THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ANCESTOR AND RELATIVE

The difference between ancestor and relative is that ancestor is one from whom a person is descended, whether on the father's or mother's side, at any distance of time; a progenitor; a forefather.

While a relative is someone in the same family; someone connected by blood, marriage, or adoption.

WE HAVE OTTAWA (NATIVE AMERICAN) RELATIVES:

Nissowaquet Kewinaquot Neveu La Fourche Ottawa Chief 1715-1797 -- brother-in-law of 8th great-uncle

Kewinaquot "Returning Cloud" Ottawa Chief 1660-1717 -- Father of Nissowaquet Kewinaquot Neveu La Fourche Ottawa Chief

Domitilde Oukabe Nepveuouikabe LaFourche 1690-1782 -- Daughter of Kewinaquot "Returning Cloud" Ottawa Chief

AND, FRENCH-CANADIAN RELATIVES:

Daniel Joseph Amiot (Amyot) Dit Villeneuve 1665-1725 -- Husband of Domitilde Oukabe Nepveuouikabe LaFourche -- is our 8th great-uncle

AND MANY FRENCH-CANADIAN ANCESTORS (ALL WITH A CONNECTION TO THE "FUR TRADE"):

Mathieu Amiot (Amyot) Sieur de Villeneuve 1628-1688 -- Father of Daniel Joseph Amiot (Amyot) Dit Villeneuve -- is our 8th great-grandfather

Catherine-Ursule Amiot 1664-1715 -- Daughter of Mathieu Amiot (Amyot) Sieur de Villeneuve

Etienne Duquet dit Desrochers 1695-1754 -- Son of Catherine-Ursule Amiot

Marie Madeleine Duquet 1734-1791 -- Daughter of Etienne Duquet dit Desrochers

Gabriel Pinsonneau (Pinsono) 1770-1807 -- Son of Marie Madeleine Duquet

OUR FIRST FRENCH AMERICANS OR FRANCO-AMERICANS ANCESTORS:

Gabriel Pinsonneau 1803-1877 -- Son of Gabriel Pinsonneau — our 3rd great grandfather emigrated from La Prairie, Quebec, Canada to (first) Isle La Motte, Vermont then (finally) to Wilna, New York.

Lucy Pinsonneau 1836-1917 -- Daughter of Gabriel Pinsonneau -- is our 2nd great grandmother

ONE OF OUR MORE FASCINATING RELATIVES IS OTTAWA CHIEF NISSOWAQUET

Source: http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/nissowaquet_4E.html

NISSOWAQUET (Nosawaguet, Sosawaket, La Fourche, Fork), Ottawa chief; the name apparently comes from Nassauaketon, meaning forked river, the designation of one of the four Ottawa bands; b. c. 1715; d. 1797.

Nissowaquet was born into the Nassauaketon band, whose village was located beside Fort Michilimackinac (Mackinaw City, Mich.). In 1741, having exhausted the soil there, these Ottawas moved to L’Arbre Croche (Cross Village, Mich.), 20 miles away. Their new settlement, which numbered approximately 180 warriors, stretched for several miles along the Lake Michigan shore. Its inhabitants lived there from spring until fall, raising corn for their own needs and for trade with the French, who depended on it to provision their canoes. In the autumn they divided into family hunting bands and went southward to the valleys of the St Joseph and other rivers to hunt for furs during the winter and to make maple sugar in the spring.

Living in proximity to Fort Michilimackinac, the band developed ties with the French. Nissowaquet’s bond with his sister’s son, Charles-Michel Mouet de Langlade, particularly encouraged his friendship with them and his later association with the British. In 1739 the French raised a force of Ottawas to assist Pierre-Joseph Céloron* de Blainville on an expedition against the Chickasaws, who lived in the lower Mississippi valley. Nissowaquet was one of the war chiefs who participated.

There was much discontent among the Indians of the pays d’en haut during the 1740s, but Nissowaquet and his band maintained their alliance with the French. The band is said to have frustrated an intended uprising of western Indians in 1744 by reporting it to Paul-Joseph Le Moyne de Longueuil. When war broke out between the French and the British in the 1750s, Nissowaquet and his warriors went east with Langlade to fight. In August 1757 a party of 70 assisted Montcalm* in the capture of Fort William Henry (also called Fort George, now Lake George, N.Y.). When the warriors returned to L’ Arbre Croche they carried with them not only the spoils of war but the feared smallpox. The results were devastating. Ottawa tradition records that “Lodge after lodge was totally vacated – nothing but the dead bodies lying here and there in their lodges – entire families being swept off with the ravages of this terrible disease.”

The British occupied Fort Michilimackinac in 1761, and Nissowaquet and his band accepted the new régime, as did Langlade. When in June 1763 the Ojibwas of Michilimackinac, organized by Minweweh*, captured the fort, Nissowaquet’s band rescued most of the surviving soldiers and traders, whom they took to L’Arbre Croche and protected for over a month. For his services Nissowaquet obtained from the refugees a large quantity of trade goods and a personal slave. Some of the supplies he used to ransom captives from the Ojibwas, but many of the goods remained in his own lodge. A group of Ottawas escorted the refugees to Montreal and promised General Gage, the military governor of the Montreal District, that they would be as good friends of the British as they had been of the French. The next year, when Nissowaquet attended Sir William Johnson’s peace conference at Niagara (near Youngstown, N.Y.), he promised allegiance to the British and received in return a chief’s commission and a medal.

In subsequent years Nissowaquet used these tokens of friendship to obtain presents of rum, tobacco, and clothing. Arguing that the chiefs of the Ottawas “take most of their time in serving the English, & keeping peace, among all the Nations,” he obtained supplies from the commandants of Michilimackinac, particularly Robert Rogers. He was, according to Indian agent Benjamin Roberts, “the richest Indian I ever Saw.” All this wealth, the treasured commission, and a wampum belt received from Gage were consumed in a house fire in 1767, but Nissowaquet immediately began seeking replacement of his losses.

During the winter of 1767–68, while Nissowaquet was wintering on the Grand River (Mich.), Rogers was charged with treason and confined at Michilimackinac. Rumours circulated that Nissowaquet, the “Great Chief of the Ottawas,” would help Rogers escape. When Nissowaquet returned with 40 of his warriors in the spring he was upset by Rogers’ confinement, but although the Ojibwa chiefs showed their distress by throwing their British flags into the lake, he and his band returned peacefully to L’Arbre Croche. He kept tensions alive, however, by reporting the discovery of tracks of a large number of Indians with war canoes. Nissowaquet again shrewdly used the threat of attack by other Indians to bolster his own value to the British, promising at a conference in August 1768 that “as Long as you remain here you and your Garrison Shall always Sleep in Saftey, that we will watch over you, And If any bad news is hered amongst any of the Villiages you shall be informed of it Immediately as we are a check to all the Nations, whose harts are not True to the English . . . .”

When the American revolution broke out, Nissowaquet sided with the British, and his warriors took part in several expeditions. By the 1780s his active career was nearly over, although he continued to be the most important chief of L’Arbre Croche. He and his band usually made several visits to Michilimackinac in the summer to receive presents and have their hoes and guns repaired by the fort’s blacksmith; he was there in 1791, 1792, and 1793. Some time in 1797 he died.

David A. Armour

AN, Col., C11A, 77, ff.151, 156, 158, 160. Clements Library, Thomas Gage papers, supplementary accounts, William Lesley’s deposition, 18 Feb. 1764; Henry Bostwick and Ezekiel Solomon’s deposition, 25 April 1764; Frederick Spiesmacher, journal, 6 Dec. 1767 – 17 June 1768; John Askin’s blacksmith accounts, 1769; George Turnbull’s Indian expenses, 25 May 1770 – 25 Nov. 1772. Newberry Library (Chicago), mss coll., George Etherington to Charles Langlade, 16, 18 June, 14 July 1763. PAC, RG 10, A2, 26, pp.14967–15076. Bougainville, Adventure in wilderness (Hamilton), 126, 143, 150–51; “Journal” (A.-E. Gosselin), ANQ Rapport, 1923–24, 266–67, 272–73, 282, 287–88. [A. S. De Peyster], Miscellanies, by an officer (Dumfries, Scot., 1813), 31, 33; [2nd ed.], ed. J. W. De Peyster (2v. in 1, New York, 1888), xxxiv, xxxv. Henry, Travels and adventures. Johnson papers (Sullivan et al.), V, 714–15; VI, 348–49; X, 779–85; XI, 273–74; XII, 491–92. Michigan Pioneer Coll., X (1886), 406; XII (1887), 261–63. NYCD (O’Callaghan and Fernow), IX, 1053; X, 608. [Robert Rogers], “Rogers’s Michillimackinac journal,” ed. W. L. Clements, American Antiquarian Soc., Proc. (Worcester, Mass.), new ser., 28 (1918), 247–51, 253–55. Treason? at Michilimackinac: the proceedings of a general court martial held at Montreal in October 1768 for the trial of Major Robert Rogers, ed. D. A. Armour (Mackinac Island, Mich., 1967), 41. Wis., State Hist. Soc., Coll., I (1855), 43–48; III (1857), 198–99, 212–13; VII (1876), 125–26; XVII (1906), 372–75; XVIII (1908), 67–68, 253, 388, 390; XIX (1910), 2–3, 50–52, 153–54. A. J. Blackbird, History of the Ottawa and Chippewa Indians of Michigan . . . (Ypsilanti, Mich., 1887), 9–10. N. W. Caldwell, “The Chickasaw threat to French control of the Mississippi in the 1740’s,” Chronicles of Oklahoma (Oklahoma City), XVI (1938), 465–92.

General Bibliography

© 1979–2020 University of Toronto/Université Laval

WANT TO KNOW MORE?

I RECOMMEND READING…

“Masters of Empire: Great Lakes Indians and the Making of America,” 2016, by Michael McDonnell

A radical reinterpretation of early American history from a native point of view

In Masters of Empire, the historian Michael A. McDonnell reveals the vital role played by the native peoples of the Great Lakes in the history of North America. Though less well known than the Iroquois or Sioux, the Anishinaabeg, who lived across Lakes Michigan and Huron, were equally influential. Masters of Empire charts the story of one group, the Odawa, who settled at the straits between those two lakes, a hub for trade and diplomacy throughout the vast country west of Montreal known as the pays d’en haut.

Highlighting the long-standing rivalries and relationships among the great Indian nations of North America, McDonnell shows how Europeans often played only a minor role in this history, and reminds us that it was native peoples who possessed intricate and far-reaching networks of commerce and kinship. As empire encroached upon their domain, the Anishinaabeg were often the ones doing the exploiting. By dictating terms at trading posts and frontier forts, they played a crucial part in the making of early America.

Through vivid depictions--all from a native perspective--of early skirmishes, the French and Indian War, and the American Revolution, Masters of Empire overturns our assumptions about colonial America. By calling attention to the Great Lakes as a crucible of culture and conflict, McDonnell reimagines the landscape of American history.

— I found it extremely interesting, but it was, for me, sometimes hard to follow.

MY RELATED BLOG POSTS:

Fort Michilimackinac, 18th-century French fort and trading post at the Straits of Mackinac

https://laprairie-voyageur-canoes.blogspot.com/2019/06/fort-michilimackinac-18th-century.html

GENERAL BRADDOCK'S DEFEAT, A PAINTING BY EDWIN WILLARD DEMING

https://laprairie-voyageur-canoes.blogspot.com/2019/06/general-braddocks-defeat-painting-by.html

Eyewitness to the Death of Crazy Horse — Charles Roubideaux

The following is from my continuing study of two distant Robidoux cousins: 

LOUIS ROUBIDEAUX (1847-1914), half Sioux and half French, US Army Indian Scout, Rosebud Reservation Police Captain, and US Government Interpreter.

AND, his brother 

CHARLES ROUBIDEAUX (1854-1931), half Sioux and half French, US Army Indian Scout.

Camp Robinson, Nebraska 1877

Both brothers were stationed at Camp Robinson, Nebraska, in 1877-1878.

They both served in the US Army, as INDIAN SCOUTS (USS), under General Crook during the time period known as the Great Sioux War of 1876 (aka the Black Hills War) which was a series of battles and negotiations that occurred between 1876 and 1877 involving the Lakota Sioux, Northern Cheyenne, and the United States.

The cause of the war was the desire of the U.S. government to obtain ownership of the Black Hills, Dakota Territory.

THE DEATH OF CRAZY HORSE

Charles Roubideaux was standing next to Crazy Horse when he was killed on September 5, 1877.

To learn more about events at Fort Robinson in the late 1870s, and the death of Chief Crazy Horse I recommend reading, “The Death of Crazy Horse : A Tragic Episode in Lakota History,” by Richard Hardoff.

LINEAGE BACK TO ANDRE ROBIDOU DIT L’ESPAGNOL

Charles Robidoux (Roubideau) Indian Scout 1854-1931

(my 6th cousin 4x removed)

Joseph Sellico Robidoux 1815-1864 -- Father of Louis C Robidoux (Roubideau) Interpreter

Francois (François) Robidoux (1788-1856) early California explorer 1788-1856 -- Father of Joseph Sellico Robidoux

Joseph Robidoux III 1750-1809 -- Father of Francois (François) Robidoux (1788-1856) early California explorer

Joseph Robidou II 1722-1771 -- Father of Joseph Robidoux III

Joseph Robidou 1701-1778 -- Father of Joseph Robidou II

Guillaume (William) Robidou 1675-1754 -- ather of Joseph Robidou

Andre Robidou dit L’Espagnol 1643-1678 -- Father of Guillaume (William) Robidou

Be sure to check for other posts on my other blog at https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/

For Mary, Many Days WHITE CLOUD — All Roads Lead Back to La Prairie

Mary (Many Days) Robidoux nee WHITE CLOUD, was the first generation of one of the main families of what is referred to as the Métis people, the offspring of European men who married Native American women. 

Métis people would play a major role in the 19th century fur trade in Missouri and Kansas.

Joseph Robidoux IV statue at Robidoux Row, St Joseph, MO

Mary (Many Days) Robidoux was the daughter of Joseph Robidoux IV (1783–1868), founder of St. Joseph, Missouri — a prominant Fur Trader, and an Otoe-Ioway Woman whose name is unknown.

Mary (Many Days) Robidoux 1805–1884 (5th cousin 5x removed)

BIRTH ABT. 1805 • Council Bluffs, Pottawattamie, Iowa, USA

DEATH 29 JUNE 1884 • Horton, Brown, Kansas, USA

Mary was the 4x great granddaughter of Andre Robidou dit L'Espagnol one of the pioneers of La Prairie

According to Tanis C. Thorne’s book, “The Many Hands of My Relations: French and Indians on the Lower Missouri,” University of Missouri Press, 1996…

“Here in 1805 Joseph Robidoux fathered a child, Mary, by an Indian woman. This daughter would marry Chief White Cloud of the Ioway, producing a chiefly line among that tribe. ... The kinship networks established between St. Louis independent traders and ranking native families in the years between 1800-1825 consolidated authority among the clan leaders linked to trader interests.”

Joseph Robidoux’s French-Ioway daughter, Mary (Many Days), married Ioway Chief Francis (Mahaska II) (The Younger) White Cloud (1811–1856) (image above).

They had at least four children:

James (The gro wo nung) White Cloud Ioway Chief (1847–1940) (6th cousin 4x removed)

BIRTH ABT 1847 • Kansas, USA

DEATH 1940 • Iowa Reservation, Brown Co., Kansas

Jefferson White Cloud Ioway Chief (1846–1893) (6th cousin 4x removed)

BIRTH 1846 • Iowa Point, Doniphan, Kansas, USA

DEATH 9 FEBRUARY 1893 • Ioway Indian Reservation, Brown, Kansas, USA

Two daughters, Sarah and Elizabeth White Cloud, both of which married Joseph Tesson.

Following the death Chief Francis White Cloud Mary married a second time to Francis X. Dupuis. 

From “History of Nebraska,” Page 23 (FX Dupuis)

Francois Xavier (Frank) Dupuis (1810–1897) (3rd cousin 4x removed)

BIRTH 05 DEC 1810 • La Prairie, Quebec, Canada

DEATH 17 NOV 1897 • Reserve, Brown, Kansas, USA

He was one of the earliest trappers in Richardson County, Nebraska.

He is descended from Pinsonneau, Dupuis, and Bourassa pioneers in La Prairie.

André Robidou dit L’Espagnol — Voyageur from Spain

Twenty-two year old Andre Robidoux dit L’Espagnol arrived at New France in 1665.  

Andre was known as dit L’Espagnol because he was born and christened in Ste. Marie, Galice, Burgos, Spain about 1640. 

The 1666 census for the town of Québec lists Andre as a sailor… it’s there that he began working as a voyageur for Eustace Lambert, a prominent interpreter, settler and fur trader.  Working for Lambert, Andre ferried goods and supplies up and down the St. Lawrence for a cents a day plus lodging and board.

On May 16, 1667 he married Jeanne Denot(e), a ‘fille du roi’, in Québec City.  From France, a fille du roi would agree to travel to the new settlements in North America and marry a settler there in exchange for a dowry from the King.   They usually married within a few days or weeks of the contract signing, something that was often brokered by the priests or Ursuline nuns.

Jeanne was the fifth daughter of Antoine Denote and Catherine Leduc of St. Germain of Auxerre, Paris, France. For Jeanne, there was little hope of a decent life in France where poverty was rampant and the rich and powerful ceded little or nothing to the lower classes.

By June 1670 Andre and Jeanne had settled in a farmstead in the concession of St. Lambert in the parish of La Prairie de Magdeleine, along the south shore of the St. Lawrence River across from Ville Marie (current day Montréal). 

They were among the first 35 settlers in La Prairie, and possibly one of the first four families there.   The area was still mostly unsettled forest; all settlements before were restricted to the northern shores, in part for protection from invading Iroquois tribes.

Most likely this relocation was based upon ties of employment, consociation and allegiance within a vast and competitive fur-trade network. 

Andre and Jeanne had five children:  Romaine, Marguerite, +Jeanne, Guillaume and Joseph.  Guillaume, the eldest son, would carry the family name west and south heading to Detroit and eventually St. Louis in order to evade the restrictions of governmental law of New France. All of Andre’s descendants can be traced from three of his children: Jeanne, Guillaume and Joseph.  

Andre died at the age of 35 years, April 1, 1678 and was buried in Montréal.  His death is recorded in the parish register as the fifth entry for the year 1678, and states simply, "A este entterre Andre, dit L’espagnol, notlhabitant de laprairie de la Magdelgne, age de trente cinq ans ou environ prei chez Monsieur Fromlanch, Chirugine."  

With no recourse but to re-marry to provide for her family, Jeanne married Jacques Suprenant dit Sanssoucy on August 16, 1678, and became the founding mother of not one, but two of Canada’s largest families.

NOTES FOR JEANNE DENOTE

Jeanne Denot(e) is born, the daughter of Antoine Denot and Catherine Leduc. She is baptized at Saint-Germain-L'Auxerrois, Paris, France.

13 May 1666, Jeanne Denote leaves from La Rochelle as a Fille Du Roi aboard Le Saint-Jean-Baptiste, a ship originally hailing from Dieppe.

between circa 11 August 1666 & 17 June 1667, Jeanne Denot resides at a house on the grounds of the Ursuline monastery, Quebec.

16 May 1667, Andre Robidou dit L'Espagnol and Jeanne Denot contract for marriage in Quebec.

17 June 1667, Andre Robidoou dit L'Espagnol and Jeanne Denot marry at Notre-Dame-de-Quebec, Quebec. 

11 July 1669, Romaine Robidou, daughter of Andre Robidou dit L'Espagnol & Jeanne Denot, is born, and is baptized the same day at Notre-Dame-de-Quebec. She is named after her godmother Romaine Boudet.

circa 1671, Andre Robidou dit L'Espagnol, Jeanne Denot, and Marie Romaine Robidou move to the seigneury of LaPrairie, Nouvelle-France, acquiring property within the village of LaPrairie.

10 November 1671, Marguerite Robidou, daughter of Andre Robidou dit L'Espagnol and Jeanne Denot, is born, and is baptized the same day at Saint-Francois-Xavier-des-Pres, LaPrairie. She is named after her godmother Marguerite Tenard.

15 January 1672, Sepulture (burial) for Marguerite Robidou (age 2 months) at Saint-Francois-Xavier-des-Pres, LaPrairie.

prior to 02 June 1672, Andre Robidou dit L'Espagnol acquires property on Cote de la Riviere Saint-Jacques, LaPrairie.

04 December 1672, Andre Robidou dit L'Espagnol exchanges with Jean Caillault the property on Cote de la Riviere, Saint-Jacques, LaPrairie, for property on Cote de la Tortue, LaPrairie. He also sells the property in the village of LaPrairie to Pierre Lefebvre.

22 January 1673, The prior concession to Andre Robidou dit L'Espagnol by the Compagnie de Jesus of the property on Cote de la Riviere Saint-Jacques, LaPrairie, is confirmed.

20 September 1673, +Jeanne Robidou, daughter of Andre Robidou dit L'Espagnol and Jeanne Denot, is baptized at Saint-Francois-Xavier-des-Pres, LaPrairie. She is named after her godmother Jeanne Roinay. She married Gabriel Lemieux (1663–1739) 5 Décembre 1690 at La Prairie, Québec. From Michigan’s Habitant Heritage (MHH), Vol. 35, #1, 17th Century Engagé Contracts to the Great Lakes and Beyond - 20 May 1682 to 15 May 1690 - Part 1, we find "8 May 1690, Jean Baptiste Migeon, sieur de Bransat, hired Gabriel Lemieux for a voyage to the Ottawa Indians [Antoine Adhémar]."

circa 1674, Andre Robidou dit L'Espagnol receives a concession of land on Cote Saint-Lambert, LaPrairie, from the Compagnie de Jesus, and gives up his concession of land on Cote de la Tortue, LaPrairie.

08 December 1674, Andre Robidou dit L'Espagnol's concession of land on Cote Saint-Lambert, LaPrairie, is confirmed by the Compagnie de Jesus.

28 November 1675, Guillaume Robidou, son of Andre Robidou and Jeanne Denot, is baptized at Saint-Francois-Xavier-des-Pres, LaPrairie. He is named after his godfather Guillaume Brunet.

08 November 1677, The Compagnie de Jesus, as seigneur of LaPrairie, inventories all of the concessions, which inventory lists the 08 December 1674 concession to Andre Robidou dit L'Espagnol. 

15 January 1678, Joseph Robidou, son of Andre Robidou and Jeanne Denot, is baptized at Saint-Francois-Xavier, LaPrairie. He is named after his godfather Joseph Boyer.

01 April 1678, Sepulture (burial) for Andre Robidou dit L'espagnol (age between approximately 38 and 42 years) at Notre-Dame, Montreal, wherein he is noted as residing at LaPrairie. He had fathered five children. (Note - the priests records his death, but no cause is given)

16 August 1678, Jacques Suprenant dit Sanssoucy and Jeanne Denot marry at Saint-Francois-Xavier, LaPrairie.

NOTES FOR JACQUES SUPRENANT DIT SANSOUCY

Jacques Suprenant dit Sansoucy was a soldier of the Carignan Salieres Regiment of 1665. 

He was born circa 1644, at St. Martin-du-Vieux-Belleme, Orne, France; he died July 16, 1710 in La Prairie, QC, Canada

He was the son of Jacques Surprenant and Louise Boquet/Roquet

The children of Jacques Suprenant dit Sansoucy and Jeanne Denot(e) are:

i. Jean Suprenant dit Sansoucy b. December 4, 1679, died 1680

ii. Marguerite Suprenant dit Sansoucy, b.5 June 1681, La Prairie, Québec, Canada, d. 26 July 1684 , La Prairie, Québec, Canada 

iii. Pierre Suprenant b.21 January 1683, La Prairie, Québec, Canada, d. 2 June 1739 , Montréal, Québec, Canada

iv. Laurent Suprenant b.abt. 1685, Québec (Quebec) Province, Canada (New France), d. 2 December 1752, Montréal, Québec, Canada 

v. Catherine Suprenant b.29 July 1686, La Prairie, Québec, Canada, d. 26 February 1762 , La Prairie, Québec, Canada

vi. Claude Suprenant b.21 September 1688, La Prairie, Québec, Canada, d. 9 September 1689, La Prairie, Québec, Canada

vii. Marie Suprenant (b.abt. 1690, Québec (Quebec) Province, Canada (New France), d. 20 February 1717, La Prairie, Québec, Canada

ix. Anne Suprenant b.21 January 1692, La Prairie, Québec, Canada, d. 1 February 1693, La Prairie, Québec, Canada

• MY LINEAGE FROM ANDRE ROBIDOU DIT L’ESPAGNOL

• Andre Robidou dit L’Espagnol 1643-1678 -- 9th great-grandfather
  
  Jeanne Robidoux 1673-1736 -- Daughter of Andre Robidou dit L’Espagnol
  
  Marie Anne Lemieux 1706-1777 -- Daughter of Jeanne Robidoux
  
  Marie Josephe Poupart 1725-1799 -- Daughter of Marie Anne Lemieux
  
  Pierre Barette dit Courville 1748-1794 -- Son of Marie Josephe Poupart
  
  Marie Angelique Baret (Barette) dit Courville 1779-1815 -- Daughter of Pierre Barette dit Courville
  
  Marie Emélie (Mary) Meunier Lagassé (Lagace) 1808-1883 -- Daughter of Marie Angelique Baret (Barette) dit Courville
  
  Lucy Passino (Pinsonneau) 1836-1917 -- Daughter of Marie Emélie (Mary) Meunier Lagassé (Lagace) -- my 2nd great-grandmother

Sources: Ancestry.com and Robidoux Chronicles : French-Indian Ethnoculture of the Trans-Mississippi West", written by Hugh M. Lewis.

BIOGRAPHY OF EUSTACHE LAMBERT 

Source: Dictionary of Canadian Biography

EUSTACHE LAMBERT, donné, interpreter, settler, fur-trader; b. c. 1618, probably near Boulogne in France; d. 6 July 1673 at Quebec.

The donné Eustache Lambert, who came to New France probably in the early 1640s, appears for the first time in Canadian history in August 1646, on the occasion of a return journey to Sainte-Marie-des-Hurons. This was his second or third trip to the mission, and he seems to have remained in the service of the Jesuits at least until 1651, when we find him accompanying Father Chaumonot to the Île d’Orléans and to Tadoussac.

In 1653 Eustache Lambert acquired a tract of land at Pointe-Lévy, in the seigneury of the Lauson family. It was there that he built the house which he named Sainte-Marie in honour of his youth spent in the Huron country, and which became a favourite meeting-place for the Huron and Algonkin fur-traders passing through Quebec. 

Lambert hunted and fished there fairly successfully, it seems, for in 1671 he managed to free himself from his seigneurial dues by paying a sum of 300 livres, half in money, half in beaver. He was also said to be the owner of a merchants’ bank, a house in the Lower Town of Quebec, in Sault-au-Matelot street, and a dwelling at Saint-Joseph de Beauport. In 1653, at Quebec, he was the commander of a flying column of 50 men, and on 8 Aug. 1669 he became a churchwarden of the parish of Notre-Dame. Eustache Lambert married Marie Laurence in 1656. They had a large number of descendants.

Lambert was buried on 7 July 1673 at Quebec.

J. Monet

ASQ, Paroisse de Québec, 124; Polygraphie, XVI, 26. JR (Thwaites), passim. JJ (Laverdière et Casgrain), passim. Claude de Bonnault, “Le Canada militaire, état provisoire des officiers de milice, de 1641 à 1760,” APQ Rapport, 1949–51, 294. A. De Léry Macdonald, “La famille Lambert Du Mont,” RC, XIX (1883), 633. J.-E. Roy, “Eustache Lambert, frère donné et interprète,” La Kermesse, X (25 nov. 1892), 136–40; Histoire de la seigneurie de Lauzon, I, 254.

Revisions based on:
Bibliothèque et Arch. Nationales du Québec, Centre d’arch. de Québec, CE301-S1, 7 juill. 1673.

General Bibliography

© 1966–2019 University of Toronto/Université Laval

Voyageurs Moccasins — Souliers De Boeuf

CW Jefferys, Voyageurs and Raftsmen on the Ottawa about 1818

As my followers know I have been studying all aspects of Voyageurs lives for many years. 

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

Sure enough, I found it on my 4th great-grandfather — Gabriel Pinsoneau’s 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 Native American moccasins with French colonial shoes. 

The Beef Shoe from Musée de la Gaspésie

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

Indian Moccasins by CW Jefferys

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

2025 addition courtesy of Grok xAI...

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.

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

French Coureurs des Bois, Voyageurs and Tattooing

In the 18th century Native Americans (or First Nations People) commonly practiced tattooing as a form of personal identity. We know nearly all Iroquois men’s tattoos were distinct to them. 

Here’s an interesting example of how tattooing was used as identification…

“According to the account book of Dutch trader Evert Wendell dated August 13, 1706, a young Seneca brave named Tan Na Eedsies visited Wendell in Albany, New York, and completed his transaction by drawing a pictograph next to his order. This drawing identifed Tan Na Eedsies, and the tattooed patterns on his face, neck, and chest were considered equivalent to his personal signature. 

Tan Na Eedsies’ facial marks are consistent with the ethnographic record and include a serpent manitou, a series of bird manitous skirting his hairline, scalp-tally markings running along a bar that crossed his nose and other neck and V-shaped sternum markings.”

Source above: “Tattooed War Clubs of the Iroquois” by Lars Krutak

Contact between French Voyageurs and First Nations resulted in influencing the customs of each group

The French began to appropriate indigenous manners, as the First Nations peoples had to adjust to the arrival of the colonizing force. The adoption of Native tattooing practices by the coureurs de bois and the French voyageurs may be seen, to a certain degree, as an imitation of a Native practice. Europeans who lived among various First Nations peoples year round began to copy the customs of the peoples with whom they shared a way of life.

Many French, especially the voyageurs, who often travel across Canada for the fur trade, take pleasure in following the example of the savages; the white man never tattoos his face like the savage man, but only other small parts of their bodies like the chest, back, arms and especially their legs.

The French ordinarily let the savages execute the work as they are the masters of the art.

Documented Testimony

A testimony making reference to the coureurs de bois' tattoo images exists in a passage recorded by Tonti, a voyageur and trading post commander, who explained that:

“The fur traders often adopt tattooing, covering nearly their entire body with pictures Indian style. Some mixed Christian symbols with Indian, using an image of the Virgin, Christ Child, and a large cross on the stomach.”

This adoption of Native body marking practices by the coureurs de bois and voyageur is reiterated in an excerpt taken from Marquis de Montcalm's journal. On October 8, 1758 Montcalm stated:

“We found nine hundred and Fifty Canadians and this detachment was of a good sort, almost all voyageurs. We easily recognized them due to their size and that they all had tattooed their bodies with images of some plant or animal. The image was traced by pricking the skin with a needle and printing was done by burning powder in the holes.”

Source above: “Body Marking Within New France: A Contemporary Perspective” by Carolyn Christina Cross

Permanent tattoos using vermilion and gun powder were applied to punctured wounds and the colors are differentiated under the skin. Common designs included the sun, crosses, religious symbols, animals, flowers and anything else they wish.

Daniel Joseph Amiot dit Villeneuve’s Tattoos

Daniel Joseph Amiot dit Villeneuve, our 8th great-uncle, was a Voyageur and Coureur de Bois who married Domitilde Oukabe Nepveuouikabe LaFourche an Ottawa woman whose father was a chief named Kewinaquot "Returning Cloud.” 

The record suggests Daniel was already tattooed before he married Domitilde. I believe Coureurs des Bois, like Daniel, used tattooing as a means of acceptance to help fit into Native American culture.

In the book “Masters of Empire: Great Lakes Indians and the Making of America” by Michael A. McDonnell we find a reference on page 107 to the tattooing on Daniel’s back…

Above image from the author’s library.

Read more about Daniel Joseph Amiot dit Villeneuve:

Great-Uncle Daniel Amiot Canoes to the Gulf of Mexico

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2016/07/great-uncle-daniel-amiot-canoes-to-gulf_3.html

Chapter Four, Quebec's Amiot Family

http://laprairie-voyageur-canoes.blogspot.com/2017/03/ripples-chapter-four-amiot-family.html