barrel of the weapon.

French-Canadian Frontiersmen. The gent knelling has 3 knives.

Knives in my collection

A ‘Green River’ skinning knife in a replica beaded and tacked plains Indian style sheath made of buckskin and rawhide. This style would have been used c. 1840-1860.

A typical French Trade Knife from last half of the 18th century. This is the knife I believe most Montreal Men would have carried in a simple leather sheath attached to their belt or sash.

A typical rifleman’s patch knife with a 3 1/2” blade and a bone handle. This one is a replica from Asia.

A forged Trade Knife in a beaded brain-tanned buckskin sheath. The sheath was crafted by an Iroquois native and was designed so it can be worn either as a neck knife or a belt knife. The overall length of the knife is 10” with a 5” blade.

A Quilled, brain-tanned buckskin, neck knife sheath. Metis/Sioux style sheath with a 10” long Trade Knife.

19th century Trade Knife with an ebony handle and pewter decoration (some pewter is missing).

A diminutive neck knife with Porcupine Quill Decoration on Birchbark. This strictly artistic knife sheath was created by a talented Mohawk craftsman.

The most recent additions to my collection are two replicas of 18th century Northeastern Woodland Indian neck knives with quilled sheaths. The one above is by Robert Pawling has whitetail leg fur on a quilled buckskin sheath.

This one (above) is by Hugo Vandermaesen features a walnut stained buckskin sheath with quillwork.

Did French-Canadian Voyageurs Carry Firearms?

Not long ago I read a magazine article in “Field and Stream” by David E. Petzel. 

His article was titled, “Were the Voyageurs the Toughest Outdoorsmen of All?” and his tag line stated, “These French-Canadian fur freighters didn’t go heeled, but they were as rugged as outdoorsmen get.”

He goes on to ask and answer the question: “What keeps them from the fame accorded to soldiers, mountain men, gunfighters, and other hard cases, is that they never got to kill anyone.” 

“This was not their fault. French Canadians had a taste of war in the 18th century, and killed a reasonable number of British and Native Americans, but their hearts were never really in it. How do you make a movie or write a novel about people who simply worked brutally hard and never packed a gun? You don’t.”

Wait a minute, he wrote, “never packed a gun.”

That set me to thinking… New France had been under continuous attack from the Iroquois for most of the 17th century.

La Prairie (my ancestor’s village) census records showed almost every home had at least one “fusil” (French: a light flintlock musket), and like most parishes, La Prairie had a well organized militia.

Now, there are no old voyageurs around to consult with, so it’s hard to refute David’s statement, but here are my thoughts on the matter…

• Remember there were two categories of voyageurs:

The "Montreal men" who paddled from Montreal to Grand Portage for the annual rendezvous and back to Montreal. 

They almost always had access to trade goods that included guns, powder, shot and ball, and they surely would have used them to defend themselves in an attack.

The "North men" voyageurs who wintered in the interior and brought down furs to Grand Portage to meet the summer brigades coming from Montreal. 

These gents spent long periods of time in the wilderness and were required to build their own shelter and feed themselves by hunting and gathering food.

The few fur trade era journals written and preserved offer plenty of information about North men hunting and being involved in skirmishes with not only Natives, but also rival traders.

So, while I disagree with David’s statement, they “never packed a gun;” I will admit "Montreal men" (especially young voyageurs) were less likely to pack iron.

However, when it comes to ”North men" I believe they almost all went “heeled.” In fact, there are records of voyageur contracts that specifically provide for the provision of firearms and accoutrements by the trade company.

So — yes — voyageurs did carry firearms.

Smoothbore Muskets

Muskets played a vital roll in the settlement of North America and were the most common firearm available during the fur trade era. 

The smoothbore musket was an extremely versatile, efficient firearm used to take every type of game or fowl.

Muskets came in a variety of forms, including The northwest trade gun, French fusil, and fowling pieces (or shotguns). 

They were made as both flintlock or percussion weapons. Muskets were commonly referred to as “shotguns” when being loaded them with shot and as “smoothbores” when loaded with a single round ball.

When a shooter is loading his musket he has the flexibility to load for a specific purpose. 

He can choose to shoot ball or pellets. 

As a shotgun the pellet size, the amount of shot in ounces, and the amount of powder loaded can be changed to match the game or the shooting situation.

Charleville musket 1766

The French Fusil was the musket most likely used by early voyageurs

French fusils were light weight fowling guns with 34 to 45 inch long part octagon barrels (usually in 28 gauge) that were available as early as 1680. 

The standard version was called a “fusil de chase” (fitted with plain iron furniture) when it was built in the town of Tulle. 

The same guns, when built in Charleville or Saint Etienne were called “Trade Guns”. 

An upgraded version with brass furniture was called a “fusil fin” (fine gun). The fusil fin was intended as a gift gun for important Indian Chiefs. 

The fusil fin was preferred as a personal gun by many traders and hunters who wanted something a little fancier than a plain trade gun.

Canoe guns (more myth than reality) were cut down, short barreled, muskets used in canoes (maybe), but more probably when buffalo hunting from horseback.

Incidentally, a short barrel Coach Gun is just about the best protection to carry on wilderness canoe trips today.

Not All Tomahawks Were Created Equal

Tiny 4" x 8 1/2" Bag Axe c 1770

Of all the tomahawks traded to the Indians, by far the most common type was the simple hatchet, or belt axe. This was the earliest type to reach the American Indian, and it remained popular from the 16th through the 19th century.

Belt Axes, and smaller ones sometimes called bag axes (because they could be carried in a possibles bag), were especially common during the 18th century frontier period in North America. 

In New France they were primarily used by coureurs des bois, explorers, and trappers. Because of their small size and light weight they were primarily used for wilderness camp chores. They could be used to section a deer carcass, pound in trap stakes, cut kindling for a campfire or for general camp bushcraft.

Because of their diminutive size bag axes would be hard pressed to be an effective weapon, but they certainly might have been in an emergency.

They were as common to the coureur de bois as carrying a knife, and were found among both European settlers and American Indians. 

Bag axe heads average about 4" tall, while anything smaller than 6" tall is usually considered a belt axe.

In the coming weeks I will be looking at a variety of weapons that might have been carried by our coureurs des bois or voyageur ancestors.

OUR EARLIEST LA PRAIRIE ANCESTORS — LIVED IN AN IROQUOIS LONGHOUSE

1680, French mission to the Iroquois at Sault-Saint-Louis (now Caughnawaga)

It's been a few years since I first found and read Linda Breuer Gray's doctoral thesis titled, “Narratives and Identities in the Saint Lawrence Valley, 1667-1720”(1)

While rereading it I found the following excerpt on page 146:

"La Prairie was settled in 1667 on the site of former hunting and fishing grounds of the Iroquois and Abenaki. 

Originally settled as a mission to attract native converts, St. François-Xavier-des-Près [or St.-François-Xavier-des-Praiz] as the mission was known, hosted French settlers by the early 1670s, and was fortified with a wooden palisade in the 1680s. 

Early settlers, Jesuits, Oneidas and French alike, shared one "cabane" or makeshift shelter."

When I first encountered the aforementioned sentence my mind read cabin. But, then I thought... how could the Jesuits, Oneidas and French alike share one cabin?

THEN IT HIT ME — HOLY SMOKES — our earliest La Prairie ancestors were not only Coureurs des Bois, but they actually lived with the Iroquois in a Longhouse!

Narratives continues…

“They worshipped together in one church. A rapidly growing native population of Oneidas, Mohawks, Onondagas. Abenakis, "Panis" and Hurons soon began to govern themselves, appointing leaders for religious affairs and leaders for warfare. 

For a variety of reasons, including depletion of soil, depletion of firewood, and the sale of liquor to natives by the French settlers, the mission site moved upstream in 1676. This was the first of several moves, the last being in 1716, to the present site of Kahnawake (in English sources, Caughnawaga), about fifteen kilometers upstream from La Prairie.

These moves were not uncontested; for instance, the mission took the parish name, chalices, and the bones of a revered native woman who was the founder of the settlement, over the protest of the residents of La Prairie? The two communities stayed in close contact throughout the period under study, exchanging priests, herbal remedies, trading arrangements, liquor, and information. 

In addition, many "panis" from Kahnawake were taken in by La Prairie families, families from both settlements adopted babies from the other, and individuals from the two communities intermarried. 

One of the most famous stories of the interaction of these two communities involves Kateri Tekahkwitha and Claude Caron (2). Kateri, the "Lily of the Mohawks" was considered a model of piety in her own time (see Chapter Six), and Claude Caron was a pillar of the La Prairie parish. Several years after Kateri died, Claude fell deathly ill. A surgeon (possibly Antoine Barrois) tried to cure him, but decided that Claude was going to die. Claude made a vow to visit Kateri's grave, and was miraculously cured the next day, in an event that was considered to be a miracle.

These two communities -- prosperous, populated and vibrant -- were peopled by persons of many different backgrounds. At one time, the residents spoke over twenty languages." Kahnawake's population rivaled the other two large settlements in Canada, Montreal and Québec. 

La Prairie had an estimated population of 99 in 1673; by 1697 the population had tripled to 321. Population growth of the European settlement was moderate during these first dangerous decades. 

The two settlements, handily located at one end of the portage between the St. Lawrence and the Richelieu [rivers], occupied the effective northern reach of the Iroquoian and Abenaki cultures. La Prairie and Kahnawake became arenas of contact between cultures, contact facilitated by a shared interest in trade and survival.

Indian Chiefs (Réserve indienne de Caughnawaga), by Cornelius Krieghoff

Our earliest Ancestors included:

Marin Deneau dit Destaillis (Deniau) (1621-1678) 8th great-grandfather
Son of Clement Deneau (1590-1624) and Julienne Roualt (1596-1656)

BIRTH 1621 • DeLuche Pringe, Du Mans, Maine, France

DEATH 29 OCT 1678 • Laprairie, Quebec, Canada
Marriage 24 Nov 1659 • Montréal to Louise Therese LeBreuil (1636-1726)

Andre Robidou dit Lespagnol (1643-1678) (9th great-grandfather)

son of Manuel Robidou (1620-1667) and Catherine Alve (1618-1667)

BIRTH 1643 • Galice, Burgos, Castilla-Leon, Spain

DEATH 1 APR 1678 • La Prairie-de-la-Madeleine, Québec, Canada

Marriage 1667 to Jeanne Denote (1647-1701)

François Pinsonneau dit Lafleur (1646-1731) (7th great-grandfather)

parents unknown

Birth 1646 • Saintogne, Charente-Maritime, Poitou-Charentes, France

Death 26 JAN 1731 • La Prairie-de-la-Madeleine, Québec, Canada

Marriage 1673 to Anne LeBer (Leper) (1647-1732) (a King's Daughter - filles du roi)

• 1665, arrived in New France as a soldier in the Carignan-Salières Regiment.

Charles Boyer (1631-1698) (9th great-grandfather)

son of Pierre Boyer (1610-1660) and Denise Refence (1610-1666)

Birth 1631 • Vançais, Deux-Sevres, Poitou-Charentes, France

Death 16 FEB 1698 • La Prairie-de-la-Madeleine, Quebec, Canada

Married 1666 to Marguerite Ténard (1645-1678)

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)

Francois Dupuis (Dupays) (Dupuy) (1634–1681) 8th great-grandfather

Son of Francois Dupuis (1610–1712) and Marguerite Resneau (1609–1640)

BIRTH 1634 • Gorre, Haute-Vienne, Limousin, France

DEATH Aft. 1681 • La Prairie-de-la-Madeleine, Quebec, Canada

MARRIAGE 6 Oct 1670 • Québec, Quebec, Canada to Georgette Richer (1647–1700)

Charles Diel dit Le Petit Breton (1652-1702) (8th great-grandfather)

son of Philippe Diel (1618-1676) and Marie Anquetin (Hanquetin) (1630-_)

Birth BEFORE 1652 • Rouen, Seine-Maritime, Haute-Normandie, France

Death 13 APR 1702 • La Prairie-de-la-Madeleine, Quebec, Canada

Marriage 1676 to Marie Anne Picard (1663-1697)

• 1665, arrived in New France as a soldier in the Carignan-Salières Regiment.

Jacques Deneau (Deniau) (Deno???) dit Destaillis (1660-1720) (7th great-grandfather)

son of Marin Deneau dit Destaillis (1621-1678) and Louise Therese LeBreuil (1634-1727)

Birth 2 NOV 1660 • Montréal, Quebec, Canada

Death 29 JUN 1720 • La Prairie-de-la-Madeleine, Quebec, Canada

Marriage 1690 to Marie Rivet (1673-1705)

Francois Bourassa (1659-1708) (7th great-grandfather)

son of Francois Bourassa (1630-1684) and Marguerite Dugas (1635-1698)

Birth 1659 • Luçon, Eure-et-Loir, Centre, France

Death 9 MAY 1708 • La Prairie-de-la-Madeleine, Québec, Canada

Marriage 1668 to Marie Le Ber (1666-1756)

Francois Bourassa and his three sons: Rene Bourassa dit LaRonde (1688-1778), Francois Joachim Bourassa (1698-1775), and Antoine Bourassa (1705-1780), were known as "the fathers of the fur trade."

Francois Leber (Lebert) (1626-1694) (8th great-grandfather)

son of Robert LeBer (1601-1625) and Colette Cavelier (1605-1694)

Birth 1626 • Rouen, Seine-Maritime, Haute-Normandie, France

Death 19 MAY 1694 • La Prairie-de-la-Madeleine, Quebec, Canada

Marriage (1) to BEF 1656 to Marguerite Leseur (1628-1662) (2) 1662 to Jeanne Testard

Pierre Peras (Perras) dit La Fontaine (1616-1684) (9th great-grandfather)

son of Pierre Perras (1590-1660) and Jeanne Lanier (1595-1660)

Birth 21 AUGUST 1616 • Rouen, de la Seine-Maritime, Haute-Normandie, France

Death 30 APR 1684 • La Prairie-de-la-Madeleine, Québec, Canada

Marriage 1660 to Denise Lemaitre (1635-1691)

Pierre Gagné (Gagnier) (Gagnon) (1645-1726) (8th great-grandfather)

son of Pierre Gagne (Gasnier) (1610-1656) and Marguerite Roset (Rouzee) (1615-1685)

Birth 24 FEB 1645 • Le Mans, Sarthe, Pays de la Loire, France

Death 26 MAR 1726 • La Prairie-de-la-Madeleine, Québec, Canada
1st Marriage in La Prairie-de-la-Madeleine, 1670, to Catherine Daubigeon (1653-1712)

1764, Map of the Montreal area

STUDYING THE FUR TRADE IN CANADA -- IS AND HAS BEEN -- AN EXCITING ADVENTURE THAT SEEMS TO GROW A LITTLE EVERYDAY.

Footnotes:

(1)

“Narratives and identities in the Saint Lawrence Valley, 1667-1720”, by Linda Breuer Gray, 1999

Abstract: Using the techniques of microhistory, this thesis explores questions of construction of identity, and the relationship of narrative to identity. 

The thesis follows the lives of several residents of the St. Lawrence valley as they learn about the residents of New York and New England through business, marriage, adoption and trade in furs. 

Using case studies of seventeenth-century native and European individuals, as well as information from folklore, parish registers, letters and legal documents, movement in the border region between settled colonies is examined. 

A nominal index describes the origins of, and provides capsule biographies for, 694 residents of New France whose roots were neither in France nor in the native communities. An examination of these cases allows a comparison between personal choice and social constraint in a colonial context.

(2)
Claude Caron (1641-1708) is our 10th great-uncle.

French Canadian Voyageurs — Red Sash

Perhaps the most treasured possession of the French Canadian Voyageur was his iconic sash belt or ceinture fléchée (arrowhead sash).

Most voyageurs wore colorful sashes woven from worsted wool, from which their knives, smoking-bags, and canoe cups were suspended.

The ceinture fléchée had many uses, but was primarily used as a tump line and support on the portage.  Arrowhead sashes helped prevent back injuries and hernias for voyageurs as they acted as ergonomic back belts.

It was a badge of distinction and oft times identified a voyageurs place of origin. Sash colors and patterns were distinctive of different regions. 

Probably the most famous of all sashes were those from the L’Assomption area of Lower Canada, which had multiple multi-colored lightning-bolts (éclairs) flanking a central red core.

Originally, ceintures fléchées were three to four meters long and were woven by hand using a technique called 'finger weaving'.

Narrower garters for stockings were also finger woven in simpler designs.

Coupled with the red toque (hat) and the capote (blanket coat), arrowhead sashes became an essential component of traditional French Canadian clothing.

As French-speaking voyageurs travelled throughout North America during the fur trade era, arrowhead sashes found their way into the hands of First Nations and Métis peoples, who then adapted their own version of the sash and made their own.

To French Canadians these sashes have become a major part of their cultural heritage and national identity. 

When Henri Julien painted an arrowhead sash on his famous illustration of a Patriote (Le Vieux de 1837) in the early 20th century, the sash was forever linked with French Canadian nationalism.

One of my heroes, Charles M. Russell, the famous Western artist,often wore a red sash that he used in his paintings to help identify Métis (1), trappers and voyageurs.

(1) Métis (especially in western Canada) a person of mixed indigenous and Euro-American ancestry, in particular one of a group of such people who in the 19th century constituted the so-called Métis nation in the areas around the Red and Saskatchewan rivers.

SORTING OUT CHARLES BOYER — VOYAGEUR ANCESTOR

• CHARLES BOYER 1631–1698 9TH GREAT-GRANDFATHER

Son of Pierre Boyer 1610–1711 and Denise Refence 1600–1666

BIRTH 1631 • Vançais, Deux-Sevres, Poitou-Charentes, France

DEATH 10 FEB 1698 • La Prairie, Quebec, Canada

Marriage (1) 24 Novembre 1659 • Montréal, to Louise Therese Marie Lebreuil DuBreul (1636–1727)

Children with Louise Therese Marie Lebreuil DuBreul (1):

i. Louise Boyer

ii. Marie Marguerite Boyer –1749

iii. Marie Catherine Boyer

Marie Catherine Boyer

Marriage (2) 23 Nov 1666 • Montréal, to Marguerite Ténard (1645–1678) [ Filles du Roi ]

Children with Marguerite Ténard (2):

i. Joseph Boyer 1669–

ii. +Antoine Jacques Boyer 1671–1747

iii. Jean Baptiste Boyer 1673–1733; m. Marie Anne Caillé dit Biscornet 1675–

ANTOINE JACQUES BOYER 1671–1747 8TH GREAT-GRANDFATHER

Son of Charles Boyer 1631–1698 and Marguerite Ténard 1645–1678

BIRTH 10 APR 1671 • Laprairie, Quebec, Canada

DEATH 27 MARS 1747 • La Prairie, Québec, Canada

Marriage (1) 04 Feb 1692 • La Prairie, to Marie Perras (1673–1736)

Children with Marie Perras (1):

i. Marie Boyer 1692–1766

ii. +Jeanne Boyer 1694–1730

iii. Jean Antoine Boyer 1697–1768

iv. Pierre Boyer 1704–1747

v. • Charles Boyer 1713–1801; 8th great-uncle; m. 8 Oct 1742 • La Prairie, to Jeanne Suprenant (1718–1770)

vi. Joseph Boyer 1714–1797

Marriage (2) 9 sept 1737 • La Prairie, to Catherine Suprenant 1686–Aft. 1737

SEE: Antoine Jacques Boyer — Voyageur Grandfather

( https://laprairie-voyageur-canoes.blogspot.com/2019/03/antoine-jacques-boyer-voyageur.html )

• CHARLES BOYER 1713–1801 8TH GREAT-UNCLE

Son of Antoine Jacques Boyer 1671–1747 and Marie Perras 1673–1736

BIRTH 21 JAN 1713 • La Prairie, Quebec, Canada

DEATH 14 JAN 1801 • La Prairie, Quebec, Canada

Marriage 8 Oct 1742 • La Prairie, to Jeanne Suprenant (1718–1770)

Father of Charles Boyer 1744–_ 1st cousin 8x removed [ Nor’Wester Clerk ]

The following engagements are most likely my 8th great-uncle…

• 1734, May 16, Charles Boyer Engagement to P?—Notary Francois Lepailleur de Laferte

• 1742, Feb 20,  Charles Boyer Engagement to LaDeraute to go to unknown—Notary Gervais Hodiesne

• 1744, 25 may, Engagement de Joseph Pierre Roy dit Dejardins au sr Charles Boyer et Compagnie pour aller au poste du lac de La Pluye—Étude Blanzy.

• 1754, 30 mars, Engagement de Charles Boyer à Mons' Raimbault S'-Blain pour aller au poste de Nepigon—Étude Adhémar.

• 1760, Jul 12, Charles Boyer Engagement to Pierre Lerlande pour aller au poste de Michilimakinac—Étude Simonnet.

• 1761, Jun 8, Engagement de Charle Boyer au 8r Ignace Hubert La Croix pour aller au poste de Michelimakinac—Étude Simonnet.

• 1763, Feb 20, Engagement de Charles Boyer dit Ladéroute au sr Dubois Larejouissance pour le voyage à Toronto—Étude Hodiesne.

• CHARLES BOYER 1744–_ 1ST COUSIN 8X REMOVED [ NOR’WESTER CLERK ]

Son of Charles Boyer (8th great-uncle) 1713–1801 and Jeanne Suprenant (Supernant) 1718–1770

BIRTH 20 SEP 1744 • Laprairie, Quebec, Canada

DEATH Unknown

1768, Pine Fort was established in the Assiniboine Valley by Thomas Correy, Forrest Oakes and Charles Boyer.

• 1780-1787, Charles Boyer—Assiniboine River, SOURCE: State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Volume 19

• 1788, Charles Boyer built Fort Vermilion near the junction of the Boyer and Peace rivers 

WHO IS CHARLES BOYER…

(ABOVE) From: “THE ENGLISH RIVER BOOK - A NORTH WEST COMPANY JOURNAL AND ACCOUNT BOOK OF 1786”

From: THE IMPACT OF JONATHAN CARVER’S JOURNAL AND MAPS

( https://allthingsliberty.com/2015/03/the-impact-of-jonathan-carvers-journal-and-maps/ )

Veteran French voyageur-trader, Charles Boyer, traded for furs in the Rainy Lake / Lake of the Woods area in the 1740’s. He is likely ‘Mr. Boyce’ referenced in Major Robert Rogers’ letter dated 10 June 1767 (Parker, The Journals, 197). MOST LIKELY CHARLES BOYER 1713–1801 8TH GREAT-UNCLE

James Goddard’s journal reference to ‘Monsr. Boyiz’, was likely the same Charles Boyer (Parker, The Journals, 191). 

Boyer was in a partnership with Forrest Oakes in 1767, and later with his brother Michel Boyer, established a trading settlement at Rainy Lake. 

For the Rainy Lake 1771 Boyer settlement, see Glyndwr Williams, ed., Andrew Graham’s Observations on Hudson’s Bay 1767-1791, (Hudson’s Bay Record Society, London, 1969), 289.  See also Merv Ahrens, Fort Lac la Pluie of the North West Company 177?-1821, (Fort Frances, ON: Fort Frances Times Ltd., 2006): 4, 5, 29.

From: ASP HOUSE (Wikipedia) a minor Hudson's Bay Company post on the Rainy River. It was built at the time when the HBC was pushing inland to regain the trade that had been diverted to Montreal by the Northwest Company.

In 1793 John McKay (fur trader) of the Hudson's Bay Company left Fort Albany, Ontario on James Bay and went south to compete with the Northwest Company. In September he went up the Rainy River and built an unnamed post below Manitou Falls and 12 miles below the NWC post at Fort Lac la Pluie. It was supplied from Fort Albany but needed supplements from local hunting and fishing. Trade produced only 18 packs of fur.

In 1794 he built a second post upstream from the mouth of Rainy River since the Indians of Lake of the Woods did not wish to travel upriver. It was called Asp House. In October of that year Charles Boyer came down from Lac la Pluie and built a competing house 200 yards away. Boyer had a difficult time had closed his post next April. In 1797 it was left unoccupied and was pillaged and burned by rivals from Montreal. In 1825 the Hudson's Bay Company built Hungry Hall close to the former Asp House. The site is at the current Oak Grove Camp. There is a historical marker on the riverbank. COULD BE EITHER CHARLES BOYER 1713–1801 8TH GREAT-UNCLE OR CHARLES BOYER 1744–_ 1ST COUSIN 8X REMOVED?

From: THE ENVIRONMENT AND THE FUR TRADE EXPERIENCE IN VOYAGEURS NATIONAL PARK, 1730-1870

( https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/voya/futr/ch1c.htm )

During his four years in the Rainy Lake Region, McKay recorded day-to-day events in the post journal. 

His narrative has been summarized both by Grace Lee Nute in Rainy River Country and by A. M. Johnson in "Hudson's Bay Company on Rainy River, 1793-95."

McKay and his men struggled through two winters as they learned where to fish, traded with the Indians for moose and deer meat, and made a modest start in cultivating a garden. A friendly but insistent rivalry developed between McKay and the North West Company trader, Charles Boyer, whose own fort was located only a short distance away. Their men played football, celebrated Christmas and New Years, and occasionally extended a helping hand to each other. 

Meanwhile, Boyer tried to deceive McKay about where to find Indians, and McKay attempted a ruse to get Boyer to build his new post behind his own on the path most often used by trading Indians, but neither man was able to fool the other. This quaint interaction by two unusually civilized traders belied the vicious competition that would develop over the next two decades. COULD BE EITHER CHARLES BOYER 1713–1801 8TH GREAT-UNCLE OR CHARLES BOYER 1744–_ 1ST COUSIN 8X REMOVED?

• 1797, Dec 29, engagement of Charles Boyer to Mc Tavish, Frobisher & Co., Agents De La Compagnie Da Nord Ouest—Notary Louis Chaboillez

(3 year contract) North West Company as CLERK — the author of  “THE ENGLISH RIVER BOOK - A NORTH WEST COMPANY JOURNAL AND ACCOUNT BOOK OF 1786” says the contract was cancelled 11 days later, and Charles never returned to Indian Country. If that’s true… did he die or have a falling out with the NWCo? Maybe he did go to the Nord Ouest and died there. We’ll never know.

Length of Contract: 3

Hivernant Yes

Parish: MONTREAL

Destinations: PAYS D'EN HAUT, NORD OUEST, Métier [job]

Functions: COMMIS [English]: CLERK

Function Notes: partir de cette ville pour les Païs d’en haut connu sous le nom du nord ouest pour y servir la dite Société pour L’Espace de trois années consecutives a commencer et etre compté du Jour de son depart de cette ville comme Commis a etre Libre a son retour a Montreal dans l’automne de l’année mil sept cent quatre vingt dix neuf

[English]: from this city for the Païs from above known as the North West to serve the so-called Society for Space for three consecutive years to begin and be counted from the day of his departure from that city as Clerk to be Free on his return to Montreal in the autumn of the year one thousand seven hundred and ninety-nine

Merchant Company: Société du Nord Ouest

Company Representative: William McGillivnay

Notary Name: John Gerbrand Beek

Wages: 3000 LIVRES

Contract Notes: moyennant la Somme de trois mille Livres anciens Chellings de cette Province de vingt (coppres?) par ans pour chacques année pendant le dit terme de trois années qui finiront a son arrivée audit montreal que les dits Sr Mc Tavish Frobisher & Company comme agents susdits promettent et s’obligent de Bailler et payer audit Commis a son Retour en cette ville ainsi que le nourrir et vetir pendant ledit tems comme sont les autres commis dans ladite Société du nord ouest et comme de coutume au dit Lieux

[English]: by means of the sum of three thousand old books Chellings of this Province of twenty (coppers?) a year for each year during the said term of three years that will finish at its arrival to this Montreal that the said Sr. Mc Tavish Frobisher & Company as aforesaid agents promise and oblige of Bailler and to pay said Clerk to his Return in this city as well as to feed it and to clothe during said time like are the other clerks in the said Society of the northwest and as usually to the said Places

Source d'archives: BANQ, Greffes de notaires, No du microfilm M620/0067

The following engagements are most likely another, younger Charles Boyer…

• 1801, Jul 13, Engagement de Charles Boyer, de la Rivière St-Pierre,Louis Buisson pour aller au poste de Michelimakinac—Étude Ls Chaboillez.

• 1802, Aug 14, Alexis Boyer Engagement to Charles Boyer Pére

• 1807, Feb 21, Engagement de Charles Boyé, de la Prairie, ft Messrs de la Qe de Michilimakinac pour aller ft Michelimakinac-Étude Ls Chaboillez.

• 1812, Aug 13, Engagement de Charles Boyé, de St-Constant, a La Cie de Michilimakinac pour aller a Michilimakinac-Étude Ls Chaboillez.

LINKS:

Cousin Charles Boyer Was a Nor'Wester

( https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2016/06/cousin-charles-boyer-was-norwester.html )

Ripples: Chapter Three - Boyer Family

( http://laprairie-voyageur-canoes.blogspot.com/2017/03/ripples-from-la-prairie-voyageur-canoes_62.html )

There are still lots of unanswered questions, so feel free to offer new information and comments.