René Bourassa dit LaRonde: A Prominent Voyageur and Fur Trader

 René Bourassa dit LaRonde: A Prominent Voyageur and Fur Trader

René Bourassa (baptized December 21, 1688, in La Prairie, Quebec; d. September 7, 1778, in Montreal) was the eldest surviving son of François Bourassa and Marie Le Ber, inheriting his father's legacy as a key figure in New France's fur trade. Known as "dit LaRonde," René became one of the most active and adventurous voyageurs of the early 18th century, operating primarily in the pays d'en haut (the "upper country," encompassing the Great Lakes region and westward territories). 

His expeditions combined legitimate French trading ventures with risky illicit activities, driven by the lucrative beaver pelt market. Overhunting near Montreal and higher prices from English buyers in Albany pushed him westward, where he partnered with merchants, hired engagés (contracted laborers), and supported exploratory efforts by figures like Pierre Gaultier de Varennes et de La Vérendrye.

René's career spanned over four decades, from his early 20s until semi-retirement in the 1740s. He married twice—first to Agnès Gagné in 1710 (three children), then to Marie-Catherine Leriger de La Plante in 1721 (five children)—and his sons, particularly René Jr. and Ignace, later took over his operations at Michilimackinac (Mackinaw City, Michigan). 

He owned property in Montreal, including a house, a lot in Fort Michilimackinac, and enslaved laborers to manage his holdings. His expeditions were marked by peril: ambushes, tribal conflicts, and harsh winters. 

Below is a chronological overview of his major known expeditions and trading activities, drawn from notarial contracts, colonial records, and explorer journals.

Key Expeditions and Trading Ventures

Year(s)	Destination/Region	Details	Outcomes/Notes
Early 1710s–1721	Ottawa (Odawa) territory and Michilimackinac (Michigan)	As a young voyageur, René followed his father's paths, paddling canoes laden with trade goods (e.g., cloth, tools, alcohol) to exchange for furs with Ottawa and other Algonquian groups. In 1710–1720, he made seasonal trips from Lachine (near Montreal) to Michilimackinac, the fur trade hub at the Straits of Mackinac. These were standard pays d'en haut routes, covering 1,000+ miles via the Ottawa River, Lake Huron, and portages.	Built his reputation; earned profits from beaver pelts, which were overabundant but declining near settled areas. Likely hired by uncles like Jacques Le Ber for initial contracts.
1722	Albany, New York (illicit trade)	Ventured south from Montreal to Albany, smuggling furs to English merchants who paid double the French price (up to 2 livres per pound of beaver vs. 1 livre in Montreal). Covered as a "letter-carrying" trip but fined 500 livres by French authorities for violating trade monopolies.	Caught and penalized, but the profits tempted him to repeat such risks. This era saw widespread coureur de bois activity amid depleting local beaver populations.
1726–1727	Pays d'en haut (Great Lakes westward), including Baie-des-Puants (Green Bay, Wisconsin)	In partnership with merchants Nicolas Sarrazin and François Lefebvre Duplessis Faber, dispatched canoe brigades from Montreal to remote posts. Hired engagés like Jacques Gervais (contract notarized April 16, 1726) for the journey. In 1727, traded directly at Baie-des-Puants, where Duplessis was commandant of the French post.	Successful haul of pelts; established René as a major independent trader. Trips involved 20–30 men per brigade, navigating rapids and portaging 800+ pounds of cargo.
1729	New England (cover for illicit trade)	Granted permission by Montreal Governor Charles Le Moyne de Longueuil to carry official letters to New England colonies. Served as a pretext for smuggling furs southward, evading French patrols.	Avoided detection; highlighted the blurred lines between diplomacy and commerce in colonial rivalries.
1735–1736	Fort Saint-Charles (Lake of the Woods, Minnesota) and Fort Maurepas (near Red River, Manitoba)	Hired engagés to supply La Vérendrye's exploratory posts, part of the French push westward for furs and a route to the "Western Sea" (Pacific). René arrived at Saint-Joseph (Niles, Michigan) in July 1735, then wintered at Fort Saint-Charles with La Vérendrye. In spring 1736, led a party of five (including Laurent-Eustache Gamelin) toward Michilimackinac.	Deepened ties with La Vérendrye; wintered amid Cree and Assiniboine allies, trading and gathering intelligence on Sioux threats. Established a small post at Crane Lake (Vermilion River, Minnesota) in 1736, ignoring orders to join the main fort—leading to tensions with La Vérendrye.
1736 (June)	Michilimackinac from Lake of the Woods	En route back from Saint-Charles, his small group was ambushed by 100+ Prairie Sioux warriors near the Minnesota border. Accused of arming their enemies (Cree/Assiniboine), René and his men were captured. A Sioux war party prepared to burn him at the stake, but his enslaved Sioux girl intervened dramatically, pleading for his life based on tribal ties.	Miraculous escape; returned empty-handed to Michilimackinac. Tragically, the Sioux then massacred La Vérendrye's son Jean-Baptiste and 20 others in a trailing party. This incident escalated French-Sioux hostilities and underscored the fragility of alliances in the fur trade.
Late 1730s–1740s	Michilimackinac and Great Lakes posts	Semi-permanent base at Michilimackinac, where he owned property. Sent sons on brigades to Lake Nipigon (Ontario) and Lake of the Woods. In 1744, son René Jr. (b. 1718) was hired for Michilimackinac, Lake Nipigon, and Lake of the Woods runs; he led efforts to incite Dakota-Ojibwa conflicts for French advantage.	Family dynasty solidified; by 1740s, René managed from afar, with slaves handling logistics. Profited from Ojibwa and Ottawa trade amid the 1740s Anglo-French wars.
1750s–1760s	Michilimackinac during the Conquest	Continued operations into British rule post-1760. In 1763, Ojibwa allies (led by Chief Minweweh) captured Michilimackinac from the British in Pontiac's War—likely sparing René due to his long-standing relations.	Survived the transition; retired to Montreal by late 1760s. Witnessed the fur trade's shift to British dominance.

Context and Legacy

René's expeditions epitomized the voyageur life: grueling 2,000-mile round trips, seasonal departures from Lachine in May, returns by October, and winters in remote forts. He navigated not just geography but geopolitics—balancing French monopolies, Indigenous diplomacy (e.g., gifts to Cree leaders), and personal risks like the 1736 ambush. His illicit Albany runs fueled colonial tensions, while western ventures supported La Vérendrye's chain of posts (e.g., Fort St. Pierre on Rainy Lake), aiding French claims to the interior.

By the 1740s, with beaver scarcity and wars, René semi-retired, passing the trade to his sons, who expanded into Detroit and the upper Mississippi. The Bourassa family became "fathers of the fur trade," with descendants like journalist Henri Bourassa (1868–1952) tracing roots to these expeditions. For primary sources, see the Dictionary of Canadian Biography (Vol. IV) or notarial records in the BanQ (Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec) collections.

Courtesy of Grok xAI and Drifting Cowboy.

Gabrielle Louise Moreau — La Prairie, New France and the fur trade

 

Gabrielle Louise Moreau — La Prairie, New France and the fur trade

Gabrielle Louise Moreau was born on May 28, 1694, in Québec, Quebec, Canada, to Jean Baptiste Moreau (1657-1727) and Marie Anne Rodrigue (1673-1720).  She married Etienne Rondeau on November 25, 1709, in Québec, and they had at least 10 daughters, including Marie Elisabeth Rondeau (born around 1708), who later married Joseph Placide Gravel.  Gabrielle died on June 3, 1750, in Saint-Michel-de-Bellechasse, Quebec, Canada. 

Her family had roots in the early settlement of New France, with her paternal grandfather, Jean Baptiste Moreau (1635-1710), originating from France, and her maternal side including Portuguese and French immigrants, such as her grandfather João (Jean) Rodrigue from Lisbon and her grandmother Anne Roy (LeRoy), who arrived as one of the Filles du Roi.  While Gabrielle herself was born and primarily lived in the Québec area, she had connections to La Prairie through extended family networks and the broader regional economy of New France.  La Prairie, located south of Montréal, was a key hub for agriculture and trade during the colonial period, and many families like the Moreaus had ties there via migration, marriage, or economic activities.  Her involvement in the fur trade appears to have been peripheral but hands-on; historical records suggest she processed pelts (such as scraping them) alongside relatives like the Desroches kin, as evidenced by her 1750 estate inventory, which reflects the everyday role women often played in supporting the fur economy in settlements like La Prairie.  The fur trade was central to New France's economy, driving exploration and commerce, and families in the Saint Lawrence Valley, including hers, were frequently entangled in it through voyageur relatives or local processing. 

Joseph Moreau (1672-1708), your 8th great-granduncle and Gabrielle's uncle, was born in 1672 in New France as the son of Jean Baptiste Moreau (1635-1710) and brother to her father, Jean Baptiste Moreau (1657-1727).  He worked as a voyageur and fur trader, navigating the challenging waterways of New France to transport goods and furs, a common occupation for young men in the colony during the late 17th century.  Voyageurs like Joseph were essential to the fur trade, forming canoe convoys to move merchandise from Montréal to outposts like Michilimackinac (in present-day Michigan), often facing risks from rapids, weather, and regulatory enforcement. 

The lawsuit stemmed from a 1696 fur-trading expedition where Joseph and his partner, Louis Durand (sometimes spelled Durant), contracted with Marie-Therese Guyon, wife of Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac (a prominent French officer and fur trader who later founded Detroit), to deliver goods from Montréal to Michilimackinac.  They were promised 100 livres each in wages, plus permission to trade a limited amount of personal merchandise under a license from Governor Frontenac.  A verbal agreement allegedly allowed them to carry excess goods for profit, but en route, authorities confiscated some overloaded cargo near Lachine, selling it for charity.  Undeterred, they reloaded hidden excess and continued.

Upon arrival at Michilimackinac, Cadillac initially encouraged them to form a trading company with another merchant for ventures among the Sioux, providing 7,000 livres worth of goods.  However, after learning of the Lachine seizure—which implicated him in permit violations—Cadillac turned hostile.  He had Durand arrested on trumped-up charges (insolence and injuring a dog), and Joseph imprisoned for supposedly trying to break the contract and aid Durand's escape.  On July 27, 1696, Cadillac's soldiers seized their possessions, including hardware, guns, food, wine, canoes, a strongbox with lead, powder, fabrics, blankets, furs, vermillion, and bills of credit (which Cadillac rewrote in his own name). 

Released but destitute, Joseph and Durand borrowed funds, acquired new goods, traded with the Sioux and Ottawa, and returned to Montréal and Québec in fall 1697.  They sued Cadillac on September 14, 1697, seeking wages (200 livres total) and reimbursement for seized items and bills (around 3,100 livres).  Cadillac denied the claims, asserting the goods were his.  The case went to arbitration, but intimidation from Cadillac and Governor Frontenac (who imprisoned an investigator) complicated proceedings.  Durand withdrew in January 1698 after a debt settlement, but Joseph persisted.  On April 2, 1698, Intendant Champigny ruled in Joseph's favor, ordering Cadillac to pay 3,400 livres and six deniers.  Frontenac delayed enforcement, leading Joseph to sail to France in October 1698, where he accepted a 1,600-livre settlement and withdrew the suit. 

This case highlights the tensions in New France's fur trade, where strict royal permits aimed to curb abuses, but officials like Cadillac often exploited their power, leading to conflicts with independent traders like Joseph.  Joseph died in 1708, but his story underscores the risks and legal battles faced by voyageurs in the era. 

Moreau family fur trade roles

The Moreau family played a significant role in the fur trade of New France during the late 17th and early 18th centuries, primarily as voyageurs who transported merchandise by canoe, engaged in trading expeditions, and navigated the economic and legal challenges of the era. Their activities were centered around key hubs like Montréal, Batiscan, and outposts such as Michilimackinac, the Ottawas (Outaouais region), Detroit, and Sioux territories. Family members often worked under contracts with merchants, companies, or officials, facing issues like merchandise limits, confiscations, and disputes over profits. Below is a breakdown of key family members' roles based on historical records.

Jean Moreau (1635-1710), Patriarch

As the father of the primary fur-trading siblings, Jean Moreau was directly involved in the trade later in life. He participated in a large group engagement in 1704, listed as a voyageur from Batiscan, alongside over 60 others for a fur trade expedition. This contract involved transporting goods and trading pelts, reflecting the family's foundational ties to the voyageur lifestyle in the Saint Lawrence Valley settlements.

Jean Baptiste Moreau (1657-1727), Son and Fur Trader

Jean Baptiste, a voyageur based in areas like Batiscan and Québec, was actively engaged in multiple fur trade expeditions:

• In 1703, he was hired by the Compagnie de la Colonie du Canada to travel as a voyageur to Detroit via Lake Erie.
• In 1704, he joined a massive group engagement (including his father Jean and brother Joseph) for a broader fur trade venture, coordinating with voyageurs from various Québec locations.
• From 1716 to 1718, he undertook annual voyages to Michilimackinac: hired by Nicolas Perttuis in 1716, and by Paul Guillet in 1717 and 1718 (the latter with François Neveu). These trips involved transporting merchandise westward and returning with furs, contributing to the family's ongoing participation in the beaver pelt economy.

He married Marie Anne Rodrigue in 1692, and their family continued in the Québec region, with indirect ties to trade through descendants. His role exemplifies the multigenerational nature of voyageur work, often spanning decades amid the competitive fur trade regulated by French authorities.

Joseph Moreau (1672-1708), Brother and Prominent Voyageur

Joseph was one of the most documented Moreau traders, serving as a voyageur and independent merchant who faced high-stakes expeditions and legal battles:

• In 1693, he was engaged by Augustin Legardeur, Sr. de Courtemanche, to voyage to the Ottawas.
• In 1694, alongside Mathurin Roy, he was hired by Jean-Baptiste Maret for another trip to the Ottawas.
• His most notable involvement was in 1696, partnering with Louis Durand under a contract with Marie-Therese Guyon (wife of Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac) to deliver goods from Montréal to Michilimackinac. They held a license from Governor Frontenac allowing limited personal trade, but a verbal agreement permitted excess merchandise for profit. En route, near Lachine, authorities confiscated some overloaded cargo. At Michilimackinac, Cadillac initially supported a trading company with them for Sioux ventures (providing 7,000 livres in goods), but later arrested them on pretext charges and seized their possessions on July 27, 1696—including hardware, guns, food, wine, canoes, lead, powder, fabrics, blankets, furs, vermillion, and bills of credit worth about 3,100 livres (which Cadillac rewrote in his name).
• Released but destitute, Joseph and Durand borrowed funds, traded with the Sioux and Ottawa, and returned to Québec in fall 1697. They sued Cadillac on September 14, 1697, for wages (200 livres) and reimbursements. After arbitration attempts, intimidation by Cadillac and Frontenac (including imprisoning an investigator), and Durand's withdrawal in January 1698, Joseph persisted. Intendant Champigny ruled in his favor on April 2, 1698, for 3,400 livres and six deniers, but delays led Joseph to France, where he settled for 1,600 livres in October 1698.
• In 1704, he was part of the same group engagement as his father and brother.

Joseph married Françoise Frigon in 1700, and his career highlights the risks of the trade, including regulatory enforcement and power abuses by officials like Cadillac. He died young in 1708, but his story underscores the Moreau family's entanglement in the fur trade's legal and economic tensions.

Gabrielle Louise Moreau (1694-1750), Daughter of Jean Baptiste

Gabrielle, born in Québec and married to Etienne Rondeau in 1709, had a more peripheral but supportive role in the fur economy. Living in the Saint Lawrence Valley, she processed pelts (e.g., scraping them) alongside relatives, as noted in her 1750 estate inventory. This reflects the common involvement of women in household-level fur preparation, aiding the family's trade network without direct voyageur expeditions. Her connections to La Prairie were through regional family ties and the broader trade routes, though she primarily resided in Québec areas.

Overall, the Moreaus exemplified typical French-Canadian voyageur families, contributing to New France's fur trade by facilitating the movement of goods and furs across vast waterways. Their engagements often involved notaries like Adhémar and partnerships with figures like Cadillac, amid a system of royal licenses aimed at controlling abuses. While men like Joseph and Jean Baptiste handled the frontline trading, the family's collective efforts supported the colony's economic backbone until shifts in the 18th century.

Courtesy of Grok xAI and Drifting Cowboy

Ripples on the St. Lawrence: A Tale of La Prairie’s Deneau Family

In the crisp autumn of 1653, the salty tang of the Atlantic still clung to Marin's woolen coat as the ship creaked into the harbor of Ville-Marie. The air was thick with the earthy scent of untamed forests—pine resin and damp soil mingling with the faint, acrid smoke from distant Indigenous campfires. Marin Deneau dit Destaillis, a sturdy man of 32 with callused hands from French fields, stepped onto the rocky shore, his boots sinking into the mud churned by the St. Lawrence's relentless current. The river's roar filled his ears, a constant symphony of rushing water that promised both bounty and peril. Little did he know, this land would forge his family into legends of the wild.

Years blurred in the haze of survival. By 1659, widowed and weary from Iroquois skirmishes—arrows whistling like angry hornets through the palisades—Marin wed Louise-Thérèse in the dim glow of Notre-Dame's candles, their vows echoing off timber walls scented with incense and fresh-hewn wood. Their home in Montréal was a simple log cabin, where the crackle of hearth fires warded off winter's biting frost, and the aroma of simmering rabbit stew blended with the metallic tang of gunpowder from constant vigilance.

But the river called them south. In the 1670s, they claimed land in La Prairie, a verdant strip where the St. Lawrence's waters lapped gently at grassy banks, alive with the croak of frogs and the flutter of waterfowl. Here, amid the long shadows of repurposed Iroquois longhouses—structures of bent saplings and bark that smelled of sweetgrass and smoked hides—the Deneaus built a life. Marin tilled the soil under the sun's harsh glare, his sweat mixing with the fertile loam, while Louise tended gardens bursting with corn and squash, her hands stained purple from wild berries gathered with Oneida neighbors. The air hummed with multilingual chatter: French commands, Algonquian barters, and the distant whoops of hunters returning with beaver pelts, glossy and oil-slick, redolent of musk and wilderness.

Marin's sons grew tall and sinewy, shaped by the land's demands. Jacques, the eldest, felt the pull of the canoes first. In 1685, at 25, he gripped the paddle's worn birch handle, its surface smooth from countless grips, and shoved off from La Prairie's shore. The birchbark vessel, light as a leaf yet sturdy, sliced through the water with a rhythmic splash, propelled by the grunts of fellow voyageurs. The Great Lakes' vastness unfolded: the sting of wind-whipped spray on his face, the acrid burn of pipe tobacco shared around campfires, and the rich, gamey flavor of pemmican—dried meat pounded with berries—sustaining them through portages where shoulders ached under the weight of packs heavy with axes, kettles, and trade beads.

By 1688, Jacques and brother Charles ventured deeper, their canoe laden with brandy casks that sloshed enticingly, bound for Odawa camps. The forests enveloped them: towering pines whispering secrets, the crunch of leaves underfoot, and the sharp crack of beaver traps echoing like thunderclaps. Furs piled high—soft, warm pelts that smelled of animal vitality and promised riches in Montréal's markets. But danger lurked: the sudden splash of a rival's ambush, the feverish chill of rapids, or the eerie howl of wolves under starlit skies.

Generations echoed this rhythm. Étienne, Charles's son, in 1713, navigated Detroit's straits, the water's chill seeping through his moccasins as he traded with Huron allies, the air thick with the scent of drying tobacco and roasted venison. Young Charles followed in 1724 to Michilimakinac, where the lake's vast blue expanse met horizons of endless green, and the taste of wild rice mingled with the metallic bite of gunflint sparks.

In La Prairie, the family endured: weddings under blooming apple trees, burials in soil softened by spring rains, and feasts where fiddle tunes danced with the crackle of bonfires. The Deneaus were threads in New France's tapestry—settlers turned traders, their legacy carried on river currents, forever scented with fur, fire, and freedom.

History of La Prairie's Deneau (Deniau) Family in New France

The Deneau family, often spelled Deniau in historical records, represents a quintessential example of early French settler life in New France (modern-day Quebec), particularly in the settlement of La Prairie. Originating from humble roots in rural France, the family arrived during a pivotal era of colonial expansion, marked by conflicts with Indigenous nations, agricultural hardships, and the booming fur trade. While the family's patriarch, Marin Deneau dit Destaillis, was primarily a settler and farmer, his descendants became integral to the voyageur culture—French-Canadian woodsmen and canoeists who drove the fur trade economy. This deep dive draws from genealogical records, historical timelines, and family-specific accounts to trace their story, emphasizing their ties to La Prairie and the fur trade.

Origins and Arrival in New France

The family's story begins with Marin Deneau dit Destaillis (c. 1621–1678), born in Luché-Pringé, a small village in the Sarthe department of France's Maine region, to parents Clément Deneau (c. 1590–1624) and Julienne Roualt (c. 1596–1656).  Marin, a laborer by trade, was part of "La Grande Recrue de Montréal" in 1653—a recruitment drive led by Paul de Chomedey de Maisonneuve to reinforce the fledgling colony of Ville-Marie (Montréal) against Iroquois raids. Signed on May 11, 1653, in La Flèche, France, Marin's contract promised land and wages in exchange for defending the settlement. He arrived on November 16, 1653, aboard one of the ships that brought around 100 recruits, many of whom were artisans, farmers, and soldiers essential to New France's survival. 

Marin first married Marie Hogue in France (she died before 1659), but no children from this union are recorded in New France. On November 24, 1659, he wed Louise-Thérèse Lebreuil (1636–1726), daughter of Jean Lebreuil and Marie Lecomte, in Montréal's Notre-Dame church. Their marriage contract was notarized on November 11, 1659, by Bénigne Basset.  The couple had six known children, though infant mortality was high: Jacques (1660–1720), Charles Marin (1663–1708), Joseph (1666–?), Gabriel (1669, died in infancy), Marie (1670, died in infancy), and Thérèse (1674–?).  Census records from 1666 show Marin as a 45- or 48-year-old farmer in Montréal, owning cattle and 20 arpents (about 17 acres) of cleared land, living with his young family amid the colony's sparse population. 

Settlement in La Prairie

By the early 1670s, the family relocated to La Prairie (formally Notre-Dame-de-LaPrairie-de-la-Madeleine), a Jesuit mission established in 1667 on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River, opposite Montréal. This area, originally Iroquois and Abenaki hunting grounds, was chosen for its strategic portage route between the St. Lawrence and Richelieu rivers, facilitating trade and travel.  Early settlers like the Deneaus lived in makeshift shelters, including repurposed Iroquois longhouses shared with Indigenous converts at the St. François-Xavier mission. The community was multicultural, with French, Oneida, and other Indigenous groups exchanging goods—furs, tools, and food—amid over 20 languages spoken.  La Prairie's population grew from about 99 in 1673 to 321 by 1697, fortified with a wooden palisade in the 1680s against ongoing Beaver Wars conflicts. 

Marin died in La Prairie before October 29, 1678, when Louise remarried François Primo (Primeau). No burial record survives, typical of the era's incomplete documentation.  Louise, a resilient figure, outlived Marin by nearly 50 years, dying in Montréal in 1726.  The family's landholdings in La Prairie supported subsistence farming, but the region's proximity to Montréal made it a launchpad for fur trade expeditions.

Connections to the Fur Trade

The fur trade, New France's economic backbone, involved harvesting beaver pelts for European hats and involved networks of coureurs des bois (independent traders) and licensed voyageurs (canoe-based transporters). La Prairie became a voyageur stronghold, with families like the Deneaus, Bourassas, and Pinsonneaus producing generations of traders.  While Marin focused on settlement, his sons and grandsons embodied the voyageur lifestyle, undertaking arduous canoe journeys to outposts like Detroit, Michilimakinac (Mackinac), and Sault Ste. Marie.

Key family members in the fur trade include:

• Jacques Deneau dit Destaillis (1660–1720): Marin's eldest son, born in Montréal and died in La Prairie. Married Marie Rivet (1673–1705) in 1690, then Françoise Dania in 1705.  As a voyageur, he signed engagements:
• 1685: Hired by Antoine Bazinet for Sault Ste. Marie (Notary Bourgine). 
• 1688: Joint contract with brother Charles for the Ottawa (Odawa) territories (Notary Antoine Adhémar). 
• Genealogical research notes Jacques as one of 19 Deneau family members in 69 documented voyageur trips, often to Minnesota and Great Lakes regions. 
• Charles Marin Deneau dit Destaillis (1663–1708): Born in Montréal, married Madeleine Clément Lapointe in 1685 in La Prairie.  Participated in the 1688 Ottawa voyage with Jacques.  His descendants continued the tradition:
• Étienne Deneau (1691–1730): 1713 engagement to Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit (Notary Adhémar). 
• Charles Deneau (1701–1748): 1724 trip to Michilimakinac with François Augé (Notary Adhémar). 
• Other Descendants: Joseph Deneau (1666–?) married Jeanne Adhémar in 1690.  Grandsons like Claude (1691–1771, son of Charles), Jacques (1695–1726), and Paul (1706–1772) remained in La Prairie, intermarrying with local families and likely supporting trade networks, though direct voyageur contracts are less documented.  Thérèse Deneau (1674–?) married François Primo in 1687. 

The Deneaus interwove with other fur trade dynasties, such as the Bourassas, who dominated western trade posts.  La Prairie's role in the trade is evident in timelines: By the 1700s, amid French-British rivalries, voyageurs like the Deneaus navigated beaver-depleted regions, forging alliances with Indigenous groups like the Odawa and Huron.  Overall, the family exemplifies how settler lineages transitioned from defense and farming to economic opportunism in the fur trade, contributing to New France's expansion until the British conquest in 1760.

This history is preserved in genealogical sources like WikiTree, FamilySearch, and blogs by descendants tracing voyageur ancestry, e.g.: https://laprairie-voyageur-canoes.blogspot.com/

The above tale and information are courtesy of Grok xAI with a little help from Drifting Cowboy.