Sunday Picnics: Always a part of French life in the new world, these affairs continued to the time of my youth. My mother and grandmother told wonderful stories about them. They were ongoing forums for gossip, socializing, news, discussions, eating, drinking, and the occasional “friendly fights” so common to the French culture in the new world.
The American Government: This presented another ambivalence for the now French-Americans which will play into book five. As Jacques Allard told Hamtramck, most French stayed where they were: either in Détroit or Sandwich (now Windsor) with little regard to the government. Again they remained aloof.
Following the old voyageur river trail to the Ohio our heroes arrive at St. Louis, the last real outpost. From there they take the Missouri River to the Great Falls in what is now Montana. During this time the boys learn trapping, trading and the ways of the Native Americans of the West with no small amount of adventure, danger, and some teenage romance.
During my early days of researching Allard family history I was stymied by Jacques Allard. The records of Quebec showed him born in 1746, and my fellow Canadian researchers thought he died at the age of 15, as he disappeared from the Canadian records after the fall of Quebec in 1760. However my research in Detroit showed him married at Ste. Anne on Feb. 7, 1780 and dying in Detroit in 1814. The records of both Quebec and Detroit are filled with census and other records from that time with no trace of him—where was Jacques between 1760 and 1780?? Finally an obscure note found in the bowels of the Burton Library listed him at Fort Pontchartrain with occupation listed as Voyageur! This morsel of information led me to what may be the most exciting adventure in The Allard Series.
When I conceived of writing the history of the Allards, it was the story of Jacques Allard I was most anxious to tell. A young boy, who leaves his family at a critical junction in history becoming a true voyageur and later the first Allard citizen of Détroit, his lifetime encompasses a vital period in the development of Cadillac’s city in the wilderness as well as that of the American nation.
Following the death of his father during the fall of Quebec in 1761, young Jacques Allard leaves his home forever to travel with the famous voyageur, Jean-Baptiste Charbonneau, through the outpost of Detroit to the great west in search of the elusive Northwest Passage. It is here he learns the true ways of the wild, returning to Detroit to find progress disrupted by the Indian wars under the great chief, Pontiac.
Three years later, the peace is brief as American colonists speak of rebellion. Although the French-Canadians are mixed on their allegiance, many like Jacques are certain they dislike the British and travel east to aid the colonists in their quest for independence.
Okay Allard Fans, I’m back ready to blog about BOOK FOUR: THE VOYAGEUR. In addition to discussing the content and related research, I will try to point out what is fact and what ‘could be’ fact. As always, if you have questions I am happy to hear them and respond to you personally or in subsequent blogs.