Histories of the Metis
Metis Culture and History 1660-1669
Trade Increases, along with Animosity
1660 Word reaches the French either in 1659 or 1660 that the savages living 60 leagues to the West of Lake Superior are trading with Europeans.
April, Francois Pelletier of Tadousac married a savage without formal banns; this caused a great sensation in the colony.
April, Adam Dillard Des Ormeaux and 17 Frenchmen with 44 Huron and a few Algonquin departed Montreal to ambush Iroquois traders returning by the Ottawa River. They were surprised by a 300-man Iroquois army. After a nine-day siege, the Huron fled and the nine surviving French are captured and tortured. The zealous Roman Catholics attempted to put a religious and nationalistic spin on the saga claiming they deliberately sacrificed themselves to fend off an attack on New France. Dillard and company are a band of pirates attempting to make gains at the expense of the Iroquois. This was likely not their first pirate raid that continued to inflame the animosity between the Iroquois and French.
April 27, Eustache Lambert and Dalet departed Quebec for Montreal.
May 6, those who give intoxicating liquors to the savages are excommunicated.
Jean Pere, a Metis, reported that he traveled Lake Superior to Hudson Bay, having brought back many furs for trade. This could refer to Nicholas Perrot (Pere) also Joly Coeur (Jolly Soul) (1644-1718), a Coureurs des Bois, and if so would be based upon a false report by the Jesuits.
Father du Creux recorded on his maps, Assinipoualacus River and Lake Lac Des Assiniboels, now called Lake Winnipeg. Obviously the maps are from the Coureurs de Bois or Indian accounts rather than actual sighting. An Indian named Awatanik told Father Gabriel Druillettes, who told the Huguenots Pierre d'Esprit Radisson (1640-1710), about the Hudson Bay and the great fur potential. The good Father suggested to Pierre d'Esprit Radisson (1640-1710) he should claim the discovery of the Hudson Bay and thereby claim credit for France. This form of deceit is systemic in the Jesuit Relations and led to a universal revulsion towards the priests in the Indian Territories. Indian tradition considered this type of deceit the most repulsive of evils.
Medard Chouart (1618-1696) of Groseillier reported a meeting with the Assinniboines who reported on the trade route to Lake Winnipeg (Assiniboels) and beyond.
The voyagers led by Grosilleres and Ojibwa returned from Lake Superior to Quebec with 60 canoes of fox, beaver and buffalo skins valued at 200,000 livres. They had left 50,000 livres worth at Montreal and took the balance to Three Rivers. Groseillier, six men and three priests had wintered with the Ox Nation (Nadwesseronon) that consisted of 4,000 men. In 1659 they wintered at Lake Superior.
The Ottawa had built a Fort at Houghton Point across the bay from Chequamegon Point (La Pointe). Medard Chouart (1618-1696) of Groseillier and Pierre d'Esprit Radisson (1640-1710) visited the Dakota Sioux, a seven day journey out of La Pointe. They also built a Fort on Chequamegon Point. Some suggest the Fort that Pierre d'Esprit Radisson (1640-1710) and Medard Chouart (1618-1696) of Groseillier built is a palisade Fort and is located on the shore near Ashland, Wisconsin. Radisson at Lac Court Oreille, Wisconsin observed a Feast of the Dead ceremony. They are in the company of the Sault (Ojibwa).
Adrian Jolliet (the elder, brother of Louis), Antoine Trotter (Trottier) Desruisseaux (1640-1706), Jean Bellecourt, Claude David, Pierre Levasseur L'Esperance alias LaFleche, and one unknown, arrived Chequamegon Bay (La Pointe, Wisconsin). Father Rene Menard (1605-1661) is the leader of the expedition, but so deep is the animosity towards the Jesuits that he is abandoned at Keweenaw Bay. This action would place the entire crew as Coureurs de Bois unless their actions can remain unreported. La Pointe on Madeleine Island is a secure Ojibwa location as the Dakota Sioux didn't have canoe so couldn't effectively attack them, or so the French reasoned.
Father Rene Menard (1605-1661) departed Trois Rivieres August 28, expecting to find many Christians among the displaced Wendat and Ottawa at Ste Therese after years of religious indoctrination, but he is unable to locate a single convert. The Mixed Blood French traders held the clergy in low regard, as did the Natives of Lake Superior. Other accounts depict Father Rene Menard (1605-1661) as a kindly old man who had to bear the burden of the not so kind Jesuit Order.
The Iroquois attacked the Ottawa north of lake Huron this year.
1661 Father Rene Menard (1605-1661) and his lay assistant Jean (John) Guerin arrived La Pointe having been relieved of command and abandoned at Keweenaw Bay last year. Some remnants of the Wendat and Ottawa went to Chequamegon Territory of the Ojibwa and establish trade with the Potawatomi, Illinois, Dakota Sioux, and Cree. They would conduct trade with the French at Chequamegon Bay, but are not willing to travel through the area controlled by the Iroquois. The Iroquois this year crushed the Illinois people. The Ojibwa, however, still traveled with impunity as the Iroquois feared the Algonquian Nation after having been soundly defeated by them in the past.
Father Rene Menard (1605-1661) and Jean Guerin departed Keweenaw Bay, on Lake Superior then up the Blackwater River, Wisconsin. Father Menard, it is alleged, got separated from Guerin and became lost and is never seen again. Jean Guerin is reported to have been accidentally shot and killed, thereby removing the last witness to the expedition's mutiny. YearŐs later, Father Rene Menard's kettle, robe and prayer book are found among the Dahkotah Sauks (Dakota Sioux). Jesuit Father Gabriel Druilletes (1610-1681) is transferred to Sault Ste. Marie having been placed in charge there.
Word is spreading that two men are executed on the St. Lawrence River for selling liquor to the Savages.
1662 Adrian Jolliet (the elder), Antoine Trotter (Trottier) Desruisseaux (1640-1706), Jean Bellecourt, Claude David, Pierre Levasseur L'Esperance alias LaFleche, and one unknown departed La Pointe minus the late Father Rene Menard (1605-1661) and Guerin. Pierre d'Esprit Radisson (1640-1710) is reported to have visited Lake Nipigon this year. Pierre Levasseur L'Esperance alias LaFleche reported the Saulteurs is at Kionconan (Keweenaw) to the north and the Nepissings and Amikouets are at Alimibegon (Nipigon?).
1663 The Huguenots Pierre d'Esprit Radisson (1640-1710) and Medard Chouart (1618-1696) of Groseillier conducted a second major free-trade voyage to Lake Superior. The authorities in Quebec, likely instigated by the Jesuit, would quickly put a stop to this practice. This suppression of free trade that has a religious basis would eventually lead to the formation of the Hudson Bay Company and the loss of New France to the English and to Protestantism. Meanwhile Captain Zachariah Gilliam sailed to Hudson Strait before being forced back by ice.
1664 Pierre Boucher, grandfather of Sieur Verendrye wrote in Paris that in Lake Superior there is an Island 50 leagues in circumference with a beautiful copper mine. He learned this second hand from 4-5 Frenchmen who had spent three years in the area.
June 1, Trois Rivieres, birth (II)-Marguerite Couc dit Lafleur, Metis daughter of (I)-Pierre Couc dit Lafleur born 1624 and Marie Mite8ameg8k8e born 1631 died January 8, 1699 Trois Rivers a Algonquine; married Jean Masse Fafart.