ED 260 000

AUTHORTITLEINSTiTUTION

SPONS AGENCY.REPORT NOPUB DATENOTE

PUB TYPE

EDRS PRICEDESCRIPTORS

IDENTIFIERS

DOCUMENT RESUME

SO 016 725

Albert, Renaud S., Comp.A Franco-American Overview. Volume 1.Natipnal Assessment and Dissemination Center forBilingual Education, .Cambridge, Mass.; National,Materials Development eenter for French andPortuguese, Bedford, N.H.Department of Education, Washington, DC.ISBN-0-89857-107-379308p.; For the other volumes in this series. see SO016 726-730.Viewpoints (120) Historical Materials (060)Collected W5rks General (020)

MF01/PC13 Plus Postage.*Acculturation; Biculturalism; *Cross CulturalStudies; *Cultural Education; *Cultural Influences;Cultural Pluralism; Culture; Ethnic Groups;Migration; Social History; Social Studies;Subcultures; United States HistoryAcOians; *Franco Americans; French (Cajun); French(Haitian); French Creole; *French Culture; Huguenots;Louisiana; Maine; New Hampshire; Vermont

ABSTRACTInfended to help readers develop an appreciation of

the contributions of Franco-Americans to the cultural heritage of theUnited States, tipis book, the first of six volumes, presents 14

readings representing many perspectives--f om the hibtorical to thesociological -- illustrating the thinking an feelings of those in theforefront of Franco-American studies. Thi olume includes the/following articles: "What is an American?" (Madeleine Giguere); "One-s,Piece in the Great American Mosaic" (Robert Perreault); "Louisiana'sFrench Heritage" (Truman Stacey); "Haiti" (Thomas E. Weil); "TheHuguenots" (Marie-Reine Mikesell); ."The Acadians of Maine" (Julie

7 Albert); "The French in Vermont" (Peter Woolfson); "The RapidAssimilation of Canadian French in Northern Vermont" (PeterWoolfson); "The Franco-American Heritage in Manchester, NewjHampshire" (Thaddeus M. Piotrowski); "A History of Franco-American

ournalism" (Paul Pari); "Bilingual Living" (Normand C. Dube); "CajunFrench and French Creole: Their Speakers and the Questions ofIdentities" (Dorice Tentchoff); "La Cuisine Chez-Nous" ("OurCuisine", Sr. Marguerite Cyr); and "Louisiana's Creole-AcadianCuisine" (Ernest Gueymard). (LH)

****************************x*********************** ******************Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best thatt can be made

from the original document.**********************************************************************

.4. ' .1-

4

aumioA

Le .? :

tik3! A Yi1,. Ile 1-

1 I

.:

.)

1.

4 1

`...i. I - et,4 ' t\,..I 41 -,......e-tr.-\ :,.....V.? en.?

. x ,..-

.1+ %, a -- 'r.

' . 4,...

.., r, ,,,4,:,,

,i. r 7: . 1 .0 e - .4 I te<

)1 .,."' a4 ..

'e I

'1 i %.! .;)

ti

..

11

.. fr.-

v- c , p

. .4 . "rye). / , i t;') ,1?

'"

:

. '-kt

f an

,rt`-l) s

, , . . ,rtn-s_ 4,

or! "'PA;

IV. ";. *4)

7.. ,££t.e.44.`+

. I. ' a... )1.t. c`A.,-t- :- -

., , *it i." ;?L'- ..P

-..... .1 :.

. a . . .1:* l '4 ' I c- . ":' ix; ' . ' ....4.'a ; ,

...

.-. i' 4 A475'

' IC AS' . 4.

£ ..-

..' At 26r ss

. I ' A-....,.,.,.£..,,£...4.' Is/

/ "i I..

t , f

i rr; .;

.., ! ,`,,,,

: "......t..;.1?-i:41:,.411.,.. k,..;,..7-

L....,,.:/,,,:r r I. : j -

411 n.- -I ' r i . ,e

v, ., ? :, Iv 7 , ( .Z., ..,i- ,i .

A fd J e '.., - 4.1 .;;...!....--"ye.;;Ve>cy-',',".41

, .../ .r...:;., .,,ii , 4?-s-

,. 7 1.

:. . ,

iA ' ! . ei:- 1 ' -

* I. , ! , ,. )

-1 , .,/ - - i .0 ,e , . .. ' ' 1 L '. z....-5 ' ,

, ..!

.

ifn.d'' '; 1. .:,....91

1

'1 .:. .

.1.'"i.),,.,',,rser 1.: .:..1 -:. 1

, ... ',.....,

4 '... t -....

. -<. :I .. 11/4"F."

0.. v ns"

. ,, eer...P.1"' 4 '''.!

re......4." $ t -

.-- , 6 -1'%.,-

, - ti :!. 4 t.,*

. , ' I

..,,,:.

:: . 44,,e, ,,.. t,(T.i.,,.

. .4. 14 . .,,3 S' - "...'el

.' 71 7 .

,r <3.1. ,.' ' .4 _.,,.. ,4* - ,e. ez.,,,

. - -.,-.1. .- ehii , .r. . -. . f, ... ,

ti

'

".:f

*;

. '

r.

' 'i '

. ' :C ..- t; '

4,

7 . !,

-

0

s

*

.

16

..04sp ,

",,e sra

-;''.1-.

Aallodlo uouliod 3IN pnalmoiuese.api Apiesseasu wu op ituoui

naop 5,41 u. punt luduido Jo AsA/t 10 1111010,1

AupenU uonanpoole, anoWun of spew ussoently 11801010 lOusi41 s s

thomie£143 u00020.010 £0 UMW! to woil pard11041£

pnpOicti umq eey 1040nO0P 11 41 (3110) U31N33

NOIIVVItiOhNI S331010S3H 11114011V31103 NOILv*naa iO Ltruinsi 11/NOIlleN

mouvonaa leo nawarma tn .

t

I

If

A

A FRANCO-AMERICAN OVERVIEW

Volume 1

Compiled by: Rent ud S. Albert

1 4 I..., 4

' ' '0 ) ' ,." 1 ;'.. r

1'

4

zt°

ii

4

cp

41.

?

tI

Published by National Assessment and Dissemination Center,ESEA Title VIILesley College, 49 Washington Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02140Developed by National Materials Development Center for French168 South River Road. Bedford, New liempshire 03102International Standard Book Number 0-89857-107-3

44Published May 1979 \-NPrinted in the United States of America'ne activity which is the subject of this publication was supported in whole orOwl by the Office of Education U S Department of Health Education andWelfare However the opinions expressed hPrein.do not necessarily reflect thePosition of policy of the Office of Education. and no official endorsement bythe Office of Education should be inferredThe National Assessment and Dissemination Culler for Bilinguallducation is aspecial ESEA Title kni project unded by the U S Office of Education throughesley College Cambridge Mass. and the Fall River Public School System

this publication was developed and printed with funds provided by Title VIIof the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 01 1965 as amended

ti

4

ti

04

G

,.1

INTRODUCTION

This guide is intended for the use of those who wish to find out abgut 6r toextend their awareness of le fait franco-americain in sthe United States today. Theselections chosen for this guide represent many perspectives from the historicalthrough the cultural to the sociological T and illustrate the thinking and the feelings ofthose who are in the forefront of Franco-American studies. We hope that through isguide the reader will develop an appreciation of the contributipns of the Frafice-Americans to the cultural heritage of our United States.

It

t.

4

g't

TABLE OF CONTENTS

IChapter

Introduction

Page

Lu

I What is an American? Madeleine Giguere 1

One Piece in the Great American Mosaic / Robert ferreault 74. .

III' Louisiana's French Heritage Truman Stacey 58

IV Haiti Thomas E Well 124z

V The Huguenots Marie-Reine Mikesell 146

VI The Acadians of Maine Julie Albert 151

VII The French ir. VermOnt Peter Woolfson 207

VIII The Rapid As..:milatiatt of Canadian

IX

French in Northern termont

fite Franc6-Ainerican Heritage in -

Peter Woolfson 211.

Manchester, New Hampshire Thaddeus M. Piotrowski 217

X A History of Fkanco-American Journalism Paul Path 237

XI.

Eplingual Living Normand C. Dube 261

XII Cajun French and French Creole:Their Speakers and the Questionsof Identities Do'rice Tentchoff 273

XIII La Cuisine Chez-Nous Sr. Marguerite Cyr 289

XIV Louisiana's Creole-Acadian Cuisine Ernest Gueymard 292

WHAT IS AN AMERICAN? *

'by

-14%ladeleine Giguere 1.

Professor of SociologyUniversity of Maine atrortland-Gorham

The answer to this question is in part determined from whence the .response comes - ageographic location, a site in a social topographyor a place in a mltural base. To take the easierdistinction first, the European may or may notman the. United States when he srs America,ceitainly the South Am 'can will say, we tooare Americans, South Ainerican if yott wish, butAmericans nevertheless; the Mexican will saythat he too is an American, a North American,as are his neighbors to the north. Canadians alsowill say that they are American, North Ameri-cans calling themselves Canadians and reservingthe simple Whit American for their neighbors tothe south. And, of co. irse, the Canadian usageis also the common American meaning: an Amer-ican is a person of the United States of America.My talk will deal with the internal usage andmeanings of «what is an American?» This is notonly important to the United States but also toa large extent determines the definition of usmade by other peoples.

If one is a full participant in our societyone assumes that everyone elseis. In my coursein Social Change, I use a Simulated Society ex-ercise in which there is a deprived region; it isa very depressing experience for middle class stu-dents not to be able to participate fully in thesociety because of the lack of resources. Theyhave to scramble so hard just to keep alive thatthey exercise little or no influence in this soci-ety, often trading their votes for food. It is amost worthwhile learning experience for thesestudents to see what deprivation can do to youpsychologically and socially. Similarly, it is dif-ficult for us to understand the effects of the dep-rivation which «new Americans» felt with re-lation to the people who were already here orwhQ, were taking them over. Some of that

deprivation takes a long time to eradicate. Thepre-American Revglution stock has dominatedAmerican society down through the years. Thefirst American President riot of pre- revolution-ary slock was a very popular General in cone ofour Major and successful wars, Dwight DavidEisenhower. One hundred and seventy-fiveyears were needed to make true the Peclarationof Independence'cringing state .ent of equalityas between pre and post-revolutionary stock. In1960 the election of John F. Kennedy -to thePresidency proclaimed the equality of Catholicswithin the American Republic. But we have notyet had a President whose ancestors were incor-porated into the U.S. after iheCivil War, nor aJewish .President, nor a Black President, nor ;Native American President, nor a Hispanic Pres-ident, nor a Franco-American President. We areall Americans, but some are more equal thanothc:s», to quote George Orwell in Animal Farm.Ancestry still plays a larger role in determiningdegrees of possible participation in the Americansystem than we would like to think. The 0/.production of Roots has had the positive func-tion of bringing ancestry to the fore of the Amer-ican consciousness where we can confront itfor blacks, whites, and by analogy for all the ra-cial and ethnic groups in the United States. Ithas made us aware of the diversity of our back-grounds, not only the Mayflower, but also theslave ships. And for t, 3, as Franco-Americans, ;thas brought visions of the slips coming first toSt. Croix Island in Maine in 1605 and thcir toPort Royal in 1606 - the first of the Acadiansettlements, and then of the ships taking Cham-plain to found the trading post that was to be-come the City of Quebec in 1608. Our French-Canadian and Acadian ancestors are with us eas-ily, because of the excellent recording of bap-tisms, marriages, and burials, by the priests

Address to the Tri-State Conference on the Education of Limited English-Speaking Children at Shelburne,New Hampshire, May 6, 1977.

NA.

'4

I

2

who officiated at them. For instance, in dOing

some preliminary homework for a genealogicaltrip q Normandy, Perche, and Brittany thiscorn' g summer, I found that one ,f my ances-tral mily circle married Abraham Martin, whowas the owner of some farm land known as theplains of Abraham, on which the French' andEnglish fought. the crucial battle for the control

..--a" of North America. I am sure that I share therelationship with several tens of thousand...otherpersons since the persons, coming to New Francewere limited in number, not more than 10,000 inall,and most of these came before 1700. All ofthe more than 10,000,000 North AmericanFrench can trace their ancestry to those 10,000,The French are old settlers in North America,sharing the honors with the Spanish, the English,

and thel Scotch-Irish. But these claims of oldsettler status are not validated in the United

.? tStates culture for the French or for the Spanish.And sve see that length of settlement on thiscontinent is not a major criterion for what is anAmefican in the United States. Perhaps it is

it,length of residence in what is now United Statesterritory? But looking at the Lou' iana Purchaseof 1803 and the Florida Pure e of 1819, theWebspr-Ashburfign Trea 1842, the TexasAnnexation of 1845 and the Mexicaq Cession of1848 and knowing that Santa Fe was founded in1608 and that the Acadians were on the Ameri-can side of the St. Join. River in Maine by the1780's, we know that length of residencewithin the contempolAry boundaries of the U.S.are not crucial to the determination of wha. isan American.

Certainly it is noCdiscovery, since theFrench mapped out not Only contemporaryCanada but also much of the contemporaryU.S. territory. The French either discovered, ex-plored or colonized the areas of the U.S. bound-ed by Maine, Vermont, New York, Pennsylvania,South Carolina, Florida, Alabama, ssissippi,

Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansa4Wyoming,Montana, North Dakota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Il-linois. and Ohio as well as Oregon.' So weknow that being an American does not mean

eC

X

being first to discover, explore or colonize areasnow within the United States boundaries, nordoes it mean being an early settler in NinthAmerica. Being first and being early may have

some significance, but they are not crucia' de-terminants.

Does 'ieing an Americans mean .L-

ing in American institutions? The first form ifparticipation for all capable adults, especiallymales, coming to the territory of the UnitedStates is entry into the labor 'force. For adultmales without other means of support iMs is anecessary, but not a sufficient condition forbeing considered an American. Otherwise, therewould not be the question, currently, of what todo about illegal working aliens in the U.S. today.For the females, if their work was largely con- 'T

fill to their homes in the seventeenth andeighteenth century, the development of the tex-tile industr,x in the nineteenth century gave wom-

en an alternative to marriage, lerVanthood, orfor Catholics, the religious life, and so we findthat from the mid-nineteenth century on, thesingle immigrant women in textile centers wereerected to .work for a living. But this paidlabor no more guaranteed her status as an Amer-

ican than it Iliad for the males:

Is participation in the political arena acriterion for being considered an American?,This uiay be crucial.The naturalization processvarying from time tb time and from place toplace gave an official stamp to one's claim to be

an American. Franco-Americans from 18",4 onopted in increkng numbers to naturalize. Thedata for Brunswick, Maine, indicate that peaksmay have occurred in election years when polit-ical interest was highest and pl-obably voterswere solicited. The Brunswick data shows thelargest number of naturalizations in the period)1916-1920.2 Is this the by-product of World

War I patriotism or the Women's Suffrage Move-

ment? (Jnfortunately, the data is not brokendown by sex, so we don't know. It is ,Iso truethat until 1922, women could become/ citizensby marrying citizens and so they did not have to

'1

dem

go through the naturalization process. But theydid have to go .through the voting registrationprocess which in. the twentieth Century until thelate 1960's, required a modicum of ability toread English.

is We will come back W this point' of lan-guage but First let me describe briefly the immi-gration of French-Canadians and Acadians totheUnited States. The first were the Aca-dians who were 'deported by the English (Iegrand derangement) froin their cenary -and-a-half old homelands on the Bay of Fundy to theEnglish colonies of North America, to Frazee, tothe French Antilles. 'Many of the displaced Aca-

..--- dians found their way to Louisiana to be the an-cestors of today's «Cajuns». Others drifted backto New Brunswick to feel again threatened bythe English soldiers and Tories settling in NewBrunswick after the American Revolution. Sosome Acadi:n1 moved again to settle in the Mad-awaska territory along the upper St.John Val-I y. An attempt to gain secure titles to lands,t is second «derangement» brought the Aca-dians to what is now United States territory inthe 1780's.3 Other Filench-Acadians, partisansof the Atb,:rican revolutionary cause, were giVenlands in Northern New York, called the «Refu-gee Tract» after the Revolution, and in the West-ern Reserve. In the first part of the 19th centu-ry, there were some political refugees from theanti-French «reign of terror» of an English gov-ernor (1807 -1811) and then later refugee lead-ers of the abortive revolution of 1837 in Canada,the Patriots. Both of these grotips migratedlargely to Vermont.4 But with thAt exceptionsthe migration to the United States was not di-rectly the result of political pressures. In the19th century' the French-Canadians were-caughtin the classical Malthusian dilemma of too manypeople on t9trrittle fertile land. Farms had beensubdivided to the point of diminishing returns.poor land had been drawn into cultivation, mar-kets for farm goods wire poor as was transporta-tion to markets. Furthermore, tracts of fertileland,were held by the British and inaccessible tothe French. All this combined with an ethic of

4.

g./

(3

'high fertility created a tremendous pressure on' the Ft-elicit to migrate. The opportunities for

work in New England drew a-large proportion ofthose who did emigrate. from Quebec. By 1850migration to New Englaro developed a perma-nent character rather than the Seasonal characterit had,had before. TextileS .ra,ther:than lumber-ing and the brickyard becarnettle ingjor employ-ment.

During the Civil War, immigratiorr slack-ened somewhat. However, some 20,000 to40,003 French-Canadians Iere enlisted in theNorthern armies:, many bytmeaus of bounties,some as paid substitutes for the U.S. draftees.After the Civil War a rapid :development ofmarkets for New England industries created em-ployment opportunities that were lacking inCanada. Mason Wade estimates that at least500,000 French-Canadians migrated to the Unit:ed States between 1865 and 1890 and perhapsIt lf a, million more came between ":1905 and115129, a period when Canadian immigrationagain became heavy. In 1940, the United Statek

Census reported the number of French-Canadiaiiborn or of mixed parentage as 908,000.5 Thisof course, does not take into account the de-,scendants of earlier immigrants such as myself.My estimate of the number of French-Canadithorigin persons in the United States today ISaround six million. We wilt know more accu-rately' if we can persuade the Bureau of the Cen-sus to treat French-Americans on a par with theSpanish-Americans in the 1980 census.

What is unique about this migration to theUnited States is that it was an overland migra-tion. with the distances relatively small so thatone could walk and many early migrants did. Itmight be thought that the relative ease of trans-portation may have encouraged French-Cana-dian immigrants to repatriate more than Ameri-

4 can immigrants as a whole: We know that ingeneral one third of the immigrants coming tothe U.S. returned to the old country. As far asI know this has not been studied for French-Canadians, but I hypothesize that in fact the

I

a'

A

4

ease of movement across the frontiers actuallylowered the rtes of return migration. On

could always go back to the oldparish and seethat life there was in fact relatively deprivedcompared to life in the States. Certainly wekp riafion Congress in 1874 in Montreal which

ow' that this is what happened at the great re-

.en ed in persuading the emigres to raurn to thehomeland.6 By (900, French-Canadians made

up 30 percent of the Massachusetts textile work;ers and more than 60 percent of those in NewHampshire and Maine.7 They were in fact well-integratecl into the economic structure of NewEngland by the turn of the century. They weremostly citizens either by naturalization, by birthor ,by marriage. And they were participattgin the electoral proceos, as witnessed by the elec-tion of Joseph Cyr ho 'the Maine Legislature in1 gill, and in 1873 Vermont had(p Franco Con-grAman, Charles Fontaine.8 In 1907 Rhode Is-land elected a French-origin governor, Aram

Pothier.

Did this economic and political partici-pation make them full-fledged Americans? Is

that what being an American means? TheFrench-origin leaders in the United States hadbegun calling themselves Franco-Americans. inthe latter part of the 19th century; my maternalgrandfather, for instance, was President of anAssociation Catholique Franco-Americaine in

1899. By this title FrancoAmerican, our an-cestors were saying they were no longer French-Canadian, but American and French, Americanpolitically, economically, and culturally to theextent necessary ti, darticipate politically andeconomically, but alvo French culturally. It was

an early statement of a bicultural and bilingualposition. Cultufal pluralism for the Franco-Americans as for 'other immigrant groups was anadaptive response to the American environment.They migrated to participate in the Americaneconomic system; by the 1800'S they were par-ticipating in the political system, and by theturn of the century they had stled themselvesAmericans of French origin -- Franco-Americans,Culturally they would be both, as Bessie Bloom

Wessel says in K<An Ethnic Survey of Woonsock-

et, Rhode Island». 1ln this they were noraloneamong foreigw- nationalities in this country. But

they are probably unique in having promulgatedlb) the turn of the century) a theory of Ameri-

canism which anticipates [ the theories ofcultural pluralism of today.] >> No other nation-ality, Wessel says, can claim to have enunciateda theory of Americanization more clearly or tohave organized its group life more consciouslytoward a given end than have the Franco-Ameri-,cans.9 They would be bicultural Americans andparticipants in the economic and political sys-tems of the United States.

Following the interpretation of AndrewGreeley of the Center for the Study of AmericanPluralism, NATIONAL OPINION RESEARCHCENTER, The University of Chicago, we find

that this Franco-American position is in accordwith the American founding fathers who decid-ed that the «central core of beliefs that was tocreate the American nation would consist ofcertain political principles as contained in theDeclaration of Independence and the Constitu-tion." Early naturalization laws make clearthat to become a citizen «one was not required

to give up one's religion or nationality or evenone's language (in fact, English as a requirementfor citizerhhip is. a 'twentieth century innova-

tion.)»11 However grudgingly, the pre-revolu-tionary stock Americans' did indeed admit theimmigrants of the nineteenth century «requir-ing of them (in theory at least) only that theypledge allegiance to the political system in orderto achieve equal rights as citizens.;>12 Thetheory was flawed in practice, the Blacks anNative Americans were not given the opportu$i-ty to i ecome citizens. «Orientals were admittedfor a time and then excluded. Eastern andSouthern Europeans were admitted by the mil-lions, but then the American Republic... (estab-lished) the discriminatory quota system» tolimit their access. German-Americans paid a«heavy cultural price for being German» duringWorld WJf I and II. «Japanese-Americans wereherded together in concentration camps during

.1D

the Second' World War.» 13 Nonelof these limi-tations affected the French-Canadians and theAcadians who, as residents of the , Westernhemisphere, had relatively free access to theUnited States until 1965 and who were never ex-chided from citizenship, stigmatized as «theenemy» or herded into concentration camps..However, they did suffer from the other limita-tions. The founding fathers' theory did not re-quire <of immigrants that they give'up their ownlanguage or their own culture, but in practicethe social pressures were so- :prong that languageswere lost and cultures repressed.»14 TheBranco -Ahlericans were caught in this vise oflanguage., religion and culture pressures. Theirreaction was to band together, to create theirown institutions: the parishes7 the schools, thenewspapers, and. their own voluntary associa-tions. They became an interest group tw bereckoned with in local and state politics.

With their high degree of organizationthey survived through the 1940's politicallyAmerican. but bilingual and bicultural and con-sequently for some persons. questionable Amer-icans. The effects of World War H on this ethniccommunity were drastic. Men were drafted outof their olittle Canadas» into the homogenizedAmerican military; people moved from theirtraditional ethnic communities to war - relatedemployment. Many of the latter were not toreturn to their native areas. Some draftees cameback .,vonvinced that opportunity lay in thegreat' American society rather than in the eth-nic community. The great Franco-Americaninstitutions began to falter: the French press allbut disappeared; the Franco-American parishesanglicized themselves and their schools. whilethe ,,olunory societies limped on. Many personsboth. within and without the Franco-Americangroup applauded these developments theFranco, were finally becoming oreal» Ameri-cans.

Yet there was internal malaise. We didn'tknow how much we knew of our heritage orhow much ..e were in fact transmitting to our

5

children. For most parents, colturt% is notProblematiCal. it is; we transmit what we knowwithout reflection. The work of Peter Woolfsonof the University of Vermont is especially in-teresting in this regard, demonstrating the te-nacity of values by the similarities of the valuesof the Quebecois and the Vermont FrenchAmericans.15 For the professional educatorsin the parochial schools, the situation was dif-ferent: of course, they were trained to transmit-a set of values and norms both religiots imdsecular which included language.16 Less andless French was taught and less and less of thetraditional French culture was taught explicitly

.as the years wore on. This was the condition (ifthe Franco-Americans in the early 1960's,politically fully accepted, outwardly conformingto the mainstream culture; but witIA the familyand the paochial school a traditional set ofvalues and language orientations were transmit-ted largely by example and out of habit. Theethnic revival of the early ,sixties leda,to newinstitutional supports for cultural diversity acidbilingual/bicultural education programs as wellas ethnic studies programs began teaching ex-plicitly what recently had beeti taught implicitlyor out of tradition/ These educational programshave given vital support to the implementationof the theories, of Americanism of both sets offounding fathers. The view of the Americanfounding fathers and the views of the Franco-American founding fathers on «what is an Amer-ican» are not only essentially thensame buttheir ideal of political unity with cultural diver-sity has greater public acceptance today than inany other period in this century. I believe thatit is a particularly propitious time to implementeducational programs for children of limitedEnglisl- -speaking ability.

6

References

1, Jacques-Donat f asanovaArmour Landry, America's

French Heritage (Quebec: La Documentation Franoiseand the Quhec Official Publisher, 19;0) p. 121.

2. William N. Locke. «The French Colony at Brunswick,Maine: A Historical Sketch» Les Archives de Folklore, I(Montreal: Fides, 1946) p. 100.

3. Mason Wade, «1 he Loyalists and the Acadians» inThe French Pe New England, Acadia and Quebec, ed. by

Edward Schriver ( Orono: New England-Atlantic Prov-

inces-Quebec ('enter. 1973), pp. 7-22.

4. Mason Wad, «French and French Canadians in the

United States» New Catholic Encyclopedia, 1967.

p. 144.

5. Ibid., p. 146.

6. Robert ti. Perreault, «One piece in the Great American

Mosaic.» Le banado-Amdricain, avril-tnai-juin, 1976, pp.

27-28,

7. Wade, «French and French Canadians in the UnitedStiites» p. 146.

8. Paul. Cha'sse, Politics, FranCo-American Ethnic Heri-

tage Studies Program (Wbrcester: Assumption CollegeTitle IX (ESEA) Grant, 1975), p. 2.

44

II

9, Bessie Bloom Wessel, An Ethnic Survey of Woon-socket, Rhode Is /and. The American Immigration Col-lection (new York: Argo Press and the New YorkTimes, 1970) Appendix,

10, Andrew M. Greeley, «The Future of the Ethnic Re-vival» (paper presented at the National Conference on

Ethnicity. Cleveland State University, .May 12, 1972)

P. 9-

11. Andrew M, Greeley, «An Alternative Perspective for

Studying AmericarAthnicity» (paper on staff seminarof the Center for the Study of American Pluralism,National Opinion Research Center, the University ofChicago, n,d.) p. 16.

12, Greeley, «The Future otf the Ethnic Revival», pp.

3-4.

13. Ibid., p. 4.

14. Ibid., p, 4.

15, Peter Woolfson, «Itaditional French CanadianValue Orientations and Their Persistence among theFranco-Americans of Northeastern Vermont» (paperpresented at the Annual Meeting of the Northeast An-

thropological AssOciation Meetings, Burlington,Vermont, April 27.29, 1973), pp. 1-30.

16, Anne Woolfson, presentation at Tri-State Confer-

ence on the Education of,Limited English-Speaking Chil

dren. Shelburne, New Hampshire, Ay 7, 1977.

ONE PIECE IN THE GREAT AMERICAN MOSAICTHE FRANCO- AMERICANS OF NEW ENGLAND

by,

Robert B..Perreauft

The year is 1976.. The UnitedStates of America is celebrating its 200thanniversary. In recent years, from Marneto California and ,from Wdshington toFlorida, the word' «Bicentennial» hasbecome part of the nation',.s.claily vocabd-Lary. Cities and toWqs have' held paradesand festivals conitrytorating one histor-is event after another. Tea haS again,found its way into Boston Harbor. PaulRevere has returned to do a repeatperformance of his famous midnight ride.George Washington, accompanied by hissoldiers, has braved the chilling winter airto cross the Delaware River once again.The entire country has plunged itself intoa very historical mood, thus.re.iving aninterest In the days of y..,-;teryear.Americans have become avid readers oflocal and national history. Malty are «get-ting back to their roots» by studying theirfamily genealogy. Others are attemptingto recapture the past through the resto-ration of old homes, city blocks, historicallandmarks, and by collecting antiques ofsarious sorts. In addition to this, theBicentennial has caused many citizens toreflect upon ttie nation's accomplishmentsover the last 200 years and at the sametime, to exam ine the present to see if theAmerican people are living up to thedreams and 'deeds of their forefathers.

The United States is like a largemosaic, composed of hundreds of distitict-ly colored pieces of all shapes and sizes,each one unlike the next, yet all fittingtogether to form one beautiful work of

art. These colored pieces are the nation'svarious ethnic groups, people who maytrace their origins back to South America,Europe, Africa, or Asia, all different inlanguage, culture, and traditions, yetexisting together under one flag in onenation, the United States. In the spirit ofthe Bicentennial, the present article willrecall the memories and a!devements ofone of New England's major peoples,the grandchildren of France and thechildren of Quebec, the Franco-Americans. It is the story of those whohave fought long and hard to maintaintheir cultural identit: in the midst ofpersistent influen which, if notchecked, may one ci, `zstroy the ethniccolor of the Franco-Americans altogether.The survival of this group as a distinctpiece in the American mosaic dependsupon its young members of today, whowill carry on the Franco-American tradi-tion. In order for them to continue thework of their ancestors, it is essential thatthey take the time to become well-informed about the history of theirpeople. Hopefully, this article maycultivate within them some sense ofethnic pride which in turn will inspirethem to preserve the language and tradi-tions which their forefathers held sacred.

EARLY EXPLORATIONS

In the year 1524, King Francois 1of Fiance ordered the Florentinenavigator, Giovanni da Verrazano, to leada French expedition in search of a trade

8

route to the Orient. This voyage ledVerrazano to the Atlantic Coast of NorthAmerica at the present site of the State ofNorth Carolina. From there, he sailed asfar north as Ne"wfoundland, seeing suchlandmarks as the Hudson River, BlockIsland, which he named «Claudia» in

honor of the Queen of France,Narrangansett Bay, and the distant peaksof New Hampshire's White Mountains.Verrazano s brother Hieronimo, a cartog-rapher, drew a map of the exploredregions, baptizing them Nova Gallia,hence, New Gaul or New France.1

The next significant discovery tookplace in 1534 when Francois I, still deter-mined to find an Oriental trade route,sent Jacques Cartier, a sea captain fromSt. Ma lo, on a new expedition across theAtlantic. Curtier landed at Bale desC'Italeurs on the Gaspe Peninsula, planteda cross there in the name of the King ofFrance, and discovered the great riverwhich he called the St. Lawrence. As thecold season drew closer, Cartier decided toreturn to France. During his secondvoyage (1535-36), Cartier sailed up theSt. Lawrence River hoping that it wouldlead to some sea to Asia. Instead, helanded at Hochelaga, an Iroquois villagelocated at the present site of Montreal. 2

RELIGIOUS DIFFICULTIES ANDFIRST COLONIZATION ATTEMPT

While explorers occupied them-selves with new discoveries in NorthAmerica, religious reformers in Europeworked diligently to spread the seeds ofProtestantism across the continent. Thiscaused a great deal of strife in England,Switzerland, France, and the Holy RomanEmpire (Germany). Intolerant Catholicrulers ordered their soldiers to put an endto this wave of heresy by imprisoning,

torturing, and executing those who ad-hered to the new faith. Likewise, angryProtestant monarchs retaliated by perse-cuting all Catholics within their domain.France was no exception. FrenchProtestants, called «Huguenots», sufferedand died for their religious convictions. 3

In 1562, Admiral Gaspard deColigny, a noted French military officerand Huguenot leader, called togetherseveral hundred French Protestants totake part in the first colonization attemptin North America. A previous endeavor inBrazil in 1555 had proven unsuccessful.Coligny ordered Jean Ribaut, a Frenchnavigator, to lead an expedition to theNew World in an effort to find a suitablelocation for the Huguenot colony. Oncethere, the Admiral hoped that his peoplewould lead a pleasant life, free fromreligious oppression. Ribaut and theexiled Huguenots settled not far from thepreselit site of Jacksonville, Florida, andalso at Port Royal, South Carolina. Inthis new land, wild and foreign, the %firstEuropean colonists found life quite dif-ficult. As a result, they fell into a state ofdiscord, rendering themselves vulnerableto all potential opposing forces.

The inevitable came in 1565 whenthe Spanish arrived in Florida and found-ed the city of St. Augustine. Realizingthat Florida was not spacious enough toallow Spanish Catholicism and FrenchProtestantism to coexist, the Spanish, ledby Pedro Menendez de Aviles, proceededto capture the French fortress, FortCaroline, and to murder every last person.According to the Spanish, they killed theFrench colonists «not as enemies of theKing of Spain, nor as Frenchmen, butrather as Huguenots and heretics». TheFrench back home did not particularlyrelish the idea of having their people mas-

14

sacred abroad, not to mention the fact thatthe Spanish had obliterated the first Frenchattemi t at colonization. Revenge fipallycame a few years later when a French noble-man, Dominique de Gourgues, led a surpriseattack on the Spanish fort in Florida, kill-ing every last person «not as Spaniards, butas traitors, robbers, and murderers».4 Tornapart by religious struggles, including suchhorrid events as the Massacre on St. Barth 3-lornew's Day in 1572, France temporarilyshifted her attention away from the NewWorld in order to tend to domestic prob-lems.5

RESUMPTION OF EXPLORATIONIN NORTH AMERICA

In 1598, king Henri IV proclaimed theEdit de Nantes. Through this edict Protes-tants were assured the right to practice theirreligion without fear of pr!rsecution.6 Dur;ing the first decade of the 17th centuryHenri IV sent Samuel de Champlain. a for-mer Huguenot converted to Catholicism,on a series of voyages abroad. Champlainestablished the first permanent settlementin Canada at Port-Royal on the Bay of Fun-dy, Nova Scotia, in 1605. Another tab-fished . in 1608, later b a city ofQuebec. In addition to this, Champlain be-came the first white man to explore certainportions of the New England area, claimingmountains, rivers, lakes, and bays, all ill thename of his motherland and her king. Alongthe coast, he explored Cap Blanc (CapeCod Bay), saw the mouth of the Riviere du

41)Guast (Merrimack River), sto ped at Beau-met (Gloucester). and visite the Ile Soup-conneuse (Martha's Vineyare ). He also sawparts of Maine, Vermont, and New YorkState. Vermont received its name fromChamplain's remarks about the magnificentmonis yens. the Green Mountains. LakeChamplain is but another of the manydiscmeries attributed to the renowned

9

explorer. 7

In 1613, Champlain published abook in Paris which contained an accuratedescription, maps included, of the terri-tories explored during his voyages. Had afew of the Pilgrims who later came to thisCountry on the Mayllower visited Paris in1613, they could have purchased inseveral Parisian book shops a copy ofVoyage de la Nouvelle-France.' In it, theywould have found a detailed chaired anarea which Champlain had named PortSt-Loui otherwise known a:, Plymouth,Massach setts.

)

BEGI NINGS OF A NEW SOCIETY

The seven decades which followedthe arrival of the French at Port-Royal,Nova Stotia, were marked by a small mi-gration from France to Canada. InQuebec and Acadia, the colonists chosefarming as their primary occupation. Thiswas done for subsistence rather than forcommercial purposes. 9 As time wenton, their small society began to take on anidentity all its own. Emigrants primarilyfrom Normandy, Brittany, Le Perche, Ilede France, Poitou, and Anjou broughttheir various provincial dialects andcustoms to New France, causing a sub-sequent fusion of all of these. 10 Thuswere born the French-Canadian language,habits, traditions, and philosophy of life.For the most part, these people werequite peaceful, and they found satis-faction in merely going about theirdaily chores and activities.

COUREURS DE BOIS

In addition to the French color gistswho inhabited the Eastern portionsof Canada, there existed a breed ofmen unlike any other. These men work.

10

adventyre seekers, lovers of the savageoutdoors who made their. living primarilyin the fur trade. They lived in forests. onlakes and on rivers. They hunted, fished,explored new lands in Central andWestern portions of North America andtraded with friendly Indian tribes. Thesemen are commonly referred to as thecoureurs de bois or «trappers». A fewof the best known coureurs de bois were:

- Etienne Brille, who came to Canadawith Champlain as a mere boy of 16. Hediscovered Lake Huron, Lake Superior,and Sault-Sainte-Marie. After he had livedamong the «Bear» tribe of the Hurons forseveral years, they killed, quartered,boiled hild ate him.

- Jean Nicolet, who discovered LakeMichigan in 1634.

Pierre Radisson and MedardGroseilliers, two brothers-in-law whodiscovered the head-waters ofMississippi River. and who wereinstrumental in the founding of theHudson Bay Company.

- Father Jacques Marquette and LouisJolliet, who explored the Mississippi andIllinois Rivers.

Robert Cavelier de La Salle, whosailed to the mouth of the Mississippi,claiming land for France and naming thesurrounding area «Louisiana» in honor ofKing Louis XIV.

- Nicolas Perrot, who explored theDakota and Wisconsin areas.

Pierre Gaultier de la Verendrye, whoexplored the Souris River in North Da-kota. and whose son, also named Pierre,discovered the Rocky Mountains.' I

Much of the time, Jesuit mission-aries accompanied the coureurs de bois.The priests went 1.....)ut winning new soulsfor the Catholic Church while the trappersspent their time claiming new lands forthe King of France. Many Indians did notcare to hear the «word of God» and there-fore the lives of the Jesuits were in

constant danger. Their worst enemies, theIroquois, had a notorious reputationfor their unimaginable methods ofp'torture. The story of Father Isaac Joguesand his companions who suffered a count-less number of hours being cut, stabbed,dismembered, and burned by the Iroquoisis one which demonstrates the unusualdedication and sincerity of Canada's firstadvocates orChristianity. Father Joguesfinally died in 1646 at the present site ofAuriesville, New York, when an Indianstruck him on the head with a

tomahawk.12 Count Frontenac, theGovernor of New France, also had dif-ficulties with the Iroquois, although hesuccessfully suppressed them.1 3

As coureurs de bois and mission-aries continued to push farther West,France's possessions in North Americaincreased accordingly. By 1700, theentire territory between the Appalachianand the Rocky Mountains was definitelyFrench.14 Many of the nation's majorcities are the result of early settlementsestablished by French pioneer'' in variousparts of the country:

- Duluth. Minnesota, founded in 1679by Daniel Greysolon Du Lhut.

- Detroit, Michigan, founded in 1701by CaRitaine de La Mothe Cadillac.

- Mobile. Alabama, founded in 1702by Le Moyne D'Iberville.

- New Orleans, Louisiana, founded in1718 by Sieur de Bienville.

- Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, founded in

1754 by Pecaudy de Con trecoeur.- St. Louie Missouri, foutided in 1764

by Pierre Laclede and Pierre- Dubuque, Iowa, founded in 96by

Julien Eiubuque.- Chicago, Illinois, founded in 1813 by

Jean-Baptiste Beaubien.' 5

HUGUENOTS INTHE ENGLISH COLONIES

Throughout the 17th century,while French Catholics were busy settlingin Eastern Canada and exploring theCentral and Western portions of NorthAmerica, the English were colonizingthe Eastern seaboard from Maine toGeorgia. Although the colony of Mary-land had a few Catholic settlements,the Protestant faith dominated elsewhere.Despite conditions set forth in the Edit deNantes, Catholics in France under theinfluence of Cardinal Richelieu continuedto harass Huguenots in order to preventthem from achieving political strength.16

Anti-Protestant sentiment remainedlong after Richelieu's death in 1642 sothat by 1685 Louis XIV decided toproclaim the Revocation de l'Editde Nantes. Consequently, 100,000Huguenots fled from France, seekingrefuge in countries where Protestantismhad become the accepted faith.17 Manysettled among their fellow Protestant inthe English colonies.' 8 For the mostpart, these Huguenots were wealthy andeducated. Th :refore, they were able tocontribute economically and culturally tothe development of the young colonies.The following is but a small percentage ofthe many French Protestants whocontributed to the founding of the UnitedStates of America:

Guillaume Molines d his family,

who arrived on the Mayflower in 1620.

- Philippe de la Noye, who arrivedat Plymouth in 1621 and who was anancestor of Franklin «Delano» Roosevelt.

- Pierre Minuit, who in 1626purchased the island of Manhattan fromthe Indians for the equivalent of twenty-four dollars.

Nicolas Martiau, who was amaternal ancestor .of George Washington.

- Pierre Faneuil, a wealthy merchantfrom Bosto who was responsible for theconstriabti of Faneuil Hall.

- Paul Revere, American Revolutionarypatriot who descended from the French

tfamily o Rivoire de Romagneu.

- Pierre-Charles l'Enfant, who drewthe 'street plan of Washington, D. C.,based upon that of Paris.19

The list could go on indefinitely,citing the names of many of this nation'sbest known politicians, authors, artists,scientists, men and women of nearlyevery imaginable occupation. The FrenchProtestants who settled in the Englishcolonies in the New World during the17th and 18th centuries became rapidlyabsorbed by the predominantly Anglo-Saxon society, Many abandoned theirmother tongue within a few generations.Others went so far as to anglicize theirfamily name. Todayrmany «pure Yankeeblue-bloods» who consider themselvesdescendants of English or Scotch- Irishfamilies may actually trace their ancestlyback to France. 20

4

TIn.1 - At n

12

FRENCH CANADIAN DIFFICULTIESWITH ENGLAND

The year 1675 marks the end ofFrench immigration to Canada.2 1 Fromthe founding of the first colony in 1605up to this time, no more than 10.000colonists came to New France.22Gradually, the French-Canadians became

_ less dependent upon their mothercountry, and the. two nations slowlybegan to drift apart, both culturally andeconomically. Except for their need formilitary protection, Canadians were in-dependent. In addition to their problemswith the Indians, threats to the peacefullife of these colonists came from France'sold foe, Great Britain, In 1713, theTreaty of Utrecht ended the War of theSpanish Succession between Great Britainand France. By this treaty, France cededto Great Britain her claims in NorthAmerica to the Hudson Bay territories,.to Newfoundland, and to Acadia.23

r.The Acadians settled the present

day Provinces of New Brunswick, NovaScotian Prince Edward Island, parts ofQuebec, and parts of the State of Maine.Although they had French origins theywished to remain independent. Theyclaimed allegiance neither to France norto Great Britain. The British were notabout to relinquish their hold on Acadia,nor would they tolerate the self;proclaimed independence of the Acadians.After many years of struggle the Britishdeported the Acadians, sending them tothe colonies from New England to thefar South. This deportation began in1755 and continued for several yearsafterward. The British purposelyseparated the men from their wives andchildren, dispersing them everywhere.Many families were never reunited.Within a few years Louisiana had become

a refuge for the Acadians and today theirdescendants are still culturally alive,especially in Southern parishes, theoCajun countryp. In his poem Evange-line. Henry Wadsworth Longfellowdramatizes the tragedy that befell theseinnocent, peaceful farming people.24

THE CONQUEST AND THEBEGINNING OF A NEW REGIME

During the years which followedthe deportation of the Acadians, theBritish and the French fought for controlof the remaining parts of Canada. Thisstruggle, known as the French and IndianWar, or the Seven Years' War, ended indisaster for the French-Canadians.Although the French defended themselveswell, British forces succeeded in capturingthe major French strongholds. Theseincluded the fortress at Louisbourg onCape Breton Island, Fort Frontenac onLake Ontario, Fort Duquesne at theconfluence of the Allegheny and Ohio Riv-ers, and Le Carillon (Fort Ticonderoga),located between Lake Champlain and LakeGeorge. In the fall of 1759, the Britishforces commanded by Major-General Wolfedefeated the French forces led by Major-General (Marquis) de Montcalm at theBattle, sof the Plains of Abraham in QuebecCity.-

By 1763, With the signing of theTreaty of Paris, Canada belonged toGreat Britain.26 Since that time, theFrench-Canadians have sought theirindependence from the British. Whenthe British regime began in 1763, theFrench- Canadian population numbereda mere 60,000.27 Almost immediately,emigrants from the British Isles began tosettle in the Maritime Provinces, with asmaller number establishing themselves inQuebec. Several years later, Loyalists

Is

from the thirteen English colonies fled toCanada during the American Revolution.Yankee farmers and New England soldierswere also attracted to Canada, especiallyin Quebec's Eastern Townships.28 thissudden flow of immigration into Canadagave that country a complete face-liftingrThe laws and the economy of the newCanadian government were all gearedtoward creating a pleasant life for thesenew residents, while the French-Canadianswere kept in subjection.29 They feltdiscriminated against, which resulted intheir banding together in order to resistthe government's attempts to destroytheir identity through assimilation. Theyassociated only with other French-Canadians, rarely intermarried withspouses of other ethnic groups and, asa result. became one of the most homoge-neous groups ever known.30

AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY WAR

At the outbreak of the AmericanRevolutionary War, soldiers from bothFrance and Quebec came to the aid ofthe colonies.3 I They shared one commonenemy: the British. France contributedto the American cause in many ways.Pierre Caron de Beaumarchais, author ofLe Barbier de Seville and Le MarMge deFigaro, secretly sent guns, cannons, andpowder to the American insurgents. 32The Marquis de Lafayette, using hispersonal funds, equipped, armed, fed,clothed, and paid the entire corps ofsoldiers who were under his commandin Virginia. In addition to sending moneyand supplies, France lent several of hermost capable military leaders to fightbeside General Washington. Theseincluded Rochambeau, De Grasse andD'Estaing.33 Hai France not becomeinvolved in this conflict, the Americansmight not have won their independence.

a.

13

For example, at the Battle of Yorktownwhere Cornwallis surrendered toWashington in 1781. French soldiers andsailors outnumbered the Americans by aratio of nearly three to one.34

French-Canadians were no lessenthusiastic in their willingness to fightfor American independence. Immediatelyafter the war broke out, Henri Laurent,Benjamin Huge, and Daniel Horyorganized battalions made up of recruitsfrom the province of Quebec. Thesebattalions fought bravely and gloriouslyunder Washington.35 Among the bestknown French-Canadians who joined theAmerican forces were Major ClementGosselin, Captain Philippe Dubois,Lieutenant-Colonel Pierre Regnier,Lieutenant-Colonel Jacob Bruyere, andJacques Rouse, after whom Rouse's Point,New York was named.36 Ethan Allenhad a number of French-Canadiansamong the ranks of his Green MountainBoys, including Captain AugustinLoiseau.37 When the war finally ended in1783 by virtue of the Treaty of Versailles,the British government refused to readmitinto Canada all French-Canadians whohad fought on the side of the Americans,branding them as traitors., The UnitedStates Congress solved this problem 14offering land along the shores of LakeChamplain, known as the «Refugees!Tract», to any French-Canadian soldierwho had aided the American rebels.'8With the birth of this new nation, theUnited States of America, came the birthof a new flag. The design of the firstAmerican flag is generally attributed to awoman of French. descent whoseancestor) came from the province ofAlsace in Eastern France. Her name wasBetsy Ross.39

Up until this time, a relatively small

14

number of French-Canadians had lived inthe English colonies in America. TheFrench-Canadians being primarilyCatholic, the laws in this Puritan societydid not allow Catholics to live andnracticiv their religion within itsboundaries.4° During the yearsimmediately following the RevolutionaryWar the American governthent, in thespirit of freedom, permitted Catholics tolive in the "nited States.41 However,they could not enjoy any privileges orrights which native Americans andProtestantsttook for granted. The averagenative New Englander was not particularlyfond of Catholics. especially those whospoke little or no English. Despite allthese facts, the newborn nation .to theSouth of Quebec seemed, much moreappealing to the French-Canadians thantheir own country, where the British hadthe upper hand. Gradually, French-Canadians began to trickle across theborder, settling in upstate New York or inNorthern Newt England. They usuallyremained close enough to Canada so thatthey could easily travel back and forthbetween the two countries. Their oc-cupations in the United States and theirplaces of residence changed frequently,but for the most part French-Canadians

)employmentlived and worked on farms or found

.)employment in the logging industry.

ORGANIZATION OF THEFRENCH-CATHOLIC CHURCH

IN AMERICA

The French Revolution whichbegan in 1789 prompted a new migrationfrom France to the United States. Themonarchy and the Catholic Church wereamong the prime targets of the Frenchrebels causing many royalists and prieststo flee to America. Realizing thatProtestantism dominated the Eastern

seaboard of the United States, Frenchpolitical refugees sought asylum in Centraland Western portions of the country,where Catholic French-Canadians hadpreviously explored the land and foundedseveral cities. Although the Jesuit mis-sionaries had always accompanied theFrench-Canadians on their expeditionsto the West, there existed a minimumof organization in the Catholic Churchin the United States. The newly-exiledpriests from France soon recognized thedetrimental effects that this lack ofreligious unity would have upon thespiritual life of the French-Canadiansettlers. Consequently, the French clergy-wen spent the next several decadesfounding Catholic churches, schools,convents, seminaries, and organizingdioceses in many major cities. Among thepioneers of the French Catholic Church inthe United Staes were Their ExcellenciesThe Most Reverends:

- B. J. Flaget, first bishop of Kentucky(1810)

- M. Portier, first bishop of Mobile,Ala ba ntalrl 826 )

- S. G. Brute, first bishop of Indiana(1834)

- M. Loras, first bishop of Dubuque,Iowa ( 1837)

- F. N. Blanchet, a French-Canadian,first bishop of Oregon (1845)

M. Blanchet, brother of the above,first bishop of Walla-Walla-Nesqually,Washington (1846)

- J. M. Odin, first bishop of Galveston,Texas (1847)

- A. Rappe, first bishop of Cleveland,Ohio (1847)

- J. Cretin, first bishop of St. Paul,,Minn. (1851)

- J.B. Lamy, first archbishop of NewMexico (1853)

- A. Verot, first bishop of St.Augustine, Florida (1870)

- P. Bourgade, first bishop of Tucson,Arizona 1897)42

Even in New England, where theFrench-Canadians had begun to settlezinsmall numbers during the late (8thcentury, there were enough Catholicsto warrant the gunding of a diocese.This was the Diocese of Boston, a sub-division of ,the Diocese of Baltimore,founded in 1810. The first bishop ofBoston was His Excellency The MostReverend Jean- Lefebvre de Cheverus, anative of France.'" These and manyother French priests and bishops aided inconstructing the original foundation ofCatholicism in AmerRa. .

THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE

Napoleon I, Emperor of France,needed money to finance his war with

, Great Britain, France's old foe: In 1803,he sold roughly 900,000 square miles ofland, the Louisiana Territory, to the Unit-ed States for a mere fifteen million dol-lars, thus relinquishing the re- :cinderof French holdings on the NorthAmerican continent." In less than onecentury France had lost all of her pos-sessions in the United States and Canadaeither by sale or by conquest. Thechildren of France now faced a situationof total independence from their, mothercountry. Completely on their own, theFrench in North America had to make adecision with regard to the future of theircultural identity. They' would eitherbecome Ankricans, while retaining theirnative language and traditionS in order tocontribute to or influence thepredominantly Anglo-American cultizrearound them, or they would simply allowtheinselves to become absorbed by the

O

15

Anglo-American environment.

One may safelji assume that ',thedescendants of French-speaking peoplein the United States before 1800, bothCatholics and Protestants alike, have losttheir ethnic color over the years. TheFrench are no longeF strong in citieswhich their ancestors founded over 200years ago. Perhaps the only exception tothis is the State of Louisiana. -There,many of the Creoles and Cajuns maintaintheir French cultural traits to this day.To the North, in the Province of Quebec,the 'French-Canadians have remained asculturally alive as they were the dayChamplain founded the first settlementin Quebec.

'RURAL LIFEIN QUEBEC

Life in the Province of Quebec hadnot improved since the beginning of theBritish regime, and the French-Canadiansfelt that the time for action had finally ar-rived. The fart that the Canadian govern-.ment had. separated Upper 1. Canada(Ontario) from Lower Canada. (QuebeC)in 1791, giving.the French-Canadians acertain amount of recognition, did notalleviate tin economic difficulties of theProvince of Quebec. French-Canadianshas much more tb contend with thansimply not getting along with English-speaking Canadians.

Tilling the soil was no longer donemerely for subsistence. For the habitant,farming had become a commercialventure, but conditions for this way oflife were far from favorable. Theseignorial system of landholding in Quebecdated as far back as the tools andagricultural methods employed by theFrench-Canadian farmer. Such practices asthe rotation of crops to enrich the mineral-,

16

starved soil were unheard of in Quebec.Poor roads did nothing to facilitate thetransportation of goods to and from themarketplace. In winter, these same routesbecame virtually impassable. The habitantoften found that he could not obtainadequate prices for his produce. In ad-. dition to this, the birth rate in Quebecsuddenly began to soar, probably due toreasoning which stated that 1) Catholicsregarded .it their duty to produce largefamilies, forbidding all use of artificial.contraceptives, .anf 2) large familiesmeant more workers to till the soil and tocare for the livestock, thus enabling thehabitant to expand his farm and make itmore economically productive. As one per-son stated it, the French-Canadian parentalbed was a manufficture de monde (a fac-tory of people). There were two draw-backs to this philosophy. The first was the

J high infant mortality rate during the 19th-century. Due to inadequate 11...i,enicfacilitizs, women spent the better partof their childbearing yearsm producing'.""bies who might not live td see their

b first birthday. This certainly did not aidthe farmer in his agricultural and financialpus;its. The second ditiacivantage wasthat although a family might have had thegood fortune to possess many healthysons and daughters, the quality of the soiland the methods of farming at that timewere highly unsuitable, therefore largenumbers of workers would not necessarilyproduce a good harvest."

A farm usually demanded longhours of hard labor from before driwn toafter sunset. This left very little Ii!PC forthe family's intellectual grov,th. Fewchildren attended more than three or fouryears of school, if at all.. Since theirparents nee( :d them at home on thefarm. survival tanked first, school tooksecond place. Many habitants remained

illiterate throughout their entire lifetime,as their economic status did not allowthem °bough leisuie time to learn to readand write. Unable to read a newspaperand too poor to travel, many habitantsin Quebec knew little of what went.on inthe %yorld beyond the boundaries of theirownivillage. Only those fortiihate enoughto come from a fairly prosperous familyreceived the chance to further their educa-tion in the city, where the girls attendeda couvent run by nuns, and the boysstudied in a seminaire run by priests orbrothers. Graduates of such schoolsusually had the opportunity to enter intoa profession or perhaps the religious life.Religion played an important role in thedaily life of everyone, rich or poor,habitant or professional. The church,generally located in the center of the vil-lage, was the focal point of activity, withthe cure .a3 the guardian of his flock.French - Canadians felt that religion keptthem united, and this in turn helped themto preserve their ethnic iJentity .4 7

THE INSURRECTION OF 1837-1838

Taking into account the abovefactors, those being the habitant's hardwork with little reward, poor livingconditions, lack of education, inadequaterepresentation in the government, andgeneral dislike of the French-Canadians byEnglish-s.Neaking Canadians, it is evidentthat a change was in order. Several con-cerned citizens grouped together to foundthe Societe des Fils de la Liberte in

MontreA, which eventually led to thefamous Insurrection of 1837-1838.Under the leadership of Louis-Joseph-1Papineau,L-Ludger Duvernay, Georges-Etienne Cartier, and Denis Viger, ap-proximately 2,000 rebels armed withclubs, pitchforks, wooden guns, and anyother available «instruments of battle»,

tit

rioted in several villages incluOing St-Denis, St-Charles, and St-Eustacne. Ob-viously lacking in sophisticated weaponry,the insurgents met with spontaneous andmerciless defeat at the hands of 8,000soldiers sent by Sir John Colborne,commander-in-chief of the Canadianarmed forces. The governmentdemonstrated to the French-Canadiansthat it would not give in to their demandsfor a better way of life on the farm, norwould it tolerate any uprisings such as thisone. Although many rebels escapedpunishment by fleeing to the UnitedStates, the Canadian government managedto arrest and imprison over 1,000 ofthem. Many were deported to such faraway places as Bermuda and Australia.

ir" 41 Twelve insurrectionists met their fate at'the end of a rope. To the Fren,ch-Canadians, the word «rebel» did notapply to any of these men. A more ap-propriate term was patriote.48

A smaller number of patriotes whohad -fled to the United States settledtemporarily in Northern New England andin upstate New York. In Burlington,Vermont, there lived a small cluster ofFrenchCanadians who had migrated fromQuebe over the years. There, LudgerDuver one of the leaders of, the Insur-rectio settled and founded a French-langua e newspaper, Le Patriote, in whichhe adv cated Canada's independence fromGreat ritain. The newspaper lasted but afew m nths since Burlington's French-speakin population did riot take an activeinterest in Canadian politics. They nowlived i the United States and that wastheir nly concern." In 1842, theCana an government granted amne ty tothe exiled patrietes, therefore all iwingmany to return to their homeland.5°This, of course. did not relieve theeepoomi woes of the habitant.

17

As Questey's population steadily roseeach year, life in rural areas grew harder.

, The time for a redistribution of thepopulatiOn had finally arrived.1 Thenumber of people in Quebec far exceededthe proportionate amount of productiveland to feed everyone.

NEW ENGLAND MILL TOWNS

Ike final years of the 18th centurysaw the birth of the textile industry inNew England. Prior to this time, mostnatives of the six-state region had chosenfarming as their major occupation. Enter-,prising industrialists and . capitalists,influenced by the Industrial Revolution inGreat. Britain, recognized the potentialvalue of New England's mighty rivers assources 'of water power to drive themachinery of large 'textile plants. Duringthe early years of the 19th century theyvisited various areas along the banks ofsuch rivers as the Connecticut, the Black-stone, the Quinebaug, the Merrimack andthe Saco, viewing these locations as idealspots for planned industrial centers.During the next several decades, theseindustrialists went about building largefactories, constructing corporationhousing for millworkers, laying outstreets, parks, cemeteries, and trying tomake these new towns and cities as at-tractive as possible. Soon, Yankeefarmers and their families left the countryand headed for the city to take advantageof its economic opportunities. The resultsof the many years of planning andengineering on the part of theseenterprising capitalists proved worthy oftheir efforts. Everywhere, former farm-lands were blossoming into thrivingindustrial centers.5 2

23

lH

A POT OF GOLDJUST SOUTH OF THE BORDER

Word of the «streets paved withgold» in the United States soon spreadthroughout the Province of Quebec,bringing new hope of financial satiationto the land-starved French-Canadianhabitants. The building of new cities inNew England offered an unlimited varietyof occupations. A person could workinside the textile mill, performing any oneof many operations in the production ofcloth, or, if one preferred outside work,there was always a demand for carpentersand bricklayers. Although the textileindustry became the livelihood of themajority of French-Canadians, there wereother employment opportunitiesincluding work..in a paper mill, railroadwork, or woodchopping. Women oftenran boarding houses or were employed asseamstresses. The first to take advantageof the need for laborers in New Englandmill towns were usually young single menfrom Quebec. They would spend theirsummer vacation working in the factories.In the fall, they often returned homewearing fine looking factory-made clothesand perhaps carried a gold watch or otherpiece of elegant jewelry. They alwaysseemed to have a surplus of spendingmoney. This often impressed relativesand friends, who later fOowed suit.53Those who had previously spent the sum-mer months in New England begatremain there longer, sometimes all year.Within a short period of time, poorfarmers with large families became a. areof the « pot of goldo which lay South ofthe Border. A few of the cities and townswhich attracted French-Canadians were:

Maine: Auburn, Biddeford,Brunswick, Lewiston, Waterville.

New Hampshire: Berlin, Man-chester, Nashua, Somersworth.

Vermont: Barre, Burlington,Rt4lAnd, St. Albans, St. Johnsbury,Winooski.

Massachusetts: Chicopee, FallRiver, Holyoke, Lawrence, Lowell, NewBedford, Southbridge, .Springfield,Worcester.

Connecticut: Danielson, Moosup,North Grosvenordale, Putnam,Willimantic.

Rhode Island: Arctic Centre ( todayWest Warwick), Central Falls, Pawtucket,Warren, Woonsocket.54

The usual pattern of family migra-tion went as follows. After the familyhad discussed and pond d the situation,the- father, alone or ac mpanied byseveral of the older childre ade thelong journey to New England. He usuallywent to a town or a city where he knewsomeone, a relative or former neighbor.He generally boarded with this personuntil he could find a suitable apartment.

'He immediately sought work for himselfand also for the few children whom hehad brought with him. If he were lucky,he might secure a pcisitic the samecompany that employed his host. Assoon as he had accumulated a sizeablesum of money, his next task would be tofind lodgings large enough to house his,,entire family. Once assured that he haddone the right thing by migrating to thiscountry, the father would then eitherreturn to Canada to get the remainingfamily members or he would send forthem. This prompted more deliberation.Would he sell his farm, figuring that thiswas a permanent move? On the otherhand would he keep it, hoping to returnto Canada in order to revive his run-downfarm with money earned in the factories?Some French-Canadians wanted to return,but few actually did.55

METHODS OF TRANSPORTATION.

Migration io the . United Statesfrom Quebec was relatively slow duringthe 1840's due to a lack of adequatetransportation. Families usually traveledin small wagons drawn by one or twohorses. They packed only the bare neces-sities. If space allowed it, family memberscould take turns riding in the back of thewagon. Since there was always someonewalking, the journey generally lastedseveral weeks. Emigrants slept whereverthey could find shelter for the night. Attimes, they encountered unfriendly NewEnglanders who took pleasure in mocking,harking and even assaulting thembecause they were «foreigners». By theearly 1850's, the completion of major rail-road lines between Canada and NewEngland shortened and facilitated the longtrip to the «promised land».57 Instead oftaking several weeks, it now only tookone or two days,. eliminating the incon-veniences of a long tiring journey. Theonly real incommodity was the fact thattrains were filled beyond capacity, makingthe ride very numbing and uncomfortable.

ADJUSTMENT TOURBAN INDUSTRIAL LIFE

The arrival in the «big city» musthave shocked those who, up until then,had seen nothing beyond the Quebeccountryside: massive brick factories, widestreets lined with incredibly large bininessblocks, and austere Puritanical-lookingpeople who all seemed cold and unsympa-thetic. Many French-Canadians must havewondered if they could survive theemotional stress of being cast into aculture so unlike anything they had everknown In the past. Others wondered whatwould become of their language andreligion in this «pagan» country. For the

19

majority of French-Canadians, these firstimpressions, merely an example of cultureshock, disappeared within a matter ofmonths, as they became settled in theirnew jobs, new apartments, and new wayof life.5 8 Since conditions in this countryfar surpassed the poverty which they had.experience.d in Canada, these hard- tworking, industrious farmers had littledifficulty adjusting to urban life. Theypossessed great manual dexterity and theirneed to survive econonlically warrantedtheir rapid adjustment to life in NewEngland.59

CANADIAN GOVERNMENTSOUNDS THE ALARM

As more tales of good fortune inthe Unit.:,1 States spread across theCanadian border, migration -fever in-creased and became contagious. TheCanadian government suddenly realizedthat its neglect and poor treatment of thepeople in Quebec was causing a gradualdepletion of the province's population.Parliament appoi4ted a committee tostudy the reasons for this suddenepidemic of migration fever. The resultsproved devastating. The committee foundthat during the period from 1844 to 1849over 10,000 French-Canadians had leftthe Montreal area, and another 4,000.hadmigrated to New England from theQuebec City area.6° Overall, during theperiod from 1840-1850, some 30,000poverty-stricken habitants had taken theroad to the South.6 I The Canadiangovernment initiated programs wherebyexpatriates could obtain land grants andfinancial aid if they would return toCanada. Some French- Canadians tookadvantage of the offer. Most, howeVer,returned to the United States within a fewyears.

2J

20

DIFFICULTIES BETWEENFRENCH AND IRISH CATHOLICS

The French-Canadians had notlived in this country very long when theyreceived their first taste of religious andethnic conflict with their fellowCatholics, the Irish. 62 During the 17th,18th and early 19th centuries, the IrishCatholics had migrated to the UnitedStates in small numbers. They settledprimarily in Mgryland and Virginia,where Catholics were less open toreligious persecution than they were inother areas. Still, they experiericed acertain degree of intolerance on the partof the native Protestants. In 1845 apotato blight occurred in Ireland. Thisparticular one was more serious thanthose of 1740 and 1821. Consequently,many peasants were dying because offamine, illness, and. poverty. Thelike the French-Canadians, had heardwild stories of wealth and riches in theUnited States. During the 1840's,thousands upon thousands of Irishfarmers emigrated to America andsettled along the Eastern seaboard. Inmany of New England's industrialcenters the -Irish far outnumbered theFrench-Canadians. As a result, theysoon ,dominaked the Catholic Churchhierarchy in t United States, originallycontrolled by French exiled priests afterthe French Kevolution.

Several reasons lay behind themutual distrust between the French-Canadians and the Irish:

IFirst and fore-

.

most came the language ,barrier; Sincemany French-Canadians had comp toNew England only for financialpurposes, with the intention of returninghome in the near future, most neverbothered to learn the English language.The Irish. who came from a background

,/

i

which was as poor and as intellectuallydeprived as that of the French-Canadians, certainly had no knowlet.geof the French language. Another way inwhich the two groups differed was in thedomain of religious authority and parishfinances. Canada's first bishop, Francoisde Montmorency-Laval, had institutedthe trustee system during the I-7-411century. Under this system, the crakeand an appointed parish council hadcontrol of all finances. Parishionersregarded their cure as their father andguardian who always had their bestinterests at heart. Bishops and othermembers of the church hierarchy lived inQuebec's large cities, having limitedcontact with people in rural areas. As aresult, church matters in Canada wererun locally. In the United States, theIrish church hierarchy controlled parishfunds through the Corporation Solesystenit. Under this system, moreemphasis was placed upon the bishop'sauthority, and there existed very littlecontrol on the parish level. Accustomedto dealing directly with their pastor whocould be approached at any given time,French-Canadians did not agree with theIrish power structure in the Church.Bishops, on the other hand, tended toremain remote and difficult to reach.63

-sr

When the French-Canadians firstbegan to settle in New England'sindustrial centers they had to attendMass in the Irish parishes, the onlyexisting Catholic churches in this region.Occasionally a French-Canadian mis-sionary 'priest might have pas"sed throughtown, visiting and ministering to thespiritual needs of his compatriots.64However, for the most part, French-Canadians dealt with Irish priests.Unabliki to understand English-languagesermons, many French-Canadians began

to feel alienated. Some stopped at-tending Mass altogether, figuring thatthey could not benefit from somethingwhich they could not comprehend.Certain memliers of the French-Canadiancommunity, concerned with the survivalof their faith (faith being regarded as theguardian of ethnic identity and language)demanded separate parishes with French-speaking priests. This, they felt, wouldsolve all their problems. 65

THE FIRST PARISH:BURLINGTON,VERMONT

The first French-Canadian parishin New England was founded inBurlington. Vermont in 1850 by a groupof approximately 300 French-speakingCatholics under the guidance of MessireMignault. M. Mignault was pastor atChambly, P.Q. and vicar-general of theDiocese of Boston. Having obtained aplot of land and the permission to builda separate parish, the French-Canadiansof Burlington thought that their troubleshad finally come to an end. The greatdisappointment came when the Irishbegan to protest the separation. TheFrench-Canadians were forced to build achurch several miles outside the cityin order to maintain peace betweenthemselves and the Irish. This wasperhaps the first major conflict betweenthese two nationalities. It, however, wasminor when compared to what layahead. The first French-Canadian parishin New England adopted St. Joseph as itspatron saint and Reverend JosephQuevillon of Ste-Elisabeth, P.Q. becamethe first pastor. Three years later t!)eState of Vermont became a separatediocese. The Most Reverend Louis deGoesbriand, a native of the Province ofBrittany, France was its first bishop. By1856, the French-Canadians of Vermont

21

had a second parish, La Nativite de laSainte Vierge in Swanton.66

THE KNOW-NOTHING MOVEMENT

Apart from the above-mentioneddifficulties within the Catholic Church,there existed an even more serious ex-ternal problem, Knownothingism.67This phenomenon stemmed from theearly 19th century Native AmericanMovement comprised of Protestant_s whoboth hated and feared Catholics in theUnited States. The Know-Nothingsbegan as a secret society. They werelabeled as such because whenever some-one would question them concerningthe activi*Land goals of their group,they merely iiVieori.4 don't know.»Hostile toward all Catholics andforeigners, the Know-Nothings advo-cated denying American citizenship toboth groups. They disliked Catholicsbecause the latter accepted employmentin the mills, regardless of the low wagesand long hours, thus taking jobs awayfrom native Americans who demandedmore favorable working conditions.They also feared Catholics because theybelieved that the . Irish, the French-Canadians, and other Catholic groupswould day unite and eventually turnthe nati, into a Papist-controlled state.

The Know - Nothings formed theirown political party, who candidatessecured key positions in the federal,state and local governments. They at-tempted to introduce laws whichdiscriminated against Catholics. In someareas Catholics had no basic rights (i.e.freedom to practice their faith openly,suffrage, holding public office) to beginwith. The Know-Nothing Movementmerely added to the already unfavorablesituation. Followers of this movement

went about creating riots wherein theyassaulted and even murdered Catholics.In these riots, the Know-Nothings oftenstoned or burned the homes, churches,schools, and convents of the Catholics.By the end of the 1850's, after eight ornine years of fighting, the Know-NothingMovement finally dwindled out of exis-tence. However.. its 4fects on theCatholic Church hawed on well intothe 20th century.

The Irish hierarchy in the Churchdecided that the Catholics could havedefended themselves against the Know-Nothings much more efficiently hadthere been more unity between theFrench-Canadians and the Irish. Theyconcluded that in the future, these twogroups should merge into one powerfulreligious body, able to' Combat all out-side forces. This meant that there wouldno longer be any separate or nationalparishes. All Catholics, regardless ofnational origin, must belong to the sameparish, with English as the officiallanguage, thus giving the CatholicChurch a more «American» image, lessprone to outside attack. To the homo-geneous French-Canadians thisrepresented a threat to the survival oftheir language and culture. As expected,they refused to become assimilated.They desired separate parishes, wheretheir own clergy could preach to them intheir native tongue and where theirchildren could learn to respect andtransmit their ethnic traditions to futuregenerations. They felt that their parisheshad kept them culturally alive in Quebecand that they would do the same in New .England. Because of these feelings manymore conflicts would arise within theCatholic Church during the six or sevendecade that followed. "

EFFECTS OF THE CIVIL WARON FRENCH-CANADIANS

The secession of the Southernstates and the subsequent outbreak ofthe Civil War affected French-Canadiansboth in the United States and in Canada.As more and more men went off to jointhe ranks of the Union Army, NewEngland's factories lost much of theirwork force. French-Canadians in themills accompanied their Yankee andIrish comrades to the Southern battle-fields. Factory owners, recognizing thediligence and mechanical aptitude of theFrench-Canadians, decided to replenishtheir depleted work force by sendingagents to the Province of Quebec inorder to recruit new help. These millagents vent from village to village,relating stories about the tremendous op-portunities afforded by the textileindustry in New England. 69 Whilespreading their propaganda, they oftenneglected to mention the disadvantagessuch as the intense noise, the cottondust, the long hours. the low wages, andthe cockroaches, all «vital» elements inthe operation of a textile mill. Bytoday's standards, one might view thisas exploitation, but when compared tothe conditions of life in 19th centuryQuebec, the New England industrialcenters offered a far superior environ-ment.

A few of the more skilled French-Canadians became factory foremen whenmill owners realized that a French-speak-ing «boss» could direct his French-Canadian workers more efficiently.70This situation resembled that of theparish. Under an English-speaking pastorFrench-Canadians were apathetic andunruly, but given a French-speakingpastor. they immediately became

2s

enthusiastic and cooperative. 71 By thetime of the Civil War, English, Scottish,and German immigrants had begun toflood the American labor market,seeking a better life. While importingmany thousands of immigrants fromQuebec and Europe for labor purposes,mill owners never once stopped to thinkof the effects that this massive migrationwould have on both the immigrantsthemselves and on American society.

In addition to bringing French-Canadians to the United States to fillthe vacancies left by those who had goneoff to fight, the Civil War also attractedmany young men from Quebec formilitary purposes. Some camevoluntarily, living up to the reputationof the French-Canadians as seekers of ad-venture. Others were tricked intojoining the Union Army, falling prey tomilitary agents' promises of «a well-paying job, mostly outdoor work».These agents, much like the mill agents,forgot to tell their prospectiv: recruitsexactly what they meant by «outdoorworks . Young men, eager to earn a fewextra dollars, signed Army contractswhich they most likely could not evenread.72

No one actually knows the precisenumber of French-Canadians who foughtin the Civil War because historians havenever agreed with one another whenpresenting statistical data on this subject.Immediately following the war, theyquoted the figure of approximately20,000. As time went on, the statisticsbecame more impressive. Within severalyears the number climbed to 30,000, thento 40,000, and finally to 50,000. Inrecent years, some historians havequestioned the validity of these figures,feeling that even the original estimate of

2

23

20,000 may have been a bit of an exag-geration.73 In any case, it is certainthat the French-Canadians made a suf-ficient contribution to this particularwar effort. This was despite the factthat in some states they were recognizedmerely as second rate citizens. Amongthe French-Canadians who served duringthe Civil War was Major Edmond Mallet,a native of Canada who had emigrated toNew York State with his family whilestill a child. Another famous French-Canadian who participated in the war,employing his talents as a first-classmusician, was Calixa Lavallee, author ofthe Canadian national anthem 0Canada. 74

EMIGRATION FROM QUEBECACCELERATES

The years following the Civil Warsaw the migration of French-Canadiansto the United States reach alarmingproportions. From 1866 to 1875,roughly 50,000 people left the Provinceof Quebec yearly .75

Meanwhile, the Canadian govern-ment stood by, watching Quebec'shabitants board the daily trains whichbrought the to various New Englandmill towns. Nery little was done toprevent this exodus. The government'ssentiments may be summed up quitebluntly by quoting a legendary state-ment attributed to Georges-EtienneCartier, one of the leaders of the Insur-rection and later a prominent Canadianstatesman: «Let them go, it is the rabblewhich is leavings 76 Priests in Canadadenounced those who had chosen toforesake their homeland, saying that theemigrants would lose their faith. Pastorswarned their parishioners not to followthose who cared nothing for their

24

country or their religion. 77, TheseCanadian clergymen may have had goodintentions, but they most certainly erredin their evaluation of the religiousfidelity of the French-Canadians in NewEngland. Conflicts which had occurredin the past merely served to strengthenand unify the French-Canadians in theirefforts to maintain their faith andcultural traditions.

THE BIRTH OF FRENCH-CANADIANINSTITUTIONS

Since geace had returned to theUnited Stat6s, many more French-Canadians had decided to make thiscountry their permanent home. At lastthe time had come to create institutionswhich French-Canadians felt would actas the safeguards of their heritage. Theseinstitutions were the church, the school,the club or society, and the news-paper. 78 Although they had lived in theUnited States for several decades, theFrench-Canadians had never seriouslyconsidered ',building their own institu-tions since many families had come herewith the intention of returniniNi49Canada. The only exceptions to thiswere in a few/ towns in NorthernVermont where the French-Canadianpopulation had developed more rapidlybecause of their proximity to theCanadian bordeb.

Prior to the Civil War, themajority of French-Canadians who ladmigrated to the New England area wereforme' habitants who now labored inthe factories and who therefore belongedto the working class. Althoughthey may have realized the need forinstitutions of their own, they lacked thetime, the finances, and the necessaryleadership to initiate such a monumental

undertaking. After the war, however,many French-Canadian professionalpeople began to follow the wave ofmigration to the United States, well

aware that their compatriots in thiscountry's ir dustrial centers neededpriests, doctors, journalists, merclunts,and businessmen. The task of foundingFrench-Canadian institutions would fallupon these leiders of society, for theypossessed the necessary qualities andresouices to execute such a project.

THE SOCIETY

In most cities, the club or societyemerged before any of the other insti-tutions because it was the one endeavorwhich could bring people together atminimal expense. The main goal of thesociety was to preserve the language andculture of the French-Canadians, and toresist assimilation. 79 Once organized,the society could then proceed toassume new responsibilities. This includ-

e) ed obtaining a priest from Canada tofound a parish or searching for a groupof journalists to begin the publication ofa French-language newspaper. A goodnumber of these societies called them-selves La Societe Saint-Jean-Baptiste,modeled after that of Montreal.Generally, these organization) remainedon a local level, having limited contactwith their sister societies in other cities.In addition to uniting French-Canadiansin the community, the society hadvarious other functions. such as aidingnewly-arrived immigrants from Quebec-----'-'in establishing themselves in their newenvironment. Some societies providedtheir members with a rather primitivetype of life insurance plan covering thecost of burial as well as contributing afew extra dollars to the grieving familyof the deceased. 80

tj

THE NEWSPAPER

French-language journalism beganat about this same time in the NewEngland area. There had been otherFrench newspapers in the past, such asLa Gazette Francaise (Newport, RhodeIsland, 1780), Le Courrier de Boston(1789), La Detroit Gazette (1817), La.Gazette Franfaise (Detroit, 1825), and

, Ludger Duvernay's Le Patriote (turfing-ton, Vermont, 1838).81 However, mostof these newspapers lasted but a fewmonths, since they seldom treated sub-jects that French-Canadian working-classimmigrants could identify with.

the aim of this new breed ofFrench-Canadian journalists was. tocreate newspapers that dealt with theparticular situations and problems oftheir readers. The first such newspapers,Le Pratecteur Canadien, appeared inBurlington, Vermont in 1868. It w sfounded by Reverend Zephirin Druon,pastor at St. Albans, Vermont and vicar-general of the Diocese of Burlington, andhis associate Antoine Moussette, amerchant, also from St. Albans. Thisjournal expressed a genuine interest inthe religious and cultural activities ofthe French-Canadians in the UnitedStates. It had a wide circulation, reach-ing as far as the Midwest. Unfortu-nately, the owners were forced to ceasepublication in 1871 following a fire intheir headquartorr'Swever, its strong

.?....influen%optiimpted the founding ofmiireThewspapers and it attracted anumber of French-Canadian priests tocome to New England to found moreparishes. 82

Perhaps' the best known French-Canadian journalist in the nation duringthe 19th century was Ferdinand Gagnon.

25

Not yet twenty years of age, Gagnonleft his home town of St-Hyacinthe tojoin his parents who had establishedthemselves in Concord, New Hampshire.One year later, in 1 he moved toManchester, New ampshire, where hefounded that a s first French-languagenewspaper, La Voix du Peupk, whichlasted approximately six months. Hethen moved to Worcester, Massachusettswhere, after several years of fails :e withone newspaper after another, he foundedhis famous journal, Le Travailleur, in1874. During the next several years,this newspaper enjoyed enormoussuccess. In 1886, Gagnon died pre-maturely, not yet 37 years of age. LeTravailleur outlived its founder by onlya few years as it ceased to be publishedin 1892.83 From the time of the found-ing of these first French-Canadian news-papers up to the turn of the century,several hundred French-language journalswere born. Some lasted only one or twoissues while others went on for manyyears. Although the beginnings ofFrench journalism in the United Statesmet with defeat, they laid the founda-tion for an institution that flourishedthroughout the first half of the 20thcentury.

THE CHURCH

The most important of all French-Canadian institutions was undoubtedlythe church. During the late 1860's-ad early 1870's, priests from Canadaarrived in New England's major French-Canadian centers to care for the spirituallife of their compatriots, the life whichthese people had known for so manyyears in Quebec. Today, whenever someof the (told timers* in their 80's an 90'srecall th-ir childhood days when thechurches nad not yet attained their 25th

26

anniversary, they will most likely tellstories about le vieux cure-fondateur andall that he did for his parishioners.Depending upon the city or town, theywill mention names like Primeau,Bedard, Millette, Chevalier, and Heveyall pioneer clergymen of the NewEngland French-Canadian parishes. By1875, the steeple of the French - Catholicchurch adorned the skyline of everymajor industrial center in the six-stateregion, assuring the survival of thespiritual life of all French-Canadians.84

THE SCHOJL

After the church, the schoolranked as the second most importantinstitution. Before the existence ofFrench-Canadian parochial schools,parents had to send their children eitherto public schools or to Irish Catholicschools. Because of a language barrierand cultural differences, many French-Canadian students found it difficult tokeep up with the rest of the class, notto mention the prejudice which theother children felt toward them. As aresult, a number of French-Canadianchildren left school at an earlydage tohelp out their parents by working inthe mills. Because of the absence of anylegislation against child labor, andbecause education laws were lax it wasnot uncommon to see extremely youngboys and girls employed as doffers,battery hands, and bobbin boys, working

six days d.week.85 Pastors quickly wentto work, trying to establish schoolswhich would relieve these problems.They usually brought religious orders ofruns and brothers from Canada andFrance to teach in the newly-foundedFrench parochial schools.86

A NEW NEIGHBORHOOD IS BORN

In addition t9 aiding their pastorsin the construction of churches andschools, the industrious French-Canadians contributed a large por.tian oftheir meager salaries toward the

ti establishment of orphanages, convents,old folks' homes, hospitals, andcemeteries. As this constructionprogressed there would soon emerge anew neighborhood in the various milltowns of New England, appropriatelylabeled Le Petit Canada. 87

A stranger could have easily recog-nized this neighborhood by its verydistinct inward characteristics. Thechurch was usually the nucleus of thearea, reflecting the geographicalstructure of Quebec's rural villages. Inthe immediate vicinity of the church onewould find the school, the rectory, andthe convent. Not too far away, theremight be a grocery store, a drugstore,and perhaps a hardware store, all ownedand operated by French-Canadians.These businesses, whose customers allknew one another, often served as so-cial gathering places. There, men andwomen could chat about the daily occur-rences in the neighborhood. Also inthis area, one would find the French-Canadian club, which offered a varietyof diVeisions. Walking a few blocksfarther away from the center, one wouldfind the residential section, with its thr:eand four-story apartment houses, wherethe majority of French-Canadian factoryworkers lived. Parents often occupiedthe ground floor while their marriedchildren boarde4 upstairs with theirfamilies. Little Shildren played in theyards, on the sidewalk, or in the street,always speaking French amongst them-selves. Le Petit Canada was generally

located near the textile factories, thismeaning that for all practical purposesone could ba to work, to school, tochurch, to buy provisions, and tosocialize, all within walking distance ofthe home.88

Whenever . the French-Canadianschose to celebrate an occasion the entireneighborhood would join in, taking on avery festive appearance. A perfect ex-ample of this could be seen every yearon the 24th of June, the feast day of theFrench-Canadian patron saint, La Saint-Jean-Baptiste. The day usually beganwith a Mass which everyone in the parishattended, taxing the seating capacity ofthe church. The highlight of the celebra-tion occurred when all the people as-sembled outside to form a large paradewhich went up and down every street inLe Petit Canada. At night, a banquetwas usually held for the <<elites French-Canadians. 89

THE REPATRIATION MOVEMENT

In 1873, an economic crisis oc-curred in the United States. Textileworkers in New England's industrialcenters felt the effects of this depres-sion more than anyone else.Consequently, some French-Canadianfamilies returned to Quebec, althoughthe economic situation there was nobetter than tha in the United States."The Canadian overnment decided totake advantage of this crisis bypromoting the idea of mass repatriation.Once again, politicians promised thatanyone who wished to resettle in Canadacould do so with the assurance that theycould obtain land inexpensively.Ferdinand Gagnon. the French-Canadianjournalist in Worcester, became arepatriation agent for the Canadian

27

government, using his pen to advocatethese ideas.9I In 1874, Gagnon was oneof the chief organizers of an excursionto Montreal to celebrate La Saint-Jean-Baptiste. The purpose of this excursionwas to revive a patriotic sentiment forQuebec among the expatriates.Hundreds of French-Canadians from all'over the United States, dressed in theirfinest attire, boarded speciallydesignated trains destined for Montreal.After much celebration and manyspeeches the French-Cadadians returnedto their homes in the United States.They had spent a lovely holiday in theirnative land and they had shown thecitizens of Montreal exactly howprosperous they were. Instead ofstimulating a feeling of patriotismtoward Canada among the expatriates,the excursion merely accelerated theemigra.:71 movement. Many citizens ofMontreal, impressed by the affluenceof their American compatriots, migratedto the United States during the nextseveral years. The trip had backfired,much to the dismay of Gagnon andother advocates of repatriation.92

The repatriation movementgradually lost ground throughout the fol-lowing five or six years. The majority ofthose who had gone back to Canadaduring the depression of 1873 returnedto the United States as soon as theeconomic situation had begun to showsigns of improvement. FerdinandGagnon realized that his efforts servedno purpose, and he therefore reversed hiseditorial position, advocating naturaliza-tion.93 In most states the laws whichhad previously barred Catholics from ob-taining American citizenship had disap-peared over the years. Gagnon felt thatif French-Canadians were going toremain in the United States on a

28

permanent basis they would find' Itfemuch more pleasant as citizens of thisnation, able to exercise their rights tothe fullest extent.94 Naturalizationclubs sprouted up everywhere, aidingFrench-Canadians in applying fo citizen -'ship. At last. the children of uebecwould have a voice in the com unityand also in matters which affscte eirlivelihood. Their primary goals wonow lie in their quest for politicalinfluence.

FRENCH-CANADIANS INAMERICAN POLITICS:A SLOW BEGINNING

The political development of theFrench-Canadians in New Englandexperienced some rather stagnant begin-nings, primarily due to certain attitudeswhich prevailed throughout the 19thccntury and even into the 20th century.First of all, a few French-Canadians stilldreamed of the day when they wouldhave amassed some great fortune,enabling them to return to Canada andrevive their farms. Hence, the notion ofbecoming naturalized and developing aninterest in American politics neverentered their minds. Their proximity tothe Canadian border, only a day dway bytrain, gave them the opportunity totravel back and forth frequently, thuskeeping in close contact with the «oldcountry». They also lived and workedwithin the boundaries of Le Petit Canada.For these reasons, some French-Canadians found it unnecessary to learnthe °English language, an essential tool inthe political process of this nation.

Apart from this, their many yearsof working on farms from sunrise to sun-set. followed by more years of laboringlong hours in the mills, left the French-

Canadians with a minimum of leisuretime to devote to reading newspapersand keeping in touch with ifie politicalscene. In addition, the French-Canadians lacked unity, a necessaryfactor in achieving political strength.Rather than having one strong candidateand giving him their full support, theFrench-Canadians often had severalcandidates, thus dividing the vote withinthe French-speaking community. Thisenabled candidates of other ethnicgroups, who had the full backing of theircompatriots, to easily win an election.Perhaps the greatest deterrent to thepolitical development of the Frerith-Canadians lay in the attitude of nativeAmericans toward Catholics andforeigners. Although the Know-Nothingmovement and others like it had oc-curred long before this time, nativeAmericans still looked upon these im-migrants with disfavor, instilling withinthem a fear of corning out into the openand voicing their opinions publicly. This-fear did little for the political morale ofthe French-Canadians.95

THE CHINESE OF THE EAST

A perfect example which clearlyillustrates the attitudes of manyAmericans toward immigrants in theUnited States is found in the 1880report of the Massachusetts Bureau ofStatistics of Labor, which refers to theFrench-Canadians as the «Chinese of theEast».96 Published in 1881, this reportstated that the French-Canadians carednothing for the civil, political, andeducational 'institutions in this country,and that they had no desire whatsoeverto become citizens of the United States.They had merely settled here temporar-ily to fill their purses and then to returnto Quebec. Furthermore, they over-

indulged in the, use of tobacco andalcohol, they stole jobs away fromnative Am ca by accepting lowerwages and Ion r hours, thus decreasingthe standards of labor in New England.The only positive remark in the reportstated that French-Canadians wereodocile and indefatigable workers».

These statements might havecontained some truth had they beenpublished in 1840 or thereabouts. How-ever, by 1880, it was quite apparent thatFrench-Canadians would remain in thiscountry permanently. Thip report wasonly one among the many attacksdirected against the French-Canadians.'Needless to say, these verbal assaultsangered French-Canadian leaders and dis-couraged the average French-Canadianfrom trying to achieve politicalinfluence. No sound basis existed forti se unwarranted accusations, andFrench-Canadian leaders did not allowthem to go unanswered. They wished todemonstrate to the Bureau and its chief,Carroll D. Wright, that they were not asodocile» as the report had stated.

Almost immediately the Frenchpress and the French societies registered 4v.,

their protests against the Bureau'sharsh comments. In addition,, millowns. - who employed French-Canadiansvoiced their opposition to the allegationsmade in the report. In due time Wrightrealized that he and his Bureau had mis-understood the role which. the French-Canadians had carved out for themselvesin the American society. He proceededto re-examine his evaluations, resultingin his retraction of all previous negativestatements about French-Canadians. TheBureau's 1882 report contained a

lengthy account of the many positivecontributions whirl the .French-

29

Canadians had made to the United Statesover the years. In 1889, Carroll D.Wright became head of the FedpralBureau of Statistics in Washington, D.C.and he again publighed a report in whichhe praised the' rench-Canadi ns. Stilllater, in 1907, at which time he held theposition of President of Clark University -in Worcester, Wright sent a letter toAlexandre Belisle, one of the BelisleBrotherl, publishers of the French-language newspaper L'Opinion Publique.In this letter, Wright told Belisle-that inhis studies he had found no other nation-ality which had developed more rapidlyor in a more satisfactory manner thanthe Frepeh-Canadians .97

FIRST POLITICAL ACHIEVEMENTSOF THE FRENCH-CANADIANS

During the 1880's, the politicalefforts of the French-Canadiansremained on the lo el level. Testingtheir political wings i 1 the. community,they chose to run for offices such as thatof alderman, city councilman, selectman,or school board representative. For avariety of reasons, the majority ofFrench-Canadian voters tended to leantoward the Republican Party. First ofall, this party happened to be in powerduring the' naturalization campaigns.Secondly, French-Canadian leaders (i.e.professionals, businessmen, clergymen,etc.) belonged to the Republican Party,and therefore the masses followed suit.Finally, the Democratic Party wasdominated by the Irish, long-time foesof the French-Canadians.98 In someareas, a French-Canadian who ran forpolitical office where his compatriotsmade up a considerable portion of theelectorate usually had little difficultygetting elected. Upon seeing the nameof One of their own on the ballot,

I

30

French-Canadian voters would merelyplace an «X» in the appropriate box,regardless of , the person's politicalleanings.99 Fortunately, this voting pat-tern did not transcend the municipallevel, nor did it last very long. As

French-Canadians became bettereducated, they became much moresophisticated in their choice ofcandidates, basing their selection on thecandidate's qualifications rather than hisnationality.

At this time, certain French-Canadian journalists became involved inthe American political scene. Oneexample was Benjamin Lenthier who,during the year 1892, owned no lessthan sixteen French-language newspapersin various French Canadian centers. Aspreviously stated, most Fr nch-Canadians at this, date belonged to theRepublican Party. By contrast. Lent ierused his newspapers to run a vigorouscampaign in favor of the Democraticpresidential candidate, Grover Cleveland.After Cleveland won the election themajority of Lenthier's newspapers wentout of existence, since most were found-ed merely for that one campaign.100

In a relatively short period oftime, French-Canadian candidates aimedtheir political aspirations a bit higher.During the late 1880's and early 1890's,the New Hampshire State Legislaturecounted as many as ten French-Canadians within its ranks. One of themwas Henri T. Ledoux of Nashua, wholater became president of one of the

41' largest French societies in NorthAmerica, L'Union Saint-Jean-Baptisted'Amerique. The Massachusetts StateLegislature had Hugo A. Dubuque asone of its members. He was the grand-nephew of the explorer and founder of

Dubuque, Iowa, Julien Dubuque. Hewas also the son of the 1837 patrioteMoise Dubuque. The most impressiveFrench-Canadian achievement of the1890's occurred in Rhode Island whenAram J. Pothier became Mayor ofWoonsocket in 1894 and Lieutenant-Governor of that state in 1897.101

THE BEGINNING OF.UPWARD-MOBILITY

In addition to their political. ac-complishments, the French-Canadiansunderwent various other changes duringthe last ten years of the 19th centurywhich affected their basic socialmetabolism as an ethnic group. Canada'seconomic status had somewhat improvedover the past few years, with industrygradually climbing the scale ofimportance. In addition to this, thebuilding of the Canadian Pacific Railroadcaused many French-Canadian laborersto work and later settle permanently inthe prairie provinces.102 As a result ofthis. French-Canadian emigration to theUnited States reached its peak by the1890's. The growth of the French-speaking population in New Englandwould now depend chiefly on reproduc-tion rather than upon continued emigra-tion from Canada. This brought up thequestion of whether the next fewgenerations would have the strength andinterest to maintain the language andcustoms of their ancestors.

mother change which occurred attt'is time also dealt with emigration, thatof new ethnic groups, from Europe. Theeconomic situation in Russia, Poland,the Ukraine, Austria, Greece, Italy,Portugal, and other European countriesresembled that of Quebec during thegreat migration to the United States.

Farmers and peasants from these areasbegan arriving in this country during thelast decade of the 19th century, tryingto escape the poverty of their home-lands. In the domain of labor, they fol-lowed the same patterns as the French-Canadians, the Irish, and the Germans,that being to accept whatever jobs avail-able, regardless of the wages and hours.Consequently, the French-Canadiansrose in social and economic status, sincethere now were new groups of im-migrants who could perform the, menialtasks. More and more French namesappeared on the textile industry's pay-roll under the column for overseers andforemen, rather than as mere weaversand spinners. Store OW11311 who hadpreviously not dared set up shop out-side Le Petit Canada now proudly movedto Main Street, where their clientelereflected all nationalities.' 03

SOCIETIES ON THE RISE

French-Canadian societies beganto gain more prominence at this time,even within larger, non-French organiza-tions. An example of this was the GardeLafayette, a company in the NewHampshire National Guard's FirstRegiment, founded in 1887 and made up

Norexclusively of French-Canadians andmodeled somewhat after the SheridanGuard, an Irish company. In 1891, amonument was erected to commemoratethe victory of the'American forces com-manded by General John Stark ofManchester over the British and Hessiansoldiers under the command of GeneralBurgoyne at the Battle of Bennington,Vermont in 1,777. The Glrde Lafayettewon the honor and privilege of attendingthe dedication ceremonies at Benningtonas representatives of the First Regiment.This Company did not merely act as a

31

military organization, for it possessedthe qualities of a social group, whosemembers held a spirit of friendship andrespect forone another .1°4

Until this time, French-Canadiansocieties had remained small and local,thus rather weak, powerless, and withoutinfluence due to a lack of unity. Everyfew years, French-Canadians heldconventions in various cities, wheredelegates from local societies wouldgather to discuss Cle different goals andproblems. which the French-Canadiansfaced. There hardly ever occurred aconvention during which the delegatesdid not discuss the possibility of merginga numberpf small societies to form onelarge and powerful organization. Theyhad attempted to consolidate severaltimes before, one example being thefounding of L'Union Canadienne deSecours Mutuel in 1869. However,members usually lost interest andnothing ever taste permanently. At theConvention des C adieus-Franfais duNew Hampshire held in Manchester in1890, the delegates decided that thetime had finally arrived to stop dis-cussing and to start organizing. By theend of November 1896, they hadcompleted all negotiations, thus givingbirth to their long-awaited dream,L'Association Canado-Americaine, afraternal insurance company andFrench-Canadian society rolled intoone.105 It was founded as a workingman's society, as evid....nced by the factthat its first president, Theophile G.Biron, held the position of Overseer ofWeaving in the Amoskeag ManufacturingCompany. Four years later, the French-Canadians of Woonsocket, Rhode Islandfollowed suit by founding L 'UnionSaint-Jean-Baptiste d'Amerique. Its firstpresident was Edouard Cadieux.'"

32

Throughout the subsequent

decades, these two, organizationsdeveloped into large and importantinsurance companies while stillremaining on a fraternal basis. Eventoday, apart from their business andsocial aspects, both societies possess .6cultural image in the form of Frenchlibraries. L'Association Canado-Ameri-caine owns LInstitut Canado-Americain,a collection of French books, news-papers, periodicals, photographs,manuscripts, and art objects, founded byAde lard Lambert, a noted French-Canadian bibliophile. L'Unlon Saint-Jean-Raptiste owns. a similar librarywhich goes by the name of BibliothequeMallet, begin with the private collection

..of Major Edmond Mallet, the Civil Warsoldier. These societies, along with othersmaller ones, work together to helppromote and preserve French life inNorth America. Another society,founded in 1899 and still very activetoday, is the Societe Historlque Franco-A mericaine This organizationencourages the study of the history ofthe fait francais in America.

A NEW IDENTITY ANDCONTINUED PROGRESS

By the turn of the century. theFrench-Canadians had lived in NewEngland approximately sixty years, sincethe first migration after the Insurrectionof 1837-1838. Many had learned tospeak English, of !h.:: had becomeAmerican citizens, and some had evenbeen born in the United States, havinglived their entire lives in this land. Theyhad firmly established their families and

their institutions in New England. Theyowed their allegiance to one country,the United States of America while stillretaining the love, the language, the

1/4

religion, and the traditions of theirmother country . They were truly bi-lingual and bicultural. From about theyear 19 and on, the French-Canadiansbecame.inown as the Franco-Americans.

During the early years of the 20thcentury, prior to the Great War, theFranco-Americans continued to progress

--socially, economically, and politically.Some left their jobs i the textilefactories in order t , *obtain moreprofitable employment. As Franco-Americans became more prosperous,they purchased homes, and many morewent into business for themselves. In1904, Le College de l'Assomption wasfounded in Worcester, Massachusetts.' U7

This institution, directed by the

Assumptionist Fathers, closelyresembled the seminaire or college in theProvince of Quebec. The only real dif-ference was that it taught English as wellas French. The main goal of the schoolwas to educate younifranco-Americanmen who aspired to one profession oranother. Conveniently located in theheart of New England, l'Assomptlonenabled students to receive a classicalcourse of education without having totravel to Montreal or elsewhere in

Canada.

Over the past thirty to forty years,the Franco-American population in thevarious industrial centers of New

England had steadily increased. Natural-ly, parishes could not function properlywhen they became overcrowded. Thus,the original parishes were forced to sub-

divide into smaller ones. When thesebecame too populous, new parishesbegan to emerge. By the first decade ofthe 20th century, many New Englandcities had as many as four, five, or 'sixFranco-American parishes. Often

38

Franco-Americans had difficulties in ob-taining new parishes, since Irish bishopsvtllrconsidered talons! parishes asdetrimental to the strength of theCatholic Church in the United States.They frequently named Irish priests toserve in the Franco-American parishes,or tried to limit the use of the Frenchlanguage in the schools, thus creatingconflicts within the parish.

If one keeps this in mind, it is nowonder that the Franco-Americans w'New' Hampshire were delighted whenthey achieved the «impossible» in 1907:Rev.gend Georges-Albert Guertin, anative of Nashua, became the thirdbishop of the Diocese of Manchester.Although the Catholic Church in theUnited States had elevated Frenchpriests to the episcollee in the past,Bishop Guertin was the first native-bornFranco-American to attain thisposition.108 The Franco-Americanscontinued to gain political influence inNew England, especially in RhodeIsland, where Aram J. Pothier becamegovernor in 1908. In that same year, theFranco-Americans achieved a «first» inthe field of finance. AlphonseDesjardins, a French-Canadian banker,hal devised a concept known as a caissepopulaire, the first of which he foundedat Levis, P.Q. in 1900. This institutionwas a sort of combination people's bankand credit union. The success of thefirst caisse populaire led to the foundingof others. Consequently, Msgr. PierreHevey, pastor 'of Ste-Marie's parish inManchester, upon hearing of theenormous success of Desjardins' venture,invited him to Manchester to found thefirst such bank in the United States, LaCaisse Populaire Ste-Marie. It assumedthe image of a «working man's bank»,catering primarily to the financial

33

protection of the average Franco-American. Soon, every major city whichhad a French-speaking population pos-sessed its own caisse populaire.109Franco-Americans had become such anintegral part of American life that somelooked upon them as always having livedin this country. One example of this wasa statement pronounced by SenatorHenry Cabot Lodge of Massachusetts ata reunion of the Boston City Club in1908:

« . . . they (Franco-Ameri-cans) are hardly to be clas-sified as immigrants in theaccepted sense. They rep-resent one of the oldestsettlements of this conti-nent. They have been inthe broad sense, Amer- -

''cans for generations, andtheir coming to the UnitedStates is merely a move-ment of Americans acrossan imaginary line from onepart of Ametica to an-other.»110

By 1910, French-language newspapershad made significant progress. Apartfrom the numerous weekly and monthlyjournals, there were also seven dailyFrench newspapers in New England:

- L'Independant, Fall River, Mass.,founded by Antoine Houde, first ap-peared as a weekly on March 27, 1885;became a daily on October 13, 1893.

- L'Ctoile, Lowell, Mass., founded byLe Cercle Canadien, a French-Canadianassociation, first appeared as a weekly onMarch 21, 1886, became a daily onMarch 20, 1893.

- L'Opinion Publique, Worcester,Mass., founded by the Belisle Brothers,

39

34

first appeared as a bi-weekly on Jan. 27,1893, became a weekly on April 27,

01898.

- L'Avenir National, Manchester; N.H.,founded by Joseph E. Bernier,first ap-peared three times per ,week in 1894,became a daily in January, 1901.

- La Tribune, Woonsocket, RI,founded by Ade lard E. Lafond, first ap-peared as a daily on April 7, 1..95. Itwas the first French-language newspaperin New England to be founded as a daily.

- L'Echo, New Bedford, Mass., found-ed by J.B. Archambault; first appearedevery other day» in 1901, became a

daily in 1910.- Le Journal, New Bedford, Mass.,

founded by L independant of Fall Riveras a separate edition of the latter, firstappeared as a daily in 1910.1 1 1

In 1911, the Franco-Americansadded one more accomplishment to theiralready impressive record. That was theappointment of Hugo A. Dubuque asJustice of the Superior Court in Massa-chusetts. With more churches, schools,societies, newspapers, politicians,doctors, lawyers, businessmen, homeow ners, caisses populaires, hospitals,orphanages, etc., the Franco-Americansof New England continued to gainprestige in the community, influencingtheir environment and adopting new pat-terns of living while still remaining loyalto their Franco-American heritage. Thedecade prior to the start of World War I

perhaps marked the peak of the bi-cultural state of being of the Frapco-Americans. presenting the mostfavorable surroundings and conditionsfor the survival of their language andcustoms. ' . ,

LABOR DIFFICULTIES

The cotton textile industry in

New England began to experience somerather unpleasant difficulties as a resultof Southern competititm.112 In theSouth, workers could pick the crop,process and refine. it, and producefinished cloth- all in the same location.This eliminated shipping costs to have

the raw fiber processed in Northernmills. In addition to this, Southernlaborers worked for less money thantheir New England, counterparts, the costof living and the taxes were lower in theSouth, labor. laws were less stringent, andunionism was not strong. As a result,Southern mills could sell their product atreduced rates. In order for Northernfactories to compete with, their rivals,they often found it necessary to increasetheir work week as well as to reducewages. This inevitably prompted theworkers in New England mills to strikefrom time to time. One example of thiswas the bitter strike which occurred inLawrence, Massachusetts in 1912.1 13

Franco-Americans, who oftencomprised a high percentagebf the workforce in certain areas, we'e frequentlyforced .to travel from city to city in searchof employment, financial aid, and moralsupport. Some, though not many, re-turned to Canada hoping to rim work.Although millworkers might not have,realized it at this time, these labor trou-bles represented a mild foretaste of whatthe future held for the cotton textile in-dustry in New England.

WORLD WAR I

The declaration of World War I

temporarily placed the factories into astate of vigorous production, creating

4

5

1

more jobs for immigrants, boosting theeconomy, and postponing the downfallof the livelihood of many Fran,Americans. The war in Europedemanded the services of every able-bodied soldier, regardless of age orethnic origin. As always, the Franco-Americans actively participated in thiswar effort. Patriotism toward theUnited States ran highly among citizensat home. especially those who knewsomeone fighting abroad. Franco -Americahs, as well as others, placedsmall American flags or small stars intheir windows, representing the nunoof family members in a particular house-hold who were away at war. Some tookpride in boasting that their family, theirparish, or their society had more menand women in the Armed Forces inEurope than any...other group in town.

The Garde Lafayette saw plentyof action during World War I, losingsome of its ablest members. Includedwas Lieutenant William H. Jutras, whodied near Riaville, France while at-tempting to save his platoon fromcertain death.114 Today, the memoryof Lieutenant Jutras lives on in his hometown, Manchester, New Hampshire,where the American Legion Post No. 43bears his name as Posse Jutras. Franco-American soldiers found that theirknowledge of the French languagebecame quite useful while fighting inFrance.

ONE FLAG, ONE LANGUAGE

The victory of the Allies inEurope in 1918 brought peace and reliefin homes throughout the country. Manysoldiers returned home, many did not.To the nation's ethnic groups, the end ofthe war brought with it an unforeseen

35

phenomenon reflecting shades of the.Native American Movement of the early19th century. The war with C.:el:lunyhad consequently caused an anti-Germansentiment to spread across the nation.The strong patriotic feelings expressedby citizens during the war now began tomanifest themselves in the form of «oneflag, one language».115 Soon, anti-German propaganda evolved into anti-ethnic doctrine. Anyone who identifiedhimself or herself as Francd-American,Polish-American, or any other«hyphenated-American» was consideredto be «un-American». Politicianspointed their fingers at many World WarI veterans, saying that they possessed aninadequate knowledge of the Englishlanguage. Educators accused Catholicparochial schools, excepting Irishschools, of failing to make the Englishlanguage an integral part of their cur-riculum, thus producing a generation ofcitizens who were fluent in their mothertongue, but desnerately lackingproficiency in thei ..se of the Englishlanguage.

To the Franco-Americans, thismerely represented another in a series ofbattles to preserve their cultural identity.As a group, they still had the power towithstand any opposing forces, as theirancestors had so frequently done.Among certain individuals, however, thismovement instilled fear or shame,causing them to Americanize their namesand marry outside their own ethnicgroup.116 Jean-Baptiste Arsenaultsimply became Jack Snow, or JosephLeblanc changed his name to JoeWhite.-117 Naturally, those who deniedtheir ethnic identity raised their childrenonly as Americans, with no knowledgeof the language and customs of theirancestors. These notions had occurred

41

36

long before the 1920's. However, theydid not exist on as large a scale. Thiswas the case in Vermont, where theFranco-Americans had becomeassimilated by the turn of thecentury.118 Politicians tried to intro-duce bills which would have banked theteaching of all languages other thanEnglish in the parochial schools. For themost part, these politiciar.s lost theirbattle, especially in cases concerning theFrench language. Franco-Americanschools adhered to the laws which statedthat they must follow the same cur-riculum as the public schools with regardto English, American History, etc., al-lowing them the freedom to teachFrench during the remaining portions ofthe school day.1 19

RHODE ISLAND CONTROVERSY

The assimilation or Amerianiza-tion movement following World War Irevived some of the bitterness betweenFranco-Americans and ::ie Irish over thequestion of tea,:ning French inpredominantly Franco-Americanschools. Many disputes had riserduring the 19th century. Yet, none everattained the notoriety of L'Affaire de laSentinel le in Rhode Island.] 20 Thislasted from 1923 to about 1924. A

detailed account of this controversywould require entire book.Therefore, a general summary of eventswill have to suffice. His Excellency TheMost Reverend William A. Hickey,Bishop of Providence, decided that thestate needed diocesan s t1.1:ipols on thesecondary level, much like L'Assomptionin Worcester. In order to pay for theconstruction of these schools, he wouldfind it necessary to tax every parish inhis diocese. Certain Franco-Americansin the diocese learned that the schools

might possibly limit the teaching ofFrench, alt ough the majority ofstudents at nding them wolld comefrom Fran o-American families. Led byAttorney Elphege Daignault, a residentof Woonsocket and also President-General of L'Association Canado-Ameri-caine in Manchester, New Hampshire,these Franco-Americans decided to chal-lenge Bishop Hickey's right to tax theirpurses, while depriving their children oftheir Nght to study French in school.They accused Bishop Hickey of trying toassimilate the Franco-Americans.

Subsequently, they founded anewspaper entitled La Sentinelle inwhich they voiced their oppositiontoward the bishop's proposals. TheSentinellistes believed in the Canadiansystem of palish taxation, wherein thepastor and an appointed parish councilLave control of funds, rather than thebishop. Conditions became so heatedthat another group of Franco-Americansled by Elie Vezina, the Secretary-Generalof L'Union Saint-Jean-Baptiste d'Ame-rique, voiced their opposition to theDaignault forces in the WoonsocketFrench-language newspaper La Tribune.After several years of battling and name-calling back and forth, La Sentinelle wasplaced on the Catholic Church's «Index»and the Sentinellistes were excom-municated by the religious courts inRome. The civil courts in Rhode Islandalso ruled against them, saying that thebishop had every right to tax theparishioners, and that the latter had nosay in the manner in which the dioceseused -se funds. Not wishing to remainoutsidi the Catholic Church, theSentinellistes were forced to retract allprevious statements regarding thebishop's authority. Subsequently, theChurch pardoned and readmitted them.

42

Without taking sides in thisconflict, several objective observationsare wairanted. Negatively speaking, theSentinel le controversy demonstrated tothe world that given the right issue, theotherwise homogeneous and unitedFranco-Americans could in fact bedivided, plotted brother against brother,friend against friend. Another situationsuch as this could ultimately destroy allbonds among Franco-Americans, leavingthem vulnerable to forces which wouldsucceed in assimilating them. Positivelyspeaking, L'Affalre de la Sentinel le was amanifestation of the love which certainFrancoAmericans had for theirJanguageane their willingness to preserve it,regardless of the consequences. Thestrength and unity of the Sentinellisteswent so far as to influence Irish bishopsin later years to see the value in knowinga sc cond language. Some of the bishopswho had once put down theSentinelllstes later advocated theconservation of the French language.Their main opposition to the movement,according to many, lay not in any hatredfor the Franco-Americans, but rather inthe tactics employed by the Sentinel-listes. In any case, if L'Affaire de laSentinelle possessed some rather negatiivaspects, there is no denying that itproduced some rather positiveresults) 21

LABOR DIFFICULTIES RETURN

Another battle with which theFranco-Americans and other primarilylabor-oriented ethnic groups had tocontend was the economic crisis whichoccurred during the -1920's. In NewEngland, the textile industry faced itsperpetual struggle to remain alive andprosperous. Everywhere, mill ownersbegan their usual tactics of increasing

37

work hours, decreasing salaries, and cut-ting their work force. The situation hadbecome much more serious than thatprior to World War I. When a corpora-tion the size of the AmoskeagManufacturing Company, the largest cot-ton textile manufacturing company inthe world, watched its 17,000 operativesgo on strike for nine months in 1922,the economic outlook was not veryoptimistic. 22

Franco-Americans, more politi-cally aware than ever, slowly began todrift away from the Republican PartyThi party was viewed as a wealthyman's party and it possessed some rather«Know-Nothing» attitudes. Observingthat the Democratic Party seemed moreconcerned with the economic situationand with the plight of the working class,Franco-Americans ignored the fact thattheir rivals, the Irish, had dominated thisparty for many years. Soon, more andmore Franco-American. names appearedin between the Irish names on theDemocratic Party's voting lists. In 1928,the 'majority .4 Franco-Americans stoodfirmly behind the DemocraticPresidential candidate, Governor AlSmith of New York. They disregardedhis ethnic background and judged himby his qualifications and his viewpoints.Although Al Smith lost the election toHerbert Hoover, the Franco-Americanshad solidly planted themselves withinthe ranks of the Democratic Party.' 23

THE GREAT DEPRESSION:ITS EFFECTS ON

THE FRANCO-AMERICANS

By autumn of 1929, the economiccrisis had turned into a full-scale depres-sion, following the infamous StockMarket Crash. The Great Depression

38

merely created more difficulties in thealready troubled New England textileindustr, , but in this case mill operativescould not escape these difficulties byseeking employment elsewhere. TheDepression had affected all walks of life.People lacked money, jobs, and worst ofall, they had nowhere to turn. Asalways, a few Franco-Americans«escaped» to Canada nonetheless, thegreat majority remained in this country.Many alleviated their financial burdensby moving in with relatives. They sharedexpenses such as rent, food, and utilities.In some families as many as fifteen totwenty persons of every age and genera-tion were forced to crowd into three andfour -room apartments. To those in theirseventies and eighties, this type of livingarrangement echoed the days of theirarrival and establishment in the NewEngland textile centers following theCivil War. Perhaps the only positiveaspect of the Depression was that itbrought families closer together, en-abling younger children to hear Frenchspoken more frequently, since theirgrandparents naturally favored it overthe English language. To those parentswho concerned themselves primarilywith the well-being of their families,perhaps all on relief and at the mercy ofa government which advocated «one flagand one language», the idea of Franco-American cultural survival probablyranked last on their list of priorities.124

RETURN TO PROSPERITY ANDGRADUAL AMERICANIZATION

With the election of Franklin- D.Roosevelt, the Democratic Presidentialcandidate whom the majority of Franco-Americans backed during the campaignof 1932, the nation slowly began torecover from its economic illness. Those

who had suffered since the Crash couldnow perceive a bright future for them-selves and their families. PresidentRoosevelt's numerous programs createdemployment for everyone. As a result,Americans developed the drive to getahead, both materially and socially. Thisupward mobility caused Franco-Americans, as well as other ethnicgroups, to look back on the days whenthey first arrived in the United States.Upon arrival they had to struggle inpoverty and they worked long hours forlittle pay. They were scoffed at bynative Americans because of language andcultural differences, and were forced tohide their ethnicity in order to receiveequal treatment in the community.

Now, Franco-Americans began toregard their ethnic background asdetrimental to their prosperity. Theyfelt that by shedding their «foreign»traits and by attempting to appear as«American» as possible, they would findgreater acceptance in society.Consciously or unconsciously, Franco-Americans slowly abandoned certain'customs which they had observed formany years.' 25 Children spoke Frenchonly g school or in the presence of theirgrandparents. Adults still used theFrench laiguage. They spoke it lessfrequently however. Many tended toincorporate English words into a Frenchsentence, soon causing the Franco-American language to evolve into whatlinguists call loofranglais. 126 To manyyoung Franco-Americans who were bornin the United States, Canada was merelya foreign country. It was where theirancestors had come from, and also wherethey occasionally visited relatives, butneither would one want to live there norcould one identify with any part of thatculture. New England was their on!y

4 II

k

home.127

The Franco-American institutions,the guardians of the French way of 'life in New England, began to reflectsome of the changes which had occurredduring these years of prosperity.Franco-American churches found that agood portion of their members whopreferred to hear sermons in English hadtransferred to Irish Catholic parishes.' 28Teachers in the French parochial schoolsobserved that children were progressivelylosing their ability to communicate inthe French language. Parents oftensent their children to Irish Catholic orpublic schools in order to avoid anydifficulties with the French language.Journalists stood by in utter dismay asone, French newspaper after anotherceased publication due to a lack ofsubscriptions. Franco-Americans,especially the younger generation, couldread English language newspapers moreeasily. Consequently, many cancelledtheir subscriptions to the local Franco-American journals.129 Severalstrong-willed Franco-American jour-nalists continued to publish their news-papers at a deficit for many more years.The Franco-American reader, however,had no interest in them. The onlyinstitution that did not immediatelysurrender to this wave of assimilationwas the Franco-American society.Remaining loyal to their original purposeof preserving and promoting the Frenchlanguage, Franco-American societiesresisted the forces which surroundedthem. Those who belonged to a societydid so voluntarily, out of concern for thefuture of French life in New England.Certain cultural traditions were upheld,such as conducting meetings andconventions in French. In addition, allof their announcements, newsletters, and

39

publications remained in Fre lch.

Infatuated by their newly-foundprosperity, some Franco-Americansviewed Le Petit Canada, with its streetsof closely lined rows of three and four-decker houses, as a reminder of theirpoor economic and social status in pastyears. They no longer wished to liveamong the memories of hard work in themills and overcrowded living conditions.To them, the way of life in Le PetitCanada had become «passe». Theylooked upon the old neighborhood inthe same manner as their ancestors hadperceived their abandoned farms inQuebec. A few of the more prosperousFranco-Americans had left Le PetitCanada as early as the 1880's. Now, inthe 1930's many more Franco-Americans hopped on to the bandwagonwhich brought them into suburbia.There they would constitute but oneamong the numerous nationalities, whereEnglish would dominate all othertongues, and where they would graduallydrift away from and lose touch withFranco-American cultural influenceswhich had once surrounded them.'"

CONCERNED FRANCO-AMERICANSAND FRENCH-CANADIANS UNITE

In .1937, Le Deuxieme Congres dela Langue Francaise took place inQuebec City. Many prominent NewEngland Franco-American leaders partic-ipated in this event. Included were:

- Reverend Adrien Verrette, notedclergyman and historian.

- Adolphe Robert, author, journalist,and President-General of L 'AssociationCanado-Americaine.

- Wilfrid Beaulieu, journalist, publisherof Le TrUvailleur.

45

40

- Henri Ledoux, President-General ofL 'Union Saint-Jean-Baptiste d'A merique.

- Attorney Eugene 'Jalbert, legalcounsel of L'Union SaintJean-Baptisted 'Amerique.

- Josephat T. Benoit, author,journalist.

At this convention, 17rench-Canadians and Franco-Americans met todiscuss the future of their language, theirmother tongue, hoping to find asolution to the current dilemma whichthe Franco-Americans of, New Englandfaced. The ultimate result of this con-vention was the founding of Le ComitePermanent des CongrEs de la LangueFranfaise en Amerique, subsequentlychanged to Le Comite Permanent de laSurvivance Franfaise en Amerique, andstill in existence today under the nameof Le Conseil de la Vie Franfaise enAmerique. The primary goal of thisorganization is to preserve the Frenchheritage in North America.13 1

WORLD WAR H

When World W2r II broke out,all eyes focused on Europe and Asia.When the United States entered theconflict in 1941, Franco-Americans onceagain went into battle along withhundreds of thousands of otherAmericans. At home in the UnitedStates the job market was favorable, as itusually becomes during a time of war.The cotton textile industry had all butcompletely died in New England, withonly a few remaining factories here andthere. Synthetics such as rayon hadreplaced cotton, and the mills nowrequired fewer operatives due to anincrease in mechanization. As a result,Franco- Arnercans who had previouslysupplied the labor force of the texile

industry now worked in various otherfields. The average Franco-Americansstill belonged to the working class, yetin a more diversified manner.

patriotism remained strong duringWorld War II as it had during theprevious war. As always, the warproduced many heroes, Franco-Aniericans included. LieutenantRaymond Beaudoin of Holyoke waskilled in Gernuny one month before thefighting had ceased. He earned theCongressional Medal of Honor. Manywon Purple Hearts, Silver Stars, BronzeStars, and other awards for bravery incombat. Franco-American women, noless patriotic, served in the WACS,WAVES, and also as nurses. Perhaps themost famous event in which a Franco-American participated occurred inFebruary *of 1945, when Pfc. ReneGagnon of Manchester, New Hampshire,and five of his Marine companions raisedthe American flag atqf Mt. Suribachi onthe island of Iwo Jima in the Pacific.132

REVIVAL OF INTEREST INFRENCH CULTURE

World War II shed new light uponthe importance of knowing a foreignlanguage for both travel and diplomaticpurposes. The sentiments whichprevailed at this time directly contra-dicted those which followed WorldWar I. 133 The American governmentlooked favorably toward its ally, France.Therefore, in a complete about-facefrom its previous position, the Americangovernment advocated the teaching ofFrench in parochial and even in publicschools. Consequently, French Catholicschools experienced a sharp increase intheir enrollment after the war andthrough the early 1950's. It was net

4t)

uncommon to see soldiers, stationed onmilitary bases, with their families,sending 'their children to nearby Frenchparochial schools, hoping to providethem with the opportunity to learn asecond language. Many of these studentsdid not come from Franco-Americanfamilies, which signified that the«average» American had finally come torealize the value of preserving one'sethnic heritage rather than beingashamed of it or demeaning those whowished to preserve theirs.134

41IPThe United States furthercemented its relationship with Franceand her people by sending a train filledwith food and clothing to aid the victimsof that war-torn nation. In recognitionfor this generous deed, the Frenchgovernment reciprocated by sending atrain to the United States. This gift tothe American people, entitl Train dela Reconnaissance Francaise, consistedof 49 separate cars, one destined foreach state, as well as the District ofColumbia. It contained numerousarticles, including art treasures, porcelainvases, medals of various sorts, bells fromCaen, dolls, and many other items.135

Potentially, the attitudes duringthe post-war years presented a quitefavorable milieu with regard to thesurvival of the French language. At thetime, there still existed enough Franco-American churches, schools, societies,and even a few newspapers, to enableFranco-Americans to regain what theyhad lost. The majority of the people hadnot forgotten the French language andtraditions. They had merely brushedthem aside and ignored them. Help waseverywhere. Many, schools still carried ahalf-day of French in their curriculum.offering Franco-American children the

41

chance to learn or to improve upon their'French. Societies still clung to theircustom of deliberating in French at theirmeetings. In most cities, radio stationscarried an heure francaise, consisting ofboth speech and songs in the French

1./ language.136 The French-Canadians andthe Franco-Americans once again met inQuebec City for. Le Troisieme Congresde la Langue Francaise in 1952.137This time, the convention was presidedby a Franco-American, Reverend AdrienVerrette. In short, everyo le, includingmany non-Franco-Americans, devoted agreat deal of time and effort toward thesurvivance of the French language. Thisplaced an opportunity for culturalrevival within reach of averageFranco-American. The fate of theFrench language in New England wasnow in the hands of the everydayperson.

ETHNIC SUICIDE

Unfortunately, although theresources were there, Franco-Americans,like most other Americans, did not takeadvantage of them. The incompre-hensible fact of the matter was that inpast years, when the native Americansand the Irish had attempted to assimilatethe Franco-Americans, the latter unitedto form an invincible defense againstthese forces, guarding their culturalidentity which they held sacred. Yet,when the government, the CatholicChurch hierarchy, and other assimilativebodies finally admitted the worth andcultural wealth of speaking more thanone language, the previously unas-similabla Franco-Americans simplypointed their weapons in the oppositedirection and committed ethnic suicidethrough passive self-assimilation. 13 8

4 7

12

This phenomenon has occurred withinmost ethnic groups in the United States,and probably at a much faster rate thanamong the Franco-Americans. The factthat the Franco-Americans settled withina few , hundred miles of their uold

country has aided in slowing downtheir assimilation. European immigrants,on the other hand, settled at least 3,000miles away from their mother country.Consequently, they quickly adopted the-.language and customs of this country.Only in large cities such as New York,Philadelphia, and Chicago, where thereare still enough immigrants to constitutethe various ethnic neighborhoods, does

the European culture remain alive.

REFORMS IN THECATHOLIC CHURCH

In 1960, the Franco-Americanssaw one of their compatriots ascend tothe episcopate in New Hampshire. Tomany, this came as a pleasant surprisebecause no Franco-American priest had.achieved this rank since the death ofBishop Guertin in 1931. This priest wasThe Most Reverend Ernest J. Primeau, anative of Chicago.1 3 9 Apart from hisregular duties, Bishop Primeau took anactive part in the Vatican Ecumenicalr:ouncil, which created various reformsin the Catholic Church. One of thesereforms was to abolish Latin as the of-ficial language of the Chu:ch., and toreplace it with the vernacular. Most

Franco-American pariciles naturallyrecognized the French language as theirvernacular, but in order to prevent their'parishioners from joining an English-speaking parish, Franco-Americanpastors foul. 4 it necessary to incorporateone or two English Masses into theirschedule.' 40

ICHANGES IN FRENCH LANGUAGE

TEACHING METHODS

The problem of teaching Frenchin the Franco-American schools becamemore and more acute, since children notonly lacked the ability to speak 'French,but many also refused to even attemptto learn it. In order to keep their en-rollment up, Franco-American schoolshad to bend with the tide. Most schoolshad to change their curriculum fromhalf-day of French to 45 minutes perday of French <<taught as a secondlanguage.» This became the onlysolution.. to the problem of children ar-riving in the first grade without everhaving heard one word of French.

During the summer of 1961 and1962 Bowdoin College in Brunswick,Maine hosted a seven-week programentitled L'Institut Franco-Americain.Funded by virtue of the NationalDefense Education Act of 1958 anddirected by Dr. Gerard Brault of theUniversity of Pennsylvania, this programwas designed to improve the methods ofteaching French in thlic and parochialhigh schools.141 In 1965, variousprofessional people, clergymen, andeducators met at Le VIlle Congres desFranco-Amerkains to try to resolve thecrisis of teaching French in the Franco-American parochial schools.142 It wasevideli that the current methodologyhad not been effective in making thestudents identify with the language oftheir ancestors. During the aboveprograms numerous suggestions weremade with regard to the modernizationof the methods of teaching French. A

few of these suggestions were :

- The gradual and delicate' evolutionfrom Franco-American Flinch to

modern or «standard» French.- The standardization of teaching

methods, in other words, Franco-American schools would utilize thesame program of study as that of schoolsin Canada, France, Belgium, Switzerland,etc.

- Oral exercises in a languagelaboratory, designed to perfectpronunciation.

- The incorporation of the history andfolklore of the French-speaking world tomake classes more interesting to Franco-American children than mere drillsessions in grammaire and epellation.

By employing these and otheradvanced methods of instruction,educators hoped to produce a breed ofperfectly bilingual students whoseFrench would be of an impeccablequality .143 Unfortunately, due to ashortage of nuns, brothers, and capablelay teachers, many Franco-Americanschools were forced to close their doorsbefore ever having the opportunity totry out these new language programs. Insome cases, pastors who did not wish tosee their schools close down pleadedwith diocesan officials to come to theiraid. This resulted in the merger of localparochial schools of various nationalitiesinto regional diocesan schools with noparticular ethnic identification .144Catholic schools in general wereexperiencing financial difficulties at thistime, primarily because they received nogovernment subsidies, thus having' tocharge tuition. Parents with manychildren, who could not always affordthese high costs, sent their offspring topublic schools.

. 43

FRANCO-AMERICAN NEWSPAPERSAND SOCIETIES

As Franco- American lifecontinued to dwindle during the 1960's,so did the number of Franco- Americannewspapers. These journals, for themost part, ran out of funds andconsequently ceased their operations.They could not follow the same trend asthe other Franco-American institutions.They could not incorporate the Englishlanguage into their articles and still callthemselves French-language newspapers.Even the societies finally began toexperience difficulties. Most still main-tained the tradition of utilizing theFrench-language, but new members ofthe younger generation seemed few andfar between.145 Many of the clubsmerely served as places to drink, to playcards, or to shoot a game of billiards.Larger societies, such as L'AssociationCanado-Americaine and L'Union Saint-Jean-Baptiste- d'Amerique, continued touse the French language in their internalaffairs, but found it necessary to becomebilingual when dealing with the public.This was the only way in which theycould attract young members, whopossessed little or no knowledge of theFrench language.

TRAGEDY IN VIET NAM

As Franco-American leaderscontinued their fight for the survival ofFrench life in the United States, manyyoung soldiers, including Franco-Americans, continued their fight formere survival in Viet Nam. In the end,over 50,000 Americans had given theirlive or this controversial cause. For theFranco-Americans, the single most tragic'event occurred during the last week ofAugust in 1969. The Third Battalion of

49

44

the 197th Artillery in the New

Hampshire National Guard was due toreturn home after a one-year tour ofduty in Viet Nam. One week beforetheir scheduled homecoming, S. Sgt.Richard Raymond, Spec. '5- RichardGenest, and Spec. 4 Roger Robichaud,Gaetan Beaudoin, and Guy Blanchette,all Franco-Americans from Manchester,died when the truck in which they rodewent over a forty-pound land mineseveral miles outside of Saigon.146

THE PRESENT AND THE FUTURE

Today, the future of the Franco-Americans seems uncertain. With eachyear, the balance of English and FrenchMasses in the Franco-Amenca urchesseems to hift in favor of English. Onerey of hope lies in the fact that hreedioceses i4 p. N,Aw England have a Franco-American bishop. These are: The MostReverend Louis E. Gelineau, Bishop ofProvidence, The Most Reverend OdoreJ. Gendron, Bishop of Manchester, andthe most recent appointment, The MostReverend Amedee W. Proulx, AuxiliaryBishop of Portland.147 With the aidof these three men, parishes may beable to retain their ethnicity a whilelonger.

Educators are still workingdiligently to try to find a solution tothe problem of teaching French in

schools. In several states, they have metwith legislators, hoping to initiate theirbilingual educational programs in thepublic schools.48 The state ofLouisiana has done this successfully andsome New England states wish to followsuit.149 In the field of journalism, theonly remaining major French-languagenewspaper is Wilfrid Beaulieu's Le

Travailleur. Mr. Beaulieu founded his

newspaper in Worcester in 1931 and as astaunch supporter and patriot of theFrench calm, he continues to publishhis journal despite the decline of theFranco-American press in New England.Because of its primarily political andliterary nature, Le Travailleur appealsmostly to intellectuals. Consequently,itehas great difficulty finding its way intothe «average» Franco-American home.

There are still many strongFranco-American societies in existence,but as older members and officersgradually die off they are replaced byyounger people who do not necessarilyidentify with the original goals of thesocieties. Thus, many of these societiesmay soon evolve into mere businesses,void of ethnic identity, unless peoplesuddenly become more concerned withtheir fate. One society which hasmanaged to maintain an impressivemembership while persisting in its battleagainst assimilation is Le RichelieuInternational. This organization, whichoriginated in Ottawa in 1944, has localchapters in Canada, New England,France, Belgium, Switzerland, and NorthAfrica. Besides trying to preserveFrench life and culture, Le RichelieuInternational actively participates in com-munity projects which are beneficial tosociety in genera1.1 5°

In many cities, Le Petit Canada isbarely visible today. After the majorityof, its former residents had moved out tothe suburbs, the old French-Canadianneighborhood began to deteriorate and

dissolve.151 The streets in which theearly French-Canadians had so proudlymarched every year during La Saint-Jean-Baptiste have become silent. Theyare lined with run-down, weather-beaten,and vacant homes which the old

50

'A

emigrants had once thought of as theircastles. The homes which many of thefirst French-Canadians worked long andhard to build and pay for have nowsimply fallen into disrepair. In someareas, Le Petit Canada has been literallycrushed and eaten up by the bulldozersand the cranes of urban renewal in thename of «progress*.

As for the Franco -Americans, theyare now simply Americans. Except fora inority of strong supporters of theF nch language and traditions in theUnited States, most franco-Americanslook, speak, act, think in the samerman-ner as everyone else. They no longerfight with the Irish, and the Yankeesociety has admitted them within itscircles. Unfortunately, in order toachieve this status, the Franco-Americans were forced to shed theirmost preCious possession, their identity.

CONCLUSION

A question may arise: «Who isresponsible for all of these losses?» The19th century French-Canadians believedthat so long as they maintained theirchurches, schools, newspapers, andsocieties, their ethnic survival was as-sured. They firmly believed that theseinstitutions were the foundations ofFrench life in the United States. Theevents of the 20th century have servedas evidence that they were mistaken.When the French-Canadians firstestablished themselves in the UnitedStates, their institutions took on apurely French-Canadian image. In lateryears when their descendants, theFranco-Americans, slowly began toabandon their mother tongue, their insti-tutions had two choices. They couldeither conform to this evolution in order

45

to remain solvent, or else they could tryto resist the tide of assimilation andeventually perish. In other words,Franco-American institutions were notthe foundations of French culture inthis country, they merely reflected thesentiments which prevailed at any giventime. When Franco-Americans beganleaving their parishes to join Irishparishes in order to hear the Mass inEnglish, Franco-American pastors had noalternative but to introduce English-language Masses. Had they not done so,they would have lost the majority oftheir parishioners. This same notionmay be applied to the other Franco-American institutions. The blame doesnot lie with them.

Who, then, is responsible for theassimilation of the Franco-Americans?The answer can be found no farther thanone's front door - the family. Thefoundation of every human being's life,that is, the individual's personality,perception of reality, values, habits,language, and identity all originate athome with the family. This may be nar-rowed down further by stating that ofall the family members, the mother playsthe most important role in the formationof her children. Even if a mother isemployed, her children still manage tospend more time with her than theyspend with their father. In the home,the responsibility rests with the mother,for it is from her that children learn their«mother tongue» .1 5 2 Women areusually the most faithful guardians oftheir children's education.1 5 3

If parents teach their children,while they are still very young andimpressionable, to speak their mothertongue and to take pride in 'heir ethnicheritage. the children will develop into

5 I

46

adults who value their identity as

ranco-Americans. They will thuspreserve their language and traditions. Assoon as parents begin to neglect theethnic formation of their children, theforces of assimilation will immediatelytake over. These forces comprise anumber of influences: television, radio,comic books, movies, friends andrelatives who speak only English.Should parents decide to send theirchildren to a Franco-American parochialschool ( the few that are left) withoutfirst having taught them to speakFrench, they cannot blame e schoolfor assimilating their children, si thechildren had no language or ethnicheritage to destroy in the first place.

In this Bicentennial year, thecitizens of the United States have sud-denly become interested in their ethnicheritage. Perhaps they feel that theyhave lost something by ignoring it all

these years. Fortunately, those whoseem to have the most enthusiasm forstudying foreign languages, reconstruc-ting their family tree, and traveling tothe «old country» to see where their'ancestors once lived, are the youngpeople, those who will shape the societyof tomorrow. Several decades ago,adults accused the younger genera-tion of falling prey to the propaganda ofassimilation. Hopefully, the youngergeneration of today will make up for thisloss by recapturing the past and makingit useful in the present. If parents take agreater interest in the ethnic formationof their children, and if the bilingualprograms of today's educators canreceive full support of the governmentand the people, the future of alllanguages, including French, will remainbright. In this jet age, where Europe isbut a few hours away, many more

Americans are visiting the variouscountries abroad. Those who havealready done so know the value ofknowing a second language.

There are some who might feelthat by speaking a foreign language andby identifying with one's ethnic heritagea person is being un-American and un-patriotic. On the contrary, the UnitedStates is a nation which advocates thefreedom to be what one wishes to be. Aperson may owe allegiance to the UnitedState,s and be proud of his or her ethnicheritage at the same time. If the Franco-Americans become successful in regain-ing the French language and in main-

ining it in their homes, they will be allthe more wealthy, both intellectuallyand culturally." If, on the other hand,the Franco-Americans one day disap-pear, it is because they will have wantedit.154

The great mosaic, the UnitedStates of America, through theassimilationc6Ots various ethnic groups,. is become dull and colorless with age.In this Bicentennial Year, 1976, the timehas arrived to take a loo'ic at this master-piece, this 200 year-old mosaic, andbegin to restore it before its once bril-liant colors fade away, never to return.

'52

WHO'S WHO AND WHO WAS WHO. AMONG FRANCO-AMERICANS

The following are but «a few» ofthe many Franco-Americans who haveachieved notoriety in their respectivefields but who were not previouslymentioned in 'the text of this work.

Artists

Lorenzo De Nevers - born: Bale-du-Febvre, P.Q.; res: Paris, New York,Montreal, Central Falls, R.I.; notedpainter among whose works arenumerous portraits of well-knownFranco-Americans, as well as many land-scapes.

Lucien Gosselin - born: Whitefield,N.H.; res: Paris, Manchester, N.H.;

',sculptor, ,known especially for hismasterpieces which adorn the parks,commons, and churches of many NewEngland cities.

Government Officials

Herve L'Heureux - born:Manchester, N.H.; res: Canada, Germany,Portugal, France, Washington, D.C.;State Department official, Americanconsul in various cities abroad.

Emery J. San Souci - born: Saco,Maine; res: Greenfield, Mass., Hartford,Co n n ., Providence, R.I.; politician,became the second Franco-Americangovernor of Rhode Island.

Journalists

Philippe-Armand Lajoie - born:Wottonville, P.Q.; res: Montreal, FallRiver, Mass.; editor of Fall River'sFrench-language newspaper L 'Inde-pendant.

53

trzol

Yvonne Le Maitre - born :Pierreville, P.Q.; res: Paris, Lowell, Mass.;a critic as well es a journalist, she wrotefor various English and French-languagenewspapers, including L'Etoile in Lowell.

Musicians

Bernard Barbeau - born: Peabody,Mass.; res: Nashua, N.H., Boston; pianist,opera singer, voice instructor at the NewEngland Conservatory in Boston.

Dr. Wilfrid Pelletier - born:Montreal, P.Q.;- res: Paris, New York;orchestra conductor, New YorkMetropolitan Opera.

Mutualists

Henri Goguen - born: Fitchburg,Mass.; Les: Leominster, Mass.; President-General of LlInion Saint-Jean-Baptisted'Amerique in Woonsocket, R.I. (1946-1974).

Gerald` Robert - born and res:Manchester, N.H.; President-General ofL 'Association Canado-Americaine inManchester, N.H. (1965 to date).

Sports Personalities

Louis (Lou) Boudreau - born:Harvey, Illinois; baseball player,managed the Cleveland Indians :ind theBoston Red Sox, and was the AmericanLeague's Most Valuable Player in 1948.

Napoleon (Larry) Lajoie - born:Woonsocket, R.I.; playefl professionalbaseball during the early part of thee20th century, and was named to theNational Baseball Hall of Fame in 1937.

Stars of Stage and Screen

Frank Fontaine - born:Cambridge, Mass.; comedian who

,/

48

,achieved national fame on the «JackieGleason Show».

Robert Goulet - born: Lawrence,Mass.; singer and actor, Broadway star(Camelot).

Eva Tanguay - born: Holyoke,Mass.; singer, actress, and Vaudevillestar.

Rudolph (Rudy) Vallee - born:Island Pond, Vt.; res: Westbrook, Maine;singer, actor.

Louis Dantin' (pseudonym ofEugene Seers) - born: near Montreal;res: Cambridge, Mass.; poet, novelist,

critic.Henri D'Arles (pseudonym of

Rev. Henri Beaude) - born: Arthabaska,P.Q., res: primarily in Manchester, N.H.;world traveler, author, historian.

Jacques Ducharme - born:Holyoke, Mass.; res: Stratford, Conn.;novelist, historian, folklorist.

Will Durant - born: North Adams,Mass.; internationally famous historianand philosopher.

Jean-Louis (Jack) Kerouac - born:Lowell, Mass.; famed novelist, one of theoriginal roponents of the Beat Genera-tio g the 1950's.

saire Dion-Levesque - born andres. ashua, N.H.; author of severalbooks of poems in the French language,among which is a translation or some of4 -the finest verses from Walt Whitman'sLeaves of Grass.

Alice Lemieux-Levesque, wife ofthe above - born: Quebec, P.Q.; res: St-Michel de Bellechasse, P.Q., Nashua, Nh;also published poems in French.

Miscellaneous

Jean Garand- born: St-Remi, P.Q.;res: Springfield, ass., inirentor of theGarand Rifle, which replaced the Spring-field Rifle used by the American Armed

Forces.Rev. Thomas M. Landry, o.p.

, born: New Bedfoi 1, Mass.; res: FallRiver, Mass.; past president of Le Conseil

de la Vie .Francaise en Amerique andstaunch defender of the French languagein New England.

Gen. Curtis Lemay - born:Columbus, Ohio; U.S. Army General,Head of the Strategic Air Command.

Joseph (Jos) Montferrand - bornProvince of Quebec; res: Woonsocket,R.I., Manchester, N.H.; known through-out New England and Quebec as aninvincible French-Canadian «strong

man».

54

Footnotes

1. Francis Parkman, Pioneers of France in the NewWorld (New York: Charles Scrihner's Sons. 1915).Vol. 2 pp. 14.20; see also Arthur L. Eno. French Trailsin the United States, address before the members of theLowell Historical Society. published under the auspicesof the Franco-American Historical Society. 1940:pp. 3.4.

Liwurd Feeteau, French Contributions of America,published under the auspices of the Fi4nco- AmericanHistorical Society. (Methuen: Soucy Press. 1945).pp. 5.7.

3 Antoine Degert, «Huguenots», in The CatholicEncyclopedia (New York: Robert Appleton Co.. 1910).Vol VII, pp. 527.37; See also John S. C. Abbott.Henry I V ( New York: Harper and Bros.. 1884).

4. Gilbert. (limed. Les Refugies Huguenots enAmerique (Paris: Les Belles Lettres. 1925). p. 8-9;Fecteau, pp. 7-10.

5. On the Massacre of St. Bartholomew see Abbott.pp. 109-36.

6. Dcgert, pp. 532.33.

7. Fecteau. pp. 15-16.

p. I h.

9. From correspondence which stemmed from a,:onversation with Mr. Jacques Ducharme, January 31.I 976.

W. tiro. George R. Plante, The Franco-AmericanParish in New England, NIA dissertation. Fordham Uni-ersty, New York, 1940. p. 2; see also Herve B. LemaireThe Franco-Americans of New England. an unpublishedmanuscript prepared for the Language Resource Projectof the Department of Health. Education and Welfare.1963, pp. 3-4.

11 On rtienne Bride see J. Herbert Cranston. EtienneBr,le Immortal Scoundrel ( Toronto: Ryerson Press.1949). on Nicolet and Perrot see Josaphat Benoit.Catechisme d'Histoire Franco-Americaine, public sous

athpces de la Societe Historique Franco-Americaine.( NIanche,ter LAN.c. r National. 1939) pp. 26-28. OnRdiscon, Uroseilliel Marquette. Jolliet. La Salle. andV&endr!,e see Eno. pp. 6-7

49

12. Adrien Verrette. Paroisse SainteMarie Manchester,New Hampshire, (Manchester: Imprimerie Lafayette,1931) pp. 264.65; see also Fecteau. pp. 21.26.

13. See Francis Parkman. Frontenac and New FranceUnder Louis XI V, (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.1915).

14. Eno. p. 5,

15. Benoit. Catechisme. pp. 26-33.

16. Degert, p. 533.

17. Ibid., p.534.

18., See Fecteau. pp. 11-15 for a list of hundreds ofHuguenots' names and their places of settlement.

19. Benoit. Catechisme, pp. 8. 10. 12. 15 and 22.

20. Ibid., pp. 10-14.

21. Plante. p. 2.

22. Jacques Ducharme, The Shadows of the Trees,(New York: Harper and Brothers. 1943) p. 154.

23. W. Stewart Wallace. ed.. «Treaty of Utrecht» inThe Encyclopedia of Canada (Toronto: UniversityAssociates of Canada Limited. 1948) Vol VI. p. 224.

24. Josaphat Benoit. L'Ame Franco-Americaine(Montreal: Cditions Albert Levesque. 1935). pp. 4243:see also Lemaire. p. 6.

25. See Francis Parkman. Montcalm and Wolfe, (NewYork: Charles Scribner's Sons. 1915) in 3 volumes.

26. Vei re t te SteMarie, p. 92.

27. Benoit. L'Ame. p. 38.

28. Sr Florence NI. Chevalier, The Role of FrenchNational Societies in the Sociocultural Evolution of theFranco-Americans of New England from 1860 to thePresent, Ph. D. dissertation (Washington: Catholic U.-1972). p. 37. footnote no. 1.

Ducharme. Shadows, pp. 23-24.

50

30. . William Henry Moore, The Clash/ A Study inNationalities (Toronto: J. M. Dent and Sons. Limited.1918) pp. 3;13.

31. Fur a list of some of the French and French-Canadian military men who fought aga.. qt England in:he American evolutionary War see Fecteau.pp. 87-111.

32. Andre 1 eveque. Histoire de la Civilisation Fran-caise (New York: Holt. Rinehart and Winston. 1966;3eddition). p. 242.

33. Benoit. Cattschisme, p:16.

34. Ibid.. p. 18.

35. Ibid.. F. 16.

36. Ibid.. p 18.

37 Fecteau. p. 99; see also Benoit. LAme, p. 44.

38. J. L. K. Laflamme. David E. Lavigne and J. ArthurFavreau. «French Catholics in the United States» inThe Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. VI pp. 271-72.

39. Benoit. Catechisme, p. 18.

40. There were, of course, exceptions to this. InMaryland, which was governed by English Catholics.the Calvert family (the Lords Baltimore). freedom ofworship was granted by virtue of the Act of Tolerationof 1649. Surrounded.by Protestants, Catholics struggledfor many years to maintain their freedom of worship.By the time of the American Revolution. Catholicismwas firmly planted in Maryland. For example. the name

11ai It's Carroll of Carrollton. a Catholic, appears on theDeclaration of Independence as a delegate fromMaryland. In 1788. Pope Pius VI authorized thefounding of the Diocese of Baltimore, with Rev. JohnCarroll as its first bishop. See A. Leo Knott.«Maryland» in The Catholic Encyclopedia , Vol IX.pp. 755.761.

41. Vet-re:ie. Paroisse SteMarie, p. 94.

42. llintolt.Cattschisme. pp. 36-38.

43. Ibid .p. 36.

44. Josaphat Benoit «Attitudes des Franco-Ameneainsen Politique« in Les Conferences de I'Institut Franco.Americain de Bowdoin College. (Brunswick. 19611. p.8.

45. Ducharme, Shadows, p.62.

46. For a detailed sketch of rural life in the Provinceof Quebec during the 19th century see Ralph DominicVieero. Immigration of French-Canadians to NewEngland, 1840.1900: A Geographical Analysis, Ph. D.dissertation, University of Wisconsin, 1968, pp. 10-76.

47. Plante, pp. 30-31.

48. Alexandre Bdlisle, Histoire de la Presse Franco-Amoricaine (Worcester: L'Opinion Publique. 1911),p. 16; see also Benoit, LAme pp. 46.47.

49. Basle, pp. 16-17.

50. Ibid.. p. 20.

51. See Ducharme, Shadows, p. 62.

52. For an example of the typical «planned» milltown see George Waldo Browne, The AmoskeagManuf;cruring Co. of Manchester, New Hampshire: AHistory (Manchester: Printed and bound in the Millsof the Amoskeag Mfg. Co., 1915).

53. Arthur J. Moreau, Jr. French Blood in NewHampshire Thesis for'Sseiology, Dartmouth College,Hanover, NH, p. 3.

54. Primarily based on a map located in the front ofDucharme, Shadows.

55. See Ducharme, Shadows. pp. 58-59.

56. Ibid., p. 39.

57. Benoit, LAme, p. 47.

58. For a look at the adjustment of a French-Canadianfamily from a rural agricultural life in Quebec to anurban industrial life in New England see Jacques

Ducharme, The Delusson Family (New York: Funk andWagnaiis Co.. 1939); see also Camille Lessard. Canuck,(Lewiston: Editions Le Messager 1936). The former isset in Ilolyoke while the latter is set in Lowell.

59. Ducharme, Shadows, p. 164; also. for an in depthlook at how the French-Canadians actually carved outtheir respective roles in a labor situation, see Tamara K.Hareven, «The Laborers of Manchester. New Hampshire.1912-1922: The Role of Family and Ethnicity in Adjust-ment to Industrial Life», a reprint from Labor History.Vol. 16, No. 2. Spring 1975.

60. Robert Rumilly, Histoire. des Franco-Amtfricains;sous les auspices de L'Union Saint-Jean-Baptiste d'Ame-rique (Montreal: Robert Rumilly, 1958), p. 30; see alsoDouie Missionnaires des Townships de l'Est, LeCanadian Emigrant ou Pourquoi le Canadien-Francaisquitte-NI le Bas-Canada? (Quebec: Imprimerie Cote etCie., 1851).

61. LeMaire, p. 6.

62. See Peter Condon, The Irish in the United States»in The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. VIII, pp. 132-145.

63. See Chevalier, pp. 30-31

64. See Plante, p. 39.

65. See Plante, pp. 4048; see also Chevalier, pp. 47-48.

66. For more information on the founding of theFrench-Catholic Church in Vermont see E. Hamon, s.j.Les Canadiens-Francais de la Nouvelle-Angleterre(Quebec: N.S. Hardy), 1891, pp. 183-228.

67. See Peter Condon, «Knownothingism» in TheCatholic Encyclopedia, Vol. VIII, pp. 677-680.

68. Plante, pp. 47-51; see also Lemaire, pp. 11-14and Chevalier pp. 26.28.

69. Ducharme, Shadows, p. 57; see also Benoit, L'Amep. 51.

70. Wilfrid Henry Paradis, French-Canadian Influencein Manchester, NY Before 1e91. MA dissertation, St.Mary's Seminary, Baltimore, MD., 1949, p. 34.

71. Plante, p. 41.

72. See Ducharme, Shadows, pp. 34-36.

73. See Robin W. Winks and Adolphe Robert, «Unpoint d'histo ire contrmerse» in Le Canado- Amdricain,Vol. I, No.11, fevrier-mars 1960, pp. 3343.

74. See Vie Franco-Americaine, 1943,pp. 177-184 onCalixa Lavalle and pp. 191-195 on Major EdmondMallet; see also Fecteau, pp. 118-122 for many morenames of French-Canadians who fought in the Civil War.

75. Paradis, p. 14.

76. Belisle, p. 14; also, see Ducharme, Shadows, p. 24.

51

77. Chevalier, pp. 40-41.

78. Ulysse Forget, Les FrancoAmoricains et le(Melting Pots et Onomastique Franco-Ameiricaine(Fall River: Imprimerie de l'Independant, 1949), p. 20.

79. See Chevalier, p. 16.

80. For more on the founding & the early French-Canadian societies see Plante, pp. 97-98.

81. On La Gazette Francaise (Newport) see Benoit,Catechisme, p. 22; on Le Courrier de Boston see Belisle,pp. 355-357; on other newspapers see Belisle, p. 27.

82. Belisle, pp. 61-67.

83. Belisle, pp. 68-92.

84. Hamon, Les Canadiens-Francais contains muchdetailed information on the founding of the French-Canadian parishes before 1891.

85. See Lemaire, p. 21.

86. For more on the French-Canadian schools and bi-lingual education see Plante, pp. 72-93.

87. Ducharme, Shadows, pp. 63-64.

88. Hamon, p. 33.

89. Ducharme, Shadows, pp. 181-182.

90. Lemaire, p. 8.

91. Belisle, pp. 93-107.

92. Belisle, pp. 113-115.

93. Ducharme, Shadows, pp. 131-132.

94. Benoit, «Attitudes», p. 14.

95. These and other reasons for the slow developmentof the French-Canadians in American politics are listedin Benoit, «Attitudes», pp. 13-16.

96. See J. Arthur Favreau, «The Chinese of theEastern States», a reprint from L'Avenir National,Manchester, NH., Nov. 19, 1924.

97. For further informition see Belisle, pp. 321-330;see also Chevalier, pp. 91-97.

1

52

98. Benoit, «Attitudes» p. 17.

99. ibid., p. 18.

100. Bdlisle, p. 170.

101. Rumilly, p. 160.

102. Chevalier, p. 40.

103. See Plante, p. 14.

104. See Laurent Galarneau. Histoire de la GardeLafayette ou Compagnie A du Premier Regiment de laGarde Nationale de rein du New Hampshire(Manchester: Imprimerie de l'Avenir National, 1937).

105. Adolphe Robert, Memorial des Acres de L'As-sociation Canado-Americaine (Manchester: L'AvenirNational, 1946) pp. 11-13.

106. Rumilly, p. 168-172.

107. Lemaire, p. 15.

108. Rumilly, pp. 218.219.

109. Verrette, Ste-Marie, pp. 287.296.

110. Laflamme, Lavigne, and Favreau,Catholics», p. 277.

111. Bdlisle, pp. 216-217.

112. See Edmond J. Valade, The Amoskeag Strike of1922, M.A. dissertation, University of New Hampshire,Durham, NH 1964, pp. 13-20.

113. Valade, p. 4; see also Hareven, pp. 262-263.

114. Vie Fra)=-Amefricaino, 1943, pp. 195-198.

115. Rumilly, p. 312

116. Lemaire, p. 41.

117. For a rather exterh;ve list of mutilations, ab-breviations, and translations of French names see Forget,pp. 21-52.

118. See Robert Grandchamp, (Pseudonym of AdolpheRobert), «Les Monts Verts», a reprint of two articleswhich appeared in Le Progres, Nov. 14 and 28, 1930.

119. Among these bills were the Smith-Hughes Bill, theJackson BM, the Chamberlain Bill, the Smith-TownerBill and Peck Educational Bill. See Rumilly pp. 312-43.

120. For various views, subjective as well as objective,see J. Albert Foisy, Histoire de L'Agitation Sentinellistedans la Nouvelle-Angleterre 1925-1928 (Woonsocket:La Tribune Publishing Co., 1928); Elphege J. Daignault,Le Vrai Mouvement Sentinelliste en Nouvelle-Angleterre1923-1929 et L'Affaire du Rhode Island (Montreal:Les Editions du Zodiaque, 1926); Robert, Memorial,pp. 222-284; Rumilly, pp. 364-503; Chevalier,pp. 207-250.

121. In presenting this brief exposé on L'Affaire de laSentinelle, the writer is merely attempting to relate inthe most objective manner possible an event which oc-curred in the history of the Franco-Americans.Although it is of a sensitive and controversial nature,this movement cannot simply be ignored. To do sowould be to commit an injustice to history. The writerhas no intention whatsoever of reopening the woundswhich a great amount of time and understandk havehealed. Since the writer did not live through the periodin question, his observations and conclusions are theresult of extensive research on the subject. There is inno way any attempt to judge, but only to inform.

122. See Valadc, The Amoskeag Strike; see alsoAnonymous, History of Amoskeag Strike During theYear 1922 (Manchester: Printed and Bound in the Millsof the Amoskeag Mfg. Co., 1924).

123. Benoit, «Attitudes», p. 17; see also Lemaire,p. 40.

124. Lemaire, p. 26.

125. Lemaire, p. 26.

126. Elphege E. Roy, Les Causes du Dec/in de laPresse Franco-Americaine, M.A. dissertation, RivierCollege, Nashua, NH, p. 25.

127. Ducharme, Shadows, p. 19.

128. Lemaire, pp. 45-46.

129. Roy, p. 33,

130. Chevalier, p. 279.

131. For a detailed account of the partici ipation of theFranco-Americans in this Congres see Adrien Verrette,La Croisade Franco-Americaine (Manchester: L'AvenirNational, 1938).

5S

133. Chevalier, p. 25.

134. Lemaire, pp. 48-49.

135. Vie Franco-Americaine, 1949, pp. 602-604.

136. Lemaire, pp. 55-56.

137. For a brief account of this Congres see GeraldRobert, MEmorial II des Actes de L'Association Canado.Americaine 1946-1971 (Manchester: Ballard Bros.,1975) pp. 147-152.

138. See Roy, p. 25.

139. Emile Lemelin, «Mgr Ernest J. Primeau estnommd dveque de Manchester» in Le Canado-Americain,Vol. 1, No. 11, Wrier-mars, 1960, pp. 3-4.

140. Chevalier, p. 29.

141. See Gerard J. Brault, «Commentdoit-on enseignerle francais aux jeunes Franco-Americains?» in LeCanado-Americain, Vol. 2, No. 6, avril-ma' 1961,pp. 30-34.

142. See Thomas M. Landry, o.p. et. al., La Crise del'Enseignement du Francais dans nos Ecoles Paroissiales,Actes du Ville Congres des Franco-Americains,Manchester, 1965.

143. Lemaire, p. 72.

144. Chevalier, pp. 316.318.

145. Lemaire, p. 53.

146. David S. Strickler, «Five Heroes Come Home» inThe New Hampshire Sunday News, August 31, 1969,p. 1.

147. See Paul P.-Chasse «Monseigneur Louis-EdouardGdlineau, eveque de Providence» in Le Canado-Amelricain, Vol. 6, No. :0, avril-mai-juin 1972, pp. 29-32;see also Gerald Robert, ed., S.E.c Mgr Odore J. Gendronle Septieme eveque de Manchester» in Le Canado-Ameiricain, nouvelle sdrie Vol. 1, No. 3, janvier-fevrier-mars 1975, pp. 3.6; also Gerald Robert, ed., «S.E. MgrAmedde W. Proulx eveque Auxiliaire au Maine» inLe Canado- Amdricain, nouvelle serie, Vol. 1, octobre-novembre-ddcembre, 1975, p. 14.

148. See Chevalier, pp. 318-324.

53

149. Elmo C. Authement, cRenouveau Francais enLouisiane» in Vie Francaise, Vol. 30, No. 4-5.6,ddcembre-janvier-fevrier, 1975.76, pp. 65-73.

150. G. Mathias Page, cLe Richelieu. International»in Vie Francaise. Vol. 30, No. 4.5-6, deceanbre-janvier-Wrier, 1975.76, pp. 59.64; see also Chevalier,pp. 158-166.

151. Chevalier, p. 279.

152. Ducharme, Shadows. pp. 146-147.

153. Reine Malouin, 00 Chante la Vie (Quebec:editions de L'Action Catholique, 1962), p. 70.

154. Adolphe Robert «La Situation actuelle au NewHampshire» in Les Franco-Amdricains peints par eux-mimes. Publications de L'Association Canado-Amd-ricaine (Montreal: editions Albert Levesque, 1936),p. 230.

5J

54

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Abbott, John S.0 .1884 Henry IV. New York: Harper and

Brothers.

Anonymous1924 History of Amoskeag Strike During the

Year 1922. Manchester: Printed andBound in the Mills of the AmoskeagManufacturing Company.

Belisle, Alexandre1911 Histoire de la esse Franco-Americaine

Worcester: L'Opihion Publique.

Benoit, Josaphat1935 -L Ame Franco-Americaine. Montreal:

Editions Albert Levesque.

Browne, George Waldo1915 The Amoskeag Manufacturing Co. of

Manchester, New Hampshire: A History.Manchester: Printeci and Bound in theMills of the Amoskeag Mfg. Co.

Chinard, Gilbert1925 Les Refugies Huguenots en Amerique.

Paris: Les Belles-Lettres.

Cranston, J. Herbert1949 Etienne &Ole Immortal Scoundrel.

Toronto: The Ryerson Press.

Daignault, Elphege J.1936 Le Vrai Mouvement Sentinelliste en

Nouvelle-Angleterre 1923-1929 et l'Affairedu Rhode Island. Montreal: Les Editionsdu Zodiaque.

Ducharme, Jacques1939 The Delusson Family. New York:

Funk and Wagnalls Co.1943 The Shadows of the Trees. Ne': York:

Harper and Bros.

Fecteau, Edward1945 French Contributions to America.

Published under the auspices of the Franco-American Historical Society. Methuen:Soucy Press.

Foisy, J. Albert1928 Histoire de L'Agitation Sentinelliste

dans la Nouvelle-Angleterre 1925-1928.

WoOnsocket: La Tribune Publishing Co.

Galarneau, Laurent1937 Histoire de la Garde Lafayette ou

Compagnie A du Premier Regiment de laGarde Nationale de L'Etat du New Hamp-shire. Manchester: Imprimerie de L'AvenirNational.

Hamon, E.1891 Les Canadiens-Francais de la Nouvelle-

Angleterre. Quebec: N.S. Hardy.

Lessard, Camille1936 Canuck. Lewiston: Editions Le

Messager.

Leveque, Andre1966 Histoire de la Civilisation Francaise

New. York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston,3e Edition.

Levesque, Rosaire-Dion.1957 Silhouettes Franco-Americai

Publications de L'Association Ca o-

r Americaine. Manchester: Ballard Freres.

Malouin, Reine1962 00 chante la vie. Quebec: Editions de

l'Action Catholique.

Moore, William Henry1918 The Clash/ A Study in Nationalities.

Toronto: J.M. Dent and Sons, Limited.

Parkman, Francis1915 Count Frontenac and New France

Under Louis XIV. New York: CharlesScribner's Sons.Montcalm and Wolfe. New York: CharlesScribner's Sons, in 3 volumes.Pioneers of France in the New World. NewYork: Charles Scribner's Sons, in 2 volumes.

Robert, Adolphe, et.al.1936 Les Franco-Americains peints per eux-

memes. Publications de l'AssociationCanado-Americaine,- Montreal: editionsAlbert Levesque.

Robert, Adolphe1946 Memorial des Actes de l'Association

Canado-Amiricaine. Manchester: L'Avenir.

Robert, Gerald1975 Memorial I I des Actes de L'Association

Canado-Ameiricaine 1946-1971. Manches-ter: Ballard Bros. Inc.

Rumilly, Robert1958 Histoire des Franco-Americains. Sous

les auspices de L'Union Saint-Jean-Baptisted 'Amerique. Montreal: Robert Rumilly.

Verret te, Adrien1938 La Croisade Franco-AmdKraine.

Manchester: L'Avenir National.1931 Paroisse Sainte-Marie Manc!;ester,New

Hampshire Manchester: Imprimerie La-fayette.

Pamphlets

Benoit, Josaphat1961 «Attitudes des Franco-Americains en

Politique». Les Conferences de L'InstitutFranco-Amdricain de Bowdoin College.

Brunswick. pp. 7-19.1939 Catechisme d'Histoire Franco-Ameri-

caine. Public sous les auspices de la SocieteHistorique Franco-Americaine. Manches-

ter: L'Avenir National.

55

Dom Missionnaires des Townships de L'Est.1851 Le Canadien Emigrant ou Pourquoi le

Canadien-Francais quitte-t-il ile BasCana-da? Quebec: Imprimerie Coie et Cie.

Eno, Arthur L.1940 French Trails in the United States. Ad-

dress before the membErs of the Lowell His-torical Soziety. Published under the aus-pices of the Franco-American HistoricalSociety. Lowell.

Forget, Ulysse1949 Les Franco-Ameiricains et le (Melting

Pots et Onomastique Franco-Americaine.Fall River: Imprimerie de L'Independant.

Landry, Thomas M. et.al.1965 La Crise de l'Enseignement du Francais

dans nos Eco /es Pariossiales. Actes du VilleCongres des Franco-AmericainsManchester.

Articles in Periodicals and in Newspapers

Authemdnt, Elmo C.«Renouveau francais en Louisiane.» Vie

Francaise. Vol. 30, Nos. 4.5-6, dec.-janv.-fey., 1975-76. pp. 65-73.

Brault, Gerard J.«Comment doit-on enseigner le francais auxjeans Franco-Americains? » Le Canado-Amestain. Vol.2, No. 6, avril-mai 1961.pp. 30-34.

Chasse, Paul P.«Monseigneur Louis-Edouard Gelineau,

vtque de Providence.» Le Canadb-Amdricain. Vol. 6, No. 10, avril-mai-juin1972. pp. 29-32.

Favreau, J. Arthur«The Chinese of the Eastern States.» A re-

princ from L'Avenir National, November19, 1924.

Grandchamp, Robert(pseudonym of Adolphe Robert).

«Les Monts Verts.» A reprint of twoarticles which appeared in Le Progres,November 14 and 28, 1930.

61

56

Harevon, Tamara K.The Laborers et Manchester, New

Hampshire, 1912-1922: The Role ofFamily and Ethnicity in Adjustment toIndustrial Life.» 'A reprint from Labor

History. Vol. 16, No. 2, Spring 975.

Lemelin, Emile«Mgr Ernest J. Primeau est nomme &Nue de

Manchester.» Le Canado-Americain. Vol.!,

No 11, fevrier-mars 1960. pp. 3-4.

Page , G. Mathias«Le Richelieu International.» Vie Francaise.

Vol, 30, Nos. 4-5.6, dec.-janv.-fev. 1975-76.pp. 5Q-04.

Robert, Gerald, ed.«S. E. Mgr Odore J. Gendron, le Septieme

gv6que de Manchester.» Le Caoado-Ameti-

rain. Nouvelle serie, Vol. 1, No. 3, janvier-fevrier-mars 1975. pp. 3-6.

Robert, Gerald,Gerald, ed.«S. E. Mgr Amedee W. Proulx, gveque Auxi-

liaire au Maine.» Le Canado-Americain.Nouvelle serie, Vol.!, No. 6, octobre-novembre-decembre 1975. p. 14.

Strickler, David S.«Five Heroes Come Home.» The New Hamp-

shire Sunday News. August 31, 1969. p. 1.

Vie FrancoAmiricaine1943, 1945, 1949. Le Comite Permanent de

la Survivance Francaise en Amerique.

Manchester: L'Avenir National, 1944,

1946, Ballard Freres, 1950.

Winks, Robin W. and Robert, Adolphe"Un point d'histoire controverse.» Le

Canado-Americain. Vol. 1, No. 11, fevrier-mars 1960. pp. 33-43.

Encyclopedia Articles

Condon, Peter«The Irish in the United States.» The

Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: RobertAppleton Company, 1910. Vol. VIII,

pp. 132-145.«Knownothingism.» The Catholic Ency-

clopedia. Vol. VIII, pp. 677-680.

Degert, Antoine«Huguenots.» The Catholic Enc. Vol. VII,

pp. 527-537.

Knott, A. Leo«Maryland» The Catholic Encyclopedia.

Vol. IX, pp. 755-761.

Laflamme, J.L.K; Lavigne, David E; Favreau, J.Arthur

F re n ch Catholics in the United Statet.». The

Catholic Enc. Vol. VI, pp. 271-277.

Wallace, W Stewart, ed.«Treaty of Utrecht.» The Encyclopedia of

Canada. Toronto: Univ. Assoc. of Canada,Ltd., 1948. Vol. VI, p. 224.

Disserta.,:ons and Unpublished Material

Chevalier, Sr. Florence M.The Role of French National Societies in the

Sociocultural Evolution of the Franco-

Americans of New England from 1860 tothe Present. Ph. D, dissertation. CatholicUniversity,' Washington, D.C. 1972.

Lemaire, Nerve B.The Franco Americans of New England. An

unpublished manuscript prepared for theLanguage Resources Project of the Dept. of

HEW, 1963.

Moreau, Arthur, J.Jr.French Blood in New Hampshire. Thesis for

Sociology. Dartmouth College, 1932.

62

aradis, Wilfrid HenryF-ench-Canadian Influence in Manchester,

N. H. Before 1891. M. A., dissertation.St. Mary's Seminary, Baltimore, Md., 1949.

Plante, Bro. George R.The Franco-American Parish in New England.

M. A. dissertation. Fordham University,New York, 1940.

Roy, ElphegeLes Causes du Dean de la Presse Franco-

Americaine. M. A. dissertation. RivierCollege, Nashua, N. H.,4965.

Valade, Edmond J.

The Amoskeag Strike of 1922. M. A.dissertation. University of New Hampshire,Durham, N. H., 1964.

Vicero, Ralph DominicImmigration of French-Canadians to New

England, 1840-1900: A GeographicalAnalysis. Ph. D. dissertation. Universityof Wisconsin, 1968.

Copyright 1976. Reprinted by permission of L'Association Canado-Americaine.

63

57

LOUISIANA'S FRENCH HERITAGE

by

Truman Stacey

Introduction

This is the story of the Frenchcontribution to the colonization of the NewWoi: id. It describes the settlement of theAcadian Peninsula: the discovery and ex-ploration of the Mississippi River, thedevelopment of the first Louisiana colony,and the perseCution and exile of the French-Acadian people from their homeland in themid-Eighteenth Century,.

It was the fishing business that firstbrought the French to the New World; andit was the fur tir.:de, coupled with a desire toconvert the red man to Christianity, themotivated them to permanently sink theirroots into the soil of the Acadian Peninsula,known today as Nova Scotia. They wereattracted to the interior of the continent by

tales of rich copper and silver fields; by

hopes of finding the Beautiful River, which

the Indians sai 1-.owed southward to theopen waters of the warm sea; and by thedesire to spread the religious faith which

they themselves embraced.

The story was researched and writtenby veteran journalist Truman Stacey, who iseditor of the Lake Charles American Press

and has been since 1961. He started hisnewspaper career in 1937 as a copy boy forthe Houston Post just after finishing highschool. He has worked for newspapers inBeaumont, Detroit, Washington, D.C., andOklahoma City.

Stacey wrote the story in 1972 afterresearching the subject for the better part ofthat summer. He says he became fascinated

with Louisiana's French Heritage whileworking with the Council for the Develop-ment of French in Louisiana, the stateagency dedicated to the preservation of thestate's French language, culture and heritage.

--Trent Angers

Pioneers in the New World

It all began late in the Fifteenth Centu-ry, when the men of Europe were becomingbetter acquainted with the sea, at a time whensailing ships were being improved and naviga-

tional aids were being developed.

The Italians, wtio had for centuriesdominated the sea lanes of the Mediter-ranean, led the way in develOping bettermarine and navigational techniques. Italianmariners became widely sought after by allcourts of Western Europe.

One such mariner, from Genoa, sailingunder the banner of Ferdinand and Isabellaof Spain, reported that he had reached theshores of India by sailing west into the At-lantic Ocean. He brought back native tribes-men and exotic plants to prove his claim.

Other mariners began to cast reflectiveeyes toward the west. If one sailor could gelto India by sailing west, why not others?they reasoned. Other sovereigns, apprehen-sive that Spain might come to control all ofthe trade with the Orient, began to lay theirown plans for trading expeditions.Merchants of the Atlantic coastal nationsbegan to awaken to the possibilities of prof-itable relations with those strange climes tothe west.

58 64

Among these were the merchants ofBristol, on the west coast of England. Theydecided to finance an exploration and trad-ing expedition, and they' had just such a manas they needed in their employ. He wasGiovanni Caboto, a Genoan like Columbus,who had spent many years in Venice as atrading captain. With the blessings of KingHenry VII, Caboto (The British called himJohn Cabot, since that was easier to spelland to pronounce), set sail from Bristol inMay of 1497, in the ship Mathew, mannedby a crew of 18.

Rounding Ireland, Caboto headednorth and then west. After 52 days at sea,he made landfall at what is now Cape BretonIsland. Caboto was convinced he had foundthe northeast shore of Asia, but it was aforbidding coast, and no rich Asians were tobe found. Small vessels of the day did notlinger long on unknown coasts, and the:'Mathew soon sailed bAtt to Bristol, ar-riving home inn August.

Caboto was disappointed that he hadnot discovered the Great Khan and richcities, and so were his merchant backers.King Henry VII somewhat grudginglypresented him with 10 pounds sterling(That would be about $50.00 today) for«having found the new isle.»

Caboto and his men made one discov-ery, however, that was to have far-reachingeffects upon the future history of Europe.They discovered the Grand Banks of New-foundland and its enormous supply of cod-fish.

When Caboto's seamen reached homeand dispersed after the voyage, it was naturalfor them to spread tales about the shoalswhich teemed with fish.

It was not long before fishing vessels

59

from France were tempted to test the fishingin New World waters. Records show thatthe first Norman fishing vessel showed up atthe Grand Banks in 1504, and it was notlong after before mariners from Dieppe,Rouen, Le Havre, Fecamp, Harfleur andHonfleur were making annual voyages to theGrand Banks.

French mariners soon were makingtwo trips annually to New World waters.They set out in late January or early Febru-ary, braving the North Atlantic winter, andreturned as soon as their holds were full.Then, in April or May, they were off again,returning to France again in September.

In the early years, fish were taken,cleaned and put in the hold between thicklayers of salt. This was «wet» fishing. Itwas not long, however, before mariners dis-covered that Vie cod could be sun-dried onland. Cured cod was tastier than the saltvariety and easier to handle.

Curing the codfish necessitated es-tablishing depots ashore, however, and theFrench began to go ashore each summerat some snug harbor or inlet on an island oralong the coast. The French, the Portugueseand the English established depots on New-foundland, on the Acadian Peninsula atCanseau and La Heve, on Cape Breton Is-land, and at Tadousac, on the St. LawrenceRiver.

Once the ships arrived at the chosendepot, they would be unrigged for theseason. The crew went ashore to cut timberand build platforms or stages which extend-ed out into the sea.

The actual fishing was done in smallboats manned by four or five men. Whenthey returned with boatloads of fish, theythrew their catches upon the stages. There

6 -5

60

they were cleaned, salted and dried in prep-aration for the trip back to France.

When the French fishermen firstbegan to venture ashore in the New Worldto dry their fish, or hunt for game, orgather fresh berries, they came in contactwith the natives. At the time if the whiteman's arrival, the Acadian Pe .sula was oc-cupied by roving bands of aborigines, calledMicmacs by today's scholars.

The Micmacs were of the Algonkinlanguage family and enjoyed a hunting andfood-gathering culture of the more primitivesort. At the time the French began to live inthe New World, there were about 3,000 ofthese people, wandering over the AcadianPeninsula and adjoining islands.

They had only rudimentary socialorganizations, and they wandered about insmall bands which were in actuality onlylarge families. Mostly they set theirwanderings to coincide with their food sup-ply.

In the spring, they left their campsalong the inland lakes and streams in theforest and wandered about the seashores,gathering clams, oysters, scallops and otherseafood at low tide. Some of the more ad-venturous even ventured into deeper watersto hunt seals, walrus and porpoise, and theyalways welcomed the return of the vast num-bers of codfish.

In the autumn, tilt:), returned to theforests, tracking down spawning eels in thetidal rivers, and later in winter turning theirattention to moose hunting and beaver trap-ping. Caribou, otter and bear were alsocoveted game.

The bow and arrow formed the Mic-macs' chief hunting weapon, and they also

used a wide variety of traps and snares.Their dogs played an important role in thehunt.

Vegetable food was generally plenti-ful, but the Micmacs seem to have utilizedvegetables only during times of meat short-age.

The birchbark canoe was perhaps themost efficient transportation vehicle devel-oped in North America, and all of the East-ern tribes used it. The craft was relativelyeasy to construct, was very light in weightand shallow in draft, yet an ordinary canoewas capacious enough to hold a householdof five or six persons, toeir dogs, sacks,skins, kettles and other baggage. The canoewas particularly suited foi. inland routeswhere water was shallow and portages froma few yards to a mile or more were common.

In winter, the Micmacs traveled onsnowshoes, which excited French curiosityfrom the beginning. They likened them tothe tennis rackets they used in France.

With these tools, the Micmacs wereable to wander where they pleased, and theyastounded the French with their knowledgeof the topographical features of the country.When they moved through country they hadpreviously traversed, their memory for thelay of the land was uncannily accurate.They also passed knowledge from one to an-other by means of crude bark maps.

The conical wigwam familiar to allschoolchildren was the generally used shelterby the Micinacs. Its array of supportingpoles was used to support overlapping stripsof bark. Sometimes, mats woven of swampgrasses were used instead of bark. Animalskins were used as entrance flaps, and for themore affluent, or for the more successfulhunters, might be used to cover the entire

66

wigwam.

Household equipment such as cups,dippers and boxes were made of birch bark,until trade with the French brought ironutensils to the Micmacs. The Micmacs usedfurs and skins for their clothing, and therewere almost no differences in the dress ofthe sexes.

The Micmacs were not warlike, andthey set up a friendly relationship with theFrench. Since the early settlers confinedthemselves almost exclusively to the tidalmarshes and did not invade the forest, therewere few occasions for clashes.

The Micmacs were useful to theFrench chiefly as guides, canoemen, huntersand fur trappers. Their ties with the Frenchwere reinforced by a slow but ultimatelyalmost universal attachment to the RomanCatholic religion.

They were also useful in providingvaluable lore on fishing and hunting, theknowledge of local nuts, roots, berries, andgrasses, the making of clothing and footwearfrom skins, the making of fibers from rootsand animal sinews, and the use of dyes froma wide variety of vegetable sources.

Had there been no Micmacs in NovaScotia at the time of the French settlement,that settlement would probably have comemuch later, and it would ha-ie been muchmore difficult, and its historical significancemay well have been altered drastically.

French fishermen who sailed to theGrand Banks for their shiploads of cod arother fish also brought back home accountsof the forests, rivers and beaches of the newIan& westward. And the courts of Europebuzzed with the tales of the vast treasuresthe Spaniards were finding in Mexico.

61

Other crowned heads began to con-sider the New World awaiting exploitation.They were intrigued by the tales of the goldhe Spaniards had won. They mused over the

tiading advantages that would accrue to thenation that discovered the fabled NorthwestPassage to India.

King Francis I of France was one ofthese rulers, who decided that France shouldnot be left out of this pursuit of riches andglory. Most of the kings of Europe at thattime employed Italian artists, scientists andnavigators to add a luster of culture to theircourts. King Francis was no exception.

He selected a Florentine shipmaster,Giovanni da Verrazanoo to spearhead theventures of France in the New World. Ver-razano sailed from Madeira in 1524 aboardLa Dauphine, a small ship with a crew of50 Normans.

Verrazano was driven off his courseand arrived at the coasts of the New World,probably near the mouth of the Cape FearRiver. He sailed northward along the coast,exploring the littoral as far as Cape Racebefore returning to Dieppe.

His return was celebrated at court, butFrancis found himself too .entangled !n

European problems to do much about Ver-razano's discoveries.

A decade passed before anotherFrench official took -up the task of NewWorld discovery. In 1534, Jacques Cartiersailed from St. Malo as an agent of the Ad-miral of France, Philippe de Brion-Chabot,on a voyage of reconnaissance.

Cartier rounded Newfoundland andpassed through the Straits of Belle Isle,erected a wooden cross at Gaspe and ascend-ed the mouth of the St. Lawrence River as

62

far as an Indian village called Anacosti. Con-vinced that he had discovered the North-west Passage, he returned to France.

His reports opened such glowing pos-sibilities that Admiral Chabot commissionedCartier to undertake a second voyage. KingFrancis invested 3,000 livres in the enter-prise. This time Cartier departed in thespring of 1535 with three ships and 110 men.

By August 13, this expedition hadsailed beyond the westernmost point of hisfirst voyage, and, leaving the bulk of his ex-pedition at Anacosti, Cartier and 30 menascended the St. Lawrence River to theIndian village of Hochelaga, at the foot ofa mountain that Cartier named Mount Royal,and which is the current site of Montreal.

The Indians told Cartier that therewas another great river to the west, and aland where the natives wore European cloth-ing, lived in towns and possessed greatstores of copper and silver.

. The next day they returned to theirbase, and there built a small fort on the site

'44) of present-day Quebec. This fort is abouttwo degrees south of the latitude of Paris,and Cartier and his men had no way ofknowing that winters in the New Worldwould be any different than winters in

France.

The shock they received from themid-November snows must have been over-whelming. The River froze solid, imprison-ing the nips. Snowdrifts sometimes climbedvery,. . Ice four inches thick covered .the

.:ks and riggings. Sub-zero windshowled without surcease across the frozenriver.

As if that were not enough, scurvystruck. By mid-November only a dozen of

the 110 men were still healthy, and 25 diedbefore the' Indians showed the French aremedy made by the bark and needles ofwhite cedar boiled in water. This tonic re-vived thtLill.

When the winter of misery ended,Cartier and his men returned to France.After-the king received his report, the crownselected Jean Francois de la Roque, Sieur deRoberval, to head the next expedition,which the King hoped would be able toplant a colony in the New World. Cartierwas to he his chief captain. In order to getthe necessary manpower for his squadron,Roberval was empowered to ransackFrance's prisons and to conscript anyone hewished.

The expedition was not prepared intime, however, and Cartier sailed in 1541,expecting Roberval to follow. Once moreCartier reached the mouth of the St. Law-rence, and there began to prepare for thecoming colonists. Roberval did not weighanchor until April of 1542, however, andwhen his ship sailed into the harbor of whatis now St. John, Newfoundland, he foundCartier there, the latter having abandonedthe attempted colonization and preparing tosail for France.

Roberval ordered Cartier to return tothe St. Lawrence, but the captainrslippedanchor in the night and sailed for France.Roberval continued to the Sk Lawrenceand there constructed a barrasks for hiscolony at the Indian village a Tadousac,where visiting fishermen and fur traders builta few shacks.

Experience in New World living wasabsent, however, and so was wisdom. Noth-ing went right for the new colony. In 1543,the king sent Cartier out once again, thistime to rescue Roberval and his survivors.

The Marquis de la Roche was the nextproposed colonizer, and he too was givenpermission to make a French lodgement inthe Nev World. In 1588, he landed a group

-!") of colonists, mostly convicts, on SableIsland, off present-day Nova Scotia.

Contrary winds drove La Roche'sship out to sea, and he returned to France.It was not until 1603 that another vesselwas dispatched to look for the survivorsof the Sable Island colony. The rescuersfound 11 gaunt, bearded men, whom theyreturned to France.

In 1600, a merchant of St. Ma lonamed Francois Grave, Sieur de Pont(sometimes called Pontgrave), went intopartnership with Pierre Chauvin, a seacaptain, in the hopes of doing some prof-itable trading in the New World. Chauvinttiok a small vessel up the St. Lawrenceto Tadousac. Chauvin landed 16 men towinter here, while he sought a shipload offurs. He returned to France in the fall.

When he returned to Tadousac thefollowing spring, he discovered that the16 men he had left had found it impossibleto subsist in the grim winter months. Mostof them had died and the few survivors hadjoined the Indians.

By now, a new king had assumed theFrench throne - Henry IV - and it fell to himto supervise the actual establishment of NewFrance. He had a number of reasons fordoing so, one of the most important beingthe growing profitability of the fur tradewith the Indians.

As the fishing boats from France be-came regular visitors to the Grand Banks.they began to congregate at rendezvouspoints along the coast, where they driedtheir fish ashore during the winter months.

63

Some of these4endezvous points wereSt. John, in Newfoundland; Tadousac, nearthe mouth of the St. Lawrence River; Can-seau, at the tip of the Nova Scotia peninsula;and La Heve, farther down the peninsula.

During their stay ashore during thesummer months, some of the French struckup a brisk but informal trade with the In-dians. The native tribes won developed ataste for the white man's artifacts, and wereavid for iron knives, axes and pots, as wellas cloth and all manner of trinkets.

Each summer, the number of Indianswho came tc the coast to trade increased.French seamen began to realize that theycould turn a nice profit on this trade and, infact, might clear more profit with consider-ably less labor then went into the unpleasantchores of drying or salting fish.

Soon ships were sailing from Francebent on the fur trade alone. As a staple, furswere superior to fish in :a number of ways.They were light in weight, and their value inrelation to bulk was high. They were easyto package, easy to transport, and there wasno danger of spoilage, as with fish.

Best of all, there was little labor in-volved. The Indians trapped the animals,skinned carcasses, cured the furs and broughtthem to the coast.

The growing popularity of the broad-brimmed felt hat in Europe was a boon to thefur trade. The fur of the beaver was tiro I.N.,stmaterial for making felt. By tilt: sixteenthcentury, however, the beaver had become allbut extinct in Western Europe, and only lim-ited supplies came in from Russia and Scan-dinavia.

Beaver flourished in North America,and the cold Canadian winters made the

64

animals grow thicker, more luxurious furthan those with which Europeans werefamibar.

1 he Indians used beaver pelts to makerobes to wear and to sleep in. The sweat andgrease of their bodies and the smoke of theirlodges made the furs soft and supple, andthus easy to process in making felt.

In the early days of the fur trade, aknife, an axe or a'are'w trinkets worth acouple of dollars in France could be tradedfor a robe that would bring more than twohundred dollars in Paris.

With such huge profits available, thefur trade grew apace, and the Indians soonlearned not to trade with the first ship thatarrived, but to wait until veral had ap-peared to compete with each ,,her.

This kind of competition quicklyreduced the profits, and the fur traders be-gan to seek rules and regulations to governthe trade. Also, French officials began tolook with covetous interest upon the trade.

The crown quickly decided that ifthere were so much profit to be made,then some enterprising merchant wouldhe willing to pay the crown a handsome sumfor a monopoly of the trade.

That was the situation when the newking, Henry IV, began to take an interest inthe New World. One of Henri's early sup-porters had been Ay mar de Chastes, Com-mander of the Order of St. John. The kingg e de Chastes a patent to settle a Frenchcolony in the New World.

e Chastes chose a young Frenchsoldier, Samuel de Champlain, fresh fromadventures in New Spain, to make a survey.

Chastes had formed a corporationmade up of the principal merchants ofRouen to finance his New World venture.One of these was Pontgrave, who had beenassociated with Chauvin's earlier venture atTadousac.

Pontgrave was to command the shipthat was to take Champlain to the NewWorld to make his survey. The little expedi-tion sailed on March 15,1603, and on May 6made first landfall at Newfoundland. OnMay 24, the vessel arrived at Tadousac.

After concluding peaceful overtureswith the Indians and promising them friend-ship and aid, Pontgrave and Champlain sailedup the river to Sault St. Louis, stopping enroute at Hare Island (so named by Cartier)and a narrow neck of the river the Indianscalled Quebec.

During his voyage, he questioned theneighboring Indian tribesmen whom he metand gathered information about lakesOntario and Erie, the Detroit River, NiagaraFalls and the rapids farther up the St. Law-rence.

After a return to Tadousac, the ex-pedition sailed along the southern lip of theSt. Lawrence before returning to France.Havre de Grace was reached on August 16,1603, after a passage of 35 days.

Pontgrave and Champlain were sad-dened to learn upon their return that the oldsoldier, Aymar r2 hastes, had died a fewweeks earlier. The death of de Chasteswould almost certainly have meant the endof the French colonization effort had notChamplain become so interested in theproject that he determined to promote itwith the king. He was successful in keepingHenri's interest alive.

Henri decided upon Pierre de Gua(also called de Guast), Sieur de Monts andgovernor of Pons, as the man to take up thetask de Chastes surrendered in death. DeMonts had served under Henri in the reli-gious wars, and was a Huguenot. He wascommissioned «lieutenant general of NewFrrnce», was given a monopoly of the furtrade for ten years and was obliged to settlea colony of 60 people in New France.

De Monts was not a stranger to theNew World. He had visited Tadousac withChauvin in 1600, and that experience hadcaused him to determine that a successfulcolony could only be settled farther south,away from the dread muthern winters..

It was to fall to de Monts andChamplain, therefore, to form the actualbeginnings of New France, which in timewas to include Louisiana and a dozen otherstates of the American union.

Pierre de Gua, the Sieur de Monts, wasa hard-headed businessman. He was deter-mined that his venture into New Francewould be properly backed. He formed a stockcompany among the merchants of Rouen,St. Malo, La Rochelle and St. Jean de Luz.

He fitted out two ships, which sailedfrom Le Havre in March of 1604. On boardwere de Monts himself, l'ontgrave andChamplain. There was also Jean deBiencourt, Sieur de Poutrincourt, a noble-man of Picardy and a substantial investor,who had decided to accompany the firstvoyage west.

Having been rebuffed the Canadianwinters. de Monts determined to set up hisquarters farther south, where the climatewas known to be less severe. He chose LaCadie, or Acadia. a vague region then said toextend from Montreal south to the area of

65

what is now Pennsylvania. The word isprobably a corruption of a Micmac Indianword, quoddy or caddy, meaning a placeor a piece of land.

It was a long voyage, made uncom-fortable by the fact that most of the 100«colonists» were recruited in the usual way,from prisons and from among the vagabondsof the road.

The two ships finally reached theentrance of the Bay of Fundy and exploredit. They must have been awed by the 60-foot tides that rage in those restrictedwaters. They sailed into Annapolis Basin,and all hands were struck by its harborfacilities and the green-lined shores.

De Monts decided, however, to planthis headquarters on an island (now DotchetIsland) across the Bay of Fundy at themouth of a river he called the St. Croix, sothat he might erect a fort there to commandthe entrance of the bay.

It was an unfortunate choice, becausefew of those on hand were really preparedfor a Canadian winter untempered by thewarming strands of the Gulf Stream. Oncemore the settlers suffered from the cold.The houses were small shelter against thecold. Cider and wine froze in the casksand had to be served by the pound. Nearlyhalf of the colonists died of scurvy duringthat first winter.

Warned by this experience, de Montstook advantage of the spring to move thecolony back across the Bay of Fundy to theAnnapolis Basin, where he established a postnamed Port Royal De Monts had grantedthis area to Poutrincourt, but the latter andPontgrave had gone back to France for moresettlers and supplies.

7 1

66

During the summer, Pontgrave arrivedfrom France with more supplies and with 40additional men. In the fall, de Monts him-self returned to France with a number ofworkers whose contracts had expired andwith the furs that the party had gathered.Pontgrave and Champlain remained throughthe winter, during which scurvy tookanother 12 men.

In July of 1606 Poutrincourt arrivedat Port Royal aboard the Jonas with moremen, more supplies and some livestock. Thelittle colony fared well enough in the winter,although another seven men met deaththrough scurvy.

The colonists by now had some home-grown wheat and vegetables to supplementthe supplies from France, and judging fromChamplain's journal, not all was hardship.In fact, Champlain organized a society ofgourmets from among the leaders, called«the Ordre de Bon Temps».

In the spring of 1607, however,disaster struck. Word came from de Montsin France that his fur monopoly had beenrescinded, and Poutrincourt was directedto abandon the Acadia enterprise and returnall hands to France. On August 11 of thatyear, the glum colonists boarded ship.to re-turn to France. Some of them, may haveelected to remain on their own, to live

with the Micmacs and hunt, fish and trapfurs, but if so their names are not recorded.

Poutrincourt, once in France, setabout finding new financial backers and ap-plied in his own right for trading rights inAcadia.

It took Poutrincourt two years togain financial backing of a group ofmerchants of Dieppe. He returned early in

1610 with his two sons, Charles

de Biencourt and Jacques de Salazar. Hewas also accompanied by a business associate,Claude de la Tour de Saint-Etienne, and thelatter's 17-year-old son, Charles, as well asa chaplain, Rev. Jesse Fleche, and 23 othermen.

Within a few months, Father Flechehad baptized a Micmac chief, whom theFrench called Memberton, and 21 of his fol-lowers.

Later in the year, Poutrincourt senthis son, Charles de Biencourt, back toFrance for more food supplies for a colonywhich had not yet learned a great deal aboutliving off the land in the New World.

The French authorities decided tosend out two Jesuit missionaries to aid inconversion of the Indians, but the Protestantmerchants of Dieppe who had financed Pou-trincourt's venture objected, refused to ad-vance any more credit and called in theirloans to Poutrincourt.

Young Biencourt, caught in thisreligious-financial tangle, turned for assis-tance to Antoinette de Pons, Marquess ofGuercheville, who had an influential positionas lady-in-waiting to the French queen,Catherine de Medici.

The marquess agreed t^ pay off theDieppe merchants and to obtain funds formore supplies. In return, she asked thattwo Jesuits, Rev. Ennemond Masse and Rev.Pierre Barid, be allowed to sail back toAcadia to establish Indian missions.

On Jan. 16, 1611, Biencourt and hisparty set sail aboard the Grace a Dieu,bound for Acadia. He was accompanied by36 men and his mother, Madame de Poutin-court, who thus became one of the firstEuropean women to visit the New World.

72

;11

The voyage was a difficult one, andfor four months the weary party was buf-feted by storms, adverse winds and ice-bergs, before they finally dropped anchor atPort Royal.

When the Marquess de Guerchevilleagreed to provide finances for the Poutrin-court colony in Acadia, she was motivatedto do so because she was interested in thespiritual welfare of the Indians.

Before long, however, disputes brokeout between Poutrincourt and his son, Bien-court, and the Jesuit missionaries sent to thecolony by the marquess. Poutrincourt was abusinessman, interested in gathering furs.The Jesuits, of course, were chiefly con-cerned with establishing an Indian mission.

When she heard of this dispute theMarquess de Guerchevilie decided to with-draw her support of the Poutrincourt colonyand establish one of her own. Poutrincourtwent back to France to work out betterterms, but could not dissuade the marquess.

In 1613, therefore, she sent La Fleurde May. with 50 persons on board, to settlea colony called Saint-Sauveur, located nearthe present-day Penobscot, in Maine.

' By now, the English, who had finallymanaged to establish a colony in Virg:tia in1607, learned of the French colonies to thenorth. They deemed these colonies intru-sions upon territory gained by the voyage ofCabo to.

Thomas Dale, the governor of Virginia,authorized an English freebooter, SamuelArgall, to destroy the French colonies.Argall. with a small fleet, in 1613 attackedthe colony at Penobscot, killed one of theJesuits there, burned all of the buildings.took some prisoners back. IS slaves to

67

Virginia and set 16 others adrift at sea in asmall boat. The latter were rescued by afishing vessel in an unusual stroke of goodluck.

Argall then turned to Port Royal anddid the same Thing. Fortunately, most ofthe settlers were inland on a fur-trading mis-sion, while the others were several miles upthe Annapolis Valley, tending fields. Argallburned the colony's buildings and took offwith the livestock and all the provisions thatcould be found.

Meanwhile, Poutrincourt was able tosecure more financial backing frommerchants in La Rochelle and finally arrivedback in Port Royal on March 21, 1614.He immediately departed for France,carrying the colony's cache of furs. Goingback to France with him was Louis Hebert,an apothecary who had spent four years inAcadia.

While attempting to work out thecolony's salvation, Poutrincourt became in-volved in a civil war that ripped France apart.Both he and his son, Jacques de Salazar,were killed in a battle against the Prince deConde.

Hebert sought out that other Acadianveteran, Samuel de Champlain, and asked hishelp to found a colony on the St. LawrenceRiver. This wa, later to become Quebec.

Jeath of Poutrincourt left his son,de Biencourt, in charge of Port

Royal, and !Biencourt decided to stay in theNew World and concentrate upon the furtrade. Biencourt and his men traded withthe Indians and established observation postsalong the coast.

When they had gathered enough furs,they signaled a French fishing vessel to come

73

68

in to trade for ammunition and other sup-. plies. Biencourt's force at this time con-

sisted of his second in command, youngCharles de Latour, and 20 other men.

They lived with the Indians, ab-sorbed many of their customs, and becamethe first of the coureurs de bois. Some ofthem married Indian wives, and theirdescendants today still live in Canada'seastern :Indian reserves. As a settlement,therefore, Port Royal practically ceased toexist.

Biencourt died prematurely at theage of 31 and was buried at La Pree Ronde,near Port Royal. Latour took over theenterprise, claiming that this was part ofBiencourt's last will and testament.

While the French were seeking furs,the English decided to found their owncolony in the north. Taking advantage ofthe civil war in France, King James I ofEngland gave Sir William Alexander, a

Scottish earl, a grant of all the lands northof the Massachusetts colony that had beendiscovered by Caboto.

In 1629, Alexander sent 100 ScottishColonists to settle on the Acadian Peninsula.They landed about five miles from the form-er Port Royal and built Charles Fort. TheScottish settlers remained there until 1632,when the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Layesorted out the French and English posses-sions in the New World, and returned Acadiaand Canada to France. Mest of the Scottishsettlers were returned to England, but a fewfamilies remained and became Frenchsubjects.

After the settlers at Charles Fort haddeparted, Charles de Latour, who had re-mained in the interior with his coureursde bois. decided to renew contacts with

France. When his father, Claude, came on avisit, Charles asked him to take a letter tothe French court, asking that his tradingrights be recognized.

Claude was captured by the Englishon his return voyage and was taken toAlexander, who offered him and his sontitles of nobility in England in return for theoutposts they occupied in Acadia. Claudedecided to accept the English offer, butCharles indignantly refused.

Charles' trading rights, which he sup-posedly had inherited from Biencourt, hadnot been recognized in France, however, andafter the Treaty of St. Germain-en-Laye,Cardinal Richelieu decided to organize acompany to exploit the fur trade.

Richelieu sent his cousin, Isaac deRazilly of Touraine, to head the colony withthe impressive title of «Lieutenant-Generalof all New France and Governor of Acadia.»Razilly departed from France in 1632, withthree ships and some 300 colonists. -

Razilly landed his force at La Heve,on the eastern shore of the Acadian Penin-sula, and then sailed-i;urid to take posses-sion of Charles Fort and the remains of thesettlement at Penobscot.

-ICharles de Latour resented e newgovernor, and Razilly, knowing of e for-mer's influence with the Indians, wished toplacate him. Razilly agreed to maintain hiscolony at La Heve, and leave to Latour hischief fur depot at Cap( "".able.

Razilly also granted Latour fishingand hunting rights along the Saint JohnRiver in New Brunswick, where Latour builta fort he called Jemseg.

Two of Razilly's chief associates in

74

the Acadian venture were Charles de Menoude Charnisay, Sieur d'Aulnay, and NicholasDenys. D'Aulnay was put in charge of set-tlers and agricultural pursuits. Denys wascharged with 'building up the fisheries andthe fur and timber trade with France.

Thus, it finally seemed that drFrench in Acadia were about to embarkon a period of growth and prosperity.

The prosperity promised to theFrench ventures in Acadia under the leader-ship of Isaac de Razilly was short-lived. Fornearly four years the new colony at La Heveprospered, then Razilly died suddenly in1635. The death of this nephew ofRichelieu, who enjoyed the confidence ofthe highest of French officials at home,marked the beginning of a long period ofdispute in Acadia.

The trading company which Richelieuhad organized to handle Acadian affairsdecided that Charles dr. Menou de Charnisay,Sieur d'Aulnay, one of Razilly's lieutenants,was to take Razili)ts place as head of theAcadian venture. This deir,i a course,disappointed charles Latour and NicholasDenys, each of whom felt he should have %"--been named to head the trading venture.

About a year after Razilly's death,d'Aulnay decided to move his settlementfrom La Heve to Pert K. yat, where therewas more arable land.

Meanwhii,, Latour's fur trade w!.sprospering, and he was mending his politicalfences back in Frmice. In 1638, Latour'sbackers persuaded the government to named'Aulnay and Latour joint governors inAcadia.

Such an arrangement, between twostrong and opi.i!onated men, was destined

69

for failure from the start. It was not longbefore open hostilities broke out betweenthe two governors. Latour expropriated oneof d'Aulnay's ships and, in 1640, tried asurprise attack on Port Royal with twoships.

D'Aulnay was not surprised, however,and the attack was repulsed. When d'Aulnayreported these depredations to Paris, thecourt revoked Latour's commission an&histrading rights. D'Aulnay was named govnor and lieutenant-general, and was orderedto seize Latour and return him to France fortrial.

Latour barricaded himself in his fortat Jemseg and defied d'Aulnay. In 1443,Latour went so far as to contract an alliancewith the hated English and, with four shipsand two armed frigates, he and his allies at-tacked Port Rdyal once more. Three menwere killed, seven wounded and a quantityof livestock, a shipload Gf furs and all sup-piic- o4' fok,d and powder were taken away.

D'Aulnc::' decided to go to Franceand plead with the court for help. In a finaljudgment in March 1644, the French courtbranded Latour an outlaw. D'Aulnay thenreturned to Acadia with reinforcements andorders to drive Latour out. In 1645, helaunched an attack against Latour's strong-hold at Jemseg. Latour was absent, visitinghis English allies in Boston, but the defenseof the fort was carried on by MadameLatour.

After a three-day battle, d'Aulnay'sforces captured the fort. Many of Latour'smen were hanged as traitors. MadameLatour hersel survived the fall of the fortby only three months.

Latour, learning of the fall of the fortin Boston. fled north to Canada, where he

7j

70

began a career as a pirate. left with only Port Royal and its immediatevicinity, and her creditors were powerful.

In 1647, the French crown transferredall of Latour's rights to d'Aulnay, and peacedescended upon the little colony once more.

D'Aulnay was not destined to enjoyhis triumphs for long, however. One of hischief projects was the building of dykes tokeep sea water out of tidal marshes so as, toconvert them to arable farmlands. Whilevisiting one of these operations upriver fromPort Royal, d'Aulnay's canoe was swampedin a mud flat. Unable to escape from .themud, the governor died of exposure.

The death of d'Aulnay left his widowin financial straits and the colony in con-fusion. Back home in France d'Aulnay'screditors immediately began to call in theirdebts.

It was at this critical moment that theindefatigable Latour surfaced again.Sensing a prime opportunity at the death ofhis old enemy, Latour took a ship forFrance, to seek forgiveness of the crown. Heused all of his old influence and his oldfriends and was so persuasive that KingLouis XIV exonerated him for his acts ofpiracy and his rebellions against prior courtorders. The king even made Latour governorof Acadia, as d:Aulnay's successor.

Armed with his new powers, Latourchose a merchant of Cherbourg, PhilippeMins d'Entremont, as his lieutenant, atisailed for Acadia.

On arrival, he presented his credentialsto cl'Aulnay's widow and demanded the...turn of his fort at Jemseg and all of theterritory over which he had traded for furs.

The poor widow, powerless to resist,could only do as he asked. She was now

Once more Latour did the unexpect-ed. The old rogue suddenly proposed mar-riage to the widow of his rival and marriedher on Feb. 24, 1563. He was 60 at thetime. The former Madame d'Aulnay borehim several children.

His new marriage left Latour masterof all Acadia except the fiefs held by Denys.

Troubles were only beginning for thecolony, however. Emmanuel LeBorgne,d'Aulnay's old creditor, obtained a judgmentagainst the d'Aulnay estate, and in 1652sailed to Acadia to take demand judgment.LeBorgne, apparently an irascible fellow,seized two of Denys' posts, burned thesettlement at La Heve and took possessionof Port Royal while Latour and his new wifewere at the fort at Jemseg on the other sideof the Bay of Fundy.

Whilr the Latours were planning tooust LeBorgne, war broke out betweenFrance and England, and an English fleet outof Boston sailed north to clear all the Frenchout of Acadia. The English took Jemsegfrom Latour and Port Royal from LeBorgne.

Fad with this new Ois.tster, Latourwent to London to plead his cause withthe new rulers of Acadia. There he suc'eed-ed in getting from the English permission toengage in the Acadian fur trade, in partner-ship with an heir of Sir Williafn Alexander,the Scotsman who had previously tried tosettle at Port Royal.

In 1656, Latour returned to Acadia,where he supervised his affairs until he diedin 1666, at the age of 73. That left onlyNicholas Denys among the leaders who hadcome out from France with Razilly. He was

driven out of several of his posts byLe Borgne and went to France to seekjudgment against his persecutor. Nothingcame of this, and Denys final), died a poorman in 1688 at age 90.

Conditions in Acadia went from badto worse until 1667, when the Treaty ofBreda et ded the war between France andEngland, and by its terms Acadia wasrestored to France.

While the vendetta between d'Aulnayand Latour for the control of the fur tradeconvulsed the infant colony of Acadia, andwhile the colony suffered during wars be-tween French and English,Ithose same yearsalso saw the beginning of really permanentsettlement in the colony.

Before the d'Aulnay period, theFrench who came to Acadia, save for thewife of a high official or two, were menonly. They were contract workers, for themost part, who came out to work at theflaking sheds, or at the fur trade, or at tillingthe company's fields to provide food forother laborers.

When their stint of labor had beencompleted, most of them returned toFrance, unless they were like the men ofLatour, who became accustomed to therestless and dangerous life of the fur tradeand ranged the forests with the Indians,becoming more savage than civilized.

By 1630, there were trading postsestablished - in addition to Port Royal -at Pentagouet, also in the Cape Sable area,and on the St. John River, and at CapeBreton. Scores of fishermen visited theAtlantic coves of Acadia every year, withwintering-over on the increase.

71

land, however, needs the stability of familylife, and d'Aulnay was one of the first torecognize this.

Under d'Aulnay's supervision, thefirst families were recruited to settle inAcadia. The governor spent a large part ofhis time as Rwilly's lieutenant, and duringhis own term as governor, in recruitingcolonists from the seigneuries owned by himand his mother in the region of Loudunais.

The colonists landed . by Razilly atLa Heve in 1632 evidently contained fewwomen. When the colonists were moved toPort Royal from La Heve in 1635, theynumbered only 30 or 40, indicating thatmost had returned to France after complet-ing construction of the company's head-quarters and other buildings.

Shortly thereafter, probably around1636, the first families are recorded as beingbrought to Acadia. A number of them ar-rived that year, landing at Port Royal fromthe ship Saint-Jean.

Three of these «first families ofAcadia» were those of Pierre Martin andGuillaume Trahan, both of Bourgueil, andIsaac Pesselin of Champagne. There werealso the Bugaret and Blanchard families fromLa Rochelle.

Louis Morin, one of Razilly's officials,brought his wife and his daughter, Jeanne.The latter soon became Madame d'Aulnay.

Between 1636 and the death ofd'Aulnay, a number of other families weresettled in Acadia. Many familiar names areincluded in this group, who were among thefirst Europeans to find true homes in theNew World.

Any permanent settlement in a new Because of the irregular education of

72

many of those who made up the sailing listsand took the censuses, there are variationsin spelling of these early family names. Itwas an era that gave no particular virtue toconsistency in spelling, and sometimesthe same family name might be renderedin two or even three different versions.

Among those families who arrived inAcadia during the early d'Aulnay period arethe following:

Babin, Belliveau (Belliveaux), Bour(Bourg, Bourque), Breault (Breaux, Brot,Braud I, Brun (LeBrun), Dugast (Dugas),Dupilis (Dupuy), Gaudet, Giroir (Girouard),Landry, LeBlanc, Morin, Poirier, Raumbaut,Savoie (Savoy), Thibodeau (Thibodeaux).

According to Genevieve Massignon,who has attempted to trace the Acadians totheir place of origin in France, all of thesefamilies were recruited from La Chausse,near the village of d'Aulnay.

Others from the same region, accord-ing to Miss Massignon's research, were theBlanchard, Guerin and Terrio (Theriault,Theriot) families.

Arriving in Acadia during the latterpart of d'Aulnay's administration were thefollowing families:

Bergeron, Caouette (Caillouettc,Cayouette), Clemenceau, Comeau(Comeaux), Corporon, d'Aigle (Daigle,Daigre ), Doucet, . ,Carceau, Gautreau(Gauthreaux), Godirt (Gaudin), Gousman,Guilbault (Guilbeau), Hebert, Henry,Lannoue (Lanneau, Lanoux), Lejeune,Pellerin, Pichet, Picot, Poirier, Richard,Rimbault, Robichaud (Robicheaux), Simon,Sire (Cyr), Thebault (Thibault) and Vincent.

Charles Latour also brought a few set-

tiers to his outposts in Acadia, principally tothe fort at Jemseg. The first Bernard wasAndre Bernard, a stonemason fromBeauvoir-sur-Mer, who arrived in 1641. Thefamily of Mius d'Entremont, Latour'slieutenant, arrived in another Latour expedi-tion.

Some of the most popular Acadiannames are not French in origin. Accordingto some authorities, when Sir WilliamAlexander's group of Scottish settlers wereIrepatriated to -England, a fer of Semremained to live among the French.

Among them were Charles and PeterMellanson. They married French wives, andin time their descendants were namedMelancon. Two others were named Petersand Paisley. These names, in turn, becamePitre and Pellesey (Pelleset).

Roger Casey, an Irishman in Frenchservice, was captured by the English, woundup in Acadia and started the Kuessy familytree. Michael Forest arrived in Acadia dur-ing the Englisi' occupation after 1654, andremained to become progenitor of theAcadian family named Foret.

Jacques Bourgeois, d'Aulnay'ssurgeon, is mentioned as arriving in 1640.One Michel Boudrot (Boudreau, Boudreaux),who came to Acadia in 1642 as lieutenantgeneral and judge at Port Royal, was theoriginator of a large and widespread Acadianclan.

A number of fishermen brought overby Denys to work at his posts along theAtlantic Coast also settled down to becomeAcadian patria.zhs. One of these wasRobert Cormier, who settled in theAnnapolis River basin after working out hiscontracts with Denys.

73

The English occupation of 1654, ofcourse, discouraged further immigrationfrom France, and many of the French al-ready in Acadia returned to the homeland.

Most of them remained, however,both because they were attached to theirhomes and also because Colbert, Frenchprime minister, foresaw the return of thecolony to France when peace was achieved.He ordered the settlers to remain, therefore,rather than to return to France, or to go toCanada.

The Treaty of Breda, signed in 1667,returned Acadia to the control of France,but it was not until 1670 that the Frenchsent out a governor to take control of thecolony. By this time, ,Colbert had assumedpower in France as King Louis XIV's chiefminister, and he saw a real potential inAcadia.

He set up Acadia as a crown colony,therefore, and removed it from the controlof the fur traders. He named Hubertd'Andigny, Chevalier de Grandfontaine, asgovernor of the new crown colony.

Grandfontaine was already living inCanada and had been a companion of Tracyin that officer's expeditions to the WestIndies and at Quebec. By the terms of hisappointment, however, Grandfontaine wasplaced under the guidance of the governorof Canada, who was designated hisimmediate superior.

On Aug. 6, 1670, Grandfontaine setup a camp at what is now Penobscot, Maine,and sent his lieutenant, Joybert deSouianges, to take possession of the fort atJemseg. Grandfontaine moved on to PortRoyal on Sept. 2, being accompanied byseveral officers of the Carignan regiment ofthe French army, then stationed in Canada.

73

One of Grandfontaine's first acts asgovernor was to take a census of the colony,and the census of 1671 has become the mostfamous record of the «first families ofAcadia.» It has been widely reprinted invarious accounts oi Acadian history duringhe past 50 years.

In 1671, Port Royal, Cape Sable andLa Heve were inhabited by several familiesof Acadian settlers. There were fishing out-posts at Miramichi, Nipisiquit and Cheda-bouctou, under the control of the Denysfamily. The family of Mius d'Entremont oc-cupied Pobomcoup and Pentagoet. Theforts at Jemseg and Passamaquoddy weremanned by garrisons.

The census of 1671 revealed thatthere were 61 heads of families in Acadia, aswell as four widows with children. Therewere also a number of roving trappers andfisher folk, plus coureurs de bois wholived with the Indians, and colonial officialsin various stations whose presence was notreflected in the official census.

Here is a list of the heads of families,with ages, for whom occupations were sup-plied in the censps of 1671:

Jacob Bourgeois, druggist, 50; JacquesBelou, cooper, 30; Antoine Hebert, cooper,50; Mathieu Martin, weaver, 35; PierreSire, gunsmith, 27; Pierre Doucet, brick-layer, 50; Pierre Commeaux, cooper, 75;Jean Pitre, edged tool maker, 35; ClementBertrand, carpenter, 50; Thomas Cormier,carpenter, 35; Abraham Dugast, gunsmith,55; and Pierre Melancon, tailor, age notgiven.

Other heads of families werepresumably farmers. The alphabetical I.st,with ages:

74

Antoine Babin, 45; Antoine Belliveau,50; Martin Blanchard, 24; Jean Blanchard,60; Michel Boudrot, 71; Jean Bourc, 26;Antoine Bourc, 62; Bernard Bourg, 24;Charles Bourgeois, 25; Vincent Brot, 40;Vincent Brun, 60; Etienne Commeaux, 21;Jehan Corporon, 25; Olivier Daigre, 28;Germain Doucet, 30; Michel Dupuis, 37;Michel de Foret, 33; Jean Gaudet, 96;Denis Gaudet, 46; Francois Gauterot, 58;Francois Girouard, 50; Jacob Girouard, 23.

Also, Antoine Gougeon, 45; LaurentGranger, 34; Pierre Guillehaut, 32; RogerKuessy, 25; Jean Labatte, 33; PierreLanaux, age not given; Rene Landry, 53;Daniel LeBlanc, 45; Pierre Martin, 40;Barnabe Martin, 35; Pierre Martin, 70;Charles Melancon, 28; Pierre Morin, 37;Francois Pelerin, 35; Claude Petit Pas, 45;Michel Poirier, 20.

Also, Michel Richard, 41; ReneRimbaut, 55; Etienne Robichaud, noage given; Francois Savoye, 50; ClaudeTerriau, 34; Germain Terriau, 25; JeanTerriau, 70; Pierre Thibeaudeat', 40;Guillaume Trahan, 60; and Pierre N incent,40.

The four widows were the widows ofEtienne Hebert, Francois Aucoin, JacquesJoffrian and Savimine Courpon. All hadsmall children.

The census-taker reported that tailorPierre Melancon had refused to answer hisquestions, but that he had a wife and sevenchildren. He also reported that EtienneRobichaud did not want to give an accountof his lands and cattle, and that PierreLannaux sent word that he was «feelingfine, but did not want to give his age.»

Unfortunately for future historiansand genealogists, the census-taker did not

include the settlers at Cape Sable (estimatedat 25 persons), Les Cotes de l'Est (estimatedat 16), as well as those living at La Heve,Pentagoet and the fort at Jemseg.

From the census and other records itis possible to reconstruct a picture of thecolony. of Acadia during this period, whichmarked the beginning of prosperity for theAcadian pioneers.

At the time of the census the popula-tion had grown to nearly 400 persons.The settlers at Port Royal had 425 cattle,about the same number of sheep, pigs, andhorses, and the habitants were cultivating400 arpents of land, not counting thenatural grazing meadows.

The population at Port Royal, there-fore, had already sunk_ deep roots in theland. Some of the heads of families were thethird generation to live in Acadia. They hadgained valuable experience in farming thecountry.

The substitution of a royal governorfor the colonial proprietors who had beeninterested chiefly in fishing and furs meantthat the needs of the colonists themselveswould be given a higher priority back homein France.

Indeed, Jean-Baptiste Coloert, LouisXIV's new minister, had placed the develop-ment of New France high on his list of need-ed accomplishments, and he sought to givethe colonists as much aid as possible fromthe mother country, as well as sending outadditional colonists tr? strengthen Acadiaagainst the repeated incursions of theEnglish.

Still, the original families continued todominate the colony. The Acadians haddeveloped into an American type - long-

lived, frugal. and adapted to the land. Theyhad large families, and they sent their sonsout to clear new land for themselves.

Authorities have concluded that three-fourths of all the Acadians liOing today,ther in Louisiana or Canada, or Nova

Scotia or Europe are descended from thefamilies listed in the census of 1671.

The colonists of French Acadia enjoyedthe most piOsperous era in their history dur-ing the 30-odd years between 1671 and 1710,despite repeated raids of English freebooters,who continued to descend upon the colonyfrom time to time, burning, looting, andmurdering.

It was a time of growth and expansion.There was a significant fusion of new bloodfrom France in the form of artisans, soldiers,and colonists. In addition, from time to timemarriageable girls came to Acadia, seekinghusbands and a place for themselves in NewFrance.

New settlements began to spring upthroughout the peninsula. In 1762, JacquesBourgeois, one of the more prosperous inhab-itants of Port Royal, began to develop a set-tlement on oneof the extensions of the Bayof Fundy known today as Cumberland Basin.The Indians called the area Cliignectou.

Bourgeois had arrived in Acadia as asurgeon in 1640 under d'Aulnay's regime.He traded with the Indians in theCumberland Basin region, where he decidedto lay out farms for his two sons and threesons-in-law. Thomas Cormier, one ofBourgeois' sons-in-law, became the mostwell-to-do member of the new settlement.

In 1676, Michel LeNeuf de la Valliere,a Canadian from Trois Rivieres, was given agrant of all the land in the Cumberland Basin

75

except those farms of the Bourgeois familyalready laid out. Valliere called the areaBeaubasin.

In 1680, the first farms were clearedin the Grand Pre region in the Basin desMinas area by Pierre Melancon of PortRoyal. Two years later he was joined byPierre Terriot, and other settlers began toflock in.

In 1689, Mathieu Martin of PortRoyal, often called «the first Frenchmanborn in Acadia», was granted a parcel ofland near present-day Truro. In the sameyear, other Acadians received land grants inthe area north of Port Royal in the vicinityof the Petitcoudiac and Memramcock rivers.

Meanwhile, new settlers were arrivingboth from France and from CanadaSoldiers from the Carignan Regiment, whichhad been shipped to Canada to fight theIroquois, began to settle in Acadia after theirterms of, service. They bore such names asLeger, Lort and LaMontagne.

In the spring of 1671, the shipI'Oranger from LaRochelle brought out about50 colonists reci-uited by Colbert. Thesenames were noted among the newcomers:Amirault, Arcenault (Arceneaux), Barriault(Barilleaux, Barrois), Benoit, Brossard(Broussard), Doiron, Giraut (Girault, Girard)and Levron.

Colbert continued his efforts to re-cruit new blood for the colony, seeking tostrengthen it as a barrier against the English.Between 1671 and 1686, several ri:nv familynames appear io Acadian history, their own-ers having arrived either from Canada orFrance. Among them: Chaisson (Giasson),d'Amours, Dubreuil, Gourdeau, Hache( Ache), Henry, Labauve, Lapierre, Lambert,Leprince (Prince), Mercier, Mignault,

76

Mirande, Pelletier, Pinet, Porlier, and Rivet.

During the.. decade following 1686,names of new arrivals appearing in Acadiaincluded: Bonneive, Blondin, Boucher,Boutin, Bo isseau , Brasseau , Cellier,Champagne, Darois (DaRoy), Heon, Herpin,Lalande, Langlois, Lavergne, Mouton,Naquin, Nuirat, Olivier, Oudy (Audy),Poitevin (Potvin), Poitier (Poithier), Savary,Suret ( Surrette), Tillard, Toussaint andVignault ( Venoit, Vegneaux, Vignaud).

During the last years of Frenchcontrol of the colony, still more new-comers were arriving in Acadia seekinglands for farms and opportunities to maketheir fortunes.

Among the last arrivals in FrenchAcadia were: Allard, Allain, Barnabe, Beau-mont, Babineau (Babineaux), Bideau, Cadet,Crosse, Clemenceau, Chauvert, Carr; deVaux, Dubois, Denis, Donat, Dumont,Darbone, Emmanuel, l'Esperance, Guerin,Jasmin, LaBasque, LaBreton, Lounais,Lafont, LaMarquis, LaMaistre, Lessoil, La-liberte, Laurier, Lanquepee.

Also, Moipe (Mope), Maurice,Maillard, Marceau, Maissonat, Parisien,Raymond, Roy, Rosette, Saint-Scene,Samson, Simon, de Saulnier, Thibeau, Veco,Voyer, Villatte, Yvon.

The late Dudley J. LeBlanc ofAbbeville, who was an assiduous collector ofAcadian lore, reported that his researchershad uncovered a number of other names inAcadia during the decade just prior to theEnglish takeover.

Among these were Baptiste, Baudion( Beaudion), Barrios, Bonin, Bonvillian,Beaulieu, Beauregard, Berthelot, Cailler,Celestin, Coussan, Druce, Dupont, Durocher,

Estevin, Gilbert, Guidry, Lacroix, Leonard,Mordvant, Picard, Primeau, St.

Ma:..in and Thibaud.

'V In 1714, a census taken at Grand Prerevealed the following new names in Acadia:Aubin, Bellefontaine, Blou, Bastarche,Cochu, Desorcis, Fardel, Godin, Gareau,Levron, Laroche, LaBarre, Lalloue, Lavellee,Lagosse, Michel, Martel, Poulet, P.rejean andTourangeau.

As the population of Acadia expandedthrough the arrival of colonists and thegrowth to maturity of the children of theolder settlers, more farm land was neededand more settlements were founded. Twocolonies sprang up on the Petitcoudiac Riverin 1698. Chipoudy was founded by PierreThobodeau, who had come to Acadia withFmmanuel LaBorgne. Guillaume Blanchardalso founded a settlement there which henamed for the river upon which it was based.

Alexandre Brossard and his brother,Joseph, settled on Boudary Creek around1740. Joseph was later to become a legen-dary figure in Louisiana.

By 1710, it was estimated that thepopulation of Acadia from the St. JohnRiver to Cape"Breton had increased to some2,500 persons, a handsome increase from the400-odd counted in the famous census of1671.

4

By 1755, when the expulsion of theAcadians was begun by the Eli ;fish, it wasestimated that the population numberedbetween 7,000 and 8,000.

By the beginning of the eighteenthcentury, the Acadians had adapted them-selves to the New World and had learned tomake full use of the country's gifts. Theybecame adept at farming, livestock breeding,

hunting, lumbering and fishing.

During the long winters they spuncloth, using either wool or flax, tanned theirown leather and made their own soap andcandles and fashioned their own furnitureand wooden tools.

. In the spring, they made maple syrupand spruce beer, of which they grew quitefond.

They were still, however, dependentupon foreign sources for metal, guns and am-munition, salt, some we4ring apparel and thetrinkets they used for trade with the Indians.

Hunting and fishing, the building ofboats, and small vessels, and the fur tradeoccupied some Acadian families, but for thevast majority the major occupation wasfanning.

Early in their stay in the New World,the Acadians learned to build dykes acrossthe mouths of rivers that flowed throughlowland marshes, thus clearing fie land forcaltivation.

The majc : crops were wheat and peas,Acadian standbys even into the nineteenth,..entury. Oats, barley and rye were alsogrown, along with cabbages and a large.variety of garde': vegetables. Apples andcherries were also plentiful.

Livec.'ock of all kinds were kept,but cattle were the most numerous. Horseswere few, indicat.ng an infrequent use ofplows and poor reads. Most of the lana washand-cultivated, and the Acadians traveledby water whenever possible.

During the winter months, of course,the time was occupied by householdcarpentry, spinning, weaving, tanning,

77

cobbling, the salting and smoking of meat,and the endless household chores that werethe lot of women in a frontier economy.

As the population increased, so didAcadian trade with Canada, the FrenchWest Indies and France. Timber, furs, fishand flour were exported in. return formanufactured goods, metals, implements,guns and ammunition that the Acadiansneeded. There was also an illegal, and there-fore clandestine, trade with New Englandfor some of these necessities.

Thus, after three or four generations,the Aca&ans had succeeded in carving outfor themselves a comfortable, if notluxuriou ;n 'he New World. They tilledtheir dyked fields and built their cabins:n the slopes between the sea and the

forests. Parents worked with their sons andsons-in-law, and da,vbters banded togetherand worked as tean

Married sons of the same family oftenlived in their father's house, or nearby, andrespected the father's authority. TheAcadians' deference to and respect for .neirelders, according to contemporary accounts,seem without modern parallel.

They built churches, schonls andhomes and grew to love the soil upon whichthey toiled.

They were hospitable and cheerfuland were happiest when gathered togetherto celebrate the rituals and the melodiesof the great liturgical occasions.

Their chief weakness, it was said, wasa love of gossip and a certain amount ofpersonal vanity. Yfit, according to Silber-%ase, laFt French governor of Acadia,The mot\ I ..on: dcr these people, the more

I believe they are the happiest people in the

7$

world.»

NoW, with the Acadians prospering inAcadia, it is time to retrace our steps, andto follow the fortunes of other Frenchpioneers who planted the flew de /Ls on therocky shores of Canada.

Exploring the Continent

While some groups of Frenchmerchants were attempting to settle inAcadia, others were attempting to exploitthe fur trade of the northern wilds by forg-ing settlements and trading posts on the St.Lawrence River.

After his experiences in Acadia,Champlain once more turned his attentionto the St. Lawrence. Champlain returned toFrance from his explorations in Acadia in1607, and immediately sought out the Sieurde Monts with a proposal .that furtherexplorations be carried out in. the North.

At first, de. Monts was not interested,but later he was able to obtain from thecrown a monopoly of the fur trade on theSt. Lawrence River for a. year, and in Aprilof 1608, he dispatched an expedition of twoships to the St. Lawrence to explore and toopen up the fur trade.

The two ships. Don de Dieu.captained by Henri Couillard, and Levrier.captained by Nicholas Marion, set sail onApril 5 for Tadousac, an Indian village andtrading pest on the St. Lawrence. At ors;time, the Portuguese had set ti;) a whalingstation there.

Champlain and another Acadianveteran, the Sik. 1r de Pont (calledPontgrave, were in charge of thisexpedition. The expedition arrived atTadousac without difficulty, and Champlain

set off to select a suitable place at which toplan a trading post. It should be nearenough to the sea for easy access fromFrance and also near the northward-flowingtributaries of the St. Lawrence so that fursfrom the interior might be brought down bycanoe.

Sailing upriver from Tadousac on thelast day of June, Champlain decided to planthis post at a spot where a point oLlandjutted out into the river, narrowing thechannel. Overhead high bluffs towered. Ar-riving at this spot on July 3, Champlain sethis party to felling trees to build a stockadeand cabins.

. He wrote 43 his superiors in France:«Where I searched for a place suitable forour settlement, I could find none moreconvenient or better suited than the point ofQuebec, so called by the Indians because it iscovered with nut trees.»

After the construction of the post,Pontgrave sailed back to France for thewinter, leaving Champlain with 27 men toman the post. Among those who remainedwith Champlain were Nicholas Marsolet,Etienne Brule, a doctor named Bonnerme,Jean Duval, and Antoine Natel, a locksmith.

The winter was a hard one, and scurvyand dysentery claimed many victims. Nateldied during the last of November, and sometime after that the doctor, Bonnerme, alsosuccumbed. There were 18 others attackedby scurvy, of whom 10 died. Five otherswer claimed by dysentery.

When the spring arrived, only eight ofthe 27 men were living, and Champla'n him-self was seriously Hi The French had notyet learned the need for fresh meat and hadattempted to sustain themselves through thewinter on ship's biscuit and salted meat.

With the arrival of spring came ClaudeGode:, Sieur de Marets, who was the son-in-law of Pontgrave. De Marets reported thatPontgrave was in Tadousac. Champlain thenwent to Tadousac himself, where he washanded a letter frt,m de Monts, which askedthat Champlain return to France to reporton the progress of the post at Quebec andthe progress of the fur trade.

Back in Quebec in September,Champlain then met Pontgrave at Tadousac,and the two sailed to France to report tode Monts. The latter, meanwhile, had beenenable to get his fur trading monopoly ex-tended. Crown officials decided to permitany French subject who wish,.d to engagein the fur trade.

De Monts, crestfallen at this, decidedto withdraw from the venture since he sawno chance to make a profit under thechanged conditions. De Monts' former part-ners, Collier and Legendre of Rouen, decid-ed to continue the vene,--., and outfittedtwo ships at their own expo nse, which theyplaced under Pontgrave's command.

No provisions were made forChamplain to accompany this expedition,but he complained to de Monts, and thelatter asked his partners to allow Champlainto sail with the expedition. This they agreedto, and in 1610, the new expedition sailedfrom Honfleur.

The tireless Champlain, who possessedthe temperament of one of the great explor-ers, spent much of his time in the NewWorld in exploring the many waterways thatentered upon the Great Lakes any the SiLaw c nee River.

In 1611, he led a small expedition upthe St. Lawrence to the falls of the river,where he established the trading post that

79

was to grow into Montreal. In 1613, hesought to find the fabled Northwest Passageby exploring the Ottawa Riw.r.

Throughout his career in New France,Champlain sought to strengthen the settle-ment at Quebec, develop the fur trade in theSt. Lawrence River Valley, and maintaingood relations with all of the northern tribesso that their furs would be brought to thetrading post there and at Montreal.

In 1628, when war broke out betweenthe French and the English - again - theEnglish sent a naval squadron commandedby t-apt. Datid Kirke to oust the Frenchfrom the St. Lawrence.

When the English squadron suddenlyarrived at Quebec, Champlain had only 18men at the post. There was little to do butsurrender, which Champlain did on August9,1629.

Because of the poor communicationsof **lose days, neither Champlain nor Kirkerealized that a treaty of peace had beensigned between theii two countries theprevious April.

When the French government receivedword of the capture of Quebec, therefore,the return of the post was dem; nded. KingCharles agreed, and Quebec was turned overto France once more, although it was notuntil 1632 that the French were able totake possession of the post again.

Champlain once more was sent backto the New World. There were only a fewsettlers on hand to greet the veteran, now66, when he landed nce mure at Quebec.New houses were being built, along with achapel, a convent and a school.

Champiain died on Christmas Day in

s

80

1635. Where he was buried has remained amystery, but there is little doubt that with-out his skill and daring and his efficient ad-ministration the little colony at Quebecwould have experienced much harder timesand Canada might not have remainedFrench.

The white man in the New World hasoften been censured for involving the Indiantribes in Europe's fratricidal warfares, mak-ing them but pawns in the hands of theempire builders

In retrospect, however, it would bemore accurate to say that the Indians in-volved the white men in their own inter-tribal warfare, and thus helped to intensifyeconouic rivalries between the French,English, Dutch, Spanish and other colonistsand traders who ca ne the New World.

When Samuel de Champlain, forexample, made .7* .3 voyage to the St.Lawrence River Valley in 1603, the first re-quest made of him by the Algonquin andMontagnais tribes. whom he visited was thathe help them in their wars. Being thediplomat that he was, Champlain promisto do so when the tine was ripe.

On his second voyage to Canada, in1608. the same demands were made. The

tench wished to trade for the Algonquinand Montagnais furs? Very well, theyshould have no qualms about helping theirred brothers strike a hard blow againsttheir traditional enemies to the south.Otherwise. there might be few furs for theFrench to carry back home.

It was unfortunate that the time andthe place of France's colonial efforts (andthose of England later) would land thecolonists in the middle of a century-oldIndian war of extreme bitterness.

The reason for this was the rise of theLong House, better known as the IroquoisConfederacy.

Archeologists believe that the varioustribes and clans which became the Iroquoisoriginated in the southern Mississippi Valleyin the era of du, mound-builders. About thebeginning of the Christian era they began along migration northward, and by the four-teenth century, seem to have establishedthemselves in what is now New York state,west of the Hudson River.

There were five groups of theseIndians, which the white men called tribes.The farthest east were the Keniengehagas or«flint people», called Mohawks, or «eatersof men», by their Algonquin enemies, in-dicating that they were - ceremoniall, atleast, - cannibals. Then came theGoyogouins, whom the English calledCayugas; the Onontagues, or Onondagas;the Onneyouts, or Oneidas; and theTsonnontounns. called Senecas by theEnglish.

Through most of thi:z history, thesetrites were engaged in blood feuds and wars.War was self-perpetuatin3, since ever/ deathhad to be avenged. and it might be said thatthe Iroquois looked upon war as the naturalvocation of man.

Some time after their arrival in NewYork, probably between 1475 and 150etwo prophets sprang up among them -Hiawatha, a Mohawk, and Degandawiea,I:uron adopted by the Onondaga. Theypersuaded the five tribes to 1.--,ury

hatchet, to halt their wars and blood feuds,and to live together in peace.

This did not mean they gave up theirwarlike pursuits. They simply directed themagainst tribes outside the confederacy. After

their confederation, they called themselvesOngwarosioni, or «People of the LongHouse,» in honor of their elongated barkhuts.

The Algonquins, who knew them toowell from their long wars, called them Ir-iakhowi, or «true rattlesnakes».

The People of the Long House had acomplex social system with a wide variety oftaboos, a highly developed religion, and anextensive, uhwritten «literature». An early,unknown contact with Christians had leftthem with a legenu of a flood, the prophecyof a savior and a confessional, and a distinctunderstanding of the role of the unconsciousand dreams.

They were also among the cruelest,most bloodthirsty and -most ruthless ofpeoples.

Because they could concentratearmies of several hundred, up to perhaps2,000 warriors, the Iroquois brought a newand more deadly dimension to forest war-fare, which previously had been a matter ofraids and counterraids of a score or a fewdozers combatants.

The Iroquois soon drove all othertribes from their area west of the Hudsonand carried on a steadily escalating wf iththe Algonquins, the Hurons a. theMontagnais to the north and to the west.

The Iroquois and their enemies hadbeen in a major war in the St. LawrenceValley since before the start of the :sixteenthcentury. It was this ancient war in whichChamplain was asked to participate when hevisited his Indian frienc:. near Three Riversin 1608. In 1639, a gathering of Huron,Algonquin and Montagnais warriors gatheredat Quebec and once more demanded that the

81

French assist them in their wars. Champlaindecided the politic thing to do was to accom-pany this force on its southern foray.

The party proceeded south, throughLake Champlain to Lake George, where theyencountered an Iroquois force ready tofight. The fight opened, and arrows bega.1to fly. Champlain was escorted to the frontand fired his musket which was loaded withfour balls. Two of the Iroquois were killedand one was wounded, but the loud noisecreated more confusion among the Iroquoisrinks. The Iroquois took flight and, found

I lter in the woods.

Some historians blame Champlain'sparticipation in this raid for the subsequenthostility of the Iroquois to the French, butit seems far-fetched in believe that condi.tions would have be 'a different had he nottaken part.

The French were few in number, andthey depended upon their Indian neighborsto maintain their lodgement at Quebec.Hostile Indian neighbors would have madethe early settlement untenable. Besides, aclong as the French traded with the hurons orthe Algonquins or the Montagnais, who werethe Iroquois' enemief, it scents far-fetched tobelieve that the Iroquois would ever havehad a friendly feelins toward the F:ench.

Even if the French nal maintained thestrictest neutrality, it seems impossible thatthey might have avoided a confrontationwith the restless and expansionist Iroquois,who seemed determined to subdue all of theforest tribes to their fierce will.

At any rate, the presence of theIroquois in western New 'fork meant thatthe French colonization in :.hat directionwas blocked. This fact deflected French furtraders to the west, and eventually to the

82

discovery of the Mississippi River and theplanting of the French flag in what is nowLouisiana.

During the years following the deathof Champlain, events of major importance tothe history of French America were takingplace south of the St. Lawrence.

The Dutch, after «buyingy, ManhattanIsland from a group of Indians who didn'town it, set up a series of trading posts alongthe Hudson River, hoping to gain a part ofthe fur trade for themselves.

It was not long before the men of theIroquois Confederacy decided they wouldhave this fur trade with the Dutch for theirvery own, and the native tribes in the lowerNew York .regions were exterminated, ordriven out.

The Iroquois quickly developed anappetite for European goods, especially forguns. In '1623, they traded more than 8,000pelts to the Dutch, and by 1633 they werebringing in more than 30,000 pelts a year.Trade of such magnitude, of course, soon ex-hausted the supply of fur-bearing animals inIroquois country.

The men of the confederacy, nowdependent on European goods to maintaintheir improved standards of living, sought toobtain furs from the Algonquins and theHurons, but these tribes were trading withthe French. Thereupon, the Iroquois con-ceived a brilliant plan: having armed them-selves with the white man's guns, they wouldtake the warpath against he northern tribes.

Their aim was simply extermination -'.e first recorded instance of genocide in

American history. The Iroquois reasonedthat if the Hurons and the Algonquins,along with neighboring tribes, were

eliminated, the Long House could ..ontrolthe fur trade of the whole Great Lakes-St.Lawrence region. Then they could directthe flow of furs to the French or the Dutch,as they pleased.

As early as 1633 a war party of ther.

Long House attacked a party of Champlain'smen on the St. Lawrence, killing two andwounding four others.

The French retaliated by extendingtheir forts and posts farther up the river,and by sending missionaries to attempt toconvert the native tribes. In 1634, a fortwas built at Trois RivIeres, at 'he Juncture ofthe St. Lawrence and the St. Maurice rivers,one of the main .river routes to the North.

Li 1638, Jean Nicolet, an agent ofthe Company of New Frmice, which was thecommercial firm that «owned* the colony,penetrated the wilderness to Lake Michigan,then down Green Bay to the Fox River toestablish trade relations with theWinnebagos, and to make peace betweenthem and the Hurons. This opened up a vastnew territory to the French fur trade.

Religious societies also played a majorrole in the expansion of the colony, both bysupplying manpower and by supplyingfunds. In 1630, the Duc de Vandadour,then viceroy of New France, organized theCompagnie de St. Sacrement to promote mis-Fionary activities among the Indians.

This society, made up of men of greatpiety, wealth and influence in France, gaveits support in 1640 to attempt to found asettlement at Montreal for the purpose ofconverting ti,e neighboring Indians to

Christianity.

Thus, Montreal can lay claim to beingthe only great metropolis in North America

ff

founded for purely religious purposes.

Som './0 devout colonists, therefore,established Ville Marie de Montreal, underthe command if Paul de Chomeday, Sieurde Maisonneuve, a 33-year-old army veteranwhose piety had greatly impressed the mem-bers of the founding society.

Thus was the flag of France pushedto the juncture of the St. Lawrence andOttawa rivers. Although the new post wasideally situated for the missionaries to gainaccess to the Indian tribes, it soon provedto be commercially important, too.

The Ottawa River was the principalroute by which the Algonquins and theHurons brought their furs to the French.A trading post at Montreal would save themthe long paddle to Trois Rivieres of Quebec,and possible ambush by the Iroquois alongthe way. It was not long, therefore, beforetrading facilities were established atMontreal, mugh to the dismay of the piousfounders.

Since the settlement was made onterritory claimed by the Iroquois, it is

surprising that the small company was notattacked. The Iroquois overlooked the newcolony, though, since their war parties wereconcentrated agaitIst the Hurons alongGeorgia Bay and the Ottawa.

Individual Frenchmen, too, werenot slow to venture into the wilds them-selves, to meet tribesmen on the way toQuebec or Trois Rivieres or Montreal, andto short-circuit the official tradir.g posts.The natives would as soon trade with anindividual in the forests as at a trading post,especially if he were thereb-y\ saved a longjourney.

This tendency gave rise to the

83

coureur de bois, a sort of backwoodsmanwho came to be the despair of Frenchofficialdom. They were a wild, unruly lot,and made themselves more obnoxious bytrading whiskey to the Indians.

The prototype of this sort of back-woodsman was Etienne Brule, who came toCaaada as Champlain's servant. He foundan affinity for the forests, and soon desertedQuebec settlement. Thereafter, when hecame to Quebec, he was always in Indianattire. He was said to be unusually strong,and was quick to learn Indian ways andIndian languages.

By 1680, authorities at Quebecestimated that between 800 and 1,000Frenchmen were off in the foresb illegally,seeking furs from the natives.

The life of the coureur de bois wasnot one for weaklings. It was hard and ex-acting. He was called upon to crouch in anarrow canoe and paddle hour after hourfrom dawn to dark, at 45 to 50 strokes perminute. For nore than 1,000 miles thecoureurs traveled thus, pulling their ca-noes through small rapids by ropes as theywaded up to the waist in some swift an an-charn1 river, or carrying canoes and cargoon their shoulders to portage around greatrapids.

The advent of the coureurs de i)oismarked a new tack in French relations withthe Indians and began a headlong race bet-ween missionaries and traders to see if theformer could convert the tribes to civilizedways before the traders iestroyed then. withwhiskey and European diseases.

French efforts to convert the Indiantribes to Christianity date from the begin-nings of the colony at Quebec. On his thirdvoyage, Champlain brought with him four

83

34

Franciscans of the Strict Observance, com-monly known as Recollets.

They were Fathers .oseph le Caron,Jean d'Obleau, Denis Jamay and Pacificittedu Plessis. The bishops of Paris subscribed asum of 1,500 livres to cover the expenses ofthe mission, since the Recollets were a men-dicant order, depending upon charity fortheir daily bread and the patched grey robesthey wore.

The first Mass ever heard in Canadawas celebrated by du Plessis. The four friarscut the trees, hewed the logs and carved thestone for their mission, a leg building, sur-rounded by a palisade.

The vast program of conversingthousands of savages, however, was beyondthe resources of the Recollets, and in 1626five members of the Society of Jesus weresent out to help them. Three were priests -Charles Lalemant, Jean de Brebeuf andEnemond Masse. Two were brothers of theorder - Francois Chartond and Gilbert Burel.Father Lalemant was appointed director ofthe Jesuit missionary effort.

The Recollets left the colony when itwas captured by the English in 1629 and didnot return when Quebec was restored toFrance by the Treaty of 1632. Thus, theJesuits were left alone in the mission field.

Their numbers were considerably in-creased after 1632, principally dye to thefinancial backing by pious members of theFrench court. They established missionsamong the Montagnais on O.. north sholvof the Gulf of St. Lawrence, another atMiscou at the mouth of the Baie de Chaletrroand a third on Cape Breton.

In 1634. Inc Jesuits expanded theirmissionary efforts into the land of the

Hurons east of Georgian E iy. Missions wereestablished in the Huron villages ofIhonatiria and Ossossane, and in 1639 athird was established at the mouth of theWye River. It was called Ste Marie.

Ste Marie consisted of a chapel,hospital, mill, stables, barns, a residence forthe priests and another for lay workers, all

surrounded by a log palisade. As many as35 Frenchmen resided there from time totime - priests, lay brothers, agriculturalworkers, a surgeon, a druggist, a carpenter,and other artisans.

The priests were seldom in residence,spending most of their time serving missionsin outlying villages, or traveling by canoe tothe distant Petun tribe, called the «TobaccoNation» by the French, to the «Neutral»tribes to the southwest and to theAlgonquins farther north.

These outposts, separated from thesettlements on the St. Lawrence bythousands of miles, formed tiny islands ofBaroque civilization in a Stoll., Age ocean.

The life of the missionaries was hardand demanding. Indian food was hard onEuropean stomachs, and some of the Indiancustoms were revolting. The Indians existeuon two meals a day, composed of cornground betwt'n two stones and boiled intoa mush. Mixed in with it were any dirt orinsects which might have happened to beon the stones. If fish or birds were caught,they were thrown into the pot without beingcleaned.

If a war party returning home withprisoners ran short of food, one of thecaptives was knocked in the head, butchered,and his flesh added to the community kettle.

Village life was not much better

Men, women, children and dogs with theirfleas all crowded into the huts, winter andsummer. There was little room to move, andin the center a fire filled the cramped spacewith smoke.

The difficulties of mastering Indianlanguages and dialects and of finding someway to communicate the rudiments ofChristianity to these savages complicatedthe missionaries' task further.

Despite all of the difficulties, theHurons offered the missionaries their bestopportunity to make significant progress inChristianizing the savages. They were arelatively non-migratory people, theypracticed the rudiments of agriculture, andtheir villages were concentrated into arelatively compact area.

There were some 15,000 to 20,000of them when French traders first madecontact with them. The Hurons welcomedthe missionaries among them and willinglylistened to their sermons.

Many of them responded readily toChristian teachings, and baptisms werefrequent. By the late 1640's, severalthousand Hurons had accepted baptism.Hope was high in the minds of the mission-aries that the entire nation might eventuallyaccept the faith.

The French also attempted to sendmissionaries to the Iroquois, but these at-tempts met with anything but success. TheRev. Isaac Jogaes, for example, was capturedand tortured by Iroquois in 1643 as he andtwo lay brothers and 17 Huron convertswere paddling up the St. Lawrence River.The party via- ambushed by 70 Iroquois.Most of the Hurons were killed and the threeF renchmen were captured. Father Joguesand his companions were stripped of their

85

clothing and had their fingernails pulledout. Jogues was beaten senseless with warclubs. The three were forced t ) run thegauntlet and were beaten by Iroquois bravesuntil they were drenched with blood andhalf dead. The Frenchmen got no sleep atnight because the younger warriors pulledout their hair and beards. The village chil-dren amused themselves by placing live coalsand red hot ashes on the bodies of theprisoners. The priest finally escaped andfound refuge with the Dutch at Oswego,from whence he was able to return toFrance. One of the lay brothers also .

escaped, while the other gained the respectof a Mohawk brave and was adopted into thetribe.

Jogues was received with jubilation atJesuit headquarteis in Paris, and his reportswere listened to eagerly. As for Jogues him-self, he was already making plans to returnto the Iroquois country and set up a missionpost in their midst.

Throughout 1643 and l644, theborder warfare between the Iroquois and theHurons, the Algonquins and the French con-tin d. Losses Were heavy 3n both sides,and/ neither gained an advantage.

In 1645, the Iroquois decided to r kfor peace, and sent delegates to meet theFrench and their allies at Trois Rivieres andbury the hatchet. Thus, the frontier had ashort respite.

In 1645, too, the Rev. Isaac Jogueswas back in Canada, and with the advent ofpeace was making plans for tiie foundationof a mission to the Iroquois, which he calledThe Mission of the Martyrs.»

In the middle of May he departedfrom Trois Rivieres with an Algonquinescort, traveled to Fort Orange on the

86

Hudson, where they were entertained byDutch traders, and then departed for theIroquois country.

Soon .after the departure, the escortdeserted, leaving Jogues and a lay brother,known to us only as Lalande. Soon, theywere ambushed and captured by a Mohawkband and carried in triumph to the nearestMohawk village.

Here crowds surrounded them, beat-ing them savagely. A Mohawk cut strips offlesh from Jogues' back and legs, saying ashe did so. «Let us see if this is the flesh ofa great wizard.»

In the evening, Jogues sat faintingfrom his wounds when he was summoned tothe chiefs hut. As he bent to enter, aMohawk struck him from behind, sinking atomahawk into the missionary's brain.Jogues fell at the feet of his murderer, whofinished the job of hacking off his head. Thenext morning, Lalande suffered a like fate.

0Jogues' fate was learned by the

French from the Dutch at Fort Orange, wholearned it from the Iroquois themselves.

The French missions prospered in theHuron country, but in the 1630's, smallpoxwas introduced into the tribe by Frenchtraders., By the winter of 1645, more thanhalf of the 15,000 Hurons had died fromthe disease.

No sooner had this plague abatedthan a new whirlwind struck. After threeyears of peace had recouped their forces,and after they had Locked up with gunsfrom the Dutch, the Lois launched theirblitzkrieg agaihst the Hurons.

Without warning, the Iroquoiscolumns debouched from the forests and

attacked the Huron villages near St. JosephMissionA Many of the fluron warriors wereaway on a hunt. Rtishing the palisadesat sunrise, the Iroquois soon hacked a pathinto the village. Within there was terrorand panic at the first sound of the LongHouse war cries. The few warriors who triedto make a stand were shot down. Nor werethe women and children spared. At themission, the Rev. Antoine Daniel was

celebrating Mass. He hurriedly baptizedthose he couttl before the Iroquois attackedthe chapel.

Then, in his whiteAlb_and red stole,and carrying a cross in of him, Father.Daniel went to the entrance. He was shotdown at the chapel door, and the Iroquoisswarmed around him. His body wasstripped, his head hacked off, and his bodygashed.

The neighboring village was servedin a similar manner. Of the 3,000 peopleliving in the two villages, only a few es-caped. Some 700 were taken as prisonersand were subjected to torture and death inthe Iroquois towns.

Though the rest of the summer passedwith only sporadic attacks by the Iroquois,the Hurons lived in constant fear of thefuture attacks which they knew would becoming.

I.

The next blow fell on March 16 of1649, a grim and bloody year. The ice hadnot yet broken up and snow was thick onthe ground when the Iroquois suddenlystruck at a Huron village called St. Ignace.They had scaled the wall before dawn, whenmost of the village was sleeping. Theslaughter was the same as before. Then theIroquoif tide flowed to the small missionchapel of St. Louis, manned by 80 Huronsand two priests, the Rev. Jean de Brebeuf

9 4.,1

r-r'

and the Rev. Gabriel Lalemant. TheIroquois, a thousand strong, soon swarmedover the walls and put the Hurons to death.The two priests busily attended the wound-ed. Unfortunately for them, they were notkilled, but were captured and led away totorture.

The Iroquois stripped the two priests,tied them to a pole, t.,re out their fingernailsand clubbed them all over their bodies. Oneof the Iroquois, who knew a smattering ofFrench, told Brebeuf: «You say Baptismand suffering will lead to Paradise. You willgo there soon, for I am going to, baptiseyou.» Then he proceeded to pour boilingwater over the priest three times. Red-hottomahawks were applied to his armpits andstomach.

Through the torture, Brebeuf con-tinued to preach to the Iroquois, urgingthem to forsake their paganism and acceptChristianity. Not wanting. to hear himspeak, they cut out his tongue and cut offhi5 lips. Then they stripped the flesh fromhis legs, roasted it and ate it. He was scalpedand his heart was torn out, roasted andeaten. Some of the Indians drank his still-warm blood.

Father Lalemant was put throug% asimilar ordeal.

The remains of the two priests werefound a few days later by other missionariesand were brought to Que4c.c for burial.

The two great raids by the Iroquoison the Huron villages terrorized the remain-ing villages. And even after the Iroquoisarmies had retired, the death toll among theHurons continued to rise.

Some 15 outlying villages weredeserted, and the refugees flocked to

87

French mission at Ste. Marie. More than 6,000disconsolate Hurons huddled around thestone church. The missionaries did all theycould to feed the multitude, but starvationthreatened them all. The Hurons' food sup-plies had gone up in the smoke of their villages.

The Iroquois soon moved against SteMarie, but here a Huron counterattack drovethem off. The Iroquois army retired to St.Ignace, amused itself with burning itsprisoners for a while, and then retired toIroquois country, carrying a rich harvest ofscalps and furs.

The Hurons' will to resist was by nowbroken, and there seemed nothing to dofor the survivors but to flee. They simplycould not stand against the Iroquois andtheir guns. Some sought refuge with theNeutral nation, others (with the Petun, theErie and the Ottawa.

By summer the Huron nation was nomore. Only piles of ashes, charred'humanbones, and clearings in the forest where vastcorn fields had once been planted remainedto mark the existence of this onte-powerfuland populous tribe.

The destruction of the Hurons forcedthe French missionaries - and traders - toextend their efforts to tribes farther intothe interior of the continent. Meanwhile,the Iroquois launched further wars againstthe Erie and the Neutral tribes, butpermanent victory eluded them. They wereoperating too far from their base and lackedthe sophisticated system of supply to keepthem for long in enemy country.

In 1653, the Iroquois again soughtpeace with the French, convinced that thedestruction of the Hurons would allow theIroquois to take charge of the fur trade.Peace was agreed upon, and the Iroquois

Sh

were free to trade with either the French orthe Dutch.

Meanwhile, the French were settingup relations with more western tribes.French fur traders were voyaging to thewestern Great Lakes to trade with the «farIndians.» By 1656 many voyagers,including Pierre Esprit Radisson and MedartChouart de Groseilliers, had establishedrelations with far western tribes.

On these voyages they began tohear rumors of a great river that ran southto the Great Southern Sea, which in turn

washed the shores of the Indies.

After being interrupted only a fewyears, the flow of furs once again began toreach Montreal and Trois Rivieres. None ofthe furs came in Iroquois canoes, however,because the Ottawas of the Northwest hadstepped in to take the place of the Hurons.

The Iroquois were furious. All oftheir long campaigns had gained themnothing. Once more they took to the war-path and began blockading the rivers leadinginto the St. Lawrence Valley, stopping thefur trade from the west once more.

When the settlers went out in themorning to tend their crops or livestock,they could never be sure of seeing theirfamilies again at the end of the day. In thefield, behind any stump, tree, stone or hill,a Mohawk could conceal himself, waitingpatiently for hours until the settler camewithin range of his gun or tomahawk.

War parties of 100 or more ravagedsettlements from Montreal to Quebec,destroying crops, burning homes and barns,and slaughtering stragglers.

Finally, in 1663, the authorities at

QuCbec applied for aid from the Frenchgovernment at home. France, at the timeunder the able direction of Jean-BaptisteColbert, had the most efficient governmentin Europe. Colbert had an important taskfor Canada, since he wanted it to supply themother country with timber, ship masts andnaval stores, as well as furs.

Colbert decided to revise the govern-ment of the colony. He canceled the charterof the commercial company that had ruledCanada and made it a crown colony. 'I%

make the colony more secure from theIroquois, the Carignan Salieres regiment ofthe French army was shipped to Quebec,comprising nearly 1,100 men under veteranofficers.

In the fall of 1666, the regiment, plus400 Canadian militia, led by the newly ap-pointed viceroy, Alexandre de Prouville,Sieur de Tracy, invaded the Mohawkcountry.

The Mohawks declined to fight andfaded into the forest depths. The Frenchburned their four . villages, containing alltheir winter food supplies, and then marchedback to Quebec. No Mohawks were killed orcaptured, but the loss of food supplies was asevere blow. Also severe was the loss ofhuts, furs, canoes and other equipment thatwas extremely harp to replace.

In fact, it was a hard year for theLoll House. A Mohawk and Onondaga warparty had been almost annihilated by theOttawas, and the Seneca and the Cayuga hadbeen mauled by the Andastest The Iroquoishad spread themselves too thin in theirwars of conquest. In addition, smallpoxswept through the Long House villages,probably contracted during their wars againstthe Hurons. Faced with these disasters andexpecting more French expeditions, the

9

Long House decided once more to sue forpeace.

An Iroquois delegation appearedbefore Quebec, and accepted the terms prof-ferred by Viceroy Tracy. They agreed tohalt their wars against the French and allof their Indian allies.

With peace in both Canada andEurope, the way was open for a furtherdevelopment of the colony and a seriouscolonizatiofi effort on the part of Colbert.The officers and men of the CarignanSalieres regimer:`, who had been sent toCanada with the underst,.nding that theywould be returned to France after 18months, were given every encouragementto remain as settlers.

Several officers and men - some 400in number - agreed to remain, and were givenland grants. It was an important reinforce-ment for the colony. In addition, peacefulconditions and improved administration en-abled the French to concentrate upon ex-tending their influence farther into theinterior.

The fur trade was the mainstay ofFrench Canada. From its revenues came themoney to maintain the colony. It was thefirst business of the colony, therefore, tosee that the fur trade flourished.

This meant. inevitably, that theFrench must penetrate farther and fartherinto the interior, since the trade on the scaleit was being carried out soon exhausted thesupply of wildlife in a given territory. forc-ing a westward expansion.

The westward expansion had otherimpulses. too. There were tales of coppermines in the interior and storms of the greatriver that perhaps flowed into the shores of

g9

the great Sea by the cities of Cathay.

The Jesuits were in the forefront ofthe westward thrust. Father Claude Dablonconducted a mission at Ste Marie du Sault,in a square enclosure of cedar logs, with abut and a chapel. At the other end of LakeSuperior, another young Jesuit, the Rev.Jacques Marquette, had charge of the Mis-sion de St. Esprit at La Pointe.

Thence came Louis Joliet, deputed bythe authorities in Quebec to hunt for coppermines. Another pioneer in westward explo-rations was Daniel Greysolon, Sieur du Lhut,whose main achievement was opening ut.the country west and south of LakeSuperior.

In 1680, with a party of four French-men and an Indian guide, he spied out thelay of the land arounci the Brule and Si.Croix rivers. He established a trading post atthe mouth of the St. Loui; River, and inyears to come this was to grow into the cityof Duluth, named in his honor.

Now there appeared on the Canadianscene one of the chief actors in the greatdrama that would wit' for France an inlandempire almost beyond measure. Renekobert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle, was bornat Rouen on November 21,1648, or a nobleand wealthy family.

In his early youth he resolved to jointhe Jesuit order and fit himself for the mis-sion fields of the New World. He enteredthe Jesuit novitiate at the age of 15 aidprogressed far enough to win the title of«scholastic» and to be sent to teach in aJesuit school at Alencon, being later trans-ferred to Tours and then to Blois.

LaSalle was not successful as ateacher, being too impatient with his 1u

90

In fac :, he found the teaching profession aboring one, and was much too active in bodyand mind for the classroom.

Finally, LaSalle asked to be sent atonce to take up his work in the missions,but it was judged that his spiritual traininghad not proceeded far enough. With this set-back, LaSalle asked for his release from theorder. and at the age of 24 his resignationwas accepted.

Finding himself free, and with littleto maintain him in France, LaSalle took aship io Canada. He arrived during the sum-mer of 1667 and joined an older Vother,who was a member of the Sulpician Order,in Montreal.

The younger LaSalle won the friend-ship of the Sulpicians, and they made him agrant of land on Montreal Island, where theywere attempting to develop a series of farms.This was a wide and valuable domain, andLaSalle immediately cut it into farms, andset about attracting tenan...,.

He cleared some of the land for him-self, built a house on it, and stil' found timeto study Indian languages. Almost from thebeginning, however, LaSalle's mind was notupon his farm, but upon the Great West thatlay beyond the view of French voyageurs.

One winter a group of Indians from;lie Seneca tribe camped on his land, and thetales they told were so interesting LaSalleinvited them to spend the winter. They toldhim of the «Beautiful River», running duewest, which was larger e. en than the St.Lawrence, and which finally emptied intothe Vermilion Sea.

These exotic names fired LaSalle'simagination. The Vermilion Sea could onlymean the warm seas of the Orient! LaSalle

was deternlined to find this great river andfollow it tq its mouth. He informed theSulpician Fathers, and found themsympathetic. They arranged to buy back allof his land except the plot he had laid outfor himself. This gave him enough moneyto,. outfit an expedition, and he decidedto join a mission that the Sulpicians wereending to the Shawnee Indians. The partyof 14 set out in four canoes on July 6,1669. They were retained a Month at one ofthe Seneca vraages, but then crossed theNiagara River, hearing the roar of the greatfalls in the distance.

By the end of September, theyreached an Indian village at the site of whatis now Hamilton, Ontario. Hew LaSalleparted company with .the Sulpicians andheaded his canoes south. He was not heardfrom for two years.

Just where he went is a matter ofdebate, but he almost certainly reached the«Beautiful River», now called the Ohio.He followed it downstream to a waterfall,which he described as fors haw. and whichblocked further progress. This was probably.the falls above Louisville.

Meanwhile, the Jesuits, too, weremaking explorations into the interior. Theyknew that beyond Green Bay were regionsNhete buffalo roamed by the thousands,and there were tribes who had never heardthe Gospel. They also heard the stories ofthe greit river that flowed into the SouthSea and decided to send an expedition tofind it.

For this purpose they chose LouisJoliet, who had already been exploring inthe west looking for copper mines. To ac-company the experienced Joliet, they choseone of their own number, the Rev. JacquesMarquette.

9 t.?

a

a

a/A

I

They set out for the west on May 17,1672, in two canoes with five companions.En route they encountered many new andstrange tribes - the Wild-Rice Indians, theMiamis, Mascoutins and Kickapoos.

Then one day, about a month aftertheir start, they came to a place of unusualbeauty, 4ere the Wisconsin, River, whichthey had been following, joined a new andwide stream which rolled majesticallytoward the south.

Their Indian guides assured them withgestures and much eloquent oratory thatthis was indeed the great Father of Waters,the Mechezebbet, which flowed forthousands of miles into the Great South Sea.

The Indians were awed byl it, andurged the French to go no farther upon itsbroad surface. Huge monsters, that made ahabit of eating men, besieged the southernreaches of the river, they said. This wasprobably the first mention that the Frenchhad of Louisiana alligators.

Marquette and Joliet were not to bedissuaded, however, and followed the greatriver south until they reached the mouth ofthe Arkansas. At that point they decided toturn back. They knew not how many morehundreds of miles the river flowed, but theywere now sure that it flowed into the Gulfof Mexico, rather than the Vermilion or theGreat South Sea.

Now the way was cleared for furtherFrench penetration of the interior, andLaSalle was on hand again to be the spear-head.

LaSalle and the Father of Waters

One of the staunchest of the support-ers of the Sieur de LaSalle during his

91

explorations of the western areas of NewFrance was the new governor of theprovince.

Louis de Baude, Comte de Fitontenacet Palluau,. succeeded Remy ct^ Coucelle asgovernor and lieutenant general of New

0 France, and arrived in Quebec on Sept. 12,1672:

He immediately set upon a policy ofvigorous expansion of colonial activities,particularly in the realm of the fur trade.One of Frontenac's first projects was theerection of a French fort oil Lake Ontarioto hold the Iroquois in check r*: i to inter-

' cept the fur trade that the western tribeswere carrying on with the Dutch and Englishin New York.

Frontenac early made di acquain-tance of LaSalle, and consulted with theyoung explorer and fur trader often. LaSallewas a student of the Iroquois and knew agreat deal about the western country. Hesupplied the maps that convinced Frontenacthat his fort should be built at Cataraqui,where Kingston, Ontario, now stands. Itwas to be called Ft. Frontenac.

The fort was built in 1673, and thz.experience brought Frontenac and LaSalleto develop grander plans for trade anddiscovery. LaSalle burned with an ambitionto secure the western country, and soughtthe governor's backing in a scheme to con-struct forts along the great river thatMarquette and Joliet had discovered, and tobuild a greater empire than Canada for theFrench crown.

The next year, LaSalle went to Franceto seek financial backing for this greatventure, and carried with him a letter ofintroduction to Colbert, the French ministerof state. LaSalle made favorable impressions

1

92

upon Colbert and other ministers, as well asthe king.

His project was adopted. He wasgranted a patent of nobility on conditionthat he rebuild Fort Frontenac with stoneand maintain its garrison at his own expense.In 1675, LaSalle was back in New France,where he rebuilt the fort as he had beendirected, planted grain fields, established amission school and built ships with which tonavigate Lake Ontario in pursuit of the furtrade.

In 1677, LaSalle returned to Franceto gain permission of the king to lead anexpedition to explore the great western riverto its mouth. Again his petition was actedupon favorably.

Since he had no finances of his ownlavish enough for such an undertaking,LaSalle induced a number of merchants,relatives and officials to advance him sumsof money to undertake the exploration.

On July 14, 1678, LaSalle sailed fromLa Rochelle with 32 men, a supply of storesand implements for building ships 7 thegreat lakes .and the great river. He reachedQuebec two months later.

One of the men whose services hegained in Paris was destined to leave hisname in history among the great explorersof the west. He was Henri di Tonti, anItalian by blood and a Frenchman by service,

There have been few more romanticspirits in Agierican history. His exploits inthe Mississippi ValleyeeVere the stuff ofwhich legends am ma . His indomitableenergy overcame a weak physique. He en-dured privations that would have brokenlesser men. He was at home in every

1

environment, in the court of Louis XIV aseasily as with the coureurs de bois, squawmen and renegades of the frontier.

He was the son of Lorenzo di Tonti,a banker who fled his native Naples afterparticipating in an' unsuccessful revolt.Lorenzo fled to France, where.he became afinancier and where he invented the form oflottery known as a tontine,.

His son entered a French militaryacademy, served 'four years as a midshipmanat Marseilles and Toulon add made sevenmilitary campaigns - four in ships and threeinegalleys. While he was serving in Sicily, hisright hand was blown off by a grenade. Hewas captured and held prisoner for sixmonths. Later he was released iu an ejc-change of prisoners.

He returned to France, where theking granted him a pension for his heroism.He replaced his lost hand with one of iron,and later on the American frontier thisawed his Indian- friends, who dubbed him«Iron Hand.» ,He was at Versailles whenLaSalle came there, and they were intro-duced. LaSalle promptly enlisted Tonti'sservices for the expedition.

When LaSalle's expedition arrived atFort Frontenac, the first task was to builda ship to sail the lakes. Tonti's experiencewas utilized and a sloop named Le Griffon

I. was launched. On August 7, LaSalle and hismen embarked, entered Lake Huron, weath-ered a terrible storm, and finally anchored atthe Mission of St. Ignace, at the Straits ofMackinac.

Within a few days, LaSalle sailed intoGreen Bay, where he met some of his traders,and a huge store of pelts was taken aboard.On September 18. LaSalle sent the shipback to Niagara with the cargo that would

!),

s

help to pay off some of his creditors.

LaSalle then took 18 men and set offalong the western and southern shores of

Michigan toward the mouth of the St.Joseph River. Tonti and 20 men were dis-patched by land along the eastern shores forthe same destination. LaSalle arrived at

4' the StrJoseph first, and set about building afort there.

Three weeks passed and neither theship nor Tonti appeared. Tonti finally ar-rived toward the end of November, but therewas no word of the ship. Tonti had onlyhalf of his men. His provisions had failed,and he had been forced to leave half of hismen 30 leagues behind to sustain them-selves by hunting while he pushed on.Finally, all arrived, and LaSalle decided topush on before ice closed all the streams.

The party of 34 ascended the St.Joseph in eight canoes that often had tobe dragged through the shallow, boulder-strewn and icy current. Near the preknt siteof South Bend, Ind., they made a portage tothe Kankakee River, toiling through snow-,mantled country and down narrow, twistingstreams flowing through reedy and frozenmarshes.

Finally they reached the point wherethe Kankakee and Des Plaines rivers join toform the Illinois. Gliding down the Illinois,past the tall cliffs of Starved Rock, theycame to a large town of the Illinois Indians.The town was deserted, as the inhabitantswere on a hunt, but on Christmas Day theFrench landed and took 30 bushels of maizefrom an underground storage basin for theirprovisions.

They pushed on through Peoria Lake.Just beyond they discovered an Indian vil-lage. They went ashore, and obtained more

93

provisions when the Indians, members ofthe Illinois tribe, proved to be friendly.

Facing bitter winter weather thatwould make further exploration impossible,LaSalle decided to winter at the site. Hebuilt a small fort on a hill in what is nowthe suburbs of Peoria, He named it FortCrevecoetir, after the Dutch stronghold thatthe French under Marshal Turenne had cap-tured in July of 1672. Tonti had served asone of Turenne's officers in that engage-ment.

In March 1680, with spring near,'LaSalle decided to go back to Canada toseek word of Le Griffon and to secure moresupplies for his expedition to the Mississippi.Five men were to accompany him, aid Tontiwas left with the others in command' of thefort.

When LaSalle set out in March of1680 to return from the Illinois country toCanada, he faced a long and dangerousjourney. LaSalle had five companions - fourFrenchmen and one Mohegan hunter. Theytraveled in two canoes, and set out on thelong journey back to the fort that LaSallehad built at the mouth, of the St. JosephRiver.

Winter still gripped the land, and theywere forced to drag their canoes over ice andthrough swift currents. Often they paddledin a cold rain that froze the clothes to theirskins. They endured hunger and fatigue andall the other privations of the wilderness.

Finally they arrived at the fort on theSt. Joseph River, where LaSalle had lefttwo men to await Le Griffon. They reportedno news of the ship. There was nothing todo but go on to Niagara.

LaSalle left the canoes at e fort and

J

94it

led his party across the St. Joseph River on araft. Then, by foot,they crossed southern-Michigan, forcing their way through dens'woods, choked with brambles and under-brush, eluding Iroquois hunting parties thatranged the forests.

At last they came to a stream whichthey followed to Lake Erie. Here they builtanother raft, crossed the Detroit River, andthen resumed their long march across thenorthern shore of Lake Erie, through tor-rents of rain and flooded woods.

After much suffering they finallycame to the French fort at Niagara on EasterMonday. Here LaSalle received the depres-sing news that Le Griffon had never arrivedon its voyage from the fort on the St.Joseph. Her fate is still unknown. He alsolearned that another cargo ship had sunk atthe mo of the St. Lawrence River, car-rying tp e bottom a cargo valued at22,000 I es which had been sent to himfrom France.

Disappointed, but not discouraged,LaSalle set out once more for FortFrontenac, arriving there on May 6, aftercovering more than 1,000/miles in 65 days,much of it on foot.

His disappointments were not at anend, however. At Frontenac he found aletter from Tonti awaiting him. Tonti re-ported that the garrison at Fort Crevecoeurhad mutinied, torn down the fort's palisadeand fled into the forest after throwing intothe river all the arms and ammunitions theycould not carry. Tonti was left with fivemen, two of whom were missionaries.

LaSalle later learned that some ofthe mutineers were on the way to FortFrontenac to murder him as the best wayto escape punishment for their mutiny.

LaSalle sent out patrols, however, andwhen seven of the deserters anpeared in twocanoes, they were taken prisoner. The ntxtday, the remainder were taken in the sameway.

Undaunted by all of his ill fortune,LaSalle hurried his preparations to returnto the Illinois country. He was fotiliv.te inobtaining the services of Francois Daupin,Sieur de la Forest, with 25 men.

They traveled to Mackinac, whereLaSalle left La Forest to gather stores andfollow as soon as possible. With ten French-men, two Indian hunters and a number ofdogs, LaSalle pushed hurriedly onward. He

reached 'the fort at the mouth of the St.Joseph and left five men there to await La

Forest.

With the remaining men, he ascendedthe Kankakee and crossed to the site of thevillage of the Illinois. There they were greet-ed by sights of horror. The village had beenburned and stakes thrust in the ground uponwhich were human skulls. Here and therecrows and vultures tore the,bodies of slain

,,Illinois tribesmen, and olves prowledthrough the village.

Cornfields had been burned or cutdown. The ground was strewn with pots andkettles from the Illinois cellars, where theyhad kept their supplies and belongings. All

of this was the work of the Iroquois, whohad invaded the Illinois country and wipedout the tribe.

There were no signs of Tonti and thefew loyal men who had remained with him.One by one LaSalle and his men examinedthe ghastly corpses, fearing to find thateach one was French. But they were allIndians.

1

The Frenc < addled in the darknessthat night, keeping watch should the grimfoe. strike again.

"- The next day, They paddled fartherdown river on the way to Fort Crevecoeur,passing ruined and destined Illinois villageson the way. The fort was deserted and thesurrounding country was a vast graveyard.Tied to stakes here and there were half-charred bodies of Illinois men, women andchildren. Day after day, they continuedtheir search for Tonti and his men.

Beyond the junction cf the Kankakeeand Des Plaines rivers they stumbled across acabin, where they saw a piece of wood thathad recently been sawed. But they foundnothing more.

It was now winter again, and LaSallesadly turned his footsteps back_to the forton the St. Joseph. He left two men to guardthe supplies and canoes and with the rest ofthe party set off on fdot.

Snow fell for 19 days in succession,and the cold was so severe that LaSalle laterwrote that he had never known a harderWinter.

After much suffering, they arrived atthe fort on the St. Joseph, where they foundLa Forest and the rest of the party, but noword from Tonti. LaSalle sought to throwoff his despondency by making new plans.He sought to gain an alliance with a band ofAbenaki and Mohican Indians who had beendriven from New England by the Puritans.'

He also set out on a winter journey tovisit the unmolested villages of the Illinois,to seek their support in his objective of ex-ploring and settling the valley of the greatriver.

V.'

95

The glare of the snow gave LaSalle andsome 4 the others snowblindness, and theparty had to halt, near a camp of FoxIndians. Thy Foxes said they had seen sixwhite men traveling from a village of thePotawatomi toward Green Bay. The six menhad kept% themselves alive on elderberriesand wild onions, Lye was told.

LaSalle was convinced this was areport of Tonti and his men and that whilehe had come down the eastern shore of LakeMichigan, they had gone north along the op-posite shore.

As soon as LaSalle had reghined hissight, he returned to the fort on the St.Joseph, and then hurried up Lake Michiganto Mackinac. There be was overjoyed tomeet Tonti, who had arrived from GreenBay the previous day.

Tonti revealed that he and his menhad been captured by the Iroquois andcondemned to death. An Onondaga chief,however, had interceded for them, and theyhad been released with a leaky canoe. Onthe way back, one of the missionaries,saying his breviary during a stop on shore,.was killed by a Kickapoo war party.

Their leaky canoe was soon wrecked,and they were forced to walk. Tonti camedown with fever, and suffered from swollenlegs, but they staggered on. They soughthelp from the Potawatomi, but found thevillage deserted, and found little food.

Having worn out their shoes, theycovered their feet with parts of the survivingmissionary's cloak. In this strait, they werediscovered by a band of Ottawas, wt oescorted them to another Potawatomi vil-lage, where they spent the rest of the winter,and in the spring they went on to Mackinac.

96

These adventures illusVe the hard-ships and sufferings which 'explorers andpathfinders were forced to endure in open-ing up the west. .

LaSalle was ir, a fever to make anotherattempt at exploring the Mississippi to itsmouth, and hardly had he been reunitedwith Tonti than he began to plan his nextexpedition.

He was determined to streamline hisoperations and decided that the best coursewas to recruit a mixed grout of French andIndians to make the long' voyage to thesouth. He began to preach the need for aconfederation of the Indian tribes who dweltin the west. If they joined forces, theycould defend themselves against theIroquois.

He lobbied his ideas among theti Miamis, Shawnees from the Ohio River

Valley, I'otawatamis from the West and'Abenakis and Mohicans who had been exiledfrom New Eng,lat.d by the English and theIroquois.

The next step was to return to Quebecand put the idea of another expeditionbefore Gov. Frontenac. LaSalle's plan wasto employ a hard core of the most trust-worthy Frenchmen he could find, teamingthem with Indians who were at home in theforest wiltis.

To raise money for this new venture,LaSalle sold parts of his fur monopolies andborrowed from his family in France. Thenhe and Tonti, having recruited 'their expedi-tion, set off for the Illinois country and thefirst stages of one of the most importantventures ever undertaken in the New World.

°The expedition consisted of 23Frenchmen and 18 Abenaki and Mohican

Indians. As was theif custom, the Indiansbrought along their wives and Oiildren. ,Thismade a large group, which some of theFrenchmen felt was too. unwieldly.

LaSalle, however, knew whal he wasabout. The Mohieans and the Abenakiswere well-arined and expert in the 'use oftheir weapons. They were less likely todesert than the voyageurs, and they.could be

nted upon to do the bulk- of the pad-dlin hunting and scouting.

The Indian Ikomen, LaSalle knew,would be expected to cook the food, domore than their fair share of portaging, doall the camp chores, live on scraps and freethe Indians for the hunting and scouting.

On December 31, 1681, the expeditionarrived at Fort Miami. After a pause there,they set out toward the south, walking onthe surface of the frozen Illin'ois River. .

For 120 miles they trudged along onthe ice. The the ice began to break up, andthey took to the shore, reloading the canoes,and launching them into the ice-filledstream.

They paddled down the Illinois,through the leafless forests, and then onFeb. 6 the expedition issued upon the broadsurface of the great river itself.

Who were these men who weredestined to be the first Europeans of recordto set foot in Louisiana? LaSalle's journalsyield their names. In addition to LaSalleand Tonti, there were Father Zenobe, aRecollet friar; the Sieur' de !oisrondet.,Jacques Bourdon, Sieur d'Autray; JeanMichel, surgeon; Jacques de Meterie, notary;Pierre Prud'homme, armorer.

Also, Jacques Cochois, Anthoine

Bassard, Jean Masses. Pierre You, ColinGrevel, Jean de Lignon,. Andre Henault,Gabriel Barttier, Pierre Mignaret, Nicolasde la Salle, Andre Boboeuf, Pierre Buret,Luis Baron, Jean Piinabel, and oneindividual merely designated as La Violette.

LaSalle's notary did not recdrd thenames of the 'Indians who made up suchan important part of the expedition.

4n relative comfort, the expeditionpaddled .ftyn the great fiver, uneventfulday following uneventful day. One eveningabout dark they saw on their right the courseof a great river and were awed at the rush ofthe muddy currrent of the Missouri enteringthe clear waters of the Mississippi. Laterthey passed the mouth of the Ohio, and onFeb. 24 camped on the heights of theChickasaw Bluffs. They built a smallstockade there, and LaSalle named it FortPrud 'h omme .

Day after day they followed theriver, until March 13 when in the midst ofa thick, fog, they heard on the right shorethe booming of a war drum and the shrillwhoops of Indians.

LaSalle ordered the canoes to keepnear the far bank. Suddenly the fog lifted,and the Frenchmen saw an Indian town.The Indians were astonished at the sightof the white men, and after LaSalle dis-played a peace pipe, the expedition landedat the town. They discovered it was a villageof the Kappa (Quapaw) band of theArkansas tribe, neark the mouth of theArkansas Rivef

After a feast and much celebration,the expedition set forth again, this time ac-companied by two Kappa guides. Theypassed the mouth of the Arkansas, whereMarquette and Joliet had turned back, and

k

97

,continued on past what is now Vickburg andGrand Gulf.

Abdut 300 miles below the Ackansas,the expedition' halted on the edge of a vastswamp on the western shore of the river.Here, their two. guides told them, lay the

k path to the great city of the Tensas. LaSalledecided to send Tonti and Friar Zenobeto visit this tribe. Thus, the two wereprobably the first white men to set foot in\Louisiana, since the village Sys located inwhat is now Tensas Parish.

ire\Tonti and riar Zenobe, accompanied

by native paddlers, carried their canoethrough the swamp and launched it on alake which had once formed part of thechannel of the great river. In two hours theyreached the town, and were astounded at itsextent.

The houses were square structuresbuilt of mud and straw, with dome-shapedroofs made of cane.

There were two larger structures, onebeing the lodge of the chief and the otherthe House of the Sun, a temple. Tonti paidhis respects to their chief, who sat .on whatappeared to be a bedstead, with three of hiswives attending him, and surrounded by hiscouncil of 60 old men, clad in white cloaksmade of mulberry bark.

When the chief spoke, his 'wiveshowled to do him honor, Tonti said, and hiscouncil gavel him due reverence. When achief died, Tonti was told, 100 men weresacrificed.

1 he chief received Tonti graciously,and later visited LaSalle. He was preceededby a master of ceremonies and six heralds,and when he arrived at the meeting place, hewas clad in a white robe and accompanied

98

by two men bearing fans and a third witha huge copper disc representing the Sun.thought by the .Tensas to be their chiefselder brother.

Tlie interview was friendly, and theFrench departed the next morning, goingdown rivk, again, this time with Tensasguides.

After their visit with the Tensas,/the French explorers continued 'down theMississippi. Now' LaSalle and his men hadentered the realms of eternal spring. Thehazy sunlight filtered through the warm anddrowsy air, which came from the banks ofthe river laden with the scent ofta thousandexotigsblossoms. .

tl

They saw extensive swamps and greencanebrakes on both sides of the river, filledwith thousands upon thousands of wildfowl.They heard for the first time the fearfulbellow of the alligator, and some of thehunters killed a couple of these huge beasts.

0 One morning they happened upon awooden dugout full of Indians, and Toilith\gave chase as the dugout withdrew rapidly.

.As the dugout neared the bank, more than100' Indians armed Ivith bows and arrowsappeared out of the canebrakes. LaSallehastily called to Tonti to withdraw.

Tonti volunteered to return to thebank with a peace pipe to open negotiations.The Indians received them with signs and

friendship, whereupon LaSalle and theremainder of the expedition followed. Theyproceeded to the village, where they spentthe night.

These were the Natchez Indians,whose great chief dwelled in a lade townnear the' present site of Natchez, Aiss., andLaSalle and his men traveled to meet, the

7

grht chief. There they found a villagpnda trlibal hierarchy much .like they had foundanfong the Tensiks.

.The next day, LaSalle began the decent of the Mississippi anew, and two leak

below the NateN they visited the Kowhere they found another Hearty weifrom the red men.

A .

On March 31, the expedition passeda viltpse of the Houma Indians, and thatnight Tamped just below the junction ofthe Red River and the Mississippi.

Three days later they surprised afleet of wooden canoes, fishing in the. canesalong the edge of the water. The Indiansfled at the sight of the Frenchmen. LaSallesent a party to reconnoiter, but as they en.tereethe marsh, the scouts were greetedwith a volley of arrows. )

In the surrounding f est, theyheard the sound of drums and th hoops ofmustering savages. Prudently, L Salle re-called his scouts, and ,desiring to keep thepeace along the river, resumed his course.The tribesmen probably belonged to theQuinipissas, who dWelt in what is nowSt. Charles Parish.

A few leagues below, the French came,to a cluster of three villages on the left bankof the river, apparently devoid of in-habitants. LaSgle landed a party, and thethree villages were found to be filled withcorpses. These villages of the Tangipahoatribe had been sacked by their enemiesonly a few days before.

By now, the trench were nearing theend of their daring venture. On April 6,

.the expedition arrived at a place where theriver divided itself into 'three branches.

r

LaSalle divided his party. He descend-ed the westernmost branch. Tonti took thecentral passage, ails' the Sieur d'Autray de-scended the eastern arm. They movedthrough flat country, the current flowingsluggishly between the shores of reeds andMarshes.

The water was brackish, and the hori-..ion was limited on all sides by wind-drivenwalls of gray-brown reeds. The brackishwater grew salty, and the breeze was freshwith the tang of tb a sea.

Then the reeds fell behind, and beforeLaSalle's canoe there rolled the broad,boundless surface of the Gulf of Mexico,tranquil, .shimmering in the sun, without asail, as 'unsullied as when it came forth fromthe bourne oftime.

It must have been an exultant mo-ment for LaSalle. Despite the hardships, thesetbacks, the disappointments, this fierce,proud man had reached his goal. For thefirst time a white man had traveled from theSt. Lawrence River to the Gulf of Mexico,through the heart of an unknown continent,traveling by water except for a few milesoverland.

From his early days in anada, La-Salle had searched for a great central water-way, and now he had proved that it existed.

LaSalle set his paddlers to work coast-ing the marshy borders of the sea before hedecided to return to the rendezvousat theconjunction of the three distributaries. Whenall had reassembled, LaSalle held a ceremonyclaiming all of the surrounding lands forFrance.

A column was set up, bearing therudely carved inscription: ((Louis le Grand,Roy de.,Fri. ?we et Navarre. Regne; Le Neuv-

99

kme Avril, 1682.0 Beside the column, alarge cross was ejected. 'Beneath the crossLaSalle buried a leaden elate on which werescratched the words: ,,Ludovicus MagnusRegnat.o

Father enobe bestowed his blessingupon the party, and LaSalle formally pro-claimed tIe land as the possession of France,giving to Louis XIV and 'his successors «thepossession of this country of Louisiana, theseas, harbors, ports, bays:ladjacent straits,and all the nations, people; proxincef, cities,towns, villages, mines, nfinerali, fisheries,streams and rivers, .within the extent of thesaid Lougana, from the mouth of the greatriver and the rivers which discharge them-selves thereinto, from its sources beyond thecountry of the Nadouessioux (the Sioux)and as far as its mouth at the sea, or the Quit'of Mexico:»

With one magnificent gesture, LaSallehad presented to his sovereign the heart ofan entire continent, an area many titheslarger than France, and named in honor ofits new overlord.

The Colonization of Louisiana

In discovering the mouth of theMississippi and claiming the valley of thegreat river for the crown of France, LaSallereached the peak of his career.

After the exhilaration of the discov-ery, however, it was time for the French toretrace their steps, to gain once more thesanctuary of Canada, where LaSalle was de-termined to consolidate the vast empire hehad won for his king at the expense of so

----rnuch suffering and hardship.

The expedition began the long jowlney back up the river, by hioculean effortsthis time, against the current. Supplies were

(

V'

lob

running low, and. LaSalle was i a hurry./-

For some days the party, subsisted onthe flesh of alligators. They arrived at avillage of the Quinipissas,.determined to seekfood. They were feasted by the tribesmen,but attacked in the night. the same thingoccitrred at the village of the Kfrreas. TheFrench won tarough unscathed, but LaSallewas suddenly stricken with a serious illness,probably a fever. He was unable to proceedpast Fort Prud'homme, and sent Tonti onahead; of him. It was not until Septemberthat LaSalle was well enough to travel therest of the journey to Canada.

ere he found that Governor From-te his longitime supporter, had been re-called. also f4;and his creditors importP-nate and, in some cases, nasty.

Det mined to shore up his fortunes.LaSfille once more sailed for France. He Wasnot destined to return to the country' of histriumphs, hoWever. His return expedition tothe Mississippi met with?, disaster. A faultynavigator put LaSalle and, a colony destinedfor Louisiana ashore on the plains of Texas,then abruptly departed for France.

For some time the colotiy subsisted,but as supplies dwindled, LaSalle was de-termined to try to find his way back toCanada and kelp. On the way, he was mur-dered by one of his own men, somewherenear the Brazos L. er in Texas.

LaSalle's dream of an American em-pire did not die with his death, however, andit was now time for Charles LeMoyne andhis pride of young Canadian lions to take thecenter or the Louisiana stage.

Charles LeMoyne was a native ofDigppe, born in the parish of Saint-R6my in1626. As a youth, he joined an uncle in New

.4

(0

v,

France, where he won employment at one ofthe Jesuit pqts onitake Huron. Here he be-came sc proficient at Indian dialects that hewas able to take up residence in Montreal asan official interpreter. He was given a grantof land, which he began to cultivate, andsoon became a man of prominence in thelittle frontier 'town. In 1654 'he marriedCatherine Thierry, a native of the Diocese ofRouen.

The LeMoynes settled in their homeand began to rear the remarkable frilly ofsons whose leadership was to gain them thetitle of the Maccabees of Canada. As his sonsgrew up, LeMoyne added to their namestitles taken from localities near' his nativeDieppe. Occasionally, when as boy died earlyin life, his title was transferred to a laterarrival. Here is a list of the LeMoyne chil-dren with the dates of their birth:

Charles de Longueuil (1656), Jacquesde Shinte-Helene (1659), Pierre d'Iberville(1661), Paul de Maricourt (1663), Francoisde Bienville I (1666), Joseph de Serigny(1668), Francois-Marie 41670), an unnamedchild (1672), Catherine-Jeanne (1673),Louis de Chateauguay I (1678), Marie-Ann(1678), Jezin Baptiste de Bienville II (1680),Gabriel A'Amigny (1681), Antoine de Cha-teauguay II (1683).

The greateste. of Charles' sons, how-ever, and the most important to Louisiana,was Pierre d'Iberville, the third child. At theage of 14 he was appointed a midshipman inthe French Navy and was sent to France.After four years' service, he returned toCanada, where he took part in the almost-incessant fighting between the French andthe English. Although he fought with only afew hundred men, or small fleets of two orthree ships, Iberville possessed a natural ap-titude fdr the tactics and strategy of war.

e

47a-\He began his CanadiAn career in 1686,

when he led, a detachment under3DeTroyesagainst the. English forts on Hudson's Bay,and aided in the reduction of the forts. Also,with the aid of his brothers, he captured two

. English ships. He Was left in command of theforts and succeeded in 1688 in capturing

. two more ships.

In 1690 he participated in Ale cam- -paign against Schenectady and later in theyear recaptured Fort Albany On Hudson'sBay, which the English had retaken. In 1694he captured Fort Nelson, and during thewinter of. 1696-97 he captured Fort Pema-quid and ravaged the English settlements onthe coast Of Newfoundland.

In 1697; in command of a frigate, heagain entered Hudson's Bay and capturedthree superior English ships in a desperate'engagement. Again he took 'Fort Nelson,which the English had retaken.

The Peace of Ryswick left him urign-ployed, just when the French governmentsought someone to carry on LaSalle's workin Louisiana.

Although the Tieaty of Ryswick in 1697-ended hostilities between the French and theEnglish, Jerome Phelypeaux de Pontchartrain,the French minister of marine, still foundriimself faced with problems.

. He knew that the Spaniards were plan-ning to establish a base at Pensacola Bay, andfrom the limited geographic knowledge of thetime ,Pontchartrain suspected this was de-signed to blockade the mouth of the Mississippi,

planningalso heard reports that the English

were planning an oVerlah expedition towardthe Mississippi from their seaboard colonieson the Atlantic.

I

101

Faced with these threats, Pontchartraindevised au expedition cf his own to plant afort at the Mississippi's mouth. It so hap-pened, too, that he had just the man to com-mand this venture his premier Canadian cap-tain, Pierre LeMoyne Iberville wasan experienced navigator and would,not makethe mistake of missing the mouth of the Mis-sissippi. And if it Came to a clash of armsIberville had' already proved his mettle againstthe English.

Iberville was given two ships, Le Marinand La.Badine, both frigates of 30 guns. Twosmaller craft, called traversiers, were addeti wthe flotilla, and a contingent of French andCanadians was recruited to man the fort. Acompany of French marines was also furnishedfor any skirmishing that might be necessary.

Iberville assumed command of La Ba-dine, with his younger brother, Jean-Baptistede Bic:r.,!11P. as second in command. Le Marinwas under the command of the ChevalierGrangeide Surgeres, while his second officerwas the Sieur Sauvole de la Villantray.

The expedition of some 300 men de-parted Brest on October 24, 1698, and Iber-ville needed only 31 days to reach Cap Fran-cois, the northern tip of St. Domingue, theleading French colony in the West Indies.

After a refreshing stay, the fleet sailedon to Leogane, the colonial capital on thewestern side of the island, for a conferencewith Jean du Casse, the governor. Thered'Iberville recruited a detachment of.«bucca-neer. to aid in his colonization efforts. Onthe last day of 1698 d'Iberville sailed fromLeogane, rounded the tip of the island, andset a westward course for the mainland.

1After an uneventful voyage, the

French fleet reached Pensacola Bay on Jan.26, 1699. The fleet anchored in the bay and

102

discovered there a Spanish vessel..The' nextmorning d'Iberville sent an officer ashore toreconnoitre. He returned with news that theSpaniards' had a colony of 300 men ashorebuilding a fort. The post st.is called SantaMaria de Galve. The Spanish commandersent word that he would not allow theFrench vessels to enter the harbor, but theymight continue at anchor in the outer bay.

lberville did not tarry, but set sailwestward, convinced that the Mississippi laybeyond Pensacola. He now entered un-familiar waters, and proceeded with caution,taking frequent soundings and never losingsight of shore.

On the last day ,of January, theFrench fleet anchored off Mobile Bay, whichIbervill ,proceeded to explore with a longboat from La Badine.

The bay extends some 25 miles in-land, to the mouths of the combined Tensasand Mobile rivers. At first Iberville thoughtthis Might be the mouth of the Mississippi,but nothing in thecontours of the coastlineresembled what he had been told.

The French landed, built a but on theshore and e5plored farther inland. They sawseveral Indians in canoes, 1%lio fled at theirapproach. Later contact was made withhunting parties of the Bayougoula andMougoulacha tribes, who shared settlementson the Mississippi. Iberville was careful tomaintain friendly relations with the, tribes,who could help him with their knowledge ofthe country.

Once the French were established onthe shore, Iberville prepared his two tra-versiers to explore the coastline to the west.

Iberville manned the two craft withhis Canadian veterans and the «buccaneers»

100

he had recruited in St. Dorhingue.kThe twovessels sailed out of Mobile Bay on January27 and threadet4 theireway through the mazeof small island; that dot this part of the Gulfof Mexico.

The weather was bad. High winds,torrential rains and thunder and lightningimpeded progress and made life in the smallboats miserable. On the second day ofMarch, as the two vessels raced along under aquartering wind, Iberville saw to the south-east a line of rocks projecting out from thecoast. It was almost dark when he saw a riftin the line of rocks, and he sailed through.

Suddenly he found himself -gingeasily on a quiet stream. tle had discoveredthe North Pass of the Mississippi. The waterwas fresh, and it had a thick, whitish appear-ance, just as LaSalle had described. Therocks he saw proved to be masse of drift-,wood and .nud piled up by the current,blackened with age and cemented togetherby diment brought down by the greatrive

On the following day, Shrove Tues-day, Iberville began to ascend the river. Twoand a half leagues above the entrance, theycame to a juncture with two Miller branches,and a broad sheet of water more than 1,000yards wide rolled before them.

fieProceeding northward, the French

passred through a vast region of canes andrushes extending as far as the eye could see.For the next few days they continued upriver until March 7, when they made contactwith more members of the BayougoulasIndians.

A tribesman agreed to guide themfarther up the river to an Indian villagewhere they might obtain food.

On March 13, the expedition reachedthe Bayougoulas village on the western shoreof the river some 65 leagues from the rivermouth. An aged sachem smoked a calumetwith Iberville, and the French were given aproper welcome.

Food was brought-an unappetizingmush of sagamite, beans and Indian corncooked in bear grease--but the hungryFrenchmen made short work of it. Then thetribe staged an Indian dance in honor of theFrench, and a chief strutted forward wearinga blue coat that had been given to him byHenri di Tonti. Here was evidence that theriver was the Mississippi, but Iberville had tobe certain. Was there other evidence?

As Iberville's two traversiers contin-ued upstream in the broad, rolling river, theFrench captain was convinced he had foundLaSalle's Mississippi River, but he still hopedfor definite evidence of the fact.

After spending the night of 4/larch 13on the river bank, the party ro.,,z).0 north-ward against the river's current and shortlyafter midday they were escorted to the mainvillage of the Bayougoulas, a hundred-oddhuts surrounded by a 10-foot wall of cane.There were some 250 Indians here, many ofwhom were suffering from smallpox-addedevidence that they had been in contact withEuropeans.

On the morning of March 16, the ex-pedition set out northward once more, thistime accompaniied by Bayougoulas guides.They passed al small stream on the easternbank (probably Bayou Manchac). Later inthe day the French saw on the east bank ahigh pole, stained with some red substanceand adorned with the heads of fish andbears.

Iberville was told the pole marked the

103

boundary between the territories of theBayougoulas and the Houmas. The Indianscalled the marker «Istrouma», which theFrench freely translated as «Bato.n Rouge.»

Two days later they arrived at a land-ing place where they might pick up the trailto the chief Houma village. Gathered on theshore was a delegation of Indians with apeace pipe. The Houmas were a branch ofthe Choctaw nation, and the landing placewas probably just north of Tunica Island.The village itself lay a league and a halfsoutheast of Clarke's Lake.

After his ceremonial visits with theHoumas, Iberville considered driving stillfarther north on the river, but decidedagainst it. This must be the Mississippi, andhe decided to turn back for he coast, sinceit would soon be time for him to return toFrance.

When the pi, arrived at BayouManchac, Iberville dec . to explore a shortcut to Biloxi Bay ineil-uned by his Indianguides.

Sauvole and Bienville were ordereddownriver with the traversiers, while Iber-ville and four of his men, plus a Mougou-lacha guide, set out in two canoes andturned off into Bayou Manchac, through theAmite River, Lake Maurepas, then LakePontchartrain, thence into the Gulf ofMexico. On March 30 he camped on theshore some four leagues from where La Ba-dine rode at anchor, and lighted a bonfire toattract attention.

By noon the next day Iberville wasback aboard his flagship, arriving shortlyafter Sauvole and Bienville. Iberville wasoverjoyed to find his brother had, while inthe Balv ougoulas camp, discovered a letterthat Tonti had left on April 20,1685, when

104

he descended the. Mississippi in search ofLaSalle's expedition.

In the letter Tonti wrote that he hadfound the post on which LaSalle had nailedthe coat of arms of France at the river'smouth in 1682. There was no longer. anydoubt that the great river was the Mississip-pi.

Now was the time to select a site for aFrench fort to guard the approaches to theriver, since supplies we ;e getting low and theships must soon sail for France.

Iberville decided on Biloxi Bay as themost favorable s!te, and on April 8 theFrench began to clear land for their fort.

The work went smoothly and by mid-summer of 1699 the fort was completed.

lberville named it Fort Maurepas, inhonor of Count Pontchartrain's son, andthen prepared to return to France.

lberville selected 75 of his best nenand six cabin boys to garrison the fort andleft them six months' supplies. The Sieurde Sauvole was to be the commander.

On May 9 Iberville weighed anchorand set sail for France in the Marin, accom-panied by La Badine.

The garrison left behind by Ibervillemade up the first French colonists in thenew colony of Louisiana. The list of names,preserved in the French National Archives,has been reprinted several times, as follows:

Officers: Sauvole, commandant; Bien-ville: Le Vasseur de Roussouvelle; the Rev.Bordenave, chaplain; Pierre Cave, surgeon-major.

Petty officers: Jean Francois deVasseur, master of La Precieuse; FrancoisGuyon, master of Le Voyageur; Nicolas laVoye: Pierre Tabatrau, road pilot; PhilipesLey, master gunner.

Sailors: Pierre Hardouin (Ardoin), shipcarpenter; Raymond Saintot; BernardSaurotte; Jacques Roy, ship carpenter.

Canadians: Jacques Bellair, Pierre Pot,Philipes du Coudret, Pierre Tesserontie,Antoine Damedieu, Le Polonnais, Hurs Le

Clau& Marandan, Jean de Chesne,Estienne Godefray, JealitiEmery, Jean Pintu-reau, Jean du Boullary, Jean Baptiste Her-viers, Jean Cabuteau, Tineau Alexandre,Louis Guay, Antoine Olivier.

Freebooters: Pierre Desmarsz, MichaelChesse, Nocholas de Garde, Jean Nimon-neau, Jean Desplans, Philipes Paget, PierreBertrand, Jacques Emerit, Andre Regnaux,Jacques Caro lle, Jean Charneaux, Louis LeDuc, Pierre St. Germain.

Laborers: Jacques Gourdon, edge-toolmaker; Francois N:caud, carpenter; EstienneTardif; Henri Croisy; Jean la Porte; Francoisde Salle, shoemaker; Esteinen Duguay, baker;Marc Antoine Basset; Claude Bage; PierrePotus.

Cabin boys: St. Michel, Pierre Huet,/Gabriel Marcal, Jean Jo ly, Jacques Charon(Pierre le Vasseur.

Soldiers: Daniel Pineau, FrancoisMontiron, Jean Desgarennes, Pierre Bosset,Jacques Porche, Heyerome Brouin, JeanMalbeg, Jean Marpeaux, Pierre Godeaux,Guillaume Martin, Antoine Niret, JeanChesne, Jean du Val, Nicolas la Tuille,Jacques Henry, Pierre Val let, Pierre Maury,Morgan Nomme, Pierre Cilliraux, GuillaumeLucas.

On January 8, 1700, Iberville arrivedagain at Fort Maurepas, heading a fleet thatconsist of the Renommee, the Gironde,commanded by the Chevalier de Surgeres,and two feluccas for use in navigating theMississippi.

He found affairs well at the fort,with only four men having died since hehad departed. In view of heavy mortal;tysuffered in other early settlements in theNew World, this was a remarkably goodrecord.

While Iberville had been absent inFrance, Sauvole and Bienville had been ex-ploring the country and making contactwith the Indians. Sauvole had cementedrelations with the tribes living near the fortand had dispatched two of his cabin boysto live with the Bayougoulas and theHoumas, to learn their customs and lan-guage.

Bienville led exploring parties to thePearl River and Mobile Bay and later tothe Pascagoula River. He cemented friendlyrelations with the Colapissas, the Biloxis,the Pascagoulas and the Moctobi.

Since the discovery of the Mississippiby Marquette and Joliet, the great rivervalley was being visited by more and moremissionaries, traders and trappers fromCanada, and these wanderers sometimesdrifted downriver to the Gulf of Mexico.Sauvole reported to Iberville that twomissionaries from the monastery of Quebechad visited the fort. The Rev. Francois deMontigny had established a mission amongthe Tensas, and the Rev. Antoine Davionwas sing the Tunicas. They visited thefort accompanied by 18 men and stayedfor two weeks before setting forth on theirmissions.

105

Shortly before Iberville's arrival,however, Sauvole had received ominousnews. It was reported that Father de Monti-gny had been murdered by the NatchezIndians. Sauvole also reported to lberyillethat Bienville, on one of his explorations,had met an English ship on thealississippi,and had persuaded the English to depart.Iberville thus felt that he had to mount anexpedition against the Natchez to punishthem for the murder, and also to buildanother fort on the Mississippi itself toprevent more incursions by the English.

A number of men who would be-come famous in Louisiana accompaniedIberville on his second voyage. Amongthem were the Rev. Paul du Ru, a Jesuit, aschaplain for the colony; Andre JosephPenicaut, a master carpenter who spent twodecades in the colony and recorded itsearly years in his chronicles; Pierre du Guede Boisbriant, a major in the French Army;and the most celebrated of all, LouisJuchereau de St. Denis, the explorer-adven-turer who was to found the city of Natchi-toches.

Soon after his arrival, Iberville de-parted for the Mississippi, accompanied byBienville and St. Denis. The expeditionheaded for Lake Pontchartrain, seeking acrossing to the Mississippi and succeedingafter a muddy portage near Bayou St.John.

Bienville paddled upstream to seekhigh ground for a fort, while Iberville re-turned to Fort Maurepas, where he pre-pared a traversier and two feluccas, plus afore': of 80 men to explore the north coun-try and to move against the NatchezIndians.

Since the larger ships could not usethe short cut through Lake Pontchartrain,

1 1 I

106

Iberville entered the river through the NorthPass. When he arrived at a spot Bienville hadselected, 17 leagues from the river's mouth,the\ combined forces began to constructanother fort, named Fort de la Boulaye.

While the fort was being constructed,Iberville sent instructions for Boisbriant andLe Sueur to come to the new fort withanother party of men. When they arrived,the combined forces prepared to move northagainst the Natchez.

Before they left, however, they werepleasantly surprised at the arrival of theillustrious Henri di Tonti, LaSalle's col-league, who came down river with a forceof 22 Canadians from the Illinois country.

Di Tonti informed Iberville thatFather de Montigny had not been mur-dered but was alive and still performing hismission with the Tensas. On hearing thisnews, Iberville dispatched most of the sol-diers back to Fort Maurepas, and persuadeddi Tonti to accompany him up the river.

The party, now reduced in size, pad-dled upriver, making contact with theIndians, until they reached the village ofthe Tensas, where Iberville was seized withviolent pains in a kneecap, which preventedhim from walking. This untimely mishapforced Iberville to return to Fort Maurepas,but he dispatched Bienville to explore theRed River and LeSueur and di Tonti to as-cend the Mississippi to search for coppermines and other minerals reported there.

Iberville was immobilized on theMississippi for some weeks, and it was notuntil May 18 that he arrived back at FortMaurepas. He prepared once more to returnto France, leaving Sauvole again in com-mand, and pleased that the colony had beenreinforced by the arrival of Tonti. The latter

had made several trips down the river afterLaSalle's expedition and by 1700 he and hiscoureur de boss were acquainted with

muoh of the Mississippi River Valley and theeastern and northern parts of modern Louisi-

ana.

In May 1700, Iberville sailed again forFrance. During his absence, the colonistscarried out the various explorations he hadordered. Le Sueur led an expedition up theMississippi to the Sioux country, seekingcopper mines, while St. Denis returned tothe Red River, spending some six monthssloshil.:, through swamps and flood plains.Le Sueur returned with a cargo of blueearth, thought to be copper, which was latersent to France.

Meanwhile, supplies began to growshort. The French had not yet learned tofarm in the semi-tropical climate of the GulfCoast. Fishing and hunting afforded freshmeat, but most of the colonial energy wasdevoted to the fur trade.

In July, Gov. Sauvole died suddenly,leaving Bienville in command. Supplies failedto arrive either from France or Saint Domin-gue, and only food available was baskets ofcorn traded from the Indians. In addition,disease broke out, and when Iberville arrivedagain from France in December, he foundonly 150 of the colonists left alive. It wasthen decided to shift the fort to a more suit-able site. For this new fort, Iberville chosethe area of Mobile Bay.

Bienville and his contingent reportedfrom Fort de la Boulaye and helped to con-struct the new Fort St. Louis de la Mobileon the Mobile River. Larger than FortMaurepas, which was now abandoned, thenew fort measured 325 feet along each of itsfour walls. When the fort was completed,Iberville felt, it would be a more healthful

site for colonial headquarters and would bestrong enough to defend the MississippiValley from the English, the Spanish or anyother intruders.

In April of 1702, Iberville left hisLouisiana colony for the last time, weighinganchor for Cape Hatien and then for France.Shortly before his arrival in France, QueenAnne's War broke out between England andFrance. Iberville was given command of aFrench squadron, and set sail for the WestIndies.

He struck a strong blow for France byseizing the British islands of St. Nevis and St.Christopher and captured an enormous treas-ure on the island of Martinique. He thenweighed anchor for Havana to join forceswith the Spaniards for an assault upon theBritish key position on Barbados.

In Havana, however, Iberville fellvictim to yellow fever. On July 9, 1706,within two weeks of his forty-fifth birthday,he died on board his flagship.

Bienville, left in charge in Louisiana,sought to deal with the colony's problems.Yellow fever, imported from Saint Domin-gue, where African slaves had brought it,swept over the colony and carried many toearly deaths. Hurricanes blew down houses,destroyed crops and ruined stores.

Bienville pleaded for more hel! omFrance, for more suitable colonists andespecially for girls of marriage age. In 1704;23 young women arrived, and they soonfound as many husbands. The same shipalso brought 75 soldiers, four families ofartisans, a curate and two Gray Sisters.

The newcomers boosted the colony's .

total population to 195, but 94 of thesewere soldiers and sailors, who could be ex-

r

107

pected to return to France once their toursof duty had been completed. Another 50 orso were Canadian trappers and traders whoroamed Tar and widsrand were seldom seenin any of the settlements. By 1706, thecolony had dwindled to 85 inhabitants, buta new influx from France raised the popula-tion to 178 in 1710.

In 1706, a census reported that therewere 23 families in Louisiana who could bepresumed to be permanent settlers and thenucleus around which the garrison and thefur traders revolved. The heads of thesefamilies were:

M. de la Salle, the intendant; Guil-laume Broutin, Jean Roy, Jean La Loire,Jean LeCamp, Francois May, Nicholas LaFreniere, Francois Trudeau, Etienne Bruille,Michel Riche, Laurent Clostiny, the SieurBarran, Andre Renaud, Gilbert Dardenne,Pierre Broussard, Pierre Allin, Jean Bono-bonnoire, Antoine Rinarre,'Claude Trepanie,Jean Coulomb, Joseph Peniguad, Jean Sossieand Jean Louis Minuity.

The census also reported, there werethree widows, Mme. Le Sueur, Mme. Gabri-elle Bonnot and Mme. Anne Perro.

Thus, after several years of colonizingeffort, the French government had compara-tively little to show for its efforts. Decidingthat the colony was too much of a drain onthe treasury, it was decided to grant Louisi-ana to a proprietor, after the manner ofmany of the English colonies.

The man chosen was Antoine Crozat,the Marquis de Chatel, and in 1712 he tookcontrol of Louisiana. His responsibility wasto supply the colony for its needs and tounderwrite all expenses except those of themilitary. In return, he hoped to reap profitsfrom minerals and trading rights.

113

108

The . enthusiastic Crozat decided toinvest 700,000 livres in Louisiana and puick-ly sent out the first shipload of supplis. Onboard, to9, was Crozat's new governor,Antoine de la Mothe Calillac; a new com-missary commissioner, ken Baptiste du Boisdu Clos; and 25 projective brides fromNormandy.

Gov. Cadillac found his new post dis-appointing. He wrote back to his master that«this whole continent is not worth having.»Ordered to turn his attention to agriculture,he reported *this wretched country is goodfor nothing....»

He was, nevertheless, an energeticr1 an, p, and set about promoting the

rade, as well as trade with the Spaniards inexico and the Flondas, with the English

colonies and with the islands of the Carib-bean.

In 1714, he sent out St. Denis oncemore to establish a post on the Red River,and for this the latter chose a site that wasto grow into the present city of Natchitoches.When his post was completed, the romanticSt. Denis set out with a pack train and tradegoods for Mexico.

At San Juan Bautista, on the RioGrande, St. Denis was detained by theSpanish commandant, Diego Ramon. Whilein custody, St. Denis fell in love with thecommandant's granddaughter, ManuelaSanchez y Ramon. He was quickly bundledoff to Mexico City, where he made a goodimpression upon the authorities and wasordered released.

He returned to San Juan Bautistaand resumed his courtship of Manuela uotilher reluctant grandfather consented to theirmarriage. For several years, St. Denis con-ducted an extensive Indian trade in western

Louisiana, and in,1722 was appointed com-mandant of Fort Saint Jean Baptiste atNatchitoches, where he lived until his deathin 1744.

Meanwhile, Cadillac was buildingother postsFort Toulouse at the juncture ofthe Coosa and Tallapoosa rivers, and FortTombecbe on the Tombigbee River--de-signed to keep the English from infiltratingthe lower Mississippi country.

Since the Canadian hunters andcoureurs de bois scorned agricultural labor,Cadillac imported Negro slaves to work thefields and raise food crops. Some 500 werebrought in during 1716 and 3,000 the fol-

lowing year. They proved a troublesomeaddition, being rebellious and addicted tovoodooism.

Despite all of his energies, however,Cadillac was something of a misfit in his job.He proved to be quarrelsome and opinion-ated, and in 1716 he was recalled by Crozat.Bienville once more took over the reins ofgovernment, pending the arrival of Crozat'snew governor.

By 1717, Antoine Crozat was havingsecond thoughts about his investments inLouisiana. He had dispatched a new gover-nor, Jean Michele, Seigneur de Lepinay et dela Longvuille, to supervise his affairs, and theking had sent out five companies of infantrywith the new governor.

The national exchequer was low, however, and the crown decided to increase thetaxes on property in France. Since Crozatwas one of those who had to dig deeper, heasked to be relieved of his Louisiana respon-sibilities, since he had already lost some onemillion livres in that enterprise.

The crown granted him his wish, and

114

sought to find another proprietor. One wasat hand. He was that legendary character,John Law, a Scot who had gained an inter-national reputation as a financier.

Many of his ideas on governmentfinance were ahead of his time. He interestedthe Duc d'Orleans in his schemes, however,and was enabled by the regent's patronageto open a bank in Paris, which becameknown as the General Bank of France.

Law took up the challenge of theLouisiana colony. He organized the Compa-ny of the West to supervise the colony. andcapitalized it at 100 million livres, half theshares of which were offered to the public.Law received a charter on the same terms asCrozat, and he promised to send 6,000colonists and 3,000 slaves to Louisianawithin 10 years.

The Sieur de Lepinay surrendered thereins of government when Crozat was re-lieved of his charter, and Bienville once morebecame the colonial governor.

One of Bienville's first projects was topersuade colonial officials in Paris to providefor the founding of a town and trading poston the Mississippi River, which would im-prove communications with the Illinoiscountry and Canada and also provide abetter anchorage for vessels from Francethan was available at either Biloxi or Mobile.

Early in 1718, Bienville gathered awork force of 50 men and departed Mobile.Sailing up the 'river, he chose a spot wherethe river bends in a big crescent near LakePontchartrain.

The site was higher than most otherspots along the river, and it was accessibleto the sea both via the river mouth and via

Lake Pontchartrain. He ordered a site

109

cleared and a town laid out. Work proceededslowly, and by the end of the year, only aportion of the land had been ideared and afew huts built.

In 1719, a severe hurricane struck,ruining much of the stores and flattening thehuts. In 1720, the Paris headquarters sentout Adrien de Pauger as colonial engineer,and he directed the work force in laying outstreets and blocks. His plan called for a towneight blooks long facing the river, and ex-tending for five blocks inland.

Drainage ditches and canals were dug.A wharf was constructed. The first churchand building to house the municipal author-ities were next. Also, .a cemetery was laidout. Bienville called the town NouvelleOrleans, in honor of the Regent of France,the Duc d'Orleans.

In September 1721, a five-day stormdestroyed most of the building, but thetown was quickly rebuilt. The town grewsteadily and at the end of 1721 had a popu-lation of 147 men, 65 women, 38 children,28 servants, 73 slaves and 21 Indians.

In 1722, two hurricanes again leveledthe settlement, and again it was rebuilt, thistime with several biick buildings. The town,as laid out by Pauger, occupied the site ofthe present Vieux Carre of modern NewOrleans.

When Law and his subordinatesattempted to find colonists to boost the sizeof the Louisiana colony, they discoveredwhat other would-be colonizers had come torealize: Frenchmen were not eager to forsakeLa Belle France. They had no desire to leavewhat they considered the finest country onthe globe to risk the wilds of the New World.

Law and his colleagues, therefore,

110

sought help from the authorities. They weregiven right to impress vagabonds, to takemen and women from prison, houses of cor-rection and poor farms. They even instigatedpress gangs to fill their quotas of willing andunwilling colonists.

The impressed colonists proved to bemore of a liability than an asset. For manyof them, the long/voyage in cramped ships,plus the rigor of life in the colony, wheremalaria and yellow fever were constantthreats, proved too much. Scores of themdied on the passage out or after they hadreached Louisiana.

On March 9, 1718, three vessels ar-rived from France with three companies ofinfantry and 69 colonists. In June 1718,three more vessels arrived from France with300 colonists, troops and convicts. Of these,148 were sent to 'Natchitoches, 92 to theYazzoo lands which were being developedand 68 to New Orleans.

In January, 300 more colonists ar-rived, and in February 80 girls from a Parishouse of correction were landed.

Some of these proved to be sturdyand dependable colonists, but most of them,from the busy streets of large cities inFrance, were unable to cope with the wilder-ness, a strange climate and deadly newdiseases. Soon they became public charges ordied.

It became evident that some othermeans of attracting settlers to Louisianawould have to be developed.

Early in their proprietorship of Louisi-ana, John Law and his associates decidedthat they must seek farther afield, beyondthe borders of France, to find colonists fortheir settlements in the Mississippi Valley.

Using modern public relations tech-niques, they spread glowing advertisementsof Louisiana throughout the Rhine Valley,particularly in the Palatinate of Germany.Subsequently, thousands of Palatine Ger-mans, attracted by the rich promises of Lawand his associates, decided to seek newhomes for themselves in Louisiana.

No one knows how many Germanscame to the New World. Early estimates setthe number from 8,000 to 10,000, but mod-ern research has indicated that this is far toohigh. Many of the Germans grew, tired ofwaiting in French ports for transportationand returned to Germany. Others took jobsin France. Epidemics killed many others.

Modern research indicates that notmore than 1,200 Germans ever really landedin the French colonies.

The mass immigrations began in 1719and continued through '1720. According toAndre Penicaut, whose journal is the sourceof much of the history of the colony duringthis period, some 4,000 colonists arrivedduring 1720 in seven ships from France.They were, Penicaut said, French, Germansand Swiss.

The new colonists were landed atBiloxi and at Mobile, and thus had to maketheir way overland to their new homes inconcessions laid out along the course of theMississippi.

Many of them suffered hardshipsduring this journey since little or no prepara-tions had been made to furnish them withfood and transportation. In 1721 and 1722,other hundreds of German colonists arrived.

Because of oversights there was oftennot enough food for the newcomers, whowere told to subsist upon what they might

catch on the beaches. They combed thesurf, searching to) crabs, oysters and thelike, and purchased as much corn from theIndians as they could.

Many starved on the beaches beforethey could be sent inland to the concessionsawaiting them, and epidemic diseases sweptaway hundreds more.

Thoie among them who survived dis-ease and starvation eventually settled alongthe Mississippi kiVer north of New Orleans,a streh tat soon became known as theGerman CiAst.

These settlers proved to be capablefarmers and industrious workers, and theyprovided a valuable addition to Louisiana.In fact, a number of historians have statedthat the Germans really saved the colonyfrom stagnation.

No one knows today how manyGermans first settled along the, river, buta census in 1724 revealed them to besecurely established in farms Here arethe family names of those listed in thecensus:

Anton, d'Arensbourg, Bailiff, Bayer,Bebloquet, Berlinger, Betz, Bock, Callander,Christman, Clausen, Clemens, Cretzmann,Distelweig, Dubs, Edelmeier, Engel, Fried-rich, Foltz, Fromberger, Funck, Fuchs,Grabert, Hegli, Heidel, Heil, Hencke, Hem-mei, Hofmann, Horn, Huber, Kamper, Kat-zenberger, Kistenmacher, Klomp, Kobler,Krestmann, Kuhn.

Also, Jansen, Lambert, Lesch, Luech,Magdoiff, Manz, Marx, Matern, Merkel,Mayer, Miltenberger, Monthe, Mueller,Muench, Necker, Oberle, Pictot, Poche,Raser, Reinhard, Ritter, Reusch, Richner,Riehl; Rodler, Rommel, Schaf, Schantz,

1 1 I

Schecksehneide0- Schenck, Schmidt,Schmitz, Strantz, Struempfl.

Also. Tet, Thiel, Traeger, Trischl,Troxler, Vogel, Wagensback, Wagner, Weber,Weiss, Weisskramer, Weller, Wiltz, Widmer,Yens, Zahn, Zahnbrecker, Zehringer, Ziriac,Zweig.

Early travelers boating down theMississippi have left descriptions of the neatfarms and the little white houses standing ingreat numbers on both banks of the river.They tell how the German farmers rowedddwn to New Orleans with their crops of

vegetables, corn, rice, and later indigo, tosell their goods on Sunday in front of theCathedral.

They also tell how, in the 1760's, theprovisions generously offered by the settlersof the German Coast saved the Acadianexiles, who landed in Louisiana as bereft ofsupplies as had the original Germans.

The census of 1724 reports the settlerson the German Coast as follows: 53 men,57 women, S9 children, or a total of 169persons. Other German settlements broughtthe total to about 330.

Down through the years, the Germansmultiplied as their children grew and found.ed families of their own. As the Germansintermarried with the French an s theyregistered their baptisms, mania s andbirths with French-speaking clerg men, asubtle evolution took place in the originalGerman names. Slowly, they becameGallicized.

Some were translated directly intoFrench. Zweig, for example, is a Germa'iword meaning twig. When the first Zweigregistered in Louisiana, the French function-ary decided to translate into French, and the

117

112

family abrup became LaBramhe.

In another curious evolution, Milten-berger became Mil de Bergue, and Edelmeierbecame Le Maire.

Other German names, and the Frenchspelling they now have are Clemens(Clement), Dubs (T,oups), Engle (Mingle),Foltz (Folse), Heidel (Haydel), Huber(Oubre, Ouvre, Hoover), Kamper (Cambre),Katzenberger (Casbergue), Klomp (Klump),Japsen (Hentzen, Hensgens), Lesch (Leche,Laiche), Manz (Montz), Mayer (Mayeux),Reinhard (Revnard).

Also, Rjchner (Rixner), Rommel(Rome), Schaf (Chauffe), Scheckschneider(Schexnayder, Schexnailder, etc.), Traeger(Tregre), Trischl (Triche), Troxler (Ins-clair), Wagensback (Waguespack), Weber

Webre), Wichner (Vicknair), Zehringer( Zeringue).

In 1720 the French colony in Louis-fell upon hard times when Sohn Law's

lime economic structure collapsed. Law washounded out of France, and the affairs ofthe colony were neglected by the govern-ment. Emigration lapsed. Concessions wereabandoned. Lack of industry and know-how on the part of many colonists handi-capped both themselves and the economicwell-being of the colony.

Bienville, operating on meager resour-ces, strove to hold the colony together andto strengthen its foundations. He continuedtG plead for help from France. In 1722 thefirst group of files a la cassetti arrived.Called «casket girls» because ea.zh was ,givena sort of hope chest to carry personal be-longings. they were girls of marriageable ageand of good noral character. They werelodged in New Orleans under the care ofthe Ursuline Sisters, who arrived the same

year. All of the girls were soon married.

In 1728 Bienville was recalled toFrance to give an account of his stewardship,and a new governor was sent out. He wasEtienne Boucher de la Perier de Salvert, aformer naval officer who soon found himselfembroiled in an Indian war. In 1729 theNatchez Indians, coaxed onward by Englishtraders, attacked Fort Rosalie on the site ofthe present-day Natchez. The French garri-

son was slaughtered and nearly 300 colonistsin the area were killed. It was the firstserious Indian outbreak in many years.

The French gathered their forces for acounterattack, and in a winter campaign in1730-31 the Natchez were routed, drivenfrom their forts and harried out of thecolony. Several hundred were captured andsold into slavery. The others fled to join the

o Choctaws, anu the Natchez ceased to exist asa separate Indian nation.

The colony continued to make slowprogress. By 1728 New Orleans had a popu-lation of nearly 1,000 and by then had ahandsome brick church on the site of thepresent Cathedral of St. Louis.

In 1719 the d'Artaguette family hadbeen given a concession of land on the eastside of the Mississippi, five leagues above La

Manchac. By 'i25 land had been clearedand a st. :dem t called Dironbourg hadgrown up, consisting of some 30 whites and20 Negro slaves. The settlers, however, per-sisrl inealling the settlement Baton Rouge.

/ In 1723 a detachment of soldiers wassent up the Red River to establish a post atthe rapids. Thus, Poste du Rapides devel-`oped into present-day Pineville. Newsettlements were laid out along the lowerMississippi above and below New Orleans,and along the Upper Lafourche. By 1731 the

population of the colony was estimated at7,000.

Governor Perier, like all governors,had his troubles with the government athome, however, and was recalled in 1832.Bienville was called .out of retirement, andmade governor of the colony for the fourthtime.

Bienville arrived back in Louisiana inthe spring of 1733, a we: ther-beaten,yellow-complexioned man of 60. He foundthe colony growing but the reins of govern-ment lax and the military establishment indisarray. Food was scarce and the colonywas suffering from extensive hurricanedamage.

tiBefore he was able to set many things

aright, he was faced with another Indianoutburst, this time on the part of the Choc-taws and the Alabamas.

Bienville ordered forces upriver anddownriver to assemble for a campaign. Theupriver force rashly attacked before ,pien-ville and the bulk of the French troopsarrived, and was decimated.

Bienville, when he finally arrived,launched three attacks against the stronglyentrenched tribe, but each attack wasbeaten off He assembled an even largerforce later, but in 1740 the Choctaws suedfor peace, and a treaty was signed in April.

The last years of Bienvi s 'cm asgovernor were embittered by growing tility on the part of French officials in Paris.Finally, he gave up in disgust and in 1742, atthe age of 70, he asked to be retired. ' e de-parted for France in 1743, and disap ;earedfrom the colonial stage.

It iF exaggekation to say that with-

' 113

out Bienville's pa t and untiring efforts,the French colony may not have beenfounded. His skill as an.administrator, his A' IIability to endure hardships, official indiffer-ence back home, and the'trials that face anypioneer leader, were at times the chief guar-antee that the colony would survive.

Bienville spent most of his life in theAmerican wilderness. He was 19 yearsyoung,. than Iberville, his most famousbrother, and was only.19 when Iberville left.him as second in command to* Sauvole. inLouisiana. He became governor for the firsttime at age 21, when Sauvole died suddenly.

He helped build Fort Maurepas, FortRosalie at Natchez, Fort St. Louis at Mobileand posts at Block Island, at Baton Rougeand on fir lower Mississippi. He establishedMobile in 1711 and New Orleans in 1718.°

Bienville surveyed the country, chart-ed its waters and drew the first maps. He ex-plored the Red River as far as Nkchitoches,mastered several Indian dialects and wagedwar against a number of powerful tribes.

Historians have called his patience andtenacity without parallel in the history ofEuropean colonization. He built a strongand viable colony in Lopisiana despite an in-different court, jealousy Within the colonyand depredations by English and Indians.

Bienville introduced the first cattle,hogs and chickens into the colony. He grewand exported the first cotton and tobacco.He experimented with indigo and silk. Heexported the first timber and turpentine. Hewas a sailo , soldier and explorer, but mainlyhe was a b der, and he-had faith, tenacity,fortitude ancr frugality at a time when theinfant colony needed them most.

One of his last acts was to request the

114

establishment of a college in Louisiana forthe education of the colony's youth.

Bienville lived on in retirement inFrance for nearly 20 years after leavingLouisiana. He made perhaps his .lastnotable appearance in 1762, when heappeared before the officials of the Frenchcourt in a vain attempt to persuade themnot to cede Louisiana to Spain. He died in1768, at nearly 88 years of age.

I)Now it Is time to 'retrace our steps

to Nova Scotia, to consider the fortunes ofthe Acadians under English rule.

The Acadian Exile

Since 1713, the Acadians had livedunder the English"' laii.° The Treaty ofUtrecht, signed in that year, gave the wholeof the Acadian Peninsula to the English.By the terms of this same treaty, the Aca-dians were given the right to keep theirarms, to practice their religion and to re-tain their possessions. The English oftenbroke treaties, however.

By the treaty terms, for example,those Acadians wishing to leave the prov-ince to settle in Canada were to be allowedto go. They were to be given a year inwhich to prepare to move and were to beallowed to take their possessions withthem. Those who elected rto remain wereassured that they would not be requiredto bear arms against the French.

Throughout the era of English rule,however, English officials denied per-mission of any Acadians to leave the prov-ince. It was correctly pointed out to theBoard of Trade in London that if the Aca-dians left Nova Scotia, as the Englishcalled it, there would be no °ate left tosupport the British garrison with food and

other supplies.

As early as 1720, members of theBoard of Trade considered expelltivg theAcadians, but they felt their ties in NovaScotia were still to weak. If the Englishgarrison there needed wheat, or vegetablesor meat, they must be procured from iheAcadians. The English could not even getthe timber they needed to build their fortswithout the aid of Acadian axemen.

During the War of the AustrianSuccession, from 1744 to 1748, the .Aca-dians maintained their neutrality, despitethree invasions of Nova Scotia. by Frenchtroops. Paul Mascarene, the English gover-nor at the time, reported:

«The repeated attempts of theenemy on Nova Scotia have not had thesuccess they expected; and notwithstandingthe means they used to entice or force intoopen rebellion the Acadians, who are all ofFiench extraction and papists, they havebeen not able to prevail, except upon a fewof them.»

Despite this fact, the English govern-ment turned more and more to the idea ofexpulsion. A new governor, Sir EdwardCornwallis, was appointed with instructionsto take a careful census of the Acadians, toallow no priests to officiate among themand to use all means necessary to have Aca-dian children instructed in the Protestantreligion.

If these measures were not success-ful, sterner measures would be used. TheAcadians sent many petitions to London,asking that their persecutions cease, but tono avail. Now, more and more of the Aca-dians were leaving their homes secretly andsettling in French territory rt New Bruns-wick. It has been estimated that some

6,000 left Nova Scotia between 1713 and1755.

For those remaining in Nova Scotia,conditions grew worse in 1753 whenCharles Lawrence became governor. Law-rence was a moody, irascible man, knownin London for rashness and a quarrelsomenature.

The English citizens of Halifax in1758 denounced Lawrence as «a lowly,crafty tyrant,» and inveighed in officialprotest against his «wicked mind and per-fidious attitude,» for «oppression andtyranny.» They accused him of embez-zling sow 30,000 pounds in supplies, andfor stealing 1,000 cattle and 3,000 hogsfrom the exiled Acadians.

As soon as he took over the adminis-tration of Nova Scotia, Lawrence moved toexpel the Acadians. He feared to drive',hem into Canada, however, where theirnumbers would increase French strength.

Lawrence decided to use an oath ofallegiance as a pretext. He would demandthat the Acadians swear allegiance to theEnglish, Even to the point of fighting underthe Elkglish flag against the French. As heexplained his scheme:

«I will propose to them the oath ofallegiance. If they refuse, we shall havein that refusal a pretext for the expulsion.If they accept, I will refuse them the oath,saying that Parliament prohibits them fromtaking it. In both cases, I will deportthem.»

Preparations were carefully keptsecret. Troops were marshalled near theprincipal Acadian towns. Ships werebrought in from as far away as Boston.MI Acadians were ordered to surrender

\----all firearms or to be considered is r bets.

115

On August 1, 1755, Gov. Lawrencesent out his instructions to his troop de-tachments: All Acadian lands, tenements,cattle and livestock were to be forfeitedwith all other effects. All French inhabi-tants of Nova Scotia were to be removedand they were prohibited from carryingany of their possessions, except as much oftheir household goods as they might carry-in their hands.

The Acadians were ordered toassemble at their churchei to hear an im-portant proclamation by the English goy-

-, ernment. At all points, the Acadians were k

told they were to be depdted and were im-mediately held prisoners.

In Beaubassin, some 400 Acadiansgathered to hear the proclamation. Theywere all imprisoned, and military detach-ments were sent through the countrysideto bring in all others. Many others, beingwarned, fled into the forests. Most of themeventually made their way to Canada.

The 400 prisoners, including some140 women and children, were drivenaboard ships. There was no room for near-ly 100 other wives and children, and theywere left behind. Most of them attemptedto reach Canada, but the majority diedfrom exposure and starvation on the road.

Altogether, however, some two -thirds of the Beaubassin inhabitants es-caped the English.

At Grand Pre 418 men met in thechurch, and all were taken prisoner. AtPisquid the English took 183 men. At Ana-polis, nearly half of the population of3,000 escaped. Today, the descendants ofall of those escaped Acadians total some

\\).

121

116

230,000.

Those captured were .loaded intoships, overcrowded, without provisionsand shipped off to strange lands.

Edmund Burke wrote probably themost sober assessment of the expulsion:

eWe did, in my opinion, most in-humanely, and upon pretenses that, inthe eye of an honest man, are not wortha farthing, root out this poor, innocent,deserving people; whom our utter ina-bility to govern, or to recengle, gave usno sort of right to extirpate.»

The Acadia suffered grievouslyduring their days f capture and impris-onment by the English, and even moreon their voyages to exile.

In the Beaubassin regio , some 400men assembled to hear the overnor'sproclamation of exile, and they were im-inediately placeerunder ariped gu d. Mili-tary detachmend were dispatch to-round

,p all other Acadians in the area.

When ships arrived to talfe them into. exile, the Engl. h authoritiesiordered the"'Men onto the s : s first. S me 400 men

were taken, and then about 150 of thewives and children. No attempt was madeto ketp families together, and for the mostpart, husbaru s were separated from theirwives and children frdm their parents.

At Grand Pre, some 418 men report-ed to hear the priflamatidn, and the sameprocedureswet followed. At Pisquid,some 180 men were taken, and at Anapolisthe toll was more than 1,500.

Those who escaped the soldiers hadthe wilderness to 'traverse because the En-

glish burned all of the houses and farmbuildings, burned the crops and slautteredall of the livestock they did not etant forthemselves. Those who escaped, therefore,faced the grith prospect of making the longjourney to Canada and safety with littlemore than their hands to sustain them.

On Oct. 27, 1755, 14 Ships carrying1,600 Acadians from Grand Pre and 1,300from Pisquid and Port Roy0 joined 10transports in the Bay of Fundy with 1,900Acadians from Beaubassin. This was thefirst wave of imprisonment and transporta-tion that was to continue through 1763,until the4Treaty of Paris ended the Frenchand Indian War.

tood and water were inadequateaboard ship. In many instances, the Aca-diens were crowded into small ships sotightly packed that they could not liedown, The mortality rate was especiallyhigh among the old and the young, andthis, coupled with no knowledge of othermembers of their families, made the voyagea nightmare for most.

Husbands and wives, brothers andsisters, parents. and children, fiances andfriends were separated, as thy thought foronly a few days or weeks, but for the vastmajority, they were aever to meet againon earth. Unknown tb them, the ships allhad different and far-distant destinations.

Gov. Lawrence had decided toscatter the exiles eking the British colonieson the Atlantic seaboard, only he neglectedto inform the authorities pf these coloniesthat the Acadians were coming.\

As a result, no preparations weremade for them. They were dumped ashorewith no friends, no money, no food, andonly the clothing they wore. Six of the

L4 )

ships, bound for South Carolina, were hitby a storm and forced into Boston for re-pair. The Boston authorities reported theships overloaded, with insufficient foodand polluted water. They were not sea-worthy, it was reported, and the exiles thuswere disembarked in Boston.

They were there made indenturedslaves. Those who still had their childrenhad them torn away and distributed in Prot-estant homes in various Massachusetts towns.The Acadians were forbidden to leave thetowns in which they were indentured forany reason, even to seek relatives.

Some 300 exiled to New York metthe same fate. Colonial authorities com-plained that Lawrence had sent the exilesopoor, naked, without any of the necessi-ties of 'ife . a heavy burden on this col-ony.»

About 450 were sent to Pennsylva-nia, where the governor said he did notknow what to do with them and demandedthat Lawrence take them back. Smallpoxsoon broke out in the ships, and manydied.

Nearly 1,000 Acadians were sent toMaryland, and there alone they received awelcome, since Maryland had been settledby English Catholics, so the Acadians werenot considered to be aliens. They werequartered in private homes at first and thenhelped to find and build houses for them-selves.

A suburb of Baltimore becameknown as French Town, where a churcl.was built for them. Others spread out toother Maryland towns where many of theirdescendants still live.

Virginia, too, refused to receive the

117

exiles, kept them- from coming ashore, andhere too, epidemics broke out and manyhundreds died. Finally, ire survivors weretaken to England, where they were treatedas prisoners of war.

About 1,000 Acadians were landedin South Carolina, where they were inden-tured to work in the cotton and indigofields. By dint of much suffering theygained funds enough to buy two old shipsand gained permission to leave the colony.Their ships, being unseaworthy, ran agroundoff Virginia.

There the authorities confiscated allof their belongings and forced them to putto sea again, where they ran aground on theMaryland coast. Finally, they were able torepair the ships, and took to the sea again,finally arriving in Canada after 1763. Ofthe 2,000 of this group who departed fromAcadia, only 900 were alive by the timethey reached Canada.

Georgia received .400 exiles, wherethey, too, were put to work to slave in thefields. In 1758, they received permissionto leave, and bought a ship to take themback to Canada, where fewer than 100finally arrived.

Some 60 per cent of the exiles diedbefore they were repatriated, and therewere many in every English colony whowere never returned because of age, infirm-ity, illness or other reasons. Particularlymelancholy was the fate of hundreds oforphaned children who had been separatedfrom their parents in Nova Scotia, or whoseparents died later. There was no place forthem to go. Most of them died, and thosewho survived grew up as Englishmen andEnglishwomen. Their descendants today.usually do not know the history of theirancestors, nor that they carry Acadian

123

118

names.

In Nova Scotia, too, the fugitiveswho escaped the ships were hunted downby the English and the Indians. The Englishput bounties on the Acadians and paid forthe scalps of Acadians and their Micmac In-dian allies.

On May 14, 1756, Lawrence set up abounty of 30 pounds sterling for each malescalp over 16, and 25 for younger males orwomen and children. Although this was os-tensibly limited to Indians, in practice theEnglish paid the bounties without inquiringinto the race of the original owners of thescalps.

The Rev. Hugh Graham, a Protestantminister in Nova Scotia, reported, <A partyof Rangers brought in one day 25 scalps,pretending they were Indians, and the com-manding officer gave orders that thebounty should be paid.;> When the manobjected, he was told that othe French areall supposed to be out of the country, and...there is a necessity of winking at suchthings.»

The Acadian exiles scattered alongthe Atlantic coast by their British op-pressors naturally made every effort to es-cape their cruel fate. The British colonists,hostile to everything French, made noeffort to restrain them, but also made noeffort to help them. The only exceptionwas Maryland, where the Acadians weremade welcome, and where many of themsettled.

For others, however, their only hopelay in escaping to French territory. Theyhad a choice of four refuges. They couldreturn to Canada, which after the peacetreat\ of 1763 was in British hands. Theycould sail to French colonies in the West

Indies, such as St. Domingue, Martiniqueand Guadeloupe. They could go to France.They could go to Louisiana.

All four refuges received their shareof the Acadian exiles, but the largest major-ity finally came to Louisiana. Those exilesin the Southern colonies of the Carolinasand Georgia were, of course, nearest toLouisiana, and they seem to have beenamong the first to arrive.

Many of them set out for the Missis-sippi, either by horse and wagon or byriverboat. Some of those in Pennsylvaniafloated down the Ohio and Mississippirivers to French territory.

They kept no records, so there is noway of being certain who were the first toarrive, how many they were or from whichcolony they originated. It may well be,too, that some of the Acadians who origi-nally fled to Canada were able to make theirway to Louisiana by retracing LaSalle'sroute. But history is silent as to the de-tails.

When they arrived, they probablysettled along the shores of the Mississippi,north of the German Coast. Some of themlater, perhaps, moved to join other Acadianrefugees in the Opelousas and Attakapasareas. It is impossible to ascertain theirnumbers or to trace their routes, but word-of-mouth tradition has preserved severalnarratives of overland expeditions makingthe long and dangerous trip through thewilderness, exposed to hunger and thirst,exposure and Indian hostility.

Acadians who first left the AtlanticCoast colonies for the West Indies alsoturned their faces to Louisiana when theydiscovered tLat the tropical climate and theslave-oriented society of the oSugar ls-

124

lands» did not meet their liking.

In 1763, Charles Aubry, the militarycommandant in Louisiana, reported 60Acadian families had arrived from St.Domingue, and that there were alreadyso many Acadians in Louisiana that awedo not speak of them in the hundreds any-more, but in the thousands.»

When the Treaty of 1763 was signed,many Acadians who had been imprisonedin Nova Scotia were released. Their farmswere now occupied by English colonists,however, and they were forced to seek newhomesteads and new means of livelihoodelsewhere.

Some of them went to St. Pierre andMiquelon, two small islands in the Gulf ofSt. Lawrence that were still French posses:*sions. Still others went to the West ladiesand to Louisiana.

In 1764, a large group of these fiewlyreleased Acadians, led by Joseph Broussard(dit Beausoleil), migrated to the West In-dies. They had not been there long, how-ever, before they were stricken by plaguein that fever-ridden island. They decidedto come to Louisiana, and when theyarrived, Louisiana authorities gave thempermission to settle around the Poste desAttakapas, in the southwestern part of thecolony.

From these original settlers andothers who followed them, there descendedthe present-day inhabitants of St. Martin,,Lafayette, Iberia, Vermilion and St. Maryparishes.

We have no record of the dates ofthe arrival of the Acadians in the Attakapascountry, but their chief leader, Broussarddit Beausoleil, signed a contract with a

119

retired French army captain, Antoine Ber-nard d'Hauterive, who agreed to supply theAcadians with the beginnings of a livestockherd.

In addition to Beausoleil, the con-tract signed on April 4, 1765, containedthe signature of Pierre Ar enaud, Alexan-dre Broussard, Jean-Ba iste Broussard,Victor Broussard, Jean Dugas, JosephGuillebeau and Oliver Thibadau.

Beausoleil died in October of thesame year, probably from. the plague thatseems to have accompanied the Acadiansfrom St. Domingue.

Among other Acadians whose deathswere recorded in the official registers in theSt. Martin Parish courthouse, were FrancoisArcenaux; Joseph Bellefontaine; AugustinBergeron; Sylvain Breaux; AlexandreBroussard and his wife, Marguierite Thibo-deaux; Victor Broussard and his wife, Isa-belle LeBlanc; Jean Dugas and his wife,Marie-Charlotte Gaudin; Joseph Girouard;Jacques Hugon; Rene Robiceaux; andCharles Thibodeaux's widow, BrigitteBreaux.

The registers also announce thechristening of Anne Thibodeaux, daughterof Olivier Thibodeaux and MadeleineBroussard. This notice was signed by theRev. Jean Francois, who signed himself ascure de Nouvelle Acadie des Attakapas.

'throughout the 1760's, Acadianscontinued to arrive in Louisiana fromCanada, Nova Scotia and the West Indies,and joined their confreres who had alreadysettled in the colony.

While many of the Acadian exiles inthe English colonies came to Louisiana,others asked to be sent to France. This was

125

. CIL

120

particularly true of those in the northernand central colonies. Also, those Aca-dians held as prisoners of war in Englandwere sent to France upon the signing of theTreaty of 1763.

In August of 1763, for example, 660Acadians in Connecticut petitioned colo-nial authorities to be sent to France. Therewere 249 in New York and 280 in the Car-olinas who also asked for French refuge.Another 187 families in Georgia and 383 inPennsylvania were returned to France.

Of some 1,500 Acadians originallysent to Virginia, 866 survived to be return-ed to France. After the end of hostilities,the British themselves sent 2,452 Acadians,whom they had been holding as prisonersof war, to France. The bulk of the Aca-dian exiles settled in Normandy, Brittany,Aunis and Guyine. For 10 years they sub-sisted there, hoping for some governmentalprogram to furnish them with farmlands,or to permit th to settle elsewhere.

Attempts o settle the exiles in theinterior of France fell through becausethere were no arable lands available in thatcountry. As a result, most of the Acadiansclustered in the seacoast towns and sub-sisted upon au allowance of six cents perday per person provided them by theFrench government.

It remained for Spain to come to therescue of these Acadians.

In 1762, when they realized theywere losing their war with England, Frenchofficials ceded the colony of Louisiana toSpain. It was a secret pact, which servedtwo purposes. It kept the British fromseizing Louisiana along with Canada andit rewarded the Spanish government for thehelp rendered to France during the war.

The 'Acadians had not been in Francefor many months before they began to con-sider Louisiana as a possible refuge. Thesefeelings grew as the Acadians became pro-gressively more disillusioned with thefailure of the French government to findlands for them.

With the blessings of French official-dom, Acadian leaders sought the assistanceof the Spanish ambassador in Paris, DonPedro Pablo Abarca de Bo lea, Count deAranda.

The first contact was made byPeyroux de la Coudreniere, a resident ofNantes who had spent seven years andmassed a fortune in Louisiana. He knewthat the Acadians already in Louisianawould welcome their brethren in Franceand would assist them in settling newhomes along the Mississippi and its tribu-taries.

King Charles III not only gave his .

consent to admit the Acadians to Louisiana,but agreed to assume the expense of trans-porting them to the colony and settlingthem in new homes.

After lengthy negotiating, duringwhich some of the Acadian leaders almostlost heart, the French crown gave. permis-sion for the Acadians to leave. More nego-tiations were necessary, however, beforearrangements were completed. Who wouldpay the debts the Acadians had incurredduring their long stay in France? Whatshould be the fate of French women whohad married Acadian men? And viceversa? Finally, all was settled and commis-sioners were dispatched to gather the signa-tures of those who wished to be repatriatedin Louisiana.

A total of 1,508 Acadians registered

their wishes to leave for Louisiana. Shipsthen had to be obtained and suppliesgathered. More signatures were sought.The Spanish authorities were eager to re-ceive as many Acadians as they could getbecause of these exiles' proven ability asfarmers. Louisiana was greatly in need ofmen and women who could not only takecare of their own needs, but produce a sur-plUs.

In addition, Spanish authoritiesknew that these new colonists would actas an implacable bulwark against the en-croachments of the. English who, after theTreaty of 1763, had taken over not onlyCanada but also all of the land east of theMississippi as far south as Baton Rouge.

Finally, enough ships were obtained,but the winter months were judged toosevere to put to sea, so another delay in-curred. More negotiation3 had to beundertaken, and the masters of the shipshad to be reimbursed for their long wait.

Finally, on May 10, 1785, after 29years of aimless exile, the first groupof 156 Acadians left France and sailedfor Louisiana under the frigate Le BonPapa The frigate made the voyage toNew Orleans in 81 days, anchoring atthe city on July 29, 1785. Only onedeath, that of an infant girl, marred thevoyage.

A royal order had been dispatchedto Don Esteban Miro, Spanish governor inNew Orleans, ordering him to welcome theAcadians, settle them with the greatestspeed, see to their needs and grant themtillable land, good homes, farming toolsand a subsidy until they could supportthemselves.

Anselmo Broussard was named over-

seer for the Acadians, and Martin Navarro,the Spanish superintendent, was given thegeneral supervision of the entire coloniza-tion project. They set up an «Acadiancamp* at New Orleans to care for theimmigrants until they could be settled onfarms in the interior.

Once all arrangements had beenmade, 37 of the 38 families arriving on LeBon Papa were given farms on the banksof the Mississippi at Manchac. The otherfamily chose Bayou Lafourche.

Le Bon Papa was the first of seven eships arriving from France. In quick succes-sion there arrived La BergEre with 73 fami-lies on August 15 and Le Beaumont on Au-gust 19, with 45 families. These familieswere quickly settled at Baton Rouge, La-fourche and the Poste des Attakapas.

The St. Remy left France on June20 with 325 passengers and 16 stowawaysaboard. The ship was badly overcrowded,and smallpox broke out, killing 31 passN-gers at sea and in camp at New Orleans.Nueva Galvez, Lafourche and the Attaka-pas country attracted these families.

La Amistad arrived November 7 with68 families, followed by La Villa de Arcan-gel with 53 families. The latter vessel ranout of supplies and ran aground at Belize.Navarro rushed food, water and medicalsupplies to the ship, and she finally arrivedat New Orleans.

wereof the families in

these two ships were settled at Lafourcheand Bayou des Ecores.

The last ship to arrive, La Caroline,anchored on December 17, and its passen-gers were settled in Lafourche.

Altog_ther, the seven ships brought atotal of 1,624 Acadians, plus a few French-

1 2 7

122

men, to Louisiana. Spain and Louisianathus shared in the largest single trans-Atlantic colonization project in the his-tory of the North American continent.

The Spanish government spent morethan sixty-one thousand dollars in bringingthe Acadians to Louisiana and some fortythousand dollars after they had arrived.These new immigrants doubled the numberof Acadians in the colony, the others, ofcourse, having come from Canada and theEnglish colonies.

Thus, after many years of exiles, theAcadians finally found new homes forthemselves and proceeded to carve a Nou-velle Acadle in the Louisiana wilderness.

Epilogue

. During the era of French dominion,«Louisiana» meant much more than whatis the state today. In Iberville's time,((Louisiana» meant all of the vast territorydrained by the Misssissippi-Missouri riversystems, except that area east of theMississippi already in the hands of Europe-an nations.

French influence was strong in thisregion, and French explorers were thefirst white men to reach most of the statesthat now make up the vast territory.

Henri de Tonti and his fur trappersand traders began to make regular voyageson the Mississippi and its tributaries shortlyafter Iberville founded Fort Maurepas.Other trappers and traders drifted down-river from Canada, and spread throughoutthe region, moving up tributary rivers ontheir facile canoes. In many instances, theyfound that French missionaries had pre-ceded them. The French in Canada regular-ly sent out missionaries mostly Jesuits

to make further attempts at converting theIndian tribes to Christianity.

That this effort was extensive isattested to by the fact that in 1721 theRev. Pierre de Charlevoix was sent down-river from Canada for an inspection trip tothe Jesuit missions. Thus, during the de-cades following the founding of a Frenchsettlement on the Gulf of Mexico, dozensof anonymous missionaries and coureursde bols found their way west from Canadaand southwest through the western reachesof the great river basin.

Pierre Radisson and Medard desGroseilliers explored beyond the upperMississippi in 1659, and Francois and LouisVerendye explored the Sioux country in1742-43, penetrating as far west as theDakotas.

Pierre Laclede came north from NewOrleans to found St. Louis in 1763, twoyears before Ste. Genevieve, the secondtown in Missouri, was founded.

French trading posts were estab'ish-ed on sites which were to become St. Jo-seph, Lafayette, Fort. Wayne and FortClarke in Indiana; Kaskaskia, Cahokia andFort Charles in Illinois; and Omaha inNebraska.

Jean du Sable established a tradingpost on the spot that was to becomeChicago in the 1770s.

Le Page du Pratz traveled in Louisi-ana in 1718, to be followed by Drs. Louisand Jean Prat in the 1720s and 1730s.Andre Michaux reported extensively onLouisiana fauna in the 1770s, and GeorgesCollot studied the area in 1796.

Throughout the region, however,

French traders and trappers, along with theJesuit missionaries, formed the spearheadof civilization in the Mississippi Valley.

The life of the coureurs de boisin the Mississippi Valley was essentially thesame as it had been in Canada. Their workwas hard and their lives perilous. It wastheir calling to penetrate the unknown.They lived solitary lives and died unknowndeaths, to be buried in unrememberedgraves. Even their names are forgotten.But they were the pioneert who foundtrails through unknown country and whodiscovered the beaver waters, handling thetrapping, the skinning and the preparationof the pelts. They made contact with un-known tribes of Indians and, sometimesin the face of great difficulty, opened tradewith them cr settled among them to preachthe Gospel. They lived by their wits offthe country, facing the thousand namelesshazards of the wilderness, including Indianhostility, the elements and disease. And asa sideline to their work they thoroughlyexplored the vast areas west, northwestand southwest, from the Mississippi. Riverto the Mexican border and the PacificOcean.

The trappers and the missionarieswere followed by the traders, and they, inturn, gave way to permanent settlers. Allof these were French, and they left theirmarks if not their names upon all of thevast territories west of the Mississippi.Their work, too, is a part of Louisiana'sFrenca heritage, and although their veryidentities have been lost to history, theirhandiwork has survived them in the broadacres and the busy cities of a dozen ormore American states. ti

Reprinted by permission of the author and the Acadian Profile. .1

123

HISTORICAL SETTING*

*Until recently, Haitian emigration fromthe island had been minimal or of a transientnature, e. g., researchers, diplomats, or studentswho always returned, or a few immigrants toLouisiana. However, an influx of Haitians intometrop5litan areas, including those of the North.east, has been visible since 1959. Hence, we feltthat a background article about Haiti would beappropriate.

Haitian society reflects, for the mostpart, the 'historic impact of French colon-ization in the eighteenth century and theimportation of slaves from Africa. Thereare virtually no traces of Spanish cultureor of the culture of the Taino (Arawak)Indians. The official language is French,and the language spoken throughout thecountry is Creole, a dialect based onFrench. French influence is apparent inthe educational system, and the elite mulat-toes - descendants of black and French pro-genitors - traditionally regard Paris as theworld's cultural capital. The agriculturaleconomy is based mainly on small plotscarved out of the French plantations thatflourished in the eighteenth century. Thetransition from a prosperous plantationeconomy to a nation of peasants, proud oftheir landownership, began early in thenineteenth century, when rulers of thenewly independent country cut up largeestates and parceled the land out to peoplewho had recently freed themselves fromslavery.

West African influences are apparentin the religion of the majority of the peoplewho, despite nominal adherence to RomanCatholicism, believe in voodooism, theHaitian version of West African religious

HAITI

124

beliefs. Throughout the countryside, the,voodoo priests are community leaders whoexercise significant power over the people./

Haiti was discovered by ChristopherColumbus in 1492 when, in the course ofhis first voyage in search of a route to Asia,he landed on the northern shore of theisland, which he named La Isla Espahola,later known as Hispaniola. This island be-came the first permanent European colonyin the Americas (Santo Domingo). The.western part of the colony of SantoDomingo was to become a French colony(Saint-Domingue), which in. 1804 becamethe Republic of Haiti, while the easternpart eventually became the DominicanRepublic.

Unions of French and blacks incolonial times produced a mulatto elementthat became an elite class. Throughout thehistory of the republic the rivalry of mulat-toes and blacks has resulted in struggles forpower and prestige involving assassinations,insurrections, and civil wars. Interest inHaiti's strategic position on the WindwardPassage has brought foreign warships intoHaitian waters. The United States' concernfor The territorial integrity of Haiti duringWorld War I and its desire to protect in-vestments in a country that was in a stateof chaos triggered the military occupationthat lasted from 1915 to 1934. The oc-cupation forces brought many benefits tothe people in the form of public works,health programs, and public utilities, butafter the departure of the United Statesforces these were allowed to deteriorate.

During the early years of the repub-lic, powerful leaders undertook to directeconomic and political life along definite

lines, but it soon became obvious thatplanned social structures would not remainintact. Subsequent developments in thepolitical and economic life of the countrywere largely unplanned, And in thetwentieth cptury standards of living,compared with those of many othercountries, were low.

Turbulence has played a prominentrole in the histdry of Haiti, beginning withthe annihilation of the Tainos by theSpaniards and the establishment of the firstpermanent settlement by French andEnglish pirates. The slave rebellion thatdrove out the French at the end of theeighteenth century, invasions of theDominican.Republic,.revolutions supportedby mercenary Haitian guerrillas, and rulerswho have exercised dictatorial powersaithlessly - all have contributed to instabil-ity and uncertainty in the lives of thepeople. After the rise to power of RafaelLeonidas Trujillo Molina in 1957, thepeasant continued to cling to his smallplot of land; the mulatto elite maintainedits prestigious position; and black leadersremained politically powerful.

Discovery and Conquest

It was in Hispaniola that Columbusconceived a colonial policy for Spain thatleft a lasting imprint on the life in the NewWorld. Finding friendly Taino Indians whowore golden ornaments, Columbus pre-dicted that Europeans would gain «profit-able things without number,» and hespeculated on the great opportunity forspreading Christianity that would resultfrom his discovery.

After founding the town and fortressof Navidad on the northern coast,Columbus returned to Spain, leaving aboutforty men with instructions to avoid

125

trouble with the Indians, to seek gold, andto explore the island. After an enthusiasticreception in Spain, Columbus sailed withseventeen ships; 1,500 settlers; soldiersand missionaries; and supplies of agricultur-al implements, cattle, and seeds: He foundNavidad deserted. The settlers, who hadtreated the Indians ruthlessly, had been -killed.

Columbus then founded Isabela onthe northern coast of what is now theDominican gepublic. The settlers sufferedfrom disease and fought off attacks byIndians, thousands of whom were killed.In an effort to build a handsome city,Columbus ordered his followers to performmanual labor - a command deeply resentedby men who considered themselves gentle-men. These malcontents plotted againstColumbus and denounced him to theauthorities in Spain. The Spaniards' crueltreatment of the Indians generated revoltsthat were mercilessly crushed, and manyIndians fled to the mountains.

Isabela, where Columbus' brotherBartolome was serving as Columbus'deputy, was in a virtual state of anarchy,and the prospects for the colony weregloomy. In 'June 1496 Columbus, intenton defending himself against his detractors,returned to Spain, where he waited twoyears before obtaining ships for a thirdvoyage.

When Columbus arrived at the townof Santo Domingo, a new settlementfounded by his brother, many .Spaniardsin the northern part of the island wereopenly revolting against Bartolomeo In aneffort to mollify the rebellious colonists,Columbus establistation that was toinstitutions thro

3 a system of exploi-ecome a basis for social

out the Spanishcolonies in America. This was the scheme

131

ON%

126

of repart mientos, under which a settlerwas granted a large tract of land, along withthe Indians wholived on it, to exploit as hepleased. In order to rid themselves of agold tribute that the Spaniards had beendemanding, the Indian chieftains turnedtheir subjects over to the colonists.

News of dissension among thecolonists, however, had prompted theSpanish king and queen, Ferdinand andIsabella, to name Francisco Bobadillochief justice to investigate conditionsin the colony. On his arrival at SantoDomingo in August 1500 he found anumber of colonists, who had revoltedagainst Columbus, swinging from thegallows and several others about to behanged. Bobadillo ordered the arrest ofColumbus and his brother Bartolome andsent them to Spain in chains.

0

Columbus was released six weeksafter his arrival in Spain and was receivedby Ferdinand and Isabella; but, withoutconsulting Columbus, the monarchs sentNicolas de Ovando to Hispaniola as

governor. Ovando imported the firstblacks into Hispaniola, fought Indians whohad managed to maintain their indepen-dence, and built up the city of SantoDomingo. Columbus, however; persuadedFerdinand and Isabella to furnish shipsfor a fourth voyage, in the course ofwhich he coasted the shores of CentralAmerica, was wrecked on the island ofJamaica, and was rescued by Ovando. Theman who, in the words of Hubert Herring,had made the Caribbean Sea «a Spanishlake» returned to Spain and died in 1506.

The repartimiento failed to improvethe lot of the Indians, and in 1503 theSpanish crown instituted the encomiendasytem, under which all the land theo-retically became the property of the

'crown, but the colonist to whom landwas granted was entitled to certain days oflabor from his Indian tenants. He wasobliged to look after their physical well-being, to instruct them in Christianity,and to pay a tribute to the crown. Al-though the encomienda did not involveactual possession of the land, grantees wereable in one way or another to become own-ers of the tracts assigned to them and to"reduce the Indians to a state of virtualslavery.

Although it was to persist for manyyears in the Spanish colonies on the main-land and was not outlawed until the end ofthe eighteenth century, the encomiendasystem in Hispaniola did not last long. Bythe middle of the sixteenth century theTaino population, estimated at about 1million in 1492, had been reduced to about500. The need for a new labor force led tothe importation of 'increasing numbers ofNegro slaves, principally for the cultivationof sugarcane, and by 1520 Negro labor wasused almost exclusively in Hispaniola.

Throughout the island each land-owner exercised virtually. complete author-ity over his estate, and there was littlecontact between the hinterland and SantoDomingo, the capital city. Santo Domingowas principally concerned with its. lationswith Spain, which furnished supplies,administrators, and settlers for thecolonies, and with the continent, whichprovided treasure for the crown. It was away station for traffic between Spain andcontinental America, and a jumping-offpoint from which the Span)ards exploredthe New World.

In 1509 Columbus' son, Diego, wasappointed governor of the colony. With aview to curbing the power of the governor,the crown in 1511 established a new

132

political institution called the audienciaa tribunal consisting originally of threejudges with jurisdiction over all the WestIndian Islands, where it became the highestcourt of appeals. ° During the sixteenth,seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries-audiencias, established in many parts ofthe Spanish Empire, became the continuingcore of royal authority; but the failure ofsome to carry out administrative anddisciplinary duties assigned to them led tothe appointment of viceroys, who person-ified the power and the prestige Of theking. In 1535 Hispaniola became part ofthe Viceroyalty of New Spain, whichincluded Central America and much ofNorth America.

After the conquest of Mexico byHernan Cortes in 1521 and the discoveryin Mexico and Peru of great wealth in goldand silver, the prestige of Santo Domingobegan to decline. Alluvial deposits of goldwere depleted, and the Indian labor forcewas dying off. Large numbers of colonistsleft for Mexico and Peru Viand the popula-tion of Hispaniola declined sharply.Agriculture was neglected, and Spainbecame preoccupied with the larger andricher colonies on the mainland. Accordingto the Haitian historian, J. C. Dorsainvil,the population of the colony in 1545amounted to no more than 1,100 persons.

Saint-Domingue

The Spaniards neglected Hispaniola,but French and English pirates, intent onattacking Spanish shipping, established abase on Tortue Island (Ile de la Tortue).better known as Tortuga, in or around1625. In 1641 they founded Port Margoton the western end of Hispaniola andbefore long had gained a foothold in thesurrounding territory. The French thendrove out the English, and, along with

127

piratical operations, occupied themselveswith hunting wild.cattle and hogs and withfarming.. The settlement prospered in spiteof Spanish efforts to destroy it, and in1664, Louis XIV, king of France, placedthe territory under the control of theFrench West India Company and appointeda former pirate, Bertrand d'Ogeron, asgoverns.:

To build up the brcountry thegovernor encouraged agriculture andbrought young women from France tomarry the men. Among a number of smalltowns founded in western Hispaniola,called Saint-Domingue by the French, wasCap Francais (now Cap-Haftien), laid outin 1670. In 1697, under the Treaty ofRyswick, Spain ceded Saint-Domingue toFrance; and a governor general, whoserved as the principal royal authority, andaig..s intendant, the chief judicial andfinancial officer, established their authorityover the inhabitants.

The population. of Saint-Doming ueat the end of the seventeenth centuryincluded about 6,000 adult white andmulatto males and approximately 50,000black slaves. Although mulattoes were,strictly speaking, the first generation off-spring of Negroes and whites, the termwas applied to their descendants. By1775 tlrliave population was estimatedat approximately 250,000; and the residentwhite population, at more than 30,000.,Under a decree issued by Louis XIV in1685, certain mulattoes (gens de couleur) ,achieved their freedom and French citizen-ship; and at the end of the eighteenthcentury these mulattoes, also known asfreemen (affranchis), numbered about28,000.

During the eighteenth century Saint-Domingue became one of the richest

128

colonies in the French Empire. Thecolonists raised sugar, coffee, cacao, cottonand indigo - products that were exported toFrance and eventually to the United States.Roads were built; handsome houses wereconstructed; old irrigation was developed.The planters lived in luxury, and manyspent much of their time in Paris. Manyfreemen acquired great wealth and,arousedthe jealousy of the petits blancs, thewhites who had failed to become grandsblancs whites who held high office,owned large plantations, or were wealthymerchants.

In the last quarter of the eighteenthcentury freemen owned plantations in allparts of the col y, and one fertile parishin the south (itiemie) was almost entirelyin their hands. They owned large numbersof slaves, sent their children to France fortheir education, and in many cases wereaccepted in the society of the grandsblancs. Eventually the rising tide ofcolor prejudice influenced grands blancs,and discriminatory laws were pawed-by thecolonial authorities pkohibiting most free-men from carrying firearms and imposingother restrictions. The freeman was notallowed to hold any fice superior tothose held by a w to on and wasbarred from certain occupatt s. He wasrequired to wear clothing dif rent fromthat worn by white people rand wassegregated when he attended cNrch orthe theater.

When news o French Revolution(1789) reached Saint-Domingue, the free-men hoped to win back their rights asFrench citizens. The whites, on the otherhand, saw an opportunity to gain indepen-dence for the colony under white rule.Early in 1791 a young mulatto, VincentOge. encouraged by members of an organi-zation in France called the Friends of the

Blacks (Les Amts des Nofrs), led a demon-stration against the colonial governor andwas put to death. Before long, the colonywas torn with riots involving all groups.Slaves deserted their masters and organizedbands that burned and pillaged throughoutthe colony. The insurrection that startedin August 1791 resulted in the massacre ofevery white man, woman and child onwhom the slaves could lay their hands-.All whites who escaped this fate fled thecolony.

1kne of the leaders of thESIslave rebel-lion was Toussaint Louverture, an exslavewhose French master had allowed himleisure for self-education and for the ac-quisition of a private fortune. He hadconsiderable knowledge of military tacticsand possessed significant qualities of leader-ship and political acumen. In the course ofthe slave rebellion Toussaint crossed theborder from Saint-Domingue into SantoDomingo and joined Spanish troops in theirbattles with French forces - a consequenceof the French revolutionary wars inEurope. He rose to high command in theSpanish forces; when France announcedthe emancipation of slaves in Saint-Domingue in 1793, however, he returnedto that colony and joined the French unitsfighting British and Spanish forces, whichhad attacked Saint-Domingue by land andby sea. With the support of Negro forcesled by Toussaint, the French drove out theSpanish and British invaders.

In 1795 Spain ce d Santo Domingoto France, an ussaint had himself ap-pointed c mander-in-chief of all Frenchforces in the colony. He assumed dictato-rial powers and in 1801 promulgated aconstitution that in theory emancipated allslaves in Hispaniola but in fact provided forfurther importation of African slaves. Theconstitution also provided that the Roman

M

Catholic Church, which had beenestablished in Santo Domingo by theSpanish and in Saint-Domingue by theFrench, would be the official church andthat whites and blacks would be equalbefore the law. Toussaint declared thewhole island of Hispaniola an independentnation and was made president for life.

lndepende ce

Na leon Bonaparte, who hadbecome /first consul of France in 1799,refused, to recognize Toussaint's rule inthe colony; he dispatched an expeditionaryforce of 23,000 men that, after meetingstrong resistance from Toussaint's armiesand .suffering from the ravages of yellowfever, brought about Toussaint's defeat.Toussaint died in a French prison in 1803,but in November of that year the Frenchforces remaining in the colony surrenderedto General Jean-Jacques Dessalines; onJanuary 1, 1804, Dessalines proclaimedthe independence of Haiti - the first colonyin Latin America to sever its political tieswith the Old World. Virtually all thewhites had left, and the blacks were inpower. A struggle for position was aboutto begin between the mulattoes and theruling blacks.

Dessalines, an exslave who assumedthe title of governor general for life, had nofollowers with experience in government.On his orders, most of the few whites whowere left were killed. The figh g in 1802and 1803 had virtually ruined agriculturalprojects and plantations. The populationof the country had dropped about 380,000;and women outnumbered men by almostthree to two. Dessalines established aneconomic organization that was, in effect,based on serfdom. All people exceptsoldiers were «attached as cultivators to aplantation», a system which gave the

129

peo no opportunity to become familiarwith occupations other than tilling thesoil. Dessalines' system, sternly adminis-tered, furnished the roots for the peasantrythat would soon become a typical form ofHaitian life.

Dessalines used his troops to enforcediscipline among the workers on the landand forbade individual enterprise. He triedto gain control of most of the land in thecountry, but when he died many of themulatto landowners who had held estatesin colonial times retained their properties.Dissatisfaction with his callous, autocraticrule burgeoned, and in October 1806 hewas ambushed and killed near Port-au-Prince. Utilizing a display of force, whichcreated fear among the people, Dessalineshad succeeded in establishing a state.

After the death of Dessalines, thecountry was split under separate rulers. Inthe north Hefiry Christophe, the last of therevolutionary generals, ruled from 1808to 1820. Born a black slave in the EnglishCaribbean island of St. Christopher; he hadsettled in Haiti and was one of 800Haitians who had volunteered for serviceunder the Marquis de Lafayette in theAmerican revolutionary war. An admirerof things English, he spelled his first namein the English manner rather than theFrench. He invited English scientists tovisit his kingdom and tried, withoutsuccess, to introduce English agriculturalmethods. In 1811 he had himself crownedKing Henry I and established a royal courtfilled with barons, counts, and knights.He built the magnificent royal palace ofSans Souceand, on a mountaintop, theimposing citadel of La Ferriere.

Christophe saw to it that everyoneworked, and men assigned to the fieldsperformed their tasks under military

130

discipline. As a result of his energeticmeasures, profitable agriculture and com-merce were revived, and the people proba-bly enjoyed greater security than they hadever known before. Christophe's rule com-bined military despotism with certainpaternalistic element and territorialfeudalism based upon the noble class thathe had created. Christophe's stern disci-pline generated dissatisfactic however,and, eventually, rebellion. In 1820, ac-cording to legend, Christophe, a

benevolent despot, killed himself with asilver bullet.

The rival regime in the south washeaded by Alexandre Petion, a mulattowho served with the title of presidentIrom 1808 to 1818. Educated in France,Petion had a certain admiration for dem-ocratic ideals and allowed the people toenjoy unprecedented liberty of action..He confiscated the large French planta-tions and parceled out small plots of landto soldiers and officers.generosity, however motivated, changedthe entire agricultural base of the society.No longer willing to cultivate coffee,indigo, and sugar, most of the people inthe south grew garden crops for their ownuse. Although profits from export cropsdeclined, the common man, secure on hissmall plot, probably considered himselfbetter off than ever before. In terms ofnational prosperity, however, the resultswere calamitous. Customs and taxrevenues declined; paper 'money withoutbacking was issued; and a few foreign loanswere obtained at excessive interest :ates.Nevertheless' the people in the south en-joyed freedom, while the people in

Christophe's kingdom lived as 'serfs.Petion, who died in 1818, was popular withthe people he endeavoredlo serve:

/ After the death of Christophe, Jean

Pierre Boyer, who had succeeded Petion inthe south in 1818, reunited the north andthe south and, in addition, annexed theeastern part of Hispaniola where, in 1822,the people of the colony of Santo Domingohad driven out the Spaniards. Boyer, likePetion, was a mulatto educated in France,who had served in the Potion government.When he took office, he continued the dis-tribution of ''small parcels of land and leftthe people to their own devices. Whit,'in 1825, Boyer's government approved aFrench ordinance that recognized Haiti'sindependence in return for trade privilegesand a large indeimity, Boyer hoped to wardoff another invasion by the French, butblack leaders were enraged by the fact thatthese concessions had been made by amulatto-dominated government. Theblacks were also angered by Boyer'snegotiation of a French loan to pay t!teindemnity, a transaction that made it -necessary to issue paper money to meetdomestic needs.

When the internal situation con-tinued to deteriorate, Boyer abandoner" hismoderate rule and adopted the stern tacticsof Dessalines and Christophe, forcing thepeasants to plow and harvest 'under armedguard. His inept `rule lasted until 1843,when he was overthrown and exiled by aconspiracy of members of his own socialgroup - urban mulattoes. In the ensuingturmoil the people of Santo Domingo threwoff Haitian rule, and the ,DominicanRepublic was established in the eastern partof Hispaniola. After trying unsuccessfullyto establish a stable government, themulattoes in Haiti lost their power to unlet-tered Negro leaders, and for the nextseventy-two years Negroes were in almostcomplete control of the country.

In the middle of the nineteenthcentury, Haiti reached an economic

u3Ls 1

impasse. Toussaint Louverture's systemof forced labor had generated a temporaryincrease in the colony's productivity, Ixmany peasants had fled to the hills andsettled on land that they regarded as theirown. A system of sharecropping had beeninitiated by white émigrés whom Toussainthad encouraged to return. UnderDessalines certain freemen who were al-lowed to possess plantations had continuedthe system of sharecropping instituted byToussaint. Thus for many years forcedlabor, squatting, and sharecropping hadpersisted as the basis of agriculturproduction. Petion's large-scale dist 'u-

tion of land, continued by Boyer, hadcontributed to the deterioration of thecountry's agricultural economy. Most

individual holdings were too small forsugar and indigo cultivation, and sugar hadall but disappeared from the country's listof exports. The major export was coffee,a crop that was more easily cultivated onsmall farms.

The lives of the people were pro-foundly influenced by voodooism (vodun),the religion based largely on West Africanbeliefs and practices, including ancestorworship, performance of propitiatory rites,and belief in communication by trancewith deities. Although the Catholic mis-sionaries brought to Hispaniola by theSpaniards and to Saint-Domingue by theFrench had made nominal converts of theslaves, voodooism's hold on the blacks wasusually stronger than the influence of thechurch and was to coatirnie into ill° twen-tieth century as a major element in Haitianlife.

By the middle of the nineteenthcentury the stratification of society thatwas to last into the twentieth century hadclearly evolved. The elite were, for themost part, the descendants of the freemen,

131

or gens de couleur, of the colonial era.When the French colonial aristocracy wasdestroyed, they had acquired muco.1 of thewealth of the colonial elite and underPt tion and Boyer had enjoyed social andpolitical dominance. When the Negroescame to power in 1843, the elite werecompelled to console themselves with abelief in their social superiority.. A deepchasm separated the elite from the masses,who now constituted a peasant societylargely illiterate and poor.

At the end of the Boyer regime it wasapparent that the mulatto effort to rule thecountry as an elite class while makingeconomically damaging concessions to thepredominantly black population had endedin failure. Not only had organized cultiva-tion of cacao, cotton, and sugarcane forexport ceased, but irrigation works hadfallen into disrepair, tidy coastal townshad become villages of wooden houses,and the countryside was dotted w;thAfrican-type huts of -tud and wattles.The elite mulattoes 1...iu abandoned theirplantations and, lacking any direct involve-

ment in agriculture, had shown littleinterest in maintaining irrigation systemsand roads or in promoting rural education.Crowding into the cities, they turned theirbacks on the peasants. Color prejudicegrew and became a permanent feature ofHaitian life.

Years of Turmoil, 1843-1915

The seventy-two years following theexile of Boyer were marked by the rise andfall of twenty-two dictators and recurringcivil disturbances. Between 1844 and 1859the Negro army, determined to reduce thepower of mulattoes in government, placedfour Negro presidents in office. One ofthese was Soulouque (1847.59), who.assuming the title of Emperor Faustin 1,

1 3 7

132

made two unsuccessful attempts to re-conquer Santo Domingo, killed manyHaitian mulatto leaders, and assigned il-literate blacks to public positions. Hepracticed voodoo openly and devotedhours to elaborate court ceremcnies daily.Opposed by forces led by General FabreNicolas Geffrard, Soulouque fled thecountry in 1859.

Fabre Geffrard, described as .K neitherblack nor mulatto» (the son of a blackfather and a mulatto mother), served aspresident from 1858 to 1867. He en-couraged the cultivation of cotton; es-tablished an agricultural credit corporation;promoted public works such as reservoirsand gaslight companies; and opened whoolsof architecture, painting, and law. Hefavored the Concordat of 1860, underwhich the breach with fly! Vatican, createdby Dessalines at the bcsinninp of thecentury, was mended; ard educational andcharitable orders such as th,. Sisters of St.Joseph de Cluny (Soetrs de Saint-Josephde Cluny) and the Brothers of ChristianInstruction (Freres do l'Instruction Chre-tienne) were allowed to establish them-selves in Haiti. Geffrard's efforts to im-prove the lot of the people failed toprevent an insurrection, however, as hewas driven into exile in 1867.

Louis Felicite Lysius Salamoo,president between 1879 and 1888, whohad served as Souieuque's minister offinance, introduced monetary reforms,but these were offset by the issuance ofquantities of paper money that led toinflation. His efforts to effect agriculturalreforms were unsuccessful. Among con-structive projects inaugurated during histerm of office were improvement of com-munications with the outside world, ef-fected by the laying of a submarine cable.Nevertheless he was bitterly opposed by

the mulattoes, who mounted an insur-rection Ain 1883. In reprisal, Salomonexecuted so many mulattoes in Port-au-Prince that business came to a virtualstandstill. Then, in 1889, when he at-tempted to extend his tenure of officebeyond the constitutional limit, he wasfaced with another civil war and was forcedinto exile.

Another president during the 1843-1915 period who is remembered for effortsto improve conditions is Florvil Hyppolite,in office from 18d9 to 1896." A dark-skinned member of the elite, he establishedthe Ministry of Public Works, which builtbridge., introduced telegraph and tele-phone systems, and constructed newmarketplaces in Port-au-Prince and othercities. As a result of an increase in theprice of coffee, the country enjoyed ashort period of relative prosperity, whichprompted the government and merchantsto indulge in extravagant expenditures.This led to a deteriorating financial situa-tion and growing dissatisfaction amongHyppolite's rivals. In 1891, Hyppolitemercilessly suppressed an uprising inJacmel, in the south; but five years later, hedied while leading his troops to punish therebellious Jacmelians again.

During a period of almost three-quarters of a century after the Boyerregime, only three of the twenty-twopresidents were mulattoes. The mulattoelite of necessity adjusted to existingconditions-controlling the business sector,indulging in cultural pursuits and, becauseof ti,^ir superior education, serving in

certaii, government positions. Politicalconsciousness and activity were confinedalmost entirely to th- army, the towns-people, the elite, and those who aspired toelite status. The great mass of the peasantswere little affected by reform movements,

1 3 s

revolutions, counterrevolutions, financialdisasters, or foreign relations. During thisperiod Haiti evolved into a country of peas-ants cultivating small plots of land, which, .when divided among heirs, became increas-ingly smaller.

At the end of the nineteenth centuryHaiti lacked a significant educational system.No president had seen fit to introduce uni-versal education, and some powerful mem-bers of the elite expressed doubts regardingthe educability of the black masses. Lackingeducation, the people had no opportunityto compare Haiti with other qountries or toparticipate in political discussjon, and theywere easily swayed by agitators who op-posed the incumbent president. A politicianplanning a revolution could raise an armyand take the field against the governmentafter borrowing money from a merchant atapproximately 100 percent interest, to bepaid when the revolution succeeded.

During the latter half of the nine-teenth century and the early years of thetwentieth century an important factor in thepolitical life of the country was the use ofmercenary guerrillas by revolutionary politi-cians aspiring to the presidency. Certainpeasants, who found fighting and rapine anoccupation more profitable than any other,were known as cacos in the north and aspiquets in the south. Known as «king-makers,» the cacos would make an agree-ment with a presidential aspirant underwhich, for a certain sum to be paid after asuccessful revolution and an opportunity toloot towns on the way to the capital, theywould move down fmm the mountains andplace a revolutionary leader in power.During the American intervention, initiatedin 1915, caco leaders organized an up-rising, which was suppressed by UnitedStates Marines after several years of guerrillawarfare. The marines' success was generally

133

regarded as a death blow to the cacos.

Between 1843 and 1915 Haiti re-ceived little aid from foreign countries insolving its domestic problems, and for manyyears after independence it had been virtu-ally isolated in the field of foreign relations.The first nation to recognize the country'sindependence was France in 1825. Atabout the same time British consul generalwas appointed, but the United States did notextend recognition until 1862, after which acoaling station for the United States WestIndian Squadron was established at Cap-HAltien. Between the termination of tileUnited States Civil War and the interventionin 1915 Haiti was affected by the opposinginterests of Great Britain, the United States,.Germany, and France and by strained rela-tions with the Dominican Republic.

Between 1908 and 1915, a periodcharacterized by revolutions, assasinations,and insurrections, Haitian governmentsraised money through bond issues and un-orthodox financial operations, driving therepublic into 0 litical and financial bank-ruptcy. During this period seven men servedbriefly as president, most of them havingseized power with the support of cacos.One was killed when the presidential palacewas blown up; others fled the country; andthe last was hacked to pieces by an infuriat-ed mob In 1915, when Germany was win-ning victories in World War I, there wererumors that Germany sought a naval base inHaiti, and Germans in Haiti who had lentlarge sums to finance caco revolts wereasking their government for help. Frenchowners of Haitian securities were pressingthe Haitians for payment, and United Statesfinancial interest conitrolling Haiti's railroadsand banking were concerned over the dangerto their investments. In the face of thesethreats to United States interest in theCaribbean and bearing in mind United States

134

responsibility for the Panama Canal,President Woodrow Wilson made Akedecision to intervene in Haiti.

United States Intervention, 1915-34

In 1914, there were frequent visitsto Haitian ports by United States navalvessels. Marines from French, British,and German warships also went ashore toprotect their countries' interests. InJanuary 1915 Vilbrun Guillaume Samparched toward Port-au-Prince at the headof a caco army and by March had es-tablished himself as president. An Amer-ican admiral, William Caperton, whoseships were standing by, had warned Samagainst violence but, when a rival cacoa9ny was reported on its way to thedapital to overthrow the president, Samthrew his principal critics into prison andfled to the French Legation. More than160 prisoners, including respected membersof the elite, were killed, probably on Sam'sorders. A mob then dragged Sam from theFrench Legation, tore his body apart, andmarched through the city with the pieces.Admiral Caperton then landed with 300marines from his cruisers.

Supported by additional forces themarines spread out over the country,disarmed the Haitian army, and openedrecruiting offices for a native constabulary.This police force of about 2,400, com-manded at the outset by 100 marine of-ficers, was the nucleus of the future HaitianGuard (Garde d'Haiti). Roads connectingthe principal towns were built; clinics,ho4pitals, and telephone systems wereestablished; and reservoirs and seweragesystems were constructed. Between 1915and 1930, under presidents installed in of-fice by the occupying forces, United Statesofficials eliminated graft, collected taxes,introduced economies, and managed the

4

treasury. The Haitian Guard proved to bethe best constabulary in the history of thecountry, and United Stiles engineers over-saw the construction of much-neededpublic works. The Americans organized apublic health program and opened a schoolfor farm leaders. The American presencewas, however, resented by Haitians. whowere angered by the affront to Haitiansovereignty, by Haitian army officers andpoliticians whose usual sources of incomehad dried up, and by tacos who, re-senting the drafting of peasants for road-building, staged an insurrection that wassaid to have cost the lives of 2,000Haitians.

Haitians were angered by the termsof a treaty with the United States, reluc-tantly accepted by the Haitian governmentin 1915, which gave the United Statescontrol over the customs and over thegendarmerie. Most Haitians were unhappyover the fact that the occupying forcesseemed to favor the mulattoes and todiscriminate against blacks. In 1930 acommission appointed by PresidentHerbert Hoover recommended that theincumbent Haitian president step down infavor of an interim government that wouldsupervise a free election. The electionbrought Stenio Vincent to the presidencyin 1930. The United States minister ap-pointed by President Hoover was given theresponsibility for bringing to an end theAmerican occupation as rapidly as pos-sible. When Franklin D. Roosevelt becamepresident in 1933, the process was wellunderway. In 1934, President Rooseveltordered withdrawal of the marines, and in1941 a financial commission that had re-mained to protect United States invest-ments was finally withdrawn.

Developments, 1934-57

The United States' occupying forceshad shifted political responsibility from theblacks to relatively enlightened mulattoleaders, who ruled until 1946. The blackmasses, however, worked for a return toblack leadership. Backed by the HaitianGuard, which had been organized by theUnited States' occupying forces, blackleaders ousted a mulatto president andinstalled Dumarsais Estime, who purged thegovernment of mulatto officials and re-placed them with blacks and who initiatedreforms designed to benefit urban workersand to improve agriculture.' He dischargedthe American debt and signed an agreementwith the United States Export-Import Bankto finance a US6 million dollar irrigationand land-reclamation project in theAtribonite Valley. When, in 1950, heattempted to have the constitutionamendid to allow him to succeed himself,the army removed him from office and senthim out of the country.

Estime's successor was Colonel PaulE. Mag loire, a black leader and a powerfulfigure in the army, who seemed to enjoythe tacit approval of the elite along withthe enthusiastic support of the blackmasses. In his inaugural address of

'December 6, 1950, President Magloirepromised to safeguard rights guaranteed bythe constitution, to give priority to ir-rigation projects, soil conservation, coop-eratives, and independent planters, andto glpnt assistance to education. He took astatid against communism, persuaded theUnited States to expedite aid programs,and encouraged foreign investment. Totalforeign trade increased in 1951 and 1952,largely as a result of high prices for exportsstimulated by the Korean War. Magloirewas accused of despotic rule and corrup-tion, however, and in December 1956 he

135

was overthrown. For nine moaths there-after there were seven shaky governments,and in September 1957 Francois Duvalier,a former follower of Estill* who hadrefused to accept Magloire in 1950, waselected president.

LANGUAGES

Haiti has two national languages.Creole is the language of the commonpeople but is understood and spokenthroughout the society. French is the of-ficial national language and is understoodand spoken only by upper and middle classurbanites. The differences in prestige,usage, and governmental policysurrounding the two languages highlightthe polarity of the so,...iety and offer apartial explanation for the continuing iso-lation of 90 percent of the population.

Linguists have identified severalfactors influencing the users and usages ofCreole and French. Approximately 7percent of the population is bilingual, andthe rest are monolingual in Creole. Fpr this7 percent, the two languages are used sideby side and are frequently interchangeablewithin a sentence. French is always used informal public occasions and is preferred informal private situations as well. In in-formal situations, both public and private,Creole predominates. In addition to thesesocial contexts, personality differences andchange of style or mood will determinewhich language the speaker employs. Amore relaxed and progressive bilingual in-dicates his identification with the blackconsciousness and the native culturethrough the usage of .creole, whereas amore conservative individual or a memberof the rising middle class. may insist onFrench in all situations.

The legendary stories attached to the

136

origins of Creole reflect the deprecatory at-titude manifested by most Haitians. Untilrecently, it was felt that Creole arose as acorrupted, Africanized version of Frenchduring the early years of the slave trade -inHaiti. Settlers supposedly simplified theirlanguage to facilitate comprehension byslaves, who in turn supplied Wet': Africangrammar. The result was the pidginFrench of the lower class, which was con-sidered a patois without the flips or statusof a separate language.

Although this theory has some basisin fact, most linguists now consider Creolea full-fledged language arising from theFrench maritime trade dialect existingprior to colonization but characterized bythe syntax of West African tribal languages.The striking similarities of the CaribbeanCreole dialects would indicate that Creoledid not develop in an insular fashion ineach colony. It was an amalgam of thedialects of several French provinces, andit served as the «lingua franca» for whitesand blacks in the slave collecting centers inAfrica and in the French colonies alike.

The use of French and Creole duringthe colonial and independence period setspeech patterns and attitudes for the nextcentury. French was established as thelanguage of culture and refinement, and itwas spoken only by whites and educatedmulatto freedmen. When the slaves becamefree, the greatest barrier between thevarious classes of colored peoples wasbroken down, and all Haitians becamelegally equal. Thus, the maintenance ofthe French language and life-style became avital distinction between the two groupsand a necessary means of ensuring themulattoes' superior status over the formerslaves.

Traditional attitudes towards Creole

began to change during the twentiethcentury. The first attempt at a Creoletext appeared in 1925 and the first Creolenewspaper, in 1943. The black conscious-ness and nationalistic movements have al-ways been tied' to the desire to extendCreole usage, and social protest literaturehas used the peasant's language for bothpractical and ideological reasons. Therewas, however, no official reference toCreole until 1057. The constitution ofthat year stated that Creole would berecommended over French where therewas insufficient knowledge of the latter. In1969 a law was passed acknowledging ,,theexistence of Creole and granting it legalstatus; it could be used in Congress, lawcourts, and clubs but not In accreditededucational institutions.

EDUCATION

Education in Haiti had a late start.During the colonial regime, schooling hadbeen limited to the French elite to such anextent that the first chiefs of state i theilindependent country were illiterate. n thesecond decade of the nineteenth tntury,the country's first high scho 1 was

. established by President Alexandre Petion;in the early 1970's it still existed as theLycee Petion in Port-au-Prince. A compre-hensive system failed to develop, however,and the emerging elite who could affordthe cost sent their children to school inParis.

Educational development passed amilestone in 1860 when the signing of aconcordat with the Vatican resulted in theassignment of additional teaching clergyto the young country. Education hadalready been largely an ecclesiasticalfunction, but the arrival of additionalpriests further emphasized the influence ofthe Roman Catholic Church. The new

priests were, for the most part, French, andthey were motivated to further arapprochement between Haiti and France.

In this atmosphere, the clericalteachers concentrated their efforts on thedeveloping urban elite, particularly in theexcellent new secondary schools, whereHaitian students were made fully aware ofthe greatness of France, the backwardnessof their own country, and its lack ofcapacity for self-rule. Virtually no schoolsof any sort were established in the country-side.

The effort to draw Haiti into theFrench sphere of influence was abandonedshortly before 1900, but it left a heritage inwhich education remained in large measurea system in which the clergy taught mem-bers of the upper class. Only a few wentinto the interior to teach the peasants.

During the 1920's, under the occu-pation by United States Marines, aconsiderable number of farm schools wereestablished in which peasants could learnto read and write and could receivepractical instruction in agriculture. Theseunits were later absorbed into the regularprimary system. The occupation author-ities also were instrumental in establishingschools for vocational training in the largerurban areas, but the program was unpopularand collapsed even before the withdrawalof the marines in 1934.

During the most recent years, theprincipal benchmark in educational progresshas been the establishment in 1944 of theUniversity of Haiti, which was formed fromseveral preexisting academic faculties. Acharacteristic of the educational systemduring the years after World War 11 hasbeen the plurality of its direction. Nosingle government agency has had full

137

charge of the public program, and at bothprimary and secondary levels religious andsecular private schools have played animportant role.

Most of the urban public educationalprogram is under the direction of theSecretariat of State for National Educa-tion, but rural primary and secondaryschools are functions of the Secretariat ofState for Agriculture, Natural Resourcesand Rural Development, and othersecretariats have responsibility for certainspecialized forms of schooling. The countryis divided into twenty-four school districts,but the geographical if not the functional

centralization of the program is under-lined by the fact that laws and regulationsconcerning national education make no ref-erence to local boards.

Private education in the late 1960'sand early 1970's continued to play an im-portant role, but the extent to which thecentral* government subsidized privatelyoperated schools blurred the line ofdivision between public and private educa-tion. At the primary level, for example,in 1967 a little less than half of the primaryenrollment was in schools operated by thegovernment and refe ed to as lay publicinstitutions (pu ues laiques). Thepresbyterial schools, and some of theprivate ones, were operated by RomanCatholic orders and Protestant denomina-tions. The Protestant groups were particu-larly important in rural areas where theymaintained the mission primary schools,which in 1963 had an enrollment of anestimated 10,000 children. During thesame year nearly 40 percent of the secon-dary students were in private institutions.

The small secondary school enroll-ment (about 10 percent of the primaryschool enrollment during the 1960's) does

138

not include students in church-operatedbut publicly financed institutions in thepublic school sector comparable to thepresbyterial primary units. During the1960's, however, private education receivedpublic subsidies equivalent to about 10 per-cent of the funds allocated to publicschools.

Some of the best private institutionsare parts of conglomerates that offer acomplete range of education from kinder-garten through the secondary level; theseschools draw their student bodies from thechildren of the elite. Others operate forprofit, are of inferior quality, and functionin rundown urban properties under thedirection of teachers who are themselvesbarely literate.

Public schooling is free at all levels,but textbooks must usually be purchased.So few are available and they are so lack-ing in variety that, at both primary andsecondary levels, rote learning is the rule.Textbooks from France are used fairlyextensively, and the Christian Brothers ofCanada have published some texts designedfor Haitian use; but there are few historyor geography books written by and forHaitians. Haitian history and literaturewere not taught extensively before theregime of President Francois Duvalier,who produced the book Oeuvres Essen tielles(Essential Works), which is used as a text atall Lvels.

Literature

Critics have generally discerned fourstares in the evolution of Haitian literature.The first, manning the period from inde-pendence in 1804 to about 1820, wascharacterized by chauvinism and the pio-neering spirit. The second, influenced byromanticism, began slowly and reached full

Lmaturity only after the fall of PresidentJean-Pierre Boyer in 1860 led to greaterfreedom of expression. Although thehistories and biographies that predomi-na/ed during the first period and the poetryand fiction that gained popularity duringthe second often dealt with Haitian subjectmatter, they were indistinguishable in stylefrom the French works of correspondingtime periods. Many of the Haitian literaryfigures were educated in France, had theirbooks published there, and received recog-nition from the French Academy (l'Aca-Wink Franfaise).

Jacques C. Antoine, founder of twoliterary journals in the 1930s and 1940s,maintains that Haitian literature was bornof anger directed against the white mastersof the colonial period. He suggests that theobsession, throughout much of the nine-teenth century, to prove that the Negrowas not intellectually inferior resulted in a«servile imitation of French models» -French not only in style but in mode othinking as well. Antoine concedes, ho -

ever, that there were exceptions, such asOswald Durand, whose lyric poexy in bothFrench and Creole conveyed something ofthe national mystique.

A third stage, generally described asone of the most brillant epochs of Haitianletters, began toward the end of the nine-teenth century and continue.: beyond thecentennial of national independence in1904. The s44-called Centennial Generationwas distinguished by the dedication of itsmembers to a rejuvenation of societythrough literature. It was composed in partof former pupils of the Lycee Petion, whohad studied under teachers imported fromFrance. They were stimulated by the needto compete with and at the same timedistinguish themselves from - their com-rades 010 had studied in Paris. In 1894

they °grouped themselves around themagazine La Jeune Haiti, whose founder,Justin Lherisson, was noted for hisportrayal pf Haitian family life.

Massillon Coicou, poet and play-wright of the Centennial Generation, wasone of the first writers to introduce Creoleinto the national literature. In 1898Coicou and other members of the clubknown as Les Emulateurs (The Emulators)founded the literary journal La Ronde.The second director of that journal, DantesBellegarde (1877-1966), distinguished him-self as diplomat and educator as well asphilosopher and social historian. Author ofsome twenty-four books, he was the lastinfluential figure in a long line of franco-phile traditionalists.

Another member of that generation,Jean Price-Mars, was a precursor of thefourth and contemporary stage of Haitianliterary development. Early in the twen-tieth century, Price-Mars and his fellowethnologist J. C. Dorsainvil focused at-tention on Haitian folklore and paidtribute to its literary values. It was notuntil the United States' occupation, how-ever, that the nationalism and social con-sciousness that have characterized the con-temporary period pervaded the intellectualcommunity. The transition in both styleand content constituted the literary ex-pression of negritude. This upsurge ofpride in blackness and in the Africanheritage, reflected since the 1940's in vir-tually all aspects of national life, has beenviewed as an attempt by the culturally am-bivalent middle and upper classes, especial-ly those of the intelligentsia who had beeneducated in Paris, to establish theiridentity. The peasants, of course, had noneed of it; they knew who they were.

Resentment against foreign

4.

139Nok

occupation was translated into wide-rangingliterary efforts, including novels, poetry,drama, essays, and scholarly works. Theanguish of occupation and the shock of therediscovery that mulattoes, long thefavored race in Haiti, were still treated asracially inferior by many whites was per-haps best expressed by Leon Laleau in hisbook Le Choc (The Shock).

Driven by curiosity about voodooand folkways, educated young people, suchak those who founded La Revue Indigine(The Indigenous Review) in 1927, lefttheir comfortable homes to live in slumsand rural villages. Their experiences gen-erated social protest as well as literarynationalism. These trends reach a highpoitt in the poems, novels, and ethnolog-ical studies of Jacques Romain. HisGouverneurs de la Rosie (Masters of theDew), a powerful and realistic portrayalin creolized French of life in a peasantcommunity, has been translated into someseventeen languages. It was published fourmonths after his untimely death in 1944.

Three novels of Haitian peasant life,Le Crayon de Dieu (The Pencil of God),Canapé-Vert (The Green Couch), and LaBite de Musseau (The Beast of the HaitianHills), written by the brothers PierreMarcelin and Philippe Thoby-Marcelin, alsoreceived withsprehd acclaim at home andabroad. They were written with greaterdetachment than were the works ofRomain.

Efforts by Frank Fouche and F.Moris-seau-Leroy to nationalize the dramaticarts included the rendering of Sophocles'Oer"gus Rex and Antigone into theirown version of Creole. Several poets,including Carl Brouard, Magloire St. Aude,and :mile Roumer, have been noted forworks that, although linguistically French,

140

are Creole in expression and sentiment. In1935 Louis Diaquoi, a leading poet andjournalist, fostered a group called LesGriots (The Sorcerers), who derived theirinspiration' from voodoo. FrancoisDuvalier; a member of this group, laterused his intimate knowledge of the religionto great advantage in concentrating powerin the presidency.

One of the most prominent of theyounger poets a Rene Depestre. IllsMineral Noir (Black Ore) and Traduit duGrand Large (Crossing of the Open Sea),written in exile, denounce- the white worldand express nostalgia for Africa and beliefin human brotherhood.

Haitian literary activity more or lesscoasted the momentum of the renais-sance of the 1940's until the mid-1960's.As Duvalier had himself been a participantin the blactnationakst literary movement,he did not mo'e initially to suppress it insystematic fashion: In fact, he introducednational literature into the schools for thefirst time. By the mid-1960's, however,the pervasiveness of political repressionwas such that most members of the intel-ligentsia had been rendered silent or driveninto exile, and national literary develop-ment was suspended.

The Graphic Arts

The renaissance in literature hadbeen underway for about fifteen yearsbefore the rich potential in painting andsculpture flowered into a national move-ment. Until the Art Center was openedin Port-au-Prince in 1944, those who paint-ed for the love of it did so in isolation,without encouragement, instruction, orrecognition. There were no art schools,museums, or commercial galleries.

The movement was sparked by aUnited States artiste DeWitt Peters, whowas teaching English in a Haitian govern-ment school. Peters felt frustrated becausethere was no colony of artists with who71to spend his leisure hours. He rented abuilding and spread the word that artists'were 'invited to meet there, work thege,and exhibit their work; self-taught paintersbegan to appear !Ind timidly offer theirwork in exchange for a few ddllars andpainting materials.

When Rigaud Benoit first appearedat the center in 1945, for example, he wasso unsure of the value of his work that heattributed most of it to tfriends).

The most famous of the Haitianprimitive painters, the voodoo houngan(priest) Hector Hyppolite, was discoveredwhen Peters passed his house and wascaptivated by the decorative painting on'his door. In 1946 Hyppolite broughtWilson Bigaud, then a boy of fifteen, tothe center. Philome Obin, whose talenthad already been recognized in Cap-Haftien, continued to work in his home-town, where he later established his ownschool, but he sent many of his paintingsto the center.

Seiden Rodman, North Americanpoet and anthologist, became associatedwith the Art Center in 1946, and in 1948he directed the Haitian Art Center in NewYork, through which many Haitian paint-ings made their way into United States col-lections. Meanwhile, in 1947, a smallselection of Haitian paintings, especiallythose of Hyppolite, had aroused greatexcitement at the international exhibit ofthe United Nations Educational, Scientificand Cultural Orga ization (UNESCO) in

Paris. Episcopal Bishop Alfred Voegeligave the wimitiv art movement a Most

1 4 G

. A

when he commissioned the center to deco-rate the walls of the Holy Trinity Cathedral(Cathedra le Sainte Trinity) in Port-au-Prince.Benoit,' Obin, Casters Bazile, and severalothers participated in the effort. The mosthighly acclaimed of the several now-famousmurals is Bigaud's Miracle at Cana, in whichthe New Testament feast is placed in aHaitian setting and embellished with suchdetails as a policeman chasing a thief.

The voodoo influence his been mostnotable in the paintings of Hyppolite,whose creative skills had been devotedfor many years to such ceremonial designsas the give, which are drawn m the dustand later stamped out by the dancers.Although he painted, often with a house-painting brush, in bold strokes of brightcolor, the mystic quality of his personalityis evident in his work. He died of a heartattack in 1948 while painting his ownportrait.

Next to Hypo) lite, Bigaud is proba-bly the most famous of the Haitian painters.His canvases, among which Earthly Paradiseand Cock Fight are particularly wellknown, are filled with great detal Thejungles of Enguerrand Gourgue, like hoseof Bigaud, are noted for their bar quelushness. Rene Vincent is noted fo hispsychological expressiveness, and Tou intAuguste, for the balanced sym ofhis work.

By 1950 the primitive art movementhad grown enough to develop rival groups,one of which established its own gallery,the Center for Plastic Arts (Foyer des ArtsPlastiques), in Port-au-Prince and hadachieved international fame. Primitive arthas continued to flourish, but in recentyears artists have also experimented withmodern trends emanating from Europeand the United States.

141

Early Haitian sculpture, such as theportrait busts by Louis EdmondLaforesteris and the. monument toToussaint Louverture by Norman UlysseCharles, was stylistically French. Themovement launched by the Art Center,however, gave rise to innovation insculpture and woodcarving and called at-tention to the African artistic heritage.The sculpture of Valentin bears strikingresemblance to that of West Africa, al-though he was not known to have beenfamiliar with it. Odilon Duperier, once acarpenter's assistant, gained fame for theexcellence of his carved masks. JasminJoseph is noted for his imaginative terracotta sculptures; and Georges Liataud, forhis work in sheet iron.

Haitian architecture, scarcely af-fected' by the renaissance in painting andsculpture, reflects the country's colonialpast and its dual culture. The thatchedhuts (Mlles), modeled by the first Negroslaves after those they had known inAfrica, are still the characteristic dwellingsin the rural areas, although many havebeen embellished with brightly painteddoors, shutters and woodwork.Architecture resembling that of Frenchchdteayx predominates in the urban areas.Some of the more outstanding examples ofFrench-inspired architecture are the 'eigh-teenth-century cathedral at Port-au-Prince,the Sans-Souci palace (built for King HenryI in the early nineteenth century), the IronMarket, the National Palace, and severalelegant mansions in the French style ofthe late nineteenth century. The country'smost impressive architectural monumentis the Citadelle near Cap-Haftien, begunin 1804 under the direction of Henri Besse,a Haitian engineer. According to legend,the construction of this massive mountain-top fortress cost the lives of some 20,000to 25,000 slaves.

14 7

142

In recent decades there has been atransition from gingerbread detail and high-peaked structures inspired by Frencharchitecture toward the simpler lines andfunctionalism of modern internationalarchitecture; several Haitian architects,especially Robert Baussan and AlbertMangones, are noted for their contribu-tions to this development. The transferof political control over the past fewdecades from the- French-oriented mulattoelite to the black middle class is reflected inthe capital in a more general way by theabandonment of uniformity or style co-ordination in architecture and in the trendtoward greater use of bright colors ratherthan white.

Music and Dance

Music is an integral part of the livesof all Haitians. Playing the piano is acommon pastime for the women of theelite, and drawing room recitals featuringlocal or visiting performers are often ar-ranged. Music and dance have served asemotional catharses since the days ofslavery. The street vendor chants themerits of her wares, and the farmer singiin the fields. Voodoo dances are per-formed by peasants of all ages, fromtoddlers to the old and infirm, and fathersteach the art of drumming to their youngsons. In Ainsi Parla l'Oncle (Thus Spokethe Uncle), Price-Mars writes that, cAHaitian could accurately be described asone who sings and suffers, who toils andlaughs, who dances and resigns himself tohis fate. With joy in his heart or tears inhis eyes he sings.»

Most Haitian music is of Africanorigin and has its national roots in voodoo.In the voodoo rituals there are songs toevery god or loa. Possession by the loa isinduced mainly by the drummers, although

the houngan's female chorus is also impor-tant to the ceremony. Some of theceremonial songs have been adapted, withlittle change in rhythm or melody, forsecular usage. Gossip, anecdotes, affection,patriotism, and even political satire areamong the secular themes that spice thework songs of the combite and the partysongs of the bamboche (see ch. 5).

Most of the country's dances - andthere are dozens of them - were born ofvoodoo also. The peasants dance indivi-dually rather than in couples; their un-inhibited bodily motions respond to the

1.......9rhythm of the drums. One of the dancesmost commonly seen at a bamboche is

known as the danse pinyique. The dancethat the elite has shared with the urbanlower classes, as well as-with most of theother Caribbean countries, is the meringue.The lyrics of the meringue are often full ofinnuendos concerning love or politics.

In addition to drums of all sizes anddescriptions, Haitian musical instruments'elude the bamboo flute, the tambourine,

the African marimba, the conch shellIambi, the papaya-stem piston, and thebamboo base-vaccine.

Haitian folk music was transmittedorally from generation to generation withno other means of dissemination for manyyears; however, during the 1930's a NorthAmerican, Harold Courlander, and twoHaitians, Werner Jaegerhuber and LinaMathon-Blanchet, began collecting, print-ing, describing, recording, and arrangingpublic rerformances of Haitian songs anddances for folklore enthusiasts beyond thenation's borders. In 1939 MadameBlanchet organized a group of youngpeople to perform the traditional songsand dances. Since then several such groupshave performed in Haiti and abroad.

Jean Leon Destine, after making a name forhimself on the New York stage with hissolo interpretations of Haitian dances, hasreturned periodically to Port-au-Prince todirect the Folklore Troupe of Haiti, a gov-ernment sponsored entity, in its regular sea-sons at the Verdure Theater (Thedtre de Ver-dure). Emerante dig Pradines and OdetteWiener also organized troupes that have per-formed at home and abroad; Katherine Dun-haiN a United States citizen who spent sev-eral years in Haiti, has incorporated Haitianrhythms into her internationally renownedmodern dance routines.

The most successful of the contem-porary Haitian composers of formal musichave been those who have looked to thefolklore for their inspiration. Jaegerhuberincorporated folksongs into an impressiveoperatic rendition of Romain's novelMasters of the Dew and wrote a completemass in which he used African rhythms.Justin Elie, Theramene Manes, DecideJoanty, and Ludovic Lamothe are alsonoted for their use of folk rhythms, melo-dies, and legends in their formal composi-tions.

PUBLIC INFORMATION

In 1972 freedom of the press wasguaranteed by the constitution, and formalcensorship was not in effect, but mosteditors and publishers were careful not toprint material that might be offensive tothe government. Throughout the historyof the country there have been manyinstances of rigorous press censorship andsuppression of publications, and editorialimmunity has rarely been a reality. Evenduring the United States occupation(1915 -34), through which the UnitedStates government hoped to introduce

ir?democratic practices, the occupying forces( considered it necessary to alter provisions

143

of the American-sponsored Constitution of1918 guaranteeing freedoM of the press.This action was taken to bring undercontrol the opposition press, which hadpersisted in publishing propaganda againstthe governments of Haiti and the UnitedStates. The press was censored, andeditors were jailed.

President Stenio Vincent (1930-41)imprisoned editors without t 41 and sup-pressed their publications. President ElieLescot (1941-46) arrested and jailedcritical journalists. Presideryt/DumarsaisEstime (1946-50) closed a number of news-papers. President Paul Magloire (1950-56)arrested editors and banned partisan radiobroadcast- in 1953 the presses of HaitiDemocratique, an opposiRion newspaper,were smashed.

President Francois Duvalier's controlof mass media was virtually complete.Shortly after Duvalier took office in 1957the publisher aad the leading columnist ofthe Haiti-Miroir were arrested; the editorof the Independance was detained; andthe plants of these opposition papers andLe Matin were destroyed. Another oppo-sition paper - Le Patriote - ceased publica-tion after its offices were bombed and mem-bers of its staff were injured. In 1961Duvalier closed La Phalange, a RomanCatholic daily that, as of 1972, had notresumed publication.

Duvalier forced surviving newspapersto do his bidding by granting subsidies, bycompelling newspapers to publish - as theirown - previously prepared progovernmenteeditorials, and by assigning to regulareditorial staffs writers directly controlledby the government. These controls were ineffect at the time of his death in 1971.

149

41

144

Newspapers, Periodicals, and Books

During the third quarter of theeighteenth century the colony of Saint-Dqmingue suppoited an estimated fiftynewspapers and other journals. Becauseof the high cost of production subscrip-tions to these publications were limitedalmost entirely to members of the upperclass. The first newspaper was theGazette de Saint-bomingue, a weekly thatin the late 1780's had about 1,500 sub-scribers. The monthly Journal de Saint-Domingue ran to sixty-four pages ofarticles on belles lettres and such projectsas commerce, agriculture, health, naturalhistory, and science; but, for lack ofsubscribers, it lasted less than two years.An official newspaper, the GazettePolitique et Commerciale d'HaiYi, ap-.peared in 1804 - the year in which therepublic was founded. It was followedby hundreds of short-lived journalspublished during the nineteenth centuryand ttie first half of the twentiethcentury.

In 1972 the principal daily news-rs, all published in Port-au-Prince,

were Le Nouveau Monde, Le Matin,Le Nouvelliste, Panorama, and Le Jour.Le Nouveau Monde, a semiofficial daily,had an estimated circulation of 5,000 ormore. Le Matin, founded in 1907, hadan estimated circulation of 3,000 or more.Le Nouvelliste, established in 1896, wasthe oldest newspaper being published1972; its circulation was an estimated5,000 or more. Le Jour, founded in1950, had a circulation estimated at about1,000. All of these dailies had generalappeal. A newspaper that tended to takea relatively independent position wasPanorama, founded in 1956. Its circu-lation was estimated at 1,500 or more.

The size of the dailies in 1972'ranged from four to eight pages; all ofthe newspapers carried advertising.Coverage of international news was small,and the only foreign news agencyproviding service to Haitian publicationswas the French Press Agency ( AgencyFrance Presse - AFP).

In addition to official statementsand foreign news items considered tobe of outstanding importance, thecontents of the daily newspapersconsisted largely of gossip, reports ofcultural events, sports news, and articleson home economics. Little space wasgiven to crime news, and political newswas usually confined to official releases.

Periodicals played only a limitedrole in the field of public information.Several weeklies were published regularly,and a number of periodicals appearedsporadically. A scholarly journal, Revuede la Societe Haltienne d'Histoire et deGeographie, was published quarterly.

There were several printing firmsin Port-au-Prince in 1972 but no pub-lishing houses. A substantial proportionof Haitian writers had their works pub-lished outside of the country, and thelatest statistics available in 1972 indicatedthat in 1965 a total of twenty-five bookswere printed in Haiti.

Radio, Television and Motion Pictures

Because newspaper circulation andtelevision broadcasting are limited to thePort-au-Prince area, the nation's primaryinformation and advertising medium isradio. In 1972 there were sixteen k.z.tivebroadcasting stations, most of which wereprivately operated and licensed to adver-tise. They broadcast in both French and

Creole. The -number of receivers in thecountry was estimated at 300.000. Largenumbers of people did not hear radiobroadcasts regularly.

In 1972 the three most powerfulbroadcasting stations (ten kilowatts each)were Radio Nouveau Monde, Radio HaitiInter - both in Port-au-Prince - andVoixEvangelique, in Cap-Haftien, oprated bythe - Oriental Missionary Society, aProtestant-based organization that had anumber of other transmitters in Cap -Haftien and Port-au-Prince. The- govern-ment station was La Voix de la Revolu-tion, with several transmitters - all inPort-au-Prince - the most powerful ofwhich broadcasted on seven kilowatts.Radio Lumiere was operated by the WestIndies Bible Mission, a Protestant organi-zation; it broadcasted religious andcultural programs over transmitters inAux Cayes, Cap-Haftien, and Port-au-Prince, the most powerful of whichutilized five kilowatts. Power used byother stations most of them in Cap-Haitien and Port-au-Prince ranged from1,000 watts down to 100 watts. In orderto present special features or govern-ment-sponsored programs local stationsmade arrangements to rebroadcastprograms emanating from the morepowerful stations.

There was one television station,commercially-operated and broadcastingon two channels in 1972. The twochannels were receivable only in thePort-au-Prince area. One telecast was inFrench, and one was in English; bothoperated only during evening hours.

Motion picture theaters in 1972numbered 30, with a total of 17,000 seats.Eight of the theaters had wide screens.Tn? number of admissions in 1972 may

145

have run as high as one million. Frenchfilms predominated, but a considerablenumber of films from the United Statesand other countries were being shownwith French soundtracks.

Foreign Governmc at Activity

In 1972 the French governmentwas engaged in fairly extensive cultural ac-tivities in Haiti. The French Alliance (Alli-ance Francalse) conducted academic, lan-guage, and other cultural programs and car-ried out an exchange program in whichFrench professors and teachers came toHaiti and Haitian students were sent to.France. The French also distributed filmsand publications. The United States Infor-mation Agency provided material to thepress and to radio and television stations.It also provided instruction in English in abinational center in Port-au-Prince, andoperated a library.

Other countries engaging in cultur-al activities in Haiti were the Federal Re-public of Germany (West Germany), Italy,Spain, Great Britain, Canada and a num-ber of Latin American countries.

THE HUGUENOTS

by

Marie-Reine Mikesell

TransIgted into English by Phyllis Hagel

Yorktown, Virginia

As was the case in Boston and NewYork, the French Protestants were among thefirst pioneers in the southern states. As farback as 1619, the treasurer of the VirginiaCompany indicated that experienced vine-growers had been sent for to develop viticul-ture. In 1621, the new Goy Amor, Sir FrancisWyatt, received the order 'to Ptifft -mulberriesand to take care of the Frenchmen who hadbeen sent to take care of this task, and theVirginia Verger of 1625 mentions the arrivalof 8 French vinegrowers from Languedoc to cul-tivate the vineyards and the mulberries. In 1629,the French made an attempt at colonizing alongthe James River, but they had been given aswampy and unhealthy tract of land, and manyof them died; the others dispersed without leav-ing a 'trace. During the 17th century, some iso-lated Frenchmen continued to pass throughVirginia, but it was not until the revocationof the Edict of Nantes that several hundredsof refugees arrived. We only have scanty in-formation about these refugees.

One of the Huguenots who soughtrefuge in Virginia, however, became knownthrough the celebrity of one of his descen-dants. Nicolas Martiau was one of the firstcolonists of Virginia. Born in France, in 1591,he waived in Virginia via England in 1620. Hewas the first American ancestor of GeorgeWashington. Dr. John Baer Stoudt wrote hisbiofraphy in 1932: «Nicolas Martiau, theadventurous Huguenot». John Washingtonand h:s brother Lawrence emigrated to Virginiaonly in 1657.

146

At Yorktown, where Washington camp-ed and where Nicolas Martiau had lived 125years earlier, one can read the following inscrip-tion upon a monument:

Site de la maison deNicolas Martiau

le Huguenot aventureuxne en France en 1591

venu en Virginie en 1620Capitaine lors de

l'insurrection indienneMembre de la

Chambre des ElecteursJuge du me de York

en 1635 l'un des responsablesde l'expulsion du gouverneur Harvey

ce qui representela premiere opposition

a la politique colonial britanniquePremier Patente de Yorktown

et par le mariage de sa fille Elizabethavec le colonel George Reade,

it devint le premier ancetreamericain a la fois du general

GEORGE WASHINGTONet du gouverneur Thomas Nelson

&lige par la Societe Huguenotede Pennsylvanie avec 13

cooperation de la Federationnationale des Societes huguenotes et

la Commission ducent cinquantenaire de Yorktown

1931

Charleston, South Carolina

1 (5"

It was in South Carolina that the greatest

number of French refugees established them-selves and that the Huguenot influence was thestongest. The history of the French immigra-tion follows fairly closely that of Virginia. Itwas in 1679, one year before the founding ofCharleston, that the first Frenchmen arrived.They had been sent to develop the culture ofvineyards, mulberries and olive trees, and KingCharles II himself had. paid the costs of theexpedition. During the years that followed, ref-ugees continued to arrive in small groups. Thelatest to come founded New Bordeaux in 1764.Some of them who had first stopped in NewYork and in New England, left after remainingbriefly in the colder climate to settle for goodin Carolina. There was a total of 6 settlementsfounded by the Huguenots in South Carolina.Charleston, the oldest, was also the one thatretained for the longest time characteristicsthat were clearly French.

The beginnings were not always easy.Some Frenchmen had been able to take theirwealth with them, wWch permitted them tobuy land and to settle themselves better thanthe poorer English immigrants. On the otherhand, country people accustomed to the labori-ous work of the vineyard succeeded in becomingprosperous through their businesses. By theirvery success, they seemed to acquire more andmore influence, which was felt as a threat.Thus they came to find themselves refused theright to sit in the provincial assembly and werethe objects of suspicion and even of persecu-tion by the local authorities. Eventually thefriction diminished, and in 1719, there weretwo Huguenots, Benjamin de la Consiliere andPierre Saint-Julien, on the Council of Twelve.

As was the case in Boston and NewYork. the French refugees of South Carolinathought early on to ally themselves with theChurch of Englan . The reasons which decid-ed so many Huguenots to conform and toaccept, at least in name, the discipline of theAnglican Church hae not been clearly deter-

147

mined. At first look it would appear that every-thing pertaining to this group ought to haveturned them away. It was not religiousquestions that motivated the rupture betweenHenry VIII and Rome, but the refusal of PopeClement VII to grant the King an annulmentof his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. Fromthis situation, the changes in the ritual and thedoctrine that followed were numerous, and ofall the Protestant Churches, this is the onewhich retained most of the traditions of medi-eval Catholicism. It is likely that the Huguenotswere pushed to this extreme position by theirsituation. Scattered in the thirteen colonies,they were not numerous enough to maintaintheir church and to obtain ministers. Theywere often forced to resort to calling upon the«Society for the Propagation of the GospelAbroadd. It appears certain also that the for-malities of naturalization were ea3ier for thosewho had accepted the power of the officialChurch of England. Governors and representa-tives of the royal power exerted an undeniablepressure on the refugees to conform. Manyyielded. Their attachment to their cultureshoowed itself in another manner, by their per-siritat efforts to transmit to their childrenthe language that they had received from theirancestors. But certain among them resistedstaunchly and succeeded in maintaining for along time the discipline of the reformed Frenchchurches. The Huguenots of Charleston, in spiteof the obvious disadvantages which resultedfrom their faithfulness to the pure Calvinistdoctrine, as well as that of their descendantsafter them, steadfastly refused to «conform»and to become pact of the Episcopal church.They kept, until even the present day, theirindependent organization and are proud tobelong to the only Huguenot church still exist-ing on American soil. 1 The beautiful building,of gothic-normand style, has occupied thepresent site since 1693.

1 .5 3

148

Francis Marion

Each war has its commanders and its he-roes. The American War of Independence pro-duced its most heroic and most romantic figurein the person of Francis Marion. His storyreads like an adventure novel. He was thegrandson of a Huguenot refugee from Langue-doc, who settled in South Carolina. Francis'father was the oldest of 13 children. When theregular army was formed in 1775 to defendSouth Carolina against the English, Marion wasnamed captain. After the capitulation ofCharleston in 1780, he went to Santee, one ofthe Huguenot settlements, where he found afair number of his co-religionists ready to placethemselves under his command. He formedwith them the Brigade de ."'-2rion which becamelegendary. His exploits mark a turning pointin the outcome of the war. He sowed confu-sion among the Tories and revived the patrioticfervor among soldiers who had been reduced toa handful of men by desertions and discourage-ment. The mapner in which he lured the en-emy into ambushes and defeated them, eventhough he was almost without munitions,earned him the appellation Renard des Marais.

Even if one omits a precise numericalevaluation, it nonetheless remains a fact thatthe support brought by the refugees ofFrench origin to the formation of the Ameri-can population of the thirteen colonies is farfrom negligible. Had the majority of therefugees belonged f. tiniie educated andenlightened clan. . aociety, and had theyfound themselves z In atmosphere encourag-ing to the dcvelopt, Lnt of science and litera-ture, perhaps they .'ould have exercised adistinct influence as they had done inHolland, England and Prussia. But we knowthat the American refugees were peasants orbusinessmen, that there were few artisansamong them, and that only the pastors wereeducated. Neither New England, NewAmsterdam and even less so Carolina offered

a favorable setting. In spite of the foundingof Harvard College, the taste for educationwas not widespread in Boston; commerce,religion and politics absorbed all intellectualeffort and people thought of developing aculture independent of English culture onlyduring the time of the national crisis preced-ing the Revolution. The refugees were able,within limits, to contribute to the expansionof the knowledge of the French language.They furnished several French teachers, butthose were without great cultural knowledgeand contact with the French intellectual lifeand thus they had necessarily limited in-fluence. From the religious point of view,their Calvinism seemed to have been moder-ated and humane, and they could have,perhaps, contributed to softening the rigor ofthe Puritan dogmas, if they had not rallied al-most everywhere early on to the Anglicanchurch.

But if the Huguenot refugees had oftenonly a secondary influence upon the develop-ment of American civilization, it was a differ-ent story for their descendants who playedan important role during the war for Indepen-dence and during the debates which precededthe adoption of the Constitution. They pro-vided America with statesmen who playeda decisive role during the time of the Revolu-tion in the destiny of the country, men likeAlexander Hamilton, whose mother was aHuguenot from the Antilles; John Jay,grandson of Auguste Jay from La Rochelle;and Anne-Marie Bayard from New York,Elias Boudinot from Philadelphia and HenriLaurens from Charleston. The latter, capturedat sea in 1780 by the English while he was ona mission to Holland, had the great honor tobe exchanged for Cornwallis. It is very signifi-cant that among the four signers of the Treatyof Paris in 1782 (John Adams, BenjaminFranklin, John Jay and Henri Laurens) whichassured the independence of the UnitedStates, two were son and grandson of French

refugees. A Huguenot was the first Secretaryof the Treasury of the new republic(Hamilton), the first chief justice (John Jay)and three of the seven presidents of the Con-tinental Congress (Henri Laurens 1777-78,John Jay 1778-79, Elias Boudinot 1782-83).James Bowdoin (Baudoin) presided over theconvention which gave Massachusetts itsconstitution and John Jay and GoyernorMorris cooperated in the writing of the NewYork constitution.

America owes also several of its bestpoets to Huguenot descendants. PhilippeFreneau, the first real poet of the youngUnited States, had kept in contact withFrench literature and was a translator as wellas an original writer. Whittier, the anti-slaveryQuaker poet, was proud of being descendedon his mother's side from Huguenot refagees.Longfellow had Huguenot ancestry and theFrench origin of Sidney Lanier, poet of theSouth and of David Thoreau is apparent evenby their names. Thoreau was the grandson ofPhilippe Thoreau and Marie Le Gallais, whowere refugees in the Isle of Jersey. Alsoamong the Huguenot descendants are presi-dents of the United States: Washington, thetwo Adams, Tyler, Garfield and F. D.Roosevelt: philantropists and supportersof education: Stephen Girard, ChristopheRoberts, Matthew Vassar, James Bowdoinand Thomas Gallaudet.

The volunteers who accompanied LaFayette and Reliambeauss soldiers foundmore than once among the troops in Washing-ton's army men who bore the same namesas themselves, and who could often stillreply in their maternal language. La Fayettehimself was so struck by this that upon hisreturn to France he worked to return civilrights to the French Protestants. We knowthat thanks to his efforts, the Assemblee desNotables adopted a Tolerance Act in 1787which gave back legal rights to the Huguenots.

149

This is one of the reasons, and by no meansthe least, for the popularity which the nameLa Fayette continues to enjoy in the UnitedStates.

The reconciliatiiin between Frenchmenand American Huguenots continued to grow.As strong as The prejudice was of the Ameri-can Huguenots against the country of Saint-Bartholemy and of the Revocation of theEdict of Nantes, nonetheless, the Frenchparticipation in the American war of inde-pendence seemed to have redeemed the situa-tion and made the old prejudice forgotten. AColonel Fontaine wrote, on 26 October,1781, after York's surrender: «The troopswhich came were the flower of the Englisharmy, but, however, I do not think that theirappearance was better than that of our troopsor of the French troops. The latter, you canbe sure, are very different from the ideas wehad been given beforehand which portrayedthem as a people who lived on frogs andhorrid vegetables. I have never seen better-looking troops!»

At the end of the 19th century, whencalm returned after the civil war, the Ameri-cans could turn towards the past, and thedescendants of the Huguenots reclaimed theirancestors. With Macauley, they proclaimedthat «A people which does not revere withpride the noble accomplishments of its ances-tors will never accomplish anything worthyof being preserved in the memory of its owndescendants». In 1885, on the 200th anni-versary of the Revocation of the Edict ofNantes, the descendants of the Frenchrefugees founded the Societe Ifuguenoted'Arnerique, which had as its objective to«reunite the sons of the sons of the FrenchReformers, to retrace and to preserve thememory of the actions of their ancestors, andto transmit them to their children and'to theirchildren». After this date, commemorativeplaques multiplied. During the same year,

A

150 ,

they established on a similar basis the inde-pendent organization Societe Huguenote dela Caroline du Sud. On the official seal ofthe two societies are found the fleulde lys ofFrance on a blue background.

NB - No other people played as privileged arole in the history of the United Statesas did the French. Through her explor-ers and founders of cities, such as Joliet,La Salle, Du lhut, Cadillac, .Vincennes,Bienville and many others, through theparticipation of the Huguenots in thefounding of the republic, and throughthe vital French military aid during thewar of independence, the French peopletruly left a threefold imprint upon thehistory and the countryside of America.

(1) Since 1950, the Huguenot church ofCharleston has had neither a pastor norregular services.

Reprinted by permission of the author and Le Travailleur, Worcester, Massachusetts.

15 6

THE ACADIANS OF MAINE

by

Julie D. Albert

Foreward

Many authors, in order to shield theBritish government from the responsibility ofhaving committed one of the most atrociouscrimes against humanity, have distorted the factsabout the Acadians and their dispersal. Theyhave pictured them as a rebellious and untrust-worthy people while the real stories have beenburied with the wretched and miserable wander-ers lacking the necessities to sustain life. Youwill learn here that they had their faults, butnone that deserved the oppressions and per-secutions they, had to endure for centuries. Ifyou are Acadian, you have just cause to beproud of your lineage. You can rightfully claimfor heritage virtues and qualities that no otherrace in the world possesses.

Some French words and expressions havebeen used because they would lose much oftheir flavor if translated. I have done my bestto give a good general background of our Aca-dian ancestors and ask my readers to take upany complaints with the committee for the nextcentennial in the year 2069. Good reading.

Introduction

Someone has compared a communitywhich does not know its own history to a manwho has lost his memory. Our own town isrelatively young compared to others in thecountry, but already many of the traditions andcustoms of our Acadian ancestors, worth record-ing and preserving, are vanishing from our familylife.

The old residents' unwritten information,handed down through generations, although lia-ble to fluctuations and variations, contains mu...h

that is valuable, because it has been, from thevery beginning, preserved in living human mindsinstead of in cold historical print. Since ouroldest residents had very little or no education,they often developed vivid memories, and manyretain clearer impressions Of the customs andhabits of their youth than of more recent hap-penings.

We can understand and appreciate ourown civilization better if we are informed of theearlier inhabitants who once existed on the verylands, beside the same waters, in the same valleywe now inhabit; if we are acquainted with theirmode of life, their joys and sorrows, their trialsand victories, their concocted medicines andremedies for men and beasts, and their foodsand dishes now long out of fashion.

Most of the things in this world gothrough three stages. First,. they are new, excit-ing and interesting. Then they become dull,have more or less outgrown their function, andare put aside. If they manage to survive thisdangerous period, they become interesting again,even romantic, tinged with a certain mystery forthe power they have to give us insight into thelives of our ancestors. Some such antiques arethe old iron kettle, the clay pipe, portraits,homemade tools and furnsture, firearms, etc...They have become heirlooms to be treasured,and in the not too distant future will be the onlyones left to gspeak* of bygone days to thoseinterested in glistening*.

YOUR LAND AND MINE.

Geologists tell us that at one time thewhole of the St. John Valley, as well as the rest

151

15

152

of the continent, w- s covered with a glacierice several hundred feet high. Careful studiesof rock strata reveal that at least twelve timesduring the millions of years of geologic timesour mountains were th :List skyward, only to beleveled away by erosion of sun, wind, rain andsnow. Climate ranged from tropical to temper-ate to frigid, until finally the last great ice sheetstarted melting and moving on top of themountains. As the climate grew warmer, theglacier inched its way to the southeast, literallygouging out streams and rivers, taking loose soiland rocks GUt to sea. In time, rivers narroweddown, leaving or the shores part of the bedsthey had occupied, Thus, the tops of ours hillswere long ago the shores of the river. Lakes,ponds, rapids ar 3 waterfalls were formed;grasses, plants and flowers sprang up. Forestsgrew, wild animals roamed through them, andthe stage was set for man's coming.

When the glacier finally left Maine, it left2503 lakes and ponds, thousands of streamsnever counted, and the only Atlantic Salmonrivers in the country. Lakes are big, Moose-head being forty miles long and half as wide.On its eastern side, rising a thousand feet abovethe lake, is Mount Kineo, which the Indiansclaimed was a huge moose crouching down sothat the giant medicine man could talk into itsear. This is where they came every summer toget their felsite, hornstone, quartz and flint formaking arrowheads, knives, spears and othertools.

The St. John River, so called because itwas discovered by Samuel de Champlain onSt. John the Baptist's Day in 1604, used to benamed the Wooloostook, in honor of one ofthe Indians' greatest chiefs. Translators haveinterpreted it as meaning Crooked River orShallow River. Flowing in the opposite direc-tion from any other river in Maine, it winds itsleisurely way between the fertile lands of thevalley, as if reluctant to leave the picturesqueshores. Where it traverses Madawaska, in themiddle of its course, it appears in such enchant-

ing beauty that it has been compared to theRhine.

From the fin., the soil was found favor-able for growing plants such as fodder andcereals, for root vegetables, (potatoes in partic-ular) and for fruits that ripen in temperatezones. The climate is healthful, and the latespring and early fall frosts that were once theterror of the colonists are quite rat.!. The valleyitself, by its very formation, is preserved frommany natural disasters that occur els,:where.

Although winters are long and cold, theland is truly magnificent in any season. Inspring, the quiet shadows of thick fir andspruce are dappled with the lighter green ofsunlight on budding trees; the maple, birch,beech, and alder thickets blaze gloriously inOctober; and, always, the river tranquil, free,now clack as ebony under dark scuddingclouds, then pink and gold as the afternoonlight diffuses in shadows.

Today many French Acadians refuse tobe drawn from the peace and quiet of theirown realm to the attractions of the moderncity. Home ties are strong here. Civilizationhas dispelled the wilderness, the majestic pineshave nearly all vanished, but the soft hand ofthe valley, once it has captured your heart,does not easily give it back.

NATIONAL COLORS

In 1880, the Societe St-Jean-Baptiste ofQuebec, wanting to celebrate its national holi-day in a special way, invited all the Frenchpeople of America to the planned festivities.This was the first time the Acadians were to beassembled together since the famous call to thechurch for the dispersion of Grand-Pre. A

. committee was formed to see that delegatesfrom Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotiaand New Brunswick were named to convenelater to see to their general interests. Condi-tions having changed considerably, the.

153

Acadians had begun to feel somewhat apartfrom the Canadians and wanted a NationalHoly Day proper to themselves - a day whenthey would reunite once a year to talk of theirfathers, recall the glories of the past, and reaf-firm their faith at the foot of the altar. A live-ly discussion ensued, and finally the datedecided upon was August 15th, with Notre-Dame de l'Assomption as their patroness. Thecelebration was a complete success.

Three years later, at a-. ether assembly,the Acadian flag was designed. The star issymbolic of Mary, Stella Maris, who guided theoutcasts through storms and sufferings. Theblue field it rests upon represents the personsconsecrated to her; while the papal colors, golaand white, show their inviolable attachment toHoly Mother, the Church. Their chosen hymnwas Ave Maris Stella, and their motto, SurgeAcadia. The first flag was made by M. s.Alphee Belliveau (Wile Babineau) and is con-served at the museum of the cathedral Notre-Dame de l'Assomption in Moncton, N.B.

Seeking to strengthen the unifying tiesamong Acadian groups, the Societe Nationaledes Acadiens now meets every five years, in-quiring into their economic and social standing,coordinating national effort for effective ac-tion, prtmoting the welfare of Acadians every-where, propagating the French language andCatholic religion and helping isolated minoritygroups who cannot survive or progress bythemselves.

THE LEGEND OF GLOUSCAP

Before 1830 the Indians of Madawaskalived along the river shore. They were peacefulcitizens, respectful of authority, honest, andcharitable. Even though they have lost theirright to a political chief because of the diminu-tion of their people, the era of patriarchy isstill with them and they live at Tobique, capitalseat of the tribe, under a regularly elected chief.

153

These Indians were not brutal nor stupid,but spoke with insight and good judgment.How ever, every one of them was highly super-stitious, hence the following legend:

An enormous beaver, a mon. of colos-sal proportions, possessed of a bad spirit andnamed Glouscap had predicted for them manymishaps. Outraged by their infidelities, Glous-cap, after having ravaged the lower part of theriver, had come to Madawaska. Here he an-nounced to the inhabitants that their head-quarters would he destroyed and the Maleciteswould know many moons of bad luck. Seizedby fright, the Indians tried to appease his angerby bringing beaver skins, which they depositedat the mouth of the river. A trickster came totell them that Glouscap's anger had subsidedand that, at last, they were to see good days.

The genius of conscience, very happywith this reparation, wanted to leave his markof contentment. Seeing that only a narrowstream of water passed at the foot of the for-tress, he changed the course of the river bybringing it near their houses. An immensepliecdng ridge of rocks made a .11 in the bedof the new course. A part of this he hit withhis powerful tail to let the bark canoes crossthis fall. Then he left to spend the winter atTemiscouata.

The next spring, word came back that hehad been seen departing in the glow of asunset, to return to his home in the rising sun.From there, however, he was liable to comeback at any time to punish the Malecites H howere not faithful to the Great Spirit.

IN OLD ACADIA

The name Acadia is very ancient. In1524 Jean Verazzano named a region in NovaScotia Arcadie because of its beautiful trees.In 1603 Champlain used Arcadie to denote thesame territory.

15J

154

Port Royal, now known as Annapolis,was the second permanent European settle-ment in America. Piziquid is now Windsor;Beausejour is Cumberland; Ile Royale is Cap-Breton; and Ile St. Jean is Prince EdwardIsland; Baie Francaise is now Bay of Fundy.

EVANGELINE

«This is the forest primeval.The murmuring pines and thehemlocks,

Bearad with moss, and ingarments green, indistinct inthe twilight,

Stand like druids of eld, withvoices sad and prophetic,

Stand dike harpers hoar, withbeards that rest on their bosoms.»

Thus states Henry Wadsworth Long-fellow's mournful epic, familiar to almosteveryone. But what everyone does not know isthat the cruel dispersal of the Acadians by theEnglish in an effort to make them disappearfrom the face 61 ..e earth was more horriblethan any writer or poet can describe. Woidscannot do justice to the humari anguishbrought about by the cunning and deceitfulLawrence and the intense hatred he entei*tained for the French Catholics. In a way it isironical that his orders to the soldiers who wereabout to imprison the unsuspecting Acadians:were fashioned after those of Our Savior toJudas: «Quad fads, fac clams» . . . «Whateveryou do, do it quickly.»

It was under his orders that the Aca-dians after heart-rending separations, embarkeid

to be transported to strange lands. At a giV6amount per head, with a small allowance ofpork and flour per week, they were given nomore consideration than animals. The vessels

were of the cheapest, unseaworthy old hulkswith no comfort or safety, with only one aim:to get them out as quickly as possible, in thecheapest way. cI do not know,» observedGeorge Bancroft, if the annals of the humanrace keep the record of sorrow so wantonly in-flicted, so bitter and so lasting as fell upon theFrench inhabitants of Acadia.» During theeleven years of exile, about 10,000 died onland and sea, a fact which speaks r itself.

Longfellow weaves a story of e simpleinhabitants of Acadia, their numeroLtheir honesty and attachment to their ertilelands and to the Catholic religion. How sweetlife was along the river shores, in the apple or-chards where young men met the pretty shep-herd girls and declared their love!.

Grand-Pre was the largest and loveliestparish, where lived Gabriel Lajeunesse andEvangeline BeUefontaine, son and daughter oftwo lifelong friends. 'Their marriage contracthad just been drawn up by the rfotary when themen were called to St. Charles church, for theannouncement of the dispersal. Evangeline'sfather died of emotion and was buried on theshore before the embarkation; then she andGabriel were herded on different ships.

The rest of her life was an agotaingsearch for her beloved. Hearing rumors of hiswhereabouts, even speaking with people whohad just seen him, she sought him everywhere.Believing he had gone to Louisiana, she joineda group of Acadians and descended the Mis-sissippi, to find his father, the old blacksmithof Grand-Pre. He now owned land and cattleand had succeeded in Louisiana. But Gabriel?Tortured by the thought of his loved one, un-able to stay long in one plate, he had left thatday on another boat, which had crossed hersduring the night. She and Basil, his father,arrived at a Spanish town, but he had just leftby the prairie routes, They travelled westwhere Jesuit missionaries told of seeing him,

but he had gone north and was not due backuntil fall. Basil returned hcAne, and the days ofwaiting dragged into months. Winter came andwent, and now rumors were that he was in theMichigan forests. Resuming her pursuit, all shefound were traces of the elusive phantom, Herstory is much like that of the Acadian peoplethemselves, who came to be the most nomadicon earth.

Worn out, gray and old before her time,she became a Sister of Mercy in Philadelphia.An epidemic broke out, and not caring for herlife, she went to nugthe sick in an almshouse.There, among the destitute, she found the dy-ing Gabriel in time to close his eyes. In his lastmoments his feverish mind had been with hisbeloved. Evangeline in Grand-Pre. With aprayer of thanks she pressed him to her bosomas he breathed his last with her name on his

In Acadia this poem is read, devoured inparishes and homes. The most educated peopletranslate it and explain it. In schools, studentsmemorize it. They weep or rage. They givethe name Evangeline to girls, and no one seemsto note that Lajeunesse is Canadian, not Aca-dian. The story is what matters.

LE GRAND DERANGEMENT

The past of the French Acadian peoplewho came here from Nova Scotia is a longstory of persecution by the English, a centuryof uncertainty when their country changedallegiance nine times, a continuous strugglewith unequal arms. It is no wonder that oneman, who could not endure any more, asked,qDoes God not make any more lands for theAcadians?*

Historians do not agree on the origin ofthe word oAcadie,, but most-accept that it isderived from an Indian word meaning placefertile in. Today, Acadia signifies the three

155

maritime provinces: Nova Scotia, New Bruns-wick, and Prince Edward Island.

Until 1755, our forefathers had-persistedin refusing to take uThe Big Oath», as it wascalled, unless they were assured that in case ofwar they could take a neutral stand and nothave to fight against the French, their brothers,or the Indians, their old allies. Here is theoath: 4cle promets et jure en foi de chretien,que je serai fiddle et fobeirai i1 Sa MajesteGeorge II, que je reconnais comme le SouverainSeigneur de l'Acadie ou Nouvelle-Ecosse. Ainsique Dieu me soit en aide.* However, whenGovernor Lawrence came into power, he insist-ed that they now take it or be drastically pun-ished. Delegates sent to intercede were jailed,and missionary Leloutre advised several fam-ilies to leave secretly, since at the time no onecould leave the country at will. On August 3,three priests were arrested, but not before theyconsumed the Hosts in their Churches; allchurch records were destroyed, Before theywere shipped out, the holy men instructed thestunned people to strip the altars, spread thefuneral cloth on the pulpit, and put on it thecrucifix - they had only Jesus Christ for priestnow.

Not long after came the famous orderfor all men, from the oldest to boys about tenyears old, to meet at the St. Charles Church atGrand-Pre on Friday, September 5, at three inthe afternoon, for 4ca special message from theking.* No excuse, under any pretext would beaccepted, and those who did not go would havetheir property confiscated. The same orderwas read in the neighboring parishes. Somefamilies fled to the woods with whateverbelongings they could carry. But that is how418 Acadian men and boys found the churchdoors locked behind them, and listened inshock and disbelief while Winslow read to themand someone else translated, that all theirlands, crops, buildings, livestock, etc. werebeing confiscated, and that they and their

lf

156

families were to be deported. After five daysof being held prisoners, they were led to thebeach, at bayonet point when they resisted,where vessels awaited them, with more boatscoming from Boston.

On October 8, a sorrowful file, one andone half miles long, between the church andthe beach, started the embarks: - old peoplebroken with grief, the sick and infirm onstretchers, women carrying small babies, fright-ened children, separated families to be put ondifferent vessels bound for different places.The first three boats were the Endeavor, theIndustry and the Mary, with the Boston firmof Apthorp & Hancock as agents in settlingwith the owners of the vessels for transporta-tion.

Night fell...both at sea and in all hearts.As they made for the high seas, their last looklingered on the dark silhouettes of their homesagainst a glowing red sky; the last things theyheard were the moaning of those who had beenfound by soldiers with bloodhounds, and werebeing punished amidst the oaths and laughterof the English. The boats were fish transportswhich had not even been cleaned and were socrowded that there was not enough space to liedown. The necesMties for the old and sick hadnot been brought, so many were soon releasedfrom their misery by death.

They were left, literally seeded, all alongthe Atlantic shores, from Boston to Georgia.Those who were left furthest went to Louisianawhich was still a French colony; and today,they have very much the same culture as ours.In Virginia no one wanted the unfortunates, sothey were sent to England, where half died inseven years. A very small number stayed in theEnglish states where they were sent; and thosewho did, with few exceptions, have just aboutlost all trace of their origins. Always, theytended to regroup and come back, many goingto Quebec where they were absorbed by the

French population, but few returned to theirhomeland.

In 1776, a caravan of about 200 familieswalked up from Massachusetts through. thewoods; about 30 of those families stayed in theFredericton area, on the St. John River. Theydid not have legal title to the lands they took,so with the arrival of the Loyalists, they had tomove further north. This time they crossedGrand Falls, where they knew the vessels ofwar could not follow them.

It was June, 1785, and they had arrived;Their names were Duperre, Potier, Daigle,Fournier, Cyr, Ayotte, Thibaudeau, Sansfacon,and Mercure. Of these, _lie Cyrs have stayedthe most localized in Madawaska. Others tocome later from the same place were: Cormier,Violette, AMirault, Martin, Mazerolle, Leblanc,Gaudin, Hebert, Theriault, etc. Many are sotypically Acadian that they are recognizedeverywhere: Comeau, LeBlanc, Legere, Gaudet.

ACADIAN SKETCHES

It was back in 1714 that the Lord ofTrades decided to keep the Acadians by force ontheir own land when they wanted to flee the per-secutions. This law was in force for 40 years.

Such was the naiveté of the Acadians thatwhen they were summoned to the church forthe deportation, they thought that this wsis stilla question of the oath. They knelt because thiswas the house of God, even though inhabited byEnglish soldiers. Also, they were imploring Lishelp in this hour of distress. Meanwhile Winslow,who had had orders to leave the country an un-inhabitable wilderness to prevent their return,took his place at a table in the middle aisle. Fkonithere he delivered the crushing blow that leftthem numb with grief. Slowly they made theirway to the doors, to tell their families, but wererudely turned back with bayonets.'

162

The next day Winslow gave in to theirweeping requests that some of them be let outto tell their wives and mothers what had hap-pened. He let go 10 from Grand-Pre, 10 fromRiviere-aux-Canards, every day by turn .on con-dition that the others were responsible forthem. If they did not return, then punishmentwas to be inflicted upon the next of kin or thenext neighbor.

Until the actual separation of familiesbegan, they had submitted, but now they criedand refused. Soldiers with fixed bayonets or-dered them to march. So they started, slowly,praying, some singing hymns, all weeping -being met by the women all the way, somefollow;ng on their knees. It was a sad sightindeed to see husbands and sons kissing theme&Ai hung from their necks and tossing itt(' a wife or mother; and she, understanding,holding it tightly, kissing it back and returningit to him. Many of these were never to meetagain.

Thinking that perhaps they were stillbeing deceived and would return, the womenlocked their wardrobes hoping to find again theprecious cloth woven by their own hands.Some dropped their money into wells, othersburied it in chests or earthen pots where theywere found by the English settlers six yearslater.

The first fleet set sail on October 27,1755, with almost 4,000 Acadians encircled bythree warships equipped with cannons. Sixhundred eighty-eight buildings at Grand-Preand Riviere-aux-Canards, representing thelabors of six or seven generations, were inflames. The water in some of the wells hadeven been poisoned.

In November of the same year, hundredsof fugitives had escaped to the St. Lawrencewhere they lived in huts, dressed in rags. Thewinter was severe with lots of snow; and when

157

they were found, many were unable to walk.Said a missionary, «These people died in great

imbers that winter, and those who escapedat ath did not escape the horrible contagionand famine which reigned, driving them to eatthe leather of their shoes and carrion.»

* * *

The English even introduced smallpoxamong the Indians by means of contaminatedblankets, and more than 200 died.

* * *

It was the ship Pembroke, hearing 232exiles from Port Royal, that was mutiniedunder the leadership of a Beaulieu, an oldmaster mariner, and landed at the St. JohnRiver (in the Fredericton area).

* * *

For nearly one hundred years, someAcadians had for food only potatoes, saltedfish and pork, pVis berries, roots and herbsfound in the wOds. Many did not rememberwhat bread tasted like. Under such conditions,it is aot surprising that many recipes were for-got ten.

* * *

In 1760, having learned of the fall ofQuebec, and that the French had lost, theywere fully resolved to die rather than surrenderto the English. In spite of famine and unbear-able hardships, they remained sincere anddevout, a truly Christian and God fearingpeople. Today the Acadians harbor no hatredfor the English for the wrongs suffered at thehands of their fathers.

* * *

In 1766, the caravan that came up

163

158

through the Maine woods found in New Bruns-wick friends and relatives they had not seen for11 years. Some stayed there; others went onto their old homes only to find everythingchanged. The only things that remained 'thesame, were the wells, the dykes, the willows,and apple orchards. They went further southto St. Mary's Bay, having travelled on foot1,000 miles, and lands were granted them thenext year. When the English colonists, whohad now built homes on the ashes of theirs, ar-rived. they met a few straggling families whohad not eaten bread for five years.

LOG CABINS AND MOCCASINS

It was in June of 1785 when the would-be Founders of Madawaska abandoned thelittle Parish of Ste Anne des Pays-Bas.

After ten days of difficult march, theyperceived the valley was getting wider, withsoft undulations and contours, and knew thatthey had reached their «promised land». Onthe virgin soil of the south side of the river,about one and one half miles from where theSt. David church now stands, Joseph Daigleplanted a wooden cross which all saluted as asign of salvation and hope in the future. TheCyrs chose this farm, and it remained in theCyr family for five generations. The Dufourswere to settle further up, as the Heberts,Daigles, etc. Land belonged to whomevercleared it, and this they set about to do atonce, with the center of the colony being ashort distance from the actual St. DavidChurch. Land holdings were divided in longnarrow fields stretching away from the river,which ;ccounts for their later being calledosuv -nt er farms». This was so that each hada terrain with combined advantages,such as river frontage for fishing and water out-let, level lands for farMing, and hilly lands fortimber and maple sugar.

In the second year, Father Leclerc had

the joy of celebrating Mass in the little barkcovered chapel erected by the colonists, notfar from where the St. Basile church is today.From Kamouraska arrived the families Soucy,

,Albert, Michaud, Levasseur, Chaurest, andSaucier; then came the Dubes, Beaulieus, andGagnes from Isle Verte; tuimonds and Ouel-lets from Riviere-Ouelle, and Desnoyers fromRiviere du Sud. Later came the Gosselins,Bellefleurs, Vaillancourts, Auclairs, Tardifs,Marquis, Racines, Laforests, Lizottes, andSmiths.

Even though the New Brunswick author-ities had promised them title to their landsthree years after occupation, they had to waitfive. Many, still suspicious of false promises,left. But in 1790 Joseph Mazerolle and 51others were givel documents making themlegal owners of their farms. Conditions werethat they pay annually to the provincial treas-ury two shillings for every 100 acres granted,clear in less than three years three acres onfifty given, construct a hole at least .20 by 15feet, and drain the marshes.

With wooden harrows and. plows, theyset about carving their domains. Lacking toolsand materials, they built crude log housescaulked with moss and covered with birchbark. In the center of the only room-was thehearth, a large chimney of stones cemented bymortar made of clay. It was used to heat,cook, and give light by night. There were a fewbenches, sometimes tree Rumps to sit on, atable, storage chests, and always, a cradle forthe new. addition film came every year.Women helped with thycrops, did the weaving,spinning, knitting, malting, of cljthes, garden-ing, washing by hand, milking and housekeep-ing. Everything was homemade or grown; afew articles like salt, oil, and molasses weretransported by canoe, sleds, or on the backs ofmen from Riviere-du-Loup, eighty miles away.Clothes were of rough gray, homespun, and allwore boots or moccasins made from animal

16'.j

hides. Crops grew reasonably well, but soonthe Acadians realized that they would have tomove further upland to escape the flooding ofthe river, which recurrently submerged theirhouses and barns every spring.

«C'ETAIT LA NOS kRES»

Our fathers arrived in the most abjectpoverty, with no resources, no instruction,with only one aim...to be forgotten. For atime they succeeded so well in achieving com-plete isolation and abandonment, avoidingbeing known and attracting attention, thatthey nearly ended by forgetting themselves. Atthe time of the deportation in 1755, more than50 percent were literate, a respectable propor-tion for the time. However, 50 years later, thisfigure had dwindled to 25 percent. Not onlyhad they not advanced, they had retrogressed.In time, however, through their proverbialstubbornness and strength of will, these ances-tors of ours were to take their rightful place inthe political, economic, intellectual and reli-gious world. We shall see that they had specialcharacteristics, many of which are still en-countered after nearly 200 years.

They were a la fois Breton et Nor-and, meaning that they originally camefrom Brittany and Normandy in northwesternFrance. Physically, those of Nordic strain werefair complexioned, tall, blue eyed, with longheads and thin hair. The former were dark.shorter, with large square jaws, handsome andwell built. The women were often very pretty,talked and laughed a lot, and dominated thehousehold. They excelled, as they still do, inneedlework of all kinds.

We do not deceive ourselves in believingthat they all possessed outstanding character-istics. Some were the scum of the earth, fu-gitives from justice, ruffians and misfits; otherswer . ordinary men, women, and children, justas we are today. The typical Acadian was

159

honest, hospitable, patient in adversity andnoted for his courage in difficult circumstances.He was cheerful, spiritual, a great lover of songand fun, and probably would not have survivedhad he not been so stubborn! He was inscru-table, reticent and quite pessimistic. He wouldnever give a direct yes or no answer, but whenhe had given his word, it was parole de mi.'and there was no greater insult than saying ofsomeone that he had failed his word. Althougha little negligent in his work and apt to trust inDivine Providence, he was naturally inventive,adept in construction and woodwork. Con-sequently, he often exchanged his time build-ing for the Canadian, while the latter, who sur-passed him in agriculture, plowed fields andcleared land for him.

A born philosopher, working in a

dreamy melancholic silence, he neverthelesshad a great fear of appearing sentimental. Itwas entirely fit and proper to discuss an inter-esting case of bunions or heartburn, but onedid nct speak freely of matters of the heart,and he quickly turned away when tears filledthe eyes or a lump came to the throat.

Nothing came before his own nationality,his Roman Catholic religion, and his Frenchlanguage. He clung tenaciously to the customsand traditions of his fathers. Families werelarge and of prime importance. Parents weretotally respected and their decrees obeyed.These people extracted a hard living from thesoil, but still found sweetness in their days...sorrow, joys, tragedies, all were sham a. Lend-ing and helping each other prevailec ;.1 trueChristian spirit. Sudden laughter sustainedthem in their pains, prayer inclined their soulsto resignation, and hard work brought consola-tion to their sorrows.

The first three parishes in Acadia werePort Royal, Grand-Pre (St. Charles Church),and Beaubassin, with Sulpician priests.

* * *

160

Grand-Pre means large meadow.

* * *

«Men use rough words and harsh, some-times, by reason of the very gentleness and,pity that are in their souls.»

Ouida

* * *

Profoundly religious, Crime, theft, anddebauchery were unknown among them. Goodor bad, they accepted their lot in life as the willof God without murmur.

* * *

We find striking points of resemblancebetween the maritime Acadians id those ofLouisiana, although they have not had contactsfor two centuries.

* * *

REDSKINS AT HOME

The primitive site of the Malecites, whowere to become the most faithful allies of theAcadians, was at one time where the city ofEdmundston now stands, and was calledMadoueSkak. There is controversy amongtranslators...some say the name was Micmac for«porcupine place», while others claim it meant«a junction of rivers» or «grass lands extendingto the river banks», More agreed with theporcupine theory, because of the prevalence ofthis animal in the region.

This tribe numbered about 300, and be-longed to the Abenakis (Dawn People), who inturn belt)! J to the Algonquins, one of themost important Indian races. As soon as ourforefathers arrived, two young men were dele-gated to visit the Indian chiefs, to tell themthey were here, and that the elders would meet

them the next day. At first a little wary, theMalecites soon let tall their suspicions and cor-dially received the white men in the room ofthe grand council, which was filled with war-riors. This diplomatic visit was worth much tothe Acadians because Chief Francois-Xavierhad, at the time, som 200 warriors under hisorders, and the Acadian representative wouldhave been at their mercy had any differencesoccurred. As it happened, the old chief's pridewas flattered and he took them under his pro-tection.

The Malecites were expert hunters andfishermen, and taught the newcomers the basicprinciples of becoming woodsmen, trappers,guides, and of surviving in the woods. Some oftheir woes were hollowed out from logs,others made of hides stretched over frames; butby far the most beautiful was the bark canoe.Covered on the outside with paper birch, itsjoints waterproofed with pitch pine and othernatural gums, it was lightweight, graceful, easi-ly controlled, and rode the water as silently asa fallen leaf. Until the coming of the whiteman, nails were unknown. Long pliable rootsand animal sinews were used for binding, sew-ing, and the making of snowshoes. Trees forcanoes were cut only in the dark of the moon,because it was believed the wood was then lesssubject to worms and rot.

The Malecites were nomads, and did notcare for work nor for well-made homes, whichwere deserted part of the year while their oc-cupants engaged in warfare with their enemy,the Mohawks. The vegetables to be raised andharv3sted were left to the women. They weretrue slaves, but strangely enough, more cruelthan the men and took part in all massacres ofprisoners and barbaric celebrations that accom-panied these scenes of cruelty. On the march,they served as pack horses, and could usuallycarry more on their backs and heads than mostwhite men.

Killing of large game was not only forfood, but also for many'inedible by-products.Deerskin was used for moccasins, thongs andclothing; sinews for thread and bowstrings.Antlers and bones were fashioned into skin-dressing tools, arrow points arid, ornaments.Bags and containers of various kinds were madefrom the paunch and bladders. Deerskinscould be tanned soft, much superior to clothin durability and warmth. Fish was cured bydrying and smoking. The Indians taught thewhites the many uses of herbs, roots andplants for their aches and pains; even thatthe lumps from spruce trees, tangy and purplehued, made a pleasant, long-lasting chewinggum.

Today, the descendants of the Male-cites are on the Tobique reservation, littlegiven to agriculture, and decreasing in num-bers. They have kept the nostalgia of thewoods, do not closely associate with thewhite race that dispossessed them, and preferto blend with the shadows of the last oaks ofthe ancestral forest and await the death of theirrace.

NOBLE GESTURE

In spite of their faults, our foreTathershad indisputable virtues which have furnishedto our history and that of (Lie church some ofits most beautiful pages. The following is onewhich very well depicts their religious spiritand deserves special mention. If we speak sooften of religion, it is because here as in all ofAcadia, it preceded civil authority, the priestbeing known long before the surveyor.

In 1786, Father sscP::a. from Isle Vertecame to visit our colonists aim; added this newmission to his already too large territory, whichextended to the Gaspe Peninsula. In a littlechapel covered with birch bark he performedthe first marriage, between Simon Hebert andJosephte Daigle.

161

In March, 1792, the Acadians learnedthat FathetPaquet, who had succeeded FatherLeclerc, could not come to them so they couldmake their Easter duties. After a meeting, itwas decided that all who felt capable of walk-ing 100 miles on snowshoes would go to IsleVerte for that purpose. The walk took twodays; and Father Paquet, moved to tears bysuch an act of faith, lodged the weary pilgrimsin the rectory where they talked long into thenight.

The next day, after Mass and commu-nion, he praised them publicly for their fervor.«Such sentiments are worthy of the firstChristians,» said he, «and of your fathers whowere always remarkable for their piety, theirdevotion to the church and its clergy.» TheAcadians expressed -their wish to have himcome and visit them in the summer, but he ex-claimed, <<.No, I will go right now, even if Ihave to walk night and day!» Fifteen days lat-er he was in St. Basile, to the great joy of theold men and women, and the children who hadnot been able to make the trip.

With all the facilities we now have to at-tend church services, this might be a good timeto ask ourselves, in all sincerity: «If Sundaymass became non-obligatory, would I still go?»

THE «COUREURS DES BOIS»

Although the Indians were without dis-pute the first inhabitants of Madawaska, thevalley was perhaps best known by the intrepidcoureurs des bois. During the struggle be-tween France and England in 1755 to 1760, theroute of the St.John and Madawaska Rivers wasthe «Key of Canada», permitting the Frenchto detour strategic points at the mouth of theSt. Lawrence. In 1756, there were two Frenchposts: Grand Falls and Lake Temiscouata.Madawaska was a relay post for the couriers,the miiitia and messengers of the king whopassed this way.

162

Theirs was a hazardous and perilousfunction, especially in time of war. At the riskof their lives, for fifty dollars a trip, theycovered more than 600 miles, in bark canoes insummer and on snowshoes in winter. Thisthey accomplished in less than 15 d'ys, averag-ing 40 miles a day. In dark homespun, animalhide moccasins, gun on the shoulder, sheathedknife in belt, pipe between the teeth, brave andstubborn as airetonsio, superstitious as Mo-hawks, they went their way, faithful to Godand proud of their mission in life. Those whocould not read memorized the letters and char-acters of their messages; then, they re!ayedthem to the recipient who often could not readnor write either. Staying overnight on a deliv-ery, they recounted all the news seen on theway, often embellishing messages with com-pliments that were highly appreciated.

The most famous of these were JosephDufour, the brothers Louis and Michel Mercureand Jean Baptiste Martin. One night in 1783,Joseph Dufour (who allegedly brought thenews of our independence here after the Rev-olutionary War) and his companion ArchibaldMcNeil were assassinated at the mouth of theSiegas River, about ,6 miles from St. Leonard,by two Indians who were after «fire-water».One of the murderers, Charles-Nichau Nofste,was executed at Quebec; the other, FrancoisL'Harguenion, was saved by the intervention ofhis chief, Francois-Xavier, at Quebec the fol-lowing year.

By 1850 the American side had 4 postoffices from Grand Falls to St. Francis. Mailwas transported by horse drawn vehicle, withthe driver announcing his arrival by sounding ahorn. Postage stamps came into use, 2 centscovering delivery to all parts of the UnitedStates and Canada. Before that, a fee was paidaccording to distance traveled. Newspaperswere still a luxury article, and the few availablewere passed around from hand to hand.Couriers were still used for long distances and

official messages, until progress in transporta-tion made this honorable occupation obsolete.

NOTES ON THE VALLEY

The oldest record of exploration of theSt. John Valley goes back to 1612. A map ofthe region was drawn in 1699, 'ndicating fourIndian settlements on the river.

* * *

The Indians of New Brunswick andMaine, the Malecites, Abenaquis, Medoctetes,along with the Micmacs of Acadiak, constitut-ed one big family.

* * *

The Malecites, a tribe of about 5,000,lived in the St. John Valley, and were alsocalled the Etchemins. The Abenaquis, num-bering about. 10,000, lived along the Mainecoast. The Etchemins coast, now New Bruns-wick, was a territory rich in furs.

ST. BASILE AND ST. DAVID

The three pivots of all durable society -religion, family, and propel-4V, existed from thefirst in Acadia and served as h base for its devel-opment. The Catholic faith was as solidlyrooted in the Acadian soul as the okl oaks inFrance. Our forefathers left us valuable lessonsof valor and energetic spirit, which are not tobe disdained in this time when too many driftinto an indifference for all that is noble andethical.

The old Mission volante de Ste-Anne desPays-Bas automatically disappeared in June of1785 when about 15 canoes with a few familiesarrived on our shores. The numerous Cyrswent further down to L'Anse aux Croques,while others, such as the Mercures, chose thenorth side.

Only two years later, in 1787, Father Le-clerc was saying Mass in a little birch barkcovered chapel erected by the colonists. Thereare diverse ideas on the actual site. Some sayit was near where St. Basile church is today,not far from the river. Others claim it, and thefirst cemetery was at St. David, a couple ofmiles below the actual church. There was noresident priest until 1792 when the parish ofSt. Basile was officially founded, nuking it oneof the most ancient parishes since the expul-sion of the Acadians. The only two older oneswere Memramcook and Caraquet.

In 1793 a new church was up, made ofbig pieces of squared lumber, measuring SS feetlong by 35 feet wide, with a large cross insteadof a spire. It was blessed with pompousceremony and a solemn Mass. The rustyvoices, hoarse with emotion, silent for 40years, alternated with that of the pastor andechoed ih the depths of the forest. The can-ticles recalled heart-rending memories to thosewho had heard them at Grand-Pre so long ago.Following this, Joseph Daigle, who had beenfirst marguiller, or church warden, and wasnow an old man, turned his duties over to hissuccessor, Alexandre Albert, declaring withlegitimate pride that all expenses paid, thereremained in the treasury sixty-nine louis d'or.This church had 27 pews in 4 rows. SimonHebert had the first two along the wall, andthe others were as follows: Jacques Cyr,Michel Mercure, Paul Thibodeau, ChrysostomeCyr, Jean Levasseur, Joseph Edouard Cyr,Joseph Thibodeaux Francois Martin, JosephCyr, Francois Cyr, Pierre Duperre, Michel Cyr,Joseph Saucier, Jean-Marie Cyr, Joseph Daigle,Jean Francois Thibodeau, Louis Mercute,Simon Beaulieu, Olivier Thibodeau, ZacharieAy otte, Joseph Michaud, Pierre Lizotte,Benjamin Theriault, David Dufour, Joseph Du-fOU r.

163

parish. He confirmed 186, including 58 In-dians, ranging from 12 to 80 years of age. Thefirst priest from the region to be ordained(1830) was Prosper Cyr. His father, Eloi Cyr,and stepmother drowned in the St. Lawrencewhile on their way to his ordination. Crushedby this tragedy, he himself died within a fewmonths.

Several years later the residents on thisside of the river sent a petition to Msgr. DavidW. Bacon, bishop of Portland, asking admissionto his diocese. They listed several reasons, suchas the great inconvenience for them of crossingthe river to accomplish their religious duties.Many had drowned, lost horses or vehicles, orwere deprived of the last rites during theformation or breaking up of the ice. Also,Maine laws demanded a report of all marriages,births and deaths, which they had neglected tosend be.catise Canadian priests were under bish-ops from St. John and Chatham. A similar pe-tition, signed by Louis Cormier and 1,018others, was also sent to Pope Piux IX, addingthat he please send them a French speakingpriest.

In 1871 the parish of St. David was thusfounded, and named in honor of Bishop DavidBacon. The church was constructed on terrainfurnished by Mrs. Ephrem Michaud, with Rev.Sweron serving, although not in residence.Until 1881 the parish had several differentpriests serving under his administration. ThenFather Eugene Bernard took charge as firstresident pastor. He re-established the financialsystem, repaired and finished t1 church, and

114er everywhere. He was succeeded byFate,:. Gory, who constructed the actual rec-tory. The., came Fathers Etnaud, Huot whoconstructed the actual church, Pelletier and:viartin.

* * *

At the dawn of the 19th century, thebishop of Quebec found 446 perQ-ins in this St. David is called the cradle of Madawaska.

164

WHAT'S IN A NAME?

Acadians descend mostly from the ex-pedition of Razilly in 1632 when several menof nobility came to Acadia, a few bringing theirfamilies, Many surnames in the St. John Valleyare those of the early colonists of Port Royal.Some have become Anglicized, others havechanged so that they are not recognizable,while still others have disappeared entirely.The familiar ones, besides those of the firstfamilies mentioned earlier, are: Babin, Blan-chard, Doucette, Landry, Morin, Paradis,Poirier, Richard, Robichaut, Arsenault, Pelle-tier, Pintte, Voisine, Roy, Toussaint, and La-gasse, The Daigles came from Anjou, and wereDaigre or D'Aigle; Cyr was Sire; and Pitre be-came Peter.

The same Christian names appeared inevery family. While doing research it is not un-usual to come across two children from thesame family, of different ages, who bear thesame name. (Perhaps one was named afteranother who had died). The most commonwere: Marie, Marguerite, Anne, Catherine,Francois, Pierre, Michel, Rene, Charles, An-toine, Guillaume and Jacques.

Names were also used for functional pur-poses. For example, if someone of German orEnglish extraction came, the foreign name washard to pronounce, so he became L'sllemand(the German) or L'anglais (the Englishman).When a German named Franck arrived, hisname was accepted as such because its Frenchphonetic counterpart was easy.

When a family was related to anothername through generations, double names wereused. Examples are: Roy dit Desjardins,Hudon dit Beaulieu. There was one calledLouis Gatte, dit Bellefleur, dit L'Oiseau. Anold citizen affirms that one of the first Belle-fleurs in the region was named Loison, ofwhich L'Oiseau would be a corruption.

French Acadians, in retaliation for theEnglish actions against them, named theiranimals, Jim, Blackie, Jess, etc... so they couldhurl invectives at them, even use the whipwhen necessary, while bringing down the wrathof heaven on such names. The English them-selves are still called les Wes carees or les grosses

tetes.

Then there was the giving of nicknames,of which our race seems to be so fond. A cer-tain line of Cyrs was Les Croques. The originalcroques was Jean Cyr, born at Beaubassin in1710, ancient soldier of Father LeLoutre andfather of nine sons. He hated the English withsuch a passion that his friends would tell him,oCroques-les!» or df the English bite.you, bitethem back!» Many other names related direct-ly to family characteristics, such as lean orstout, such as Le Sourd, etc. Some people didnot mind the name calling, while others wereonly called these names behind their backs, orpurposely to make them furious.

Joseph was abbreviated Jos, then pro-nounced Yoe. In one instance, both father andson were Joseph, so the younger was YoeBonhomme (Joseph a Joseph, not being asufficient distinction).

Whatever the names were, history statesthat when Acadia was being colonized,France's minister, Cardinal Richelieu, gaveorders that all colonists had to be ardent Cath-olics, of good moral character, and with excel-lent reputations.

* * *

CANDL MAKING

Before kerosene or gas lamps, the candlewas the only means of illumination, and everyhome made its own water candles, or chandellea la baguette.

A great caldron of hot melted suet wasset beside a tub of cold water. Four or fivetwisted wicks were attached, with a weight atthe end of each, to a horizontal stick. Thesewere dipped in the suet, pulled out, plunged incold water, the process being repeated untilthe candles were of proper thickness.

The candle was lumpy and rough; itsmoked and gave off a limited circle of yel-lowish red. But, at once humble and proud,its plucky rays lit the patient labors of ourmothers. They guided her bare feet to thecradle nand were faithful even unto death,when all during the wake-they kept silentvigil at the head of the deceaseld.

Blessed at Candlemas Day, thesecandles were lit for protection against thefury of lightning and sudden floods. Latercame the candle mold, and suet was replacedby wax. But how simple life was by the lightof the water candle!

WIVES AND MOTHERS

Colonization cannot-succeed without thehelp of women. It was our ;mothers who pre-vented our race from disappearing in the massof the Anglo-Saxon population. It was theywho, with the faith of Brittany and the songsof France, perpetuated in this vast Arnerica aproud generation. They were the conservativeelement, the stabilizing influence that affixed a

displaced people to the soil, with their routinelives and ancestral habits.

Back in the 17th century, the Canadianshad le den du roi when they married. Louis XIVaccorded 'a premium to all young men whomarried before 20, girl., before 16, and motherto families of 12 chileiren. So the most authen-tic wealth of these people, wh, J had neither in-fluence. privilege, nor distinct;on in the worldof affairs. was their nun.eious offspring. Onechild followed the other so closely that in

165

neighboring families, one might have 18 chil-dren, the other 22.

What the young woman did not bring tomarriage in dowry, she furnished in the hones-ty of her soul, in her indomitable courage andin the spirit of sacrifice requireti to raise a largefamily. She cooked, hauled water and wood,did the laundry in wooden tubs, made soap,fashioned candles from suet and tallow, andlearned the different uses of herbs and sootsfor treating disease.

She had nothing to say in the affairs ofchurch or village; but if the .nen made the laws,women made the customs. How heavy is thedebt we owe to these generous women who, bythe fruit." of their untiring labor, have modeled,affirmed and guided the developmeh; of somany little beings! In their homes they pre-served the language, the religious and happy at-mosphere that was sacred to th,Ar ancestors.The soul of the child, the man of tomorrow,was mo`Aded by their e.,:a-aple, their lullabiesawi cherished traditions

White men were more inclined to looktoward the future, women conserved the ele-ment of the past. To Al heroic Acadianwomen we owe a tribute of admiration andrecopition. Along with our physical life, wederived from them the best that is in us: ourCiristian faith, and a family spirit that sus-tained the French resistance in diverse regionswhere continue to multiply the old Acadiannames of 1671-1700. Theirs was a strengthmore powerful than that of all their enemies,that inclined them to pray for heir tormentors.It was Faith. Only a deeply rooted faith cansave the human soul from despair as It ex-periences crucifying trials, and that has beenthe secret of their survival. Theirs is a storyof tragedy ane heroism, of hate and love, ofpersecution and triumph, truly a splendidheritage that no riches could buy.

171

Ii

166

SOAP MAKING

When spring came, the family of l'ancien

temps had a large accumulation of grease to bemade into soap. To make lye, the housewifeadded hardwood ashes to cold water and rosinin a wooden tub. This was mixed well and al-lowed to stand until settled. The clear liquidwas dipped with china pots or jars, not metalnor granite.

The fat was added and this was broughtto a rolling boil, while someone watched, readyto throw in a handful of snow if the mixturethreatened to boil over. When the soap hadreached the right consistency, it made a ball incold water or threaded from the wooden spoon.Salt was added, and the caldron was allowed to

cool overnight.

The next day, 'the soap that had sepa-rated to the top was cut into irregular blocksfor the year's supply, the bottom liquid waspotash (de la potasse) and was used to washrugs and especially dirty clothes.

LI TOUW DE LA FAUX

The eleven ear old boy had cut oatswith the scythe a afternoon, 'ails father orother men coming to sharpen it every once ina while because it became dull oftener thanwhen cutting hay or other grain. He was proudbecause with his help, the other men couldfinish their own work much earlier than theyhad anticipated.

The next day, however, he awoke with aheadache accompanied by fever and aches allover, such as he had never had before. Therewas absolutely no position he could take tomake himself comfortable. His mother hadnim drink infusions and was at a loss as to what

to do for him. Then the wise father said,

Now I know what the matter is II a le tour

de la faux!» This happened over-exercising cer-

tain muscles; and the only remedy, besidestime, was to go back and do more of the same

work.

TWO CHOSEN PEOPLE

Two devoted souls, consecrated to Godand sent to St. Basile in 1880, deserve specialmention when we study the history of Mada-waska. They are Rev. Louis Napoleon Dugaland Rev. Sister Maillet.

In 1873 four Hospitalieres de St. Josepharrived from Montreal at the request of Msgr.

Rogers. In November, there were seven withMother Davignon as superior, and classes andthe hospital opened the following year. Thepoverty and misery, the many nights whenthey went to bed cold and hungry, the utterdesolation of the cloister are still rememberedby some of the older sisters. Although theydid not refuse charity, they did not ask br iteither, and outsiders were more apt to pitythan to help them.

In 1880 Rev. Sister Maillet was sentto then., a daughter of God that will live for-ever in the memory of those fortunate enoughto have known her. Cheerful and loving, shenursed the adolescent Madawaska with atenderness that surpasses that of a mother forher sick child. She murmured into its soul,

exasperated to the point revolt againt a lottoo hard to endure, her sweet words of en-couragement. On its obstinate forehead she

relit the noble intelligence imprisoned there byindigence and neglect. For more than a quarterof a century her hospital was the only refuge ofthe sick, open to poor and rich alike. On hergolden anniversary, one priest said of her, «Ifthere are no sick in heaven, Mother Maillet will

not want to stay.).

In 1885 the angular stone of the actualconvent in St. Basile was blessed. Today, itstill stands on the historic hill at the center of

the most beautiful scenery of the valley,reminder of an era of veritable progress.

Msg. L. N. Dugal was also a distin-guished fnunder of Madawaska. Of its citizens,he had this to say, in part,

«Om people are Catholics atheart. They prove it everyday by insisting to theauthorities for the forma-tion 'If parishes and regularservices, close contact withthe priests, and better prac-tice of their religion. Thespirit of la famille parols-stale is very active herethey love the parish, theChurch, and the priest isrespected. The persistentfaith of the parishionersand the protection ofDivine Providence are clear-ly evident here, when wesee that from 31 families in1792, there are so manyparishes flourishing withresident priests, and mis-sions that will soon becomeparishes themselves.*

(Nov. 1919)

VENERABLE OLD CUSTOMS

Les messes blanches were Acadian reu-nions in the parish church under the leadershipof one of the oldest residents. They were thefamily prayer of the orphans of Acadia whohad neither residing priests nor missionaries.At this touching ceremony, the people sangtogether the Kyrie, the Gloria, and the Credo.They read the ordinary of the mass and thegospel. A pious reading replaced the sermon.Then, while the grown-ups chatted in front ofthe church, a devoted woman taught the basicprinciples of the religion to the children, and

167

had them sing a few canticles.

The old parishioner also received wed-ding vows (which were regularized when adriest came), baptized the newborn, assistedthe dying and traced the sign of the cross overcoffins and graves.

This wei.7 on in Acadia, with the approv-al of the clergy, until the 19th century. Theone presiding had to sit in the nave with thefaithful and dress.iii ordinary clothes; he didnot have the right to say «Dominus vobiscumo,but could say eDomine exaudi orationemmeant) and the bells rang at the Magnificatof vespers!

LE PAIN BENIT

The blessi4 of the bread was a customprevalent in the 1800's; it did not replace HolyCommunion. On Sunday, one of the moreprosperous farmers would bring to church aloaf of bread. The priest blessed it, then it waspassed around to the congregation, and every-one took a pinch from it, made the sign of thecross, and ate.

4

BLESSING OF THE SEEDS

At the end of a Mass before springplanting, the wiriest would bless a large bowlfull of mixed seeds. Then the farmers wouldeach bring a handful home, to be sorted outaccording to kind. These were the first to beplanted, then the rest would be mixed with theregular seed, This practice was given up withthe coming of mechanical sowers, becausethere was always the chance that a few bles-sed seeds would remain in the hopper.

From Longfellow's Evangeline...

Solemnly down the street came the parish priest,and the children

Paused in their play to kiss the hand extendedto bless them.

173

168

Reverend walked he among them; and up rosematrons and maidens,

Hailing his slow approach with words ofaffectionate welcome...

Priest and pedagogue both in the village, hadtaught them their letters

Out of self-same back, with the hymns ofthe church and the plain-song.

(The plain-song was a Roman Catholic chant.Knowing the plain chant means being able tosing by note).

LA TANTE DU MADAWASKA

In the 1790's there were about thirtyfamilies in Madawaska. Besides cultivation ofthe soil, the industries of the time were maplesugar, fur commerce, and exportation by waterof lumber which was much in demand for theconstruction of the English ships. Already thecolony was exporting grain, having more thanit could consume. But the severe trial thatnearly always comes to new colonies was tobring famine. Two years of floods and Septem-ber frosts destroyed nearly all the crops, sothat 1797 became known as the year of lagrande disette, or la misEre noire . . . the year ofthe great famine.

After the last frost of 1796, the rest ofthe crop was snowed under by one of the hard-est winters known. Many colonists left forFredericton or went up the St. Lawrence forthe winter. Those who stayed lived exclusive-ly on wild meat and herbs.

At the end of a particularly long periodof waiting and anguish when the men weregone and snow had fallen for eight days with-out stopping, all food was gone... the last ofthe boiled wheat, the last cow slaughtered andeaten. It was during those long days of hungerand anxiety that Marguerite Blanche Thibo-deau, wife of Joseph Cyr, accomplished herwonders of heroidm and charity. She was the

angel protector of the weak, the infirm andsick, and proved to be the saving strength ofthe mirable colonists. On snowshoes, with aload of clothing and provisions that she woulddo without or that she had collected, she wentfrom door to door distributing a ray of hope.Laying out the dead, snatching from the gravethose who were surely doomed without herhelp, she gave her care and lifted the morale ofthose who had given in to their misfortune. Atlast, one night the men returned, with the bodyof one who had died of privation and cold, andanother dying, but also with a 'lade food. Thecolony was saved.

Tante Blanche, as she was known, whenall her charitable works were revealed, becamethe object of general veneration. She cured thesick, chased out evil spirits, found lost objects,reconciled enemies, and brought good luck justby wishing it. She softened the most hardenedsouls, reformed blasphemers, and brought con-niving cheaters to live exemplary lives, in themost tender piety. Even hopeless drunkardswere more afraid of her word of admonition orthe menace of her fist than of a bishop!

More than one mustache was wet withtears when she was lowered in her quasi-royalgrave. She was the real aunt of a great numberof young families in Madawaska, Leblanc onher mother's side, she was the granddaughter ofRene Leblanc, the notary of Grand-Pre men-tioned in Evangeline. She died in 1810, andwas exposed in the church of St. Basile, aprivilege never before accorded and to very fewsince.

(The Rene Leblanc in question had 20children and about fifty grandchildren at thetime of the deportation. Becoming illy he wasleft at New York with his wife and two young-est children, the others were all dispersed todifferent places. Later he went to Philadelphia,where he found three other children. He diedwithout anyone knowing more about him).

174

THE WARP AND WOOF OF IT

In every house the spinning wheel andthe loom, perhaps with an unfinished web ofwoolen cloth or flaxen crash upon it, were inevidence. French Acadian women were knownfor their remarkably beautiful needlework,which their daughters learned at an early age.

Before cloth could be bought, it washomegrown and handmatie. Flax, which isbest adapted to medium loam and clay soils,grew very well along the valley. A wholefamily coopetated in pulling up the flax stalksby hand, taking care to leave the fibers as longas possible. Since there was no machinery,every laborious task in this preparation wasdone by the combined efforts of all able-bodied members of the family, who worked forweeks on end. To the extent which machineshave freed people from such combined work,the great family unity has been weakened.

After the stalks had been pulled out,they were bound and set in shocks for drying.Dried stalks were then deseeded (battre aufleau) and the seeds were winnowed in thewind and saved for sowing and for medicine.The deseeded straw could then be retted todissolve the gums that bind the fibers to thewoody portions of the stem. This was doneeither by spreading it thinly on the ground( dew retting), or immersing it in ponds, vatsor sluggish streams for several days until thebark loosened sufficiently to be readily peeledoff. After being dried again, the stalks wereput through a braie to break up the pithy coreand loosen it from its fibrous sheath. Thiscore was completely removed by a processcalled ecorcer, here. locally. ecoeher. This wasthe beating of the outside covering of the plantwith a wooden object until it loosened and fellfrom the stalk. Then the short tangled fiberswere completely combed out with a specialcomb, leaving long straight fibers called linefibers, which were further combed and twistedint() yarn on the spinning wheel and stored for

169

weaving during the long winter mofittis. Aboutten hours of labor were required to prepare apound of linen thread.

The loom was made of pine or cedar.Girls learned to mount the warp threads on therack and transfer it to the loom, to wind theskeins from the spindles and fill the spools ancli.bobbins. Wool cloth for clothing was woven inherringbone or diamond design, according topreference. Some housewives used cotton andwool for warp and woof while others used allwool. The resultant cloth was the width ofhalf a blanket, so that two widths were sewnside by side, then brushed with a wool combuntil soft as angora. A good worker couldmake about a yard a day if she worked fromearly morning until dusk.

Tow, which was the short and tangledfibers, could be, carded to produce strands ofparallel fibers which were then spun into coarseyarns. Worn out clothes were unraveled andthe wool recarded, spun and woven into rugs.The fine yarns were used in high quality house-hold linens and dress goods, while the coarseryarns were for crash, twine and heavier fabrics.

For tinting, tea and coffee were popular;also blue indigo and alder branches boiled inwater to make couperose, copperas. Blackstrands were alternated with white to makegray:

A few looms still stand dusty and forgot-ten in attics, their worn benches pushed asideforever. Spinning wheels are mostly used asornaments and souvenirs of yesterday.

ON GROWING OLD

The old couple sit and watch their greatgrandchild in the cradle. Dulled to gisay, thecorners rounded by hard wear, the points ofthe rockers worn away by the touch of many apatient foot, the cradle is as old as the familyitself. All is well because the lineage continues.

170

Truly blessed are the hearths where many abirth comes to cheer the inhabitants'and bringthem perpetual youth.

It seems that not so long ago they cameto live here, and continued carving out the do-main his father had started. Already they areold, and every tomorrow is more uncertain be-cause all things pass away, and we along withthem. For over half a century they have sup-ported, comforted, assisted and endured, theyare weary and do not much fear death. In-stead, they spend a great deal of time in thedeep philosophic calm of the aged, often slip-ping into short sudden slumbers. Their res-ponsibilities have been relinquished and theirreligious duties lightened. They are not ex-pected to go to Mass or to keep the rules offasting, these concessions being made becauseof the disabilities of old age. The virtuous lifeof humble people fashions its own reward - amind at ease, with no regrets.

Outside their home stretches the farm...fields of barley, wheat, oats, hay and buck-wheat. Then there is uncleared land, and asugar cabin on the far horizon. Silently hedraws on his pipe, the old Normand type, andhis faded eyes linger at the spot where he cuthis first tree. They wander toward the rockthat his grandfather rolled near the barn, andover the rich brown soil that his ancestors'plows turned over and over. There are otherfarms, but most of his contemporaries aredead. In the distance, the church steeplegleams in the last rays of the sun that is settingbehind the cemetery. eTh re they sleep - Jean,Remi, Baptiste, Joseph, nd so many otherswith memories, traditions and beliefs that areidentical to his own. There he, also, will soonrest with sa Heine beside him always. It hasbeen a good life, just the same.

According to custom the bien has beenlegally turned over to their inheriting son, andthey have taken a life support mortgage. Hetakes out a yellowing copy from the cupboard

in the grande charnbre and examines it again.He cannot read, but the characters are etchedin his mind. The very fact that they are writ-ten in English, 'vhich he does not understand,imparts them with a special importance. Itreads somewhat like this:

Provided nevertheless, thattheir son and daughter-in-law(named) will suitably supportand maintain them with goodmeat, drink, clothing, nursingand medicine in sickness and inhealth during the remainder oftheir natural lives and providethem with suitable, comfortablehouseroom in their home; andat their death they shall be suit-ably interred according to therites of the Holy Roman Catho-lic Church, and there be said forthem two Requiem MasSes andten High Masses and twelve LowMasses after their death for therepose of their departed souls...or at their option shall pay themthe sum of $150 the first Mayevery year during the remainderof their natural life, or such por-tion thereof as shall be requiredby them; this deed shall remain.in full force; otherwise, it shallbe void.

Both their X's have been put there,between their proper and family names,that are written by a stranger, more literatethan they.

What more can a man and w\fe ask for?Hand in handOthey kneel' in front of the blackcrucifix on the wall and start the evening prayer... «Au nom du Pere, du Fils, et du Saint-

Esprit ...»

By rights, the cradle in a familybelonged to the oldest daughter to bring as partof her dowry when she married.

FOR DUST THOU ART

The church bells toll, their hollow soundechoing in the chill November air... three lan-guid strokes on each bell: a man is dead. (Seefootnote). Then the bells all toll together, eachknell dying away before the other is sounded.

A pine coffin is being made for the onewho now lies sur les planches. These are theboards laid side by side, covered with a whitesheet. La grande chambre, which is rarely op-ened, smells of candle smoke, and is slowlybeing filled with people. Some have come topray and offer their sympathies, others simplyout of curiosity. There is a homemade crêpeat the door, and at the right on entering, asmall table with a blessed candle, holy waterand a branch of palm.

At night more friends arrive, so thatchairs have to be borrowed from the neighbors.The men sit on benches lining the walls, chatabout crops and the weather, and make com-plimentary remarks on the life, ancestry, andcharacter of the deceased. When a persondies, his virtues tend to be extolled and hisfaults soft-pedalled. A grayish-blue smokehangs over the room like mist over a plowedfield. The women fold their shawls againsttheir breasts and utter pious sighs. Others, morepersonally involved, with reddened eyes andclenched lips, travel from the kitchen to thebier, shake their heads and leave with downcastlooks. Sometimes children, or a spouse, sitfor hours, just staring at the face they soon willsee no more. Every few hours someone kneelsand starts a rosary, and all answer . . . eeQue sondme et celles de sous les Niles trepan& repos-ent en paix par la miserkorde de Dieu . .

Food and drink are ordered by custom.For three days. the table is laden with meats,

171

fat pork spread, eggs, jam, maple syrup, molas-ses, milk and cream. Whoever wants to eat hasonly to reach out, and some move' in for thewhole period, for just that purpose. At mid-night there is the traditional lunch. Oftendrinks from a common jug have been passedarouhd outside, or in the barn, all evening; andjokes and stifled laughter are overheard.

The morning of the funeral arrives. Atearful look, a last kiss on the brow, a pat onthe hand, a time that wrenches the heart.Members of the family save a lock of hair, acrucifix or the coffin handles for a souvenir.The deceased is put in the coffin and the coverscrewed tin, All are ready for the funeral rites.

The most intimate friend of the deceasedwalks first, carrying a black cross. Then, fourbearers walk along the coffin, which rides on ahorse-drawn wagon. The temperature droppedsharply at dawn and now a cutting sleet ofsnow pellets drives slantways, ruffling the hors-es' manes.

And the knell tolls... the little church ispacked with parishioners. The priest is in blackvestments . .. Requiem aeternam dona eis,Domine . . In the balcony the choir has beenwaiting . . . Et lux perpetua luceat eis . Ev-

eryone is silent. It is now the sequence ...Diesirae, dies ilia . .

«Dreaded day, that day of ire...» Nowthe absolution over the catafalque .. . Requies-cat in pace. Bursting into fresh sobs, the mourn-ers file out behind the coffin as the choir in-tones a canticle about our meeting again inheaven . . . Parents cheris, le pars pour l'autrevie . . . All cling close together and, if the weath-er permits, stay until slow ropes lower the cof-fin in its grave. Each in turn throws a handfulof earth and leaves, some so reluctantly thatthey have to be led away. The dead rests inpeace...

A wife in mourning was required to wear

172

complete black, with a veil (une pleureuse)from the front of her hat to the hem of herdress, for two years; then half mourning forat least another year. Men wore black armbands if they could not afford a black suit,black ties, black or white shirts, black borderedhandkerchiefs, and a three inch square of blackcrepe on the right side of their hats. For a yearafter, the family did not attend public meetings,weddings, parties, card playing or any otherfestivities.

*(The knell (or .glas) for a woman: The bellsring twice in slow succession, three times).

THE WONDROUS FOODSOF OUR CHILDHOOD

The forest pressed hard upon the roughbuildings, but the noon sun drew a golden pathon the broad stretch which axes had cleared,and it was time to come in to dinner. Simple

peasants, the color of the soil, they came in toa simple meal. They loved du lard, preferring itto partfidge and hare. After a bowl of peasoup, salt pork and boiled potatoes and hottea, they filled their saucers with molasses inwhich they soaked large pieces of bread. Thenthey leaned back to enjoy une touche.

How good were the foods of 'our child-hood, perhaps so much better to us than to

strangers! Possibly it is because we associatethem with family, security, love, and freedomfrom worry and care. Let us recall some ofthem.

Potatoes were the staple food. The old-time woodsman method of cooking them(sliced raw and laid on top of the stove wherethey sizzled and toasted, then salted and but-tered) has yet to be beat. How about thosecooked in hot coals, raked out black as a cin-der, with the insides white and fluffy? Thendes palates fricassees, do you remember?

Meat was fresh game or slaughtered live-

stock, which could not be kept long In win-ter, some was frozen. Families arranged ex-et- 'rips so that when one was .slaughtered, hev ,uld return the amount borrowed from theother. When meat could not be frozen, it wassalted down in barrels of heavy brine.

Square tailed trout and togue werenative to our waters. The former has de-creased, while the latter, which was unexcelledfor chowder, has entirely disappeared. Salmonwas stocked in 1896, and smelt some timelater. Deer came only after the country was op-ened to agriculture because food was tooscarce before. Moose, however, was plentiful;but caribou disappeared at the beginning of thecentury.

Butter was churned by nand, the butter-milk immersed in the brook in earthenwarejugs to be used for drinking or in cooking.

Acadians had a marked taste for home-made pastry, especially des pou tines, a type,ofdough based on flour or scraped potatoes.Cut and rolled into balls, the dough wasdropped into boiling broth, where it cookedand rose to the surface.

Not to be overlooked are buckwheatpancakes, or plogues. These were either thinand turned over, or raised. The latter weremade with leaven or yeasty residue that waskept in a wooden bucket from meal to meal,They raised hot and light, with many tiny holesspurting a mouth-watering steam, and were notturned over but stacked and kept hot.

There were cabbage oup, wild berries(fresh in summer, jams in winter), des grillades,

du pain de buck whit, de la tourtiere, or porkpies. 'The earthen cellar floor, cool but abovefreezing, was covered with pumpkins, carrots,beets, turnips, potatoes and onions, Croque-

cignols, a kind of raised doughnut, made.of around piece of dough, slashed and twisted,then fried in deep fat, was a holiday specialty,

(These are called beignes in the Province ofQiebec). They were served, with homemadewine - either dandelion, choke cherry, beet,patte d'ole or chasseparell.

Before table tea could be bought in1830, tea was made from branches of Ameri-can larch or tamarack, steeped in hot water.Coffee was barley, roasted in a shallow panuntil brown. Beer was concocted from fir tops,soaked in a barrel with yeast and molasses.This was fermented for a few days, and when itsettled the clear liquor that resulted was con-sidered not bad at all. On holidays wasbrought from the bottom of le grand coffre abottle of rum - worth a week's. work - butfully appreciated by our ancettors whose loveof un p'tit coup has not diminished with thegenerations.

To drink to excess was to virer unetanante de brosse or prendre une brosse.

OLD EXPRESSIONS

How many do you remember?

When the grandfather says, «Pal nonante(90) ans», he speaks the language of three cen-turies ado. The tr..ther who says to her littleboy, «'.1a hucher ton Ore au bout du champ»,uses the old verb hucne which comes fromthe Latin hue (hither) and means «call in aloud voice».

The Acadian said farme for ferme. sarclefor cercle, sarrent for serpent; thus, rvoudraissewer mon p'ti: darnier.

Pure Acadian: Jai rem's les hardes demon pere a Joseph, pour qu'il les y donne.

Superlatives used by the peasants: Elleest belle, belle. II fait chaud, chaud. .1`.6.tais

fciehe, ftiche.

Many exaggerations were used to express

173

a point: II est lad; ca fait peer! Une tempete,Fa faisait trembler.

For a large quantity; 11 y en a; en veux-tu? N'en v'lir!

Someone is angry: II mord dans le ;et..

Someone is lean: II est raide maigre.

Let me . . Tchitte-moi faire; Let me get. Tchitte-moi alter ci ercher.

A woman is expecting a baby: Elle vaetre mulade. Elk est pour acheier. 51.1e espere.Elle guette (pronounced djette).

Wome -s: Les creyatures1

Young nmi: Les jeunesses.

Young boy: Une r'rit mousse.

Boy friend: Un cavalier.

Girl friend: Um? blonde. (This had norelation to the color of !lair; most Acadian girlswere brunette).

Adolescents: grandettes.

Having A dominating or haughty manner:Avoir les voiles en ciseaux.

A housewarming: Pendre la cremaillere.

They designated a place by. the peoplewho lived there: La route des Beaulieus, LeRuisseau a Violette; Platain des Dufours, Gag-non Brook, L'Anse aux Cr6ques.

What kind of people they are: De quelbois ils se chauffene.

They a-e . : the same kind: Its se chauf-fent du meme bois.

174

A deceased person exposed during thewake: Ilea sur les planches.

To go bury Someone: After porter en terre.

Where did she say she was going? Oh qu 'adit qu 'a va?

At twilight: entre chien et loup.

I'll have a little drink: Ten prendrais binune larme.

Starting something backwards: mettre lacharrue devant les boeufs.

Someone brave, fearless: 11 ne recule pasd'une semelle.

Someone wealthy: 11 est riche! C'est lebout des chiffres!

Someone has become suspicious: 11 asenti le fer.

To lick the lips over something tasty orsmelling delicious: se tripper les babines.

A very chaste people, Acadians were reti-cent on matters of sex: Un mouton de gardewas un Wier; un male entier, un etalon.

In France, during the reign of Louis XV,us: jabot was the front of the shirt: With ourfathers, the word meant what was in the shirt.Consequently, the wcrd was never mentionedin public or in front of children.

There was very little blaspheming ir. theold days. People disguised words instead, suchas: pardienne, saladienne, satan-diable, satre-dienne. Then the English introduced to themthe word «godam, . This they could not swallow,so they changed X to gadelle. Still, it was a veryrelieved old man who walked out of the confes-sional after having confessed «d'avoir gadellercityq fois».

SCHOOLS THE OLD AND THE NEW

Prior to the first organized elementaryschools in Madawaska, the literacy of the popu-btion was at an all time low. It is said that someambulatory teachers made efforts to tutor in thehomes, but their pay was at a minimum, and sowas their knowledge.

At the first town meeting in 1869, the se-lectmen Olivier Sirois, Michel Cyr and HyppoliteCyr were also made trustees of the ministerialand school fund, which consisted of $250 forthat year for the support of the schools.

At the second town meeting Honore He-bert was made a one-man school committee.The town was divided into 7 school districts,whose agents were: Michel Cyr, Baptiste Four-nier, Vital Hebert, Vital Dufour, Auguste Dionne,Joseph Daigle and Simon Beaulieu. It was pro-posed to raise another $250 for the support ofschools, but this was defeated by vote. How-ever, a special meeting was called in May, and$325 was voted, as required by State Legislature.

AS the populatiqn of Madawaska increased,new districts were created, until by 1890 therewere 15. It was decided to build a free HighSchool houso , $60 was voted to buy schoolbooks, and subscriptions, besides the regulartaxes, were offered by local residents. It is in-teresting to see who the pioneers of our HighSchool were; Beloni Hebert volunteered to fur-nish all the windows; Eloi Albert pledged $30;Arthur Daigle, Fleurant Cyr, Laurent Fournier,Jean Cyr, Michel Martin, Vilas Cyr, Vital Belle-flew and Denis Hebert pledged $10 each; Isi-d. e Daigle, Regis I. Daigle and Abraham Du-four, $5 each; Germain Dionne pledged $2. InJune, 1890, Madawaska adopted as legal text-boc';s for use in the pubic schools Harpers Read-ers and Copy Boc4cs, Harpers Arithmetic andHarrington's Speller. Eloi Albert was then Su-perintending School Committee. It was alsovoted that the School Committee would havefull management of the Free High School fund,

)

IP I

with the following men as trustees: ArthurDaigle. delonie Albert and Vital Bellefleur.

`Ckst, By 1891 we find the amount of $325 vot-ed fo !tools; $200 for the High School; $60for boo $2 for the washing of the schoolhouse where -town meetings were held. In 1893,the citizens voted that a «woman is not allow»to teach school in any district of Madawaska.There were now 3 teachers: Vital Beaulieu, Ubald1)ufour and Jacques. Cyr. In 1894, «any mantake money to build or repair school houses, theyhave to come and settle immediately». Also, theinhabitants were to furnish firewood for theschoolhouses. In 1895, Vital Beaulieu was electedSupe iskwor of Schools, at $40 a year. 1896 sawthe fir. «truant» officer, whose t.iity it was «tosee that any schoolers able to attend school goto school». He was paid $.50 for each schoolvisited. Teachers were then getting about $20a month.

In 1908 there was a big discussion aboutthe transportation of children to and from school,but no money was voted fo. 'his purpose. How-ever, the town people agreed to pay about $4each for the heating of the schoolhouses.

Teadiers taught children from kindergartenthrough grade 8, and performed their own janito-rial duties besides. Students wishing to furthertheir education would attend Madawaska Train-ing School in Fort Kent or St.Mary's College inVan Buren.

The first secondary school to appear intiladawaska was in 1930. The ninth and tenthgrades were added at Evangeline School, thuschanging its name to Evangeline High School.The total enrollment of the high school was 44students. The school operated until .931 whenit was forced to change location because of aniii -ase in enrollment.

In the fall of 1932 the school opened inwhat was then known as Edmund Cyr's Apart-ments and is now known as Pelletier's Studio.

9

175

From 1932 to 1933 it continued as a 2-year highschool. Madawaska Nigh School became a 4-yearhigh school in 1933 under the -dministration ofMiss Louise Beaulieu, Principal :-.nd Mr. Albert'Martin, Superintendent of Schools. There wasno gymnasium available. However, all indoorsports were played across the street in what ispresently the upstairs of the Chain Apparel Store.

In 1935 a new high school was constructed.The building is known today as the AcadiaSchool. The enrollment was 250 students includ-ing the 7th and 8th grades which comprised theJunior High School. The school was in operationfrom 1935 to 1949, offering such courses asCommerc:41, Co-dee, Home Economics, Agricul-ture and General. Mr. Albert Cyr wasPrincipal andMr. Albert Martin, Superintendent of Schools.

As the enrollment of the high school in-creased to a total of 350 students, it becamenecessary to build a new high school. Con-struction of the main section of the presentMadawaska High School building started earlyin the spring of 1950 and was completed in thefall of the same year. Mr. Eloi Daigle had beenappointed Principal in 1948 and continued toserve in that capacity until 1952. Mr.Lawrence Violette was Superintendent ofSchools. Because of new equipment and facili-ties, it was now possible to offer courses inIndustrial Education.

In 1962, a two-story wing wasconstructed adding ten additional classroomsto Madawaska High School. The eighth gradersfrom Acadia School occupied the lowet doorof the new wing and the Freshmen occupiedthe second floor.

Further construction continuedthroughout the year 1e58. This included thebuilding of a new gymnasium, cafetorium,Industrial Arts and twelve additional class-rooms. The new addition to Madawaska HighSchool permitted new facilities in the ScienceDepartment, Home Economics, Music and

1 I

176

and Business Education. It became possiblefor the first time in the history of MadawaskaHigh School to offer our high school studentsan adequate library.

Certainly the history of schools wouldnot be complete without mentioning MissCatherine Albert, daughter of Eloi Albert, whotaught in the Madawaska schools. for 35 years.If all her past students were assembled, theywould make an impressive group indeed.

A graduate of Fort Kent Training School(1897) and Castine Normal School,. shedevoted her life to the progress of education inour town. For many years she was HelpingTeacher, visiting elementary schools, inquiringinto their prqblems and their needs. Theparticular schools who anticipated her visitheld classes on Saturclas to welcome her. Shcdied a few years ago at St. Basile, N.B. at theage of 85.

* * *

Early Acadians had no money and noneed for it. A sheep was worth a certainnumber of bushels of buckwheat. Early trad-ing posts had moccasins and molasses in returnfor firewood, shingles and more buck whit.

Besides homespun, The first families usedfurs - of the bear, beaver, fox, otter andnutten - and gave not only comfort andwarmth but were very good looking. Acadianwomen loved elegance in clothes.

The men wore pants a panneau that but-toned up on both sides; their shoes were ofmoose skin, or the hides of beef, the end beingsewed up, the knee of the animal forming theheel.

To dress warmly was called s'encipoter..

The authority of the father and motherused to be absolute. Quid ils l'avaient dit,

personae n'eut cosi costinem. Neither did theyounger ones argue with their older brothers orsisters. There was a lot of .affection among all

0 members of a family.

A cremaillere was a large cooking potsuspended in the chimney or fireplace.

If a girl supplanted her boy friend, El le

lul falsalt manger de l'avolne.

If someone had talent, intelligence, orability, Il avalt de la jarnigoine.

The expression for someone who wasvery sleepy ix...for lovers, was (molr les yeux a lagadel . . .

To make the Easter duty was ln calledfaire des Piques de renard.

Someone slow was un bretteux.

Running around was called courir lagallpote.

Let him know, fait y demander.

A baby's pacifier, caned buveron, was apiece of rag tied into a roll foam, dipped ingrease and sugar of molasses.

* * *

THE GARDEN

One d homestead looked mu thesame as another. The roof was shingles,the outside was often limed. All ehospitable; no fence forebade entrance, linejust walked in and was made welcome. Vinesgrew along the sides; and on one corner a largebarrel collected rain water, soft and precious.In front were perhaps a bench, a white rose-bush, and two lilac trees.

Invariably there was a garden on one

I.

side of the house. It was enclosed becauseanimals were left loose to eat at night. Onewould never have thought so many things grewin such confined dimensions. There were rect-angles and rows of peas, beans, turnips, pars-nips, cabbage, onions, pumpkins, potatoes,corn, carrots, cucumbers, ichalottes and leeksfor salt green onions. Then there was flax,camomile, parsley, summer sivory, anise,catnip and such herbs for the miclicine chest.

In the back were rows of gooseberries(des gadelles), prune trees, choke cherries,and an appe tree. (Apple trees were a favorite,the same as in old Acadia, with the exceptionthat they were not grafted).

Along the borders were the flowerThese were never cut and brought into thouse to decorate the table or mantel. Istead, they were left for the glory of God untiltheir petals fel'. and strewed the alley. Daisies

delicately, high on their stems. Therewere wild roses, hydrangeas, with their persis-tent flowering, bachelor buttons, heavy-headedpeonies and lots of poppies. Then the sweetsmelling mignonettes and pansies of all colors,even some with naughty brown faces, not un-like that of a dirty little boy.

Their mission. seemed to be to give afestive air to the garden. At night a perfumerose in the air like incense, a perpetual yerto heaven. Grandmother's garden idedfood for both the body and soul, and that was.:ntirely as it should be.

RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCESOF YESTERDAY

The Catholic faith was not just a Sundaymatter to our fathers: it 3cas their perpetualhelp, their strength, their way of life. If theycould come back to earth, they would nodoubt be horrified, not scandalized, to see allthe changes that have been made iN recentyears. Well meaning but ignorah: they

177

surrounded religion with all sorts of mysteries,superstitions, and omens. Sometimes it evenbecame a frightening thing, especially whendeath was concerned.

Suicides, or people who had fallen awayfrom the faith were not brought to church norburied in the regular cemetery. They were car-ried over the fence, in the dark of night, to beburied with the unbaptized babies. There wasno funeral, nor were their names evermentioned in church or masses said for them.

While a parishioner was doing publicpenance (for example, following scandalousbeha, tor) he attended Mass in the vestibule. Ifsomeone had committed a public sin or made a«bad» marriage and wanted to makereparation, he had to k.ieel at the altar with thepriest and ask pardon. eater, the priest wouldannounce that this person wished to makereparation d'honneur.

At this time of isolation all contractswere by word, which had the force of law. Themissionary, with the assistatiiiit of a fewnotifales of the place, directed and ruled ondiscipline and dissensions, which were definitt:-ly regulated at Easter time. This was so effec-tive that there was no need for lawyers, magis-trates or courts of justice.

The priest was figuratively put on apedestal. By renouncing secular dress, socialcontact, and physical pleasures, he simulateda living death and lived in a more or less purelysacred world. Received with the utmostrespect in the grande chambre when he cameon his parish visit, he blessed every bent head,saying the prayers that protect. Then, he,counted parishioners, inquired about needs,received confidences, calmeJ worries, gavecounsel, sympathized, encouraged andconsoled. He never failed to speak of the oneswho had died, recall old memories and'strengthen the hopes of his flock. A sled asuallyfollowed his sleigh, for la quete de I'Enfane

1S3

178

Jesus, and people gave in kind, according totheir means.

When he went to give the last rites, thechurch warden drove a sleigh ahead of him,ringing a bell. Everyone knew wle bon Dieu*wa'% going by, and they came out and knelt bythe wayside with bowed heads until he hadpassed.

One picturesque figure was the churchcrier. After Sunday mass, he stood on thechurch steps, announcing coming meetings,frolics, lost and found objects, or holdingauction. In November, the month of thedeceased, he would have at his feet suchan incongruous collection of itenis as

turnips, headcheese (tete fromagee), aroll of carpeting, tobacco, homespun, maplesyrup, pumpkins, hens, pigs and geese. Thiswas the chance to give the departed ones alittle shove toward heaven. It was not unusualto pay a disproportionately large amount foran item, then give it back to be auctionedagain. The money was turned in to the priest

' to have masses said for the dead.

One pm ticularly charitable custom wasthat of a farmer giving money for a mass to besaid fcr the most abandoned soul in purgatory.

OF THIS AND THAT

The onion: Onions correct stomach dis-cords:es and carry off poisons in the system.They are a good blood purifier, do perfectwork in constipation trout,les cannot be sur-passed as a vermifuge and, eaten taw, willoften check a cold in the head. Well recom-mended for sleeplessness, it acts on the nervesin a soothing way. The heart of the onion,heated and placed in the ear, will relieve the.bony of earache, while the syrup procuredfrom sprinkling a sliced onion with sugar andbaking in the oven will work wonders in acroupy child.

The weeping willow, at home onmaritime shores, is the Acadian national tree.Besides being chosen for its weeping branchesand leaves, symbol of the mafy tears shed bytheir people;, it was adopted bieguse w the moreyou cut it back, the more it flourishes*, as theyhave done. A French willow in Annapolis,believed to be 200 years old and measuring Sfeet in diameter, was uprootod by a storm inSeptember of 1932. It was one of the principalsouvenirs of ancient Port Royal, and shaded awhole street corner.

Within the recollection of some eldercitizens of Madawaska, the Indians along theriver used to build earthen domes in the springwhich they heated to as high a temperature asthey could endure.. Then they would enter andstay until covered with sweat after whichthey'd run out and roll in the snow or jump inthe river. This was to purify their systems*after the long win tei. One man remembers astrapping young Indian performing this ritual,and whose body was never recovered from thefrigid waters of the St. John.

During lent there was no rejoicing of anykind, no card playing, no games; instead thepeople sang canticles and said the rosarytogether.

The youth is the wealth of the country.When the children all got together and helpedtheir father all day, they saved him frompaying a day's work, 25 to 30 cents.

Faults typical of the French, of whichour ancestors Were not exempt: A certainfickleness, an individual vanity and a great lovefor gossip.

TO DREAM A LITTLE

Omens in dreams were recognizable inadvance. Dreams of newly cut wood and newhouses or smoke meant death. Blood andflames signified victory.

Breaking a mirror or burning two lampson the same table meant death within a yearaIf a bird hit a window in its flight, someone inthe family would die sikon, And that was howthey would say, de ne suss pas surpns: j'avaiscu )4n avertissement.» -

To dream of your loved one: Take onethimble of salt, one of flour, and water enoughto make three little cakes. Cook, eat them andwalk backwards to bed without talking to anyone. Salt produces thirst, and in your dreamsomeone will bring you water. This is yourfuture husband or wife.

If the above does not work, try: During afull moon, took at the moon and say, sBellelune, jolie lune, fail moi voir dans mon som-meil celui que desire dans mon revels. Walkbackwards :is bed and do not' talk.

TILE JUMPING FRENCHMAN

Among Acadians are a few unfortunatepersons known as 4cJumping Frenchmen*.They are so-called because of what seems to bea r.cryous disorder, hereditary or acquired, thatis irticular to that race, It has been attributedin part to the hardships suffered by themothers over many years of persecution. How-ever, it seems improbable that the conditionshould have survived to this day. And yet ithas. The dumping Frenchmen are still withus.

What are the symptoms of this strangeaffliction? Its victims threaten to throw them-selves off a tractor or wagon seat at the un-expected sound of an automobile horn. Theywill :zap up an down, muttering a string of un-intelligible words, even in church. Theystrike, kick, or repeat what you say if yousuddenly grab them under the arms. Men havebeen 'mown to leap ;nto rivers or fires becauseof the thoughtlessness of a joker.

One stranger had discovered that if lit

179

got behind a particular jumper and let out abloodcurdling scream, the poor Frenchmanjumped up in the air and gave off a correspond-ing yell, then hightailed it for the woods, Thewife was also a jumper, and a pretty hefty oneat that. One day this prankster made her jumpand she broke through the cellar trap door, butnot before grabbing his whiskers and pullingthem clear out. After that incident, he left theClump in g Frenaunens to their misfortune andgot his laughs by less painful methods.

THE LUMBER AND DRIVE

The sombit giants, in their lonely wild-ness, with the wind sighing over their tops,were to reign over the wilderness for aboutfifty years. In 1860, Aroostook had a popula-tion of 3500 lnd it was a time of prosperity.The intense exploitation of forects broughtwealth, employment in the woods, and amarket for farm products. Every fall heavybarges came up the river, filling with joy thehearts of the colonists at harvest. As soon aswinter came, every available man left for thechantiers or lumber camps.

All winte; long they cut and hayed,searching for trees of outstanding value in theface of danger, fro.Abite, and sudden death.Sharp axes slipped on icy surfaCes ar.-4 hardthrown chips or falling timbers sometimesknocked a man unconscious.

The standard ton weigt. t 'of pine was asawed log 40 feet long and 1 foot squait., withthe averace virgin pine squaring 5 tuns to atree. Without rivers, yellow pine could neverhave been the golden harvest that it was,floating logs by the millions to mills and portswhere it was in great demand, espec:ally forthe building of Britisl vessels.

The loggers' first job was to shape a wayto the water. Sometimes they used dry sluiceways, down a hill, made by laying large trunksof trees together the whole length of it, Logs

180

were rolled into the upper end, and descendedat such speed that smoke and bark would fly.At other times, a hemlock with its limbs cutabout a foot from the trunk was used as a dragwhich the oxen drew, while a log was attachedto it by strong chains. The stumpy limbs pre-vented the team from being pushed forwardtoo fast, but if that chain had broken it wouldhave meant certain death for them. The bestcutter was surrounded with general considera-tion, as was the pair of horses that could haulthe heaviest load.

The crew ate boiled or frozen pork andbeans, which they washed down with teasweetened with molasses. Buckwheat pan-cakes, of course, were a staple, and sometimesdlr., had salt codfish and potatoes. Theevenings were long and the story teller was athis best.

When the ice went out, tons of timberstarted moving toward the ocean. The crewfollowed the drive down, camping along theshores. With courage often borrowed from therum in their hip flask, they rode timbers, jamp-ing from one to the other amidst boiling rapids.Balancipg themselves on their pick poles, wetfrom icy spills, some even met death when theywere crushed between jamming timbers oragainst rocky ledges. Each log was brandedwith a hewn mark to identify ownership, andmost started on the St'. John Kiver about nine-ty miles above Fort Kent.

There was wild rejoicing when the menreached town, spending their money rm barrels-ful of whiskey, rum and gin. With long hairand beards, in heavy woolen trousers cut offabove the ankles as a safety measure, thr.,celebrated for days on end. Red strips of flan-nel, the remains of colorful shirts, werefastened to tall poles and to the yokes of oxen.

It is no won.ler that young ladies werekept inside by their mothers, at least until theboisterous festivity had given way to the in-

1

evitable gigantic hea4acl 1 that followed.

LE MOULIN ,MURCHIE

Around . the year 1880, industry wasstarting, A sawmill, at the little river Crockwas constructed by Remi Pelletier; then one inConnors, and another along the St, John River,below St, Francois, They furnished employ-ment for many people, sawing boards and m-ing cedar shingles. Those, eventually ditap-peared and are hardly remembered by anyone.

In 1882, the James Murchie & Son Co.bought rights and installed a sawmill on theMadawaska River where Fournier Bridge is to-day. Its products were exported by CanadianPacific Railroad outside the county, Itemployed 50 to 75 men, but because it was runby a water wheel that served as a turbine, itwas in operation only about six munths a year.

Meanwhile, in 1877, Donald Frifser, thefounder of Fraser Companies, Ltd., had begunrhis career as a jumber operator by purchasing asmall sawmill at Riviere-de-Chute in NewBrunswick. In 1892 lie was ,;.,fined in thisventure by his sons Archibald and Donald, Jr.This undertaking proved most successful andadditional mill. were built and purchased, andlarge tracts of Wilber limits were acquired.

So it was that in 1911, the filmpurchased this Murchie Co. in Edmundston.Now known as Fraser Limited, the companycontinued to expand to a point where, uponthe death of its foLaider in 1916, it had builtup into one of the lazier lumber businesses iiithe maritimes, if nr:i in eastern Canada.

The following year, Fraser enterpriseswere incorporated wider federal charter intoFraser Companies, Limited; and in 1918 madeits entry into the pulp business when it builta 120 ton per day bleached sulphite pulpmillat EdAndston, N.B. An important step in thehistory of the company was taken in 1925

St)

when Fraser Companies, Ltd. incorporatedFraser Paper. Ltd. as a wholly owned sub-sidiary. The new company constructed amill in which to make paper from chemicalpulps in Madawaska. The first paper ma-chine started up on October 25, 1925 and thesecond on January 26, 1926.

To provide kraft pulps for the Mada-waska paper mills and thus expand the typesand grades of paper manufactured, the com-pany opened an unbleached kraft mill in New-castle, N.13, in 1949. Tilts mill now produces500 tons a day, with modern equipment forbleaching the prOduct.

44144 as throughout its history, theprosperity of Fraser Companies rests upon thewoodlands Aich it manages and fromwhence it derives the principal raw materialsfor its mills.

The sawmill at Plaster Rock, N.B. has aplanned ekput for 1968 of 20,000,000f.b,m..of Eastern Canadian Spruce lumber.Its products are sold principally in Canadaand the United States, while its waste is con-verted into chips used in Edmunston for themanufacture of sulphite pulp.

The sma.l sawmill that Donald Fraserpurchased has grown, some 90 years later,into a multi-million dollar company. Thephysical growth of the company is the visibleaccorniplishment of many table men, throughwhoselefforts an enterprise was created whichtoday provides a livelihood, directly and indi-rectly, for tens of thousands of people.

HEART FULL OF SONG

Les anciIts recall the,old French songsthat came from Acadia. so dear to the heart,so comforting, which for the most part weredrowned in the tears that followed the dis-persal 1755.. For many years after that

tragedy the Acadian did not sing nor cry.,Butas he came back to life, and the consolationsof hope entered his heart once more, thesongs were reborn. The old ones had beenlight and gay, the words meaning little, theirbeauty being the gaiety of Gaul set to music.

The heart needs to laugh and cry, tdsing in its joy and sorrow. Since the mainemotions of his life were certainly not of joy,he returned to des complaintes that he com-posed himself,..spontaneous, most of themmournful. In typical Acadian style, he oftenturned them to satire and irony.

Some of the songs popular in old Aca-dia were:

A Saint-Malo, beau port de merA la claire fontainePar derriere chez mon OreVol, mon coeur, volMalbrouke s'en va-t-en guerreVive la rose et le lilac11 e tait une bergere

Sung by the Acadians on their march toshore for the embarkation:

Vive Jesus! Vive Jesus!Avec la eroix, sans cher portageVive Jesus!Portons la croixSans choix, sans ennui, sans mur-

mure,Portons la croix!Quoique tres amere et tres dureMalgre le sens et la naturePortons la et oix!

At the offertory of the mass, or at com-munion, one of the most beautiful canticlesfrom France was sung:

«Qu'ils sont grand Dieu, vostabernacles...» or

aout n'est que vanite, mensongefragilite...»

182

During Lent, they sang:40, sang qu'un Dieu va ripandre...»

Another, sung in church, especially at wed-dings, was:

Abner Jesus, recouter en silenceBaiser ses pieds, reposer sur son coeur,Mettre en lui seul toute ma complai-

sance.Voila ma vie, et voila mon bonheur!Divin Jesus, doily( Sanveur que j'adore.Pour vous aimer le temps me fait

debut;rattends le ciel pour Miner plus encore.Ah! Que ne puis-je y voter aussitlit.

A popular lullaby was the following (they im-provised as they went along):

C'est la poulette griseQu'a pondu dans l'egliseElle a pondu un petit cocoPour l'enfant qui va faire dodoDodiche, dodo!Dodiche, dodo!

C'est la poulette cail4Qu'a pondu dans la paille...

C'est la poulette blancheQu'a pondu dans la grange...

C'est la poulette bruneQu'a pondu dans la lune... 3

After or during 'evenings of fun, they sang:A la volette, Bonsoir Mon Ami Bonsoir,Alo "ette, 0 Canada!, Evangeline.

Just for the sake of singing:Marie MadeleineSon p'tit jupon de lai'ieSa p'tite jupe tr; :oteeSon p'tit jupon pique.

C'etait unejeune flleQui n'avait pas quinze ans

1 S

Elle s'est endormieAu pied du rosier blanc.

Son voile par ci,Son voile par la,Son voile qui volant, volantSon voile qui volait au vent.

* * *

Derriere chez nous it y a un etangEn roulant ma bouleTrois'teaux canards s'en vont baignantRouli, roulant, ma boule roulantEn roulant ma boule roulant,En roulant ma b

An old lumbermen's song:Voici l'hiver arriveLes rivieres sont geleesC'est le temps dialler au boisManger du lard et des poids!Dans les chantiers nous hivernerons!Dans les chantiers nous hivernerons!

THE WAX AND WANE.

The seasonal moods of our northernwoods, lakes and rivers vary greatly. Coldweather arrives and the waters rest quietly,then freeze. Afterward comes the exhilarationof spring and the activity of summer months.One thing that can be counted on to comeand go v..ith clocklike regularity is the waxingand waning of the moon. Every month a palecrescent turns to a full.moon, then graduallydiminishes again. There was nothing our an-cestors could deo about this mysteriousprocess, which they took to be a literal break-ing up and rebuilding of the moon; but theycould use it to their advantage, and they did.

Planting during the waxing of the moonsupposedly causes prolific growth; therefore,flax and hay, which should be long, and grain,peas, and potatoes, which should be prolific,

Ar II 1

are to be planted then. During the waningthere is short growth. This time is particular-ly suited to tobacco and garden plants whichshould not go to stalk. An even ,number ofdays after the new moon is good for sowing,especially six or ten.

If a hog is slaughtered during the wane,or .decours, it will not bleed well, the haircannot be shaved off ea.ily, and the meat willshrink much in cooking. During the waxingor croissant however, the meat is very tenderand there is no shrinking in the pan.

The strength of animals waxes andwanes with the moon. For example, a horseshould never have its hooves trimmed during afull moon because it is strong then and thiswould not be good for its health. Children, aswell as animals, born under a full moon arestronger.

In a new year, the first day of the newmoon predicts weather for January, the nextday for February, and so on for the followingmonths.

The three days before and after the fullmoon are marked by bad weather, as is thelast quarter of the moon. The veather is coolduring the full moon and waning, then warm-er during the waxing.

A farmer could even order the desiredsex of animals by controlling the time oftheir conception. If he wished to have fillies,and found that he had colts by breeding hismare during one phase of the moon, he simp-ly shifted the time a half-moon to producefillies.

Although people could not always ex-plain why they did certain things to makecrops grow, or to produce various results,their thinking was of a practical kind. If acertain ritual seemed once to make a Mil.

- 183

happen, then the same thing repeated wouldmake it happen again.

Heavenly bodies are no longer viewedwith fear and respect. Man has even addedsome of his own, and plans to explore theothers that God put in the universe. Po iaropinion is that humans themselves have muchmore to do with their own destinies than themoon. However, it is interesting to find outwhat value these beliefs have for our owntime because no matter how strange they maysound, there are millions of people today whostill believe in them.

TALL TALES

Our ancestors were not forever sad andgoing aroptd with long faces. On thecontrary, they were fun-loving, possessed of aspontaneous gaiety and a sincerity that hasbeen lost in the more sophisticated entertain-ment of today. Having nothing in the way ofamusement, they made their own, resulting inthe era of the story teller.

These people were not stupid. In fact,they were much more observant than we are.With absolutely no knowledge of the laws ofnature and man, everything was a mystery -shooting stars, eclipses, lightning, birth, death,etc. Where there is ignorance, there is alwaysfear of the unknown. Since life was so dif-ficult, they assumed that there were more badspirits than good. So they invented all sortsof charms and counter-magic to change badluck to good. Today we view these storieswith tolerance and amusement, but they arewonderful and whimsy, the stuff of whichdreams are made.

The really good conteur de conies,chewing tobacco, sometimes whittling, waswitty, inventive and a wonderful actor. Hekept his stories, which always started with«11 y avail une fois» for the spooky hours,

184

and told them with much detail, glancing side-long into the dark corners beyond the lightof the fire. He was secretly delighted whenhis audience responded with wide-eyed terror,imagining ghosts riding on the wind, devilsshrieking in the chimney or murderers sneak-ing across the creaky floors. His stories weremost fantastic, where mythology mingledwith religion, adventures of strong men andheroes of long ago. He told of les feux-folletswhich were thought to be sorcerers who triedto lure poor people into dangerous places sothey would perish, Ifthen would be heardlaughing when the unhappy person had beentrapped and plunged into a marsh. (Feux-follets were actually phosphorescent gasesescaping from low wet lands and seeming todance up and down in the dark.) The conteuralso told of des fees cr ue-mitaines, prome-nade en chasse-galleri s, bonhomme Sept-heure, and lutins th t rode the horses atnight and p d their tails. The loup garouwas a were- f, a man who had the power ofchanging himself at will into wolf.

If someone had been bad and rejecnlfrom society, a bird would be seen, about thesize of a robin, with balls of fire under niswings, glowing on and off like fireflies. That

i'represented the spirit of the person, whowould never be seen or heard of again. Thenthere was the story of «Le Juif Errant»(«The Wandering lew*) who walked all thetime, going from one adventure to the next,an endless tale to rival A Thousand and OneNights.

More than one of the listeners, whocould bravely face the fiercest adversary, weptopenly at the reciting of the tale of the littleGenevieve and her mishaps and the little lostshepherd girl; or, if it had been a ghost story,went to bed trembling with fear.

These stories were never resolved, plotsleft hanging in air, while fragments of other

stories to come were expertly introduced,with a promise of even more exciting andterrifying adventures. Nowadays, they wouldbe called previews of coming at-tractions.

Increased literacy has destroyed therole of the story teller. At first, he was re-placed by reading aloud. Now individualreading has taken over and he lives only in ourfolklore.

BE IT EVER SO HUMBLE

The French are a prolific race, and theirpopulation doubled every 16 years. This wasa time when the average human life was 33years; one child out of four died before oneyear, and only half of the world's populationreached 17. However, these people, becauseof their combined spirit of sacrifice andChristian generosity, the rigidity of theChurch lakvs and economic need, marriedearly and had larger families than elsewhere.Probably due to a natural rigorous selection atinfant level, many lived to a very old age, es-pecially the women.

Family life had more value and wasmuch more intimate than it is today. Every-one worked toward a goal, even the children.In all houses, the loom and spinning wheelhad a place of honor. The young woman whohad not woven her piece on the loom was notworthy of beim; married, since the possessionof this art was part of, her dowry. On theother hand, the young man who had notcleared his 10 acres or made a pair of wheelswas considered a mediocre pretendant.

A typical happy family included theold parents, whose faces resembled wrinkledparchment on which the story of a lifetimewas written - a lifetime of enduring hardshipnot only with courage, but with a noblgaiety. They saw the younger couple taki

over the paternal farm, and in turn raise itsown children, so that gthwing old was an en-tirely natural and satisfying prsicess, life end-ing as they had lived it - side by side andtogether.

Close to nature, family life necessarilyrevolved around the seasons, especially for themen. In the spring, after the maple sugarseason, the land was made ready for planting.After the seeds were bletsed by the priest, thefarmer tied a large piece of cloth around hisneck and shoulder, wound the other endaround his arm in such a way as to form a bagin which the seeds were put. Then, making asign of the cross, he east hese out in long,sweeping motions. The garden was made, andthe housework continued much as usual, ex-cept that women and girls helped in the fields.There was soap to be made, butter to bechurned, about two dozen loaves of breadbaked twice a month, candles to be molded,rugs braided and blankets woven, flax to bemade into clothes, etc.

After the crops were in, most of themen left for the chantiers or lumber camps.Pine was truly king in the middle eighties, andrecords show that huge trees sold for fantasticprices. All winter, these stout-hearted menswung and swore, cut and hauled, whiledrivers prodded slow-moving oxen teams.In the spring, logs by the millions were sentto mills and ports by means of waterways,free of toll, duties and maintenance. Afterthe drive the men returned home triumphant,with long beards and giant thirsts, and therewas so much wild rejoicing that many amother wisely kept her daughters behin"locked doors.

Thus each year a few more acres ofnorthern wilderness were turned to crops. Afew more Acadians closed their tired eyes forthe last time on sunsplashed fields, drivingrains and stupendous snowfalls, while the cry

185

of the newborn rose from the corner of thecabin where the cradle was never put away.

SUPERSTITIONS

In the days when illiterate peasantslived so close to nature, people constantlylooked for omens and significance in signs,especially those that were rare or unfamiliar.Even the regular phases of the moon and theslow turning of seasons were not withouttheir own indications of the future. However,an eclipse, a comet or a great storm was ofspecial significance, and excited wonder anddread for the destiny of mankind. Eldersspoke of the dark day when birds ceased tosing and chickens flew up to their roosts as itit were night; cows lowed at the pasture fence,and there was such terror that men prayedand women wept. Marching armies of eerienorthern lights across the sky caused everyoneto tremble with the fear of their unknown pa-tents.

Besides the weather predictions, manyof which were based on scientific fact, therewere the pure superstitions which were char-acteristic of our race. Most had to do withreligion or death and the number three comesup ofteir, $eitraps in relation with the HolyTrinity. Many are based on the cross, symbol-ic sign of perfect unity. The following aresome of the most prevalent, and many are stillbelii ved today.

The seventh son of a seventh son hadspecial powers, especially of curing; the priestwould give him a benediction to en!ightenhim on their use. When it rained during highMass do Sunday, it meant petite semaine.When fish bled a lot on the hook in spring, itmeant a big fishing year; when they bled alittle, a small fishing year. When a deceased inthe parish was exposed on a Sunday, therewould be others for three consecutiveSundays. A child made to take his first steps

186

while the church bells were ringing for highMass on Sunday would walk during the week.Swallows did not carry debris or otherwisework on their nests on Sunday. When some-one died in a house, the pail of water wasthrown away, because it had become contam-inated by the spirit passing through it. A

baby would not say «yes before the fontanelor soft spot on his head, had closed. A

mother could deform or mark her unbornchild by looking upon a disfigured person, ananimal, or being frightened by some suddenincident. Moving on a Friday was bad luck;so was opening an umbrella, or. turning it inthe house. For the same reason, no oneturned a knife round and round, as on atable. Bad luck was on the way if onedropped a knife and its blade stuck in thefloor. If the ticking of a clock was heardwhen there was none around, people wouldpray for their relatives because one was dying.No white horse was allowed in a funeralprocessioor A coffin was carried in or out ofthe house or church feet rust. Great carewas taken so a cortege ,uld not stop onthe way to church beca4se where it stopped,someone from that home would die withina year. The number of veNcles in the cor-tege were not to be counted, for the samereason.

The Acadian chased away les lutins bytracing on his barn .1 big white cross withlime.

THAT GRAND INSTITUTION

In the days of marriage by contract andwith dowry, divorce was r tactically unheardof. Statistics show that in the 19th centurythere was nothing that human beings could

:ertake that represented such a smallpercentage of failure as marriage.- Chaperon-age was strict and a close vigilance was kepton daughters, so that there were no prolongedcourting periods. No one would have

dreamed of tmarrying against the parents'wishes, ar this union was expected to lastuntil death set one spouse free. It wasnothing unusual to make la grande demandeor ask the father for his daughter's hand afterone month of visiting. The young man ex-plained his financial position and received atentative reply. Then' the 'two families metand agreed on the terms of the Contract.Wisely enough, it was inconceivable to linktwo families &It were incompatible, or hadno common historical or cultural ties. Thecontract was then drawn up by a notary, in-volving the grant of a father toson and men-tion of the girl's dowry, (la dot) which mightconsist of a feather bed, household articlesand linens, livestock and sometimes a piece ofland. Love grew between the two andfamilies of 15 or more were indeed common,

The wedding feast was held at thegroom's home, the act of going there beingthe bride's first manifestation of subjection toher husband. All day there was laughter, kiss-ing, jokes and stories, and much teasing ofthe young couple who sat holding hands, asign of their new union. One song, relatingdirer:tly to marriage, conboled the mother for .the loss of her son; another described the feel-ings of the bride leaving Fiume, while otherspraised the beauty of the sacrament andwished the couple a long sequence of babiesand a happy life. together. The youngerpeople sat apart, awe and envy mingled intheir looks, hoping this miracle would not bedenied them one day, while the older onessmiled with approval as if they would like tobe twenty all over again. Older unmarriedbrothels or sisters of the newlyweds .weremade to dance in a hog trough, much to tiltdelight of everyone. An old man got up, andto the accompaniment of his violin, his surevoice intoned the first line of Evangeline...«Jel'avais cru, ce reve du jeune age...* andeveryone joined him. Then followed amedley of folk songs, with dry throats

1L

needing to be daMpened with wine again andagain.

After the festivities of the wedding,the couple settled down quickly to their newlife, certainly at his parents' home if he wasthe inheriting son. Little by little, the youngwife took over her mother-inAaw's householdduties, while the son continued to work withhis father. Little changed, really, because thelife of one family was much like that ofanother. If after a year they had no children,the neighbors openly questioned the reasonfor this, offering all kinfls of suggestions toremedy the situation. Very rarely, however,was there need of this, because usually babiescame with the regularity of the seasons. For,deliveries, a mid-wife. or pelle a feu, was sum-moned, and often she returned to minister toboth mother and baby with the traditionalremedies at her disposal.

. There were relatively few names inuse, neighboring families often having up tofive children with the same names. As aresult, they were identified through theirfathers, as: Jose a Baptiste, or Anselme, Oreand le if tit Anselme.

THE ASHBURTON TREATY

Maine wa:i separated from Massa-chuwtts in 1820, but it was not until August9, 1842, that the Ashburton Treaty settledthe boundary line between its northern bord-ers and Canada. The St. John and St. Francisrivers were designated as natural boundaries asfar as Grand Falls, while remaining neutraland open to both sides; colonists vim had oc-cupied lands for six years or more receivedtitle to them.

The treaty, signed between specialdelegates from London, Lord Ashburton, andOaniel Webster, Secretary of State and Ameri-can diplomat, brought an end to the war that

, 187

was not a war, and that consequently Ilkbeen called the Bloodless Aroostook War. InEngland, .even though concessions had beenmade on both sides, it was called the Ash-burton Capitulation. Under its provisionsEngland ceded a territory of 7,000 squaremiles, separating in two the little groups ofFrench people on both sides .f the river, ofwhich 2,000 passed under the American juris-diction. The actual towns of St.,Francis, FortKent, Frenchville, St. Luce, Madawaska,Grand Isle, Van Buren, Hamlin, (all on theriver) St. Agatha, Caribou; and Presque Isle,(in_the interior) make up the major part ofthis territory. Ancient complaints of theAcadian militia who became, in spite of theirwishes, American subjects were Tlieltakilt,Hebert, Thibaudeau, Duper* and Lizate.They sleep in Canadian soil in St. Basile withseveral of the co-parishioners of 1850.

In spite of the fervent declarations ofthe elders that treaties could divide the landsbut never the hearts, their sons grew accus-tomed to the new regime from Washingtonand became distinct American citizens. Al-though emigration has drained the youth ofboth sides toward industrial centers, the tra-ditions and language of France continue tosurvive - «C'est encore le Madawaska desMadawaskayens!»

It is unofficially reported that becauseof poor communications, many people alongthe valleytwere not aware of their change ofnationality until the War between the Statestwo decades later.

LE VIEUX FOUR

The sweet aroma of homemade breadle pain de menage those tawny hardcrusted

loaves! A smell to make us children again!

The four was a dome-shaped earthenoven that stood outdoors near the house. It

b.

11.

1 88

had an old blackened face and a clay vaultingcovered by a steep little roof of boards, butthat clay had to be purified by I very hot firefor two whole days before it was worthy. toreceive the dough.

Bread baking was a full day's work,which was done two or three times a month,resulting in nearly two dozen five-poundloaves at a time. The dough was made andkneaded in large troughs, called huches.While it was in its final stages, a hot fire ofpoplar or hemlock was lit in the oven; then itwas closed so that only the smoke escapedthrough a special vent. When the fire hadburned out, the ashes were removed and thebread put in.

There used to be a lovely tradition oftracing a cross on the loaves before baking.Later, the father did this in the baked breadbefore cutting it for his family. Unfortunate-ly, it was abandoned altogether.

When the lodes were baked, theywere pulled out with a big wooden shovel,removed from the pans and spread on aboard, bottoms up, to be admired. Thisbread kept fresh and sweet much longerthan the commercial bread of today. It wassimple everyday fare, which has become adelicacy on our tables. Who can rememberthe crisp crust yielding to the knife with ashower of flakes, great sli':es leaning for-ward, waiting for the home-churned butterfrom the big brown crock?

WEATHER PREDICTIONS

The wither was an intimate realityto farmers who extracted a hard living fromthe soil and were at the mercy of the elements.

Of their many ways of predicting the weather,

many are mariOnal between religion and

magic, while others are definitely based onsound scientific reasoning. These forecasters

also had unmistakable signs by which theyforetold the weather for the complete seasonahead. If we had no barometer, radio, or tele-vision, could we do as well?

When the camphor bottle was cloudy,a storm was brewing.

When the Sunday gospel closed at theright, bad weather was in store for the week;at the left, fair weather.

The spleen of s.the slaughtered hogforetold the kind of winter. It could be large,then tapering off; start small, then turn large;large all the way or small all the way. Thelarge part meant rough Weather; the small,fair. ..0

The turning of the leaves on treesmeant wind and rain.

Le trois fait le moist the third of themonth indicated the type of weather for thewhole month.

A hard winter was coming when squir-rels put away a big store of nuts, when onionand apple skins were thick, and husks of cornthicker than usual.

A halo around the moon meant badweather; the number of stars in it indicatedthe number of days before the coming ofthe storm: r

The land was to be ready for plantingforty days after the first crow was seen eatingin the road.

Loons crying at night called for rain.

Heavy fall coats of fur on animalsmeant deep snows; the same applied tohornets nests built high in branches; lownests, light fur, little snow.

d.

4. The clearing of bad weather duringthe night meant more bad weather within twodays.

An owl hooting in the 14inter time,es barking on a ridge or a fr6zen brook

swelling overNwith water (ruisseau gonfle)meant a spell of warm weather in winter.

Frost was out of the ground when thefirst frogs made themselves heard.

Corn was to be planted when oakleaves were the size of a squirrel's ear.

Rain before seven meant sunshine be-fore eleven.

If a cat's fur was stroked the wrongway and gave off grits, cold weather was instore.

4" Signs of rain: frisky animals, the cryof tree toads, a mackerel sky, «mare's tails»streaked across the sky.

The time just beforF, rainy weatherv43 ideal for fishing.

I^4

Les Journaux de Noel: December25th indicated the weather for January, the26th for February, etc. On those days whensnow was predicted and it was warm, rain fellinstead.

If the sun set le derriere dans l'eau.bad weather was expected for the morrow.

«On Candlemas Day (February 2),half the wood and half the hay». The wisefarmer checked this, because if he had tisedmore than half his woodpile or half the hay inthe mow, he would surely run out beforespring.

A poor run of maple sap indicated small

pti

189

crops.

Northern lights meant a change ofweather inside three days.

Soleil levant avec oeil de bouc, mauvaistemps afant longtemps.

Soleil couchant avec oeil de bouc, beautemps avant longtemps. (Oeil de bouc meanswhen boat ends of a rainbow are visible butthe middle is obscured by clouds). 9

When sparks fly upon sharpening thescythe it will rain before long.

(Several important signs .have beenomitted because they are covered in theweather prediction poem in the_ poetry sec-tion.)tion.)

THE FROLIC

The Acadians enjoyed a gre togeth-erness, a love of working together an Ipingeach other in true Christian spirit. When ayoung man was about to marry, if he was notyet lodged, his father only had to make his in-tentions known and there was a frolic. Thosewho helped were by the very fact invited tothe Adding. The sane aid was given with thesame enthusiasm when a house or barn,burned, or needed to be built. Often . theparish priest gave them permission to workon Sunday, so they turned out in even greaternumbers.

The young men were given a chanceto show their agility and prowess, and thegirls could shine as hostesses. Although theyounger men did most of the work, therewere always old-timers on hand to give theoccasion historical color and perspective withtheir reminiscences of past raisings... some ofthem going back to the days of log barns andhouses.

190

The best man was the one who couldbuilda corner, and when you examine one ofthose old buildings, you cannot help butmarvel at the skillful do-etailing or notchingof the old-time cornerer.

When the structural framework wascompleted, a young man climbed up to fastena spruce tree top to the gable, after which itwas shot down with guns amidst loud re-joicing. There are stories of men who couldrun along a log and jump across the openingleft for a barn door, about 14 feet, with a bot-tle of whiskey in.each hand. When thewtholebuilding was finished , it was later blessed bya priest.

The women had cooked all day, andthe taising was followed by a feast. There hadbeen several p'tits coups taken during the day,but more were in order with the men hoarsefrom yelling and cheer)fig. The fiddler, whowas always part of theAcene, tuned up and noone felt too tired to dance.

This was a time when folks were not«afraid to get invol ii,e,rorj time of charity andgood will that tem.' 'hit-integral part of therecord of the pioneers of this country.

HALE AND HEARTY

The diversions of the Acadians, whilemuch simpler than ours, were more honestand sincere. Amusements were in the form ofvisiting, mostly relatives, At times there werecornhuskings, taffy pulling, swings for lovers,card playing, story telling, hayrides, barndances, weddings, and the celebration ofholidays.

Evenings were spent in family re-unions, and no one would have thought oflooking for recreation among strangers.Nearly all were related or friends since child-hood, and many of their games which would

be inconvenient today were fully accepted.With a spontaneous gaiety they gave them-selves up to wholesome fun as often as theopportunity arose.

For dancing they played all the well-known tunes, beloved of generations before.There were the jig, the square dance, cotil-lions, reels, and quadrilles. The fiddler, withhis Clot-tapping technique, and the ,layerof la bonte were remarkably good. Theyhad lots o rhythm and kept time well. Thedelightful melodies of the fiddler and the in-triguing rhymes which he sang are said to havehad an almost Chaucerian flavor. Even unac-companied solds were common. Althoughsome of the words still exist, most of those *.songs have died* out as one by one the oldtime musicians passed away. Often at a wed-ding, for example, someone will start singingEvangeline, hoping that the people will joinin, but too few know the words to keep it up.

In general, Christmas did not have thesocial importance given New Year's Day. Theparishioners attended Midnight Mass, afterwhich there were reveillons in the homes.The guests were served wine, candy, fat porkspread and bread, and croquecignols orbeignes.

On New Year's Day, after the priesthad blessed the congregation at Mass, «Bonne,Sainte et Heureuse Armee, et le Paradis a lafin de vos Jours!» there was general handshak-ing and well wishing among friends, with kiss-

ing that was rare except at this time. In everyhome the father traced a cross on the fore-head of each member of ihe family and gavethem his blessing. Then there was the open-ing of presents, cards and feasting with friends

and relatives.

At le jour des rois (on which day thefigures of the Wise Men were added to thecreche) a special cake was baked, with a bean

in one half and a pea in the other. The boyand girl receivi these were king and queenfor the evening. ne period that followed wasthe time for the veillees. Bo "s and girls sat inthe kitchen playing main chaude, a gamewhere each tried to slap the hand of the otheras hard as possible.' Then, after much talkingand the traditional p'tit coup,. card playingstarted, One of the most popular games wasquatre septs, with the losers relinquishingtheir places to those who had not yet played.When someone got a vilaine a terrible dinbroke loose, with yelling and stamping offeet, one imitating fiddle playing, and theother beating on a washpan. Wild maplesugar were passed around throughout theevening.

Around midnight, all sang togetherfrom their repertoire of well-known songs.Then, the men went to hitch up the horsesand the party was over. These parties were

. followed by others until Shrove Tuesday,then one at Mid-Lent aftq which the strictdenial' of pleasures was resumed for the restof the Lenten period.

«A La Revoyure!»

MAPLE SUGAR TIME

When one could hear the sound ofwater trickling underneath the honeycombedsnow of 'March, when the days grew longerand the treetops turned pink, then it wassugaring-off time.

From tree to tree the men and boyswent, boring a hole with an auger on thesouth side of the maples, driving in a woodenspout and hanging a bucket from it. Coldnights and sunny days combined with theaccumulated snowfalls of winter to start thesap running, and the next morning the buck-ets were full. A big hogshead, traced on a sleigh,was ready for collecting the sap. The oxen

191

plodded in their slow, age-old way, stoppingfrom one tree to the next, while the sap wasemptied from the buckets to the barrel.

This liquid was then heated over aroaring tire and it began to steam, then bub-ble giving off billows of sweet smelling vapormixed with pine smoke. The top foam wascarefully skimmed with a wooden ladle, andgradually the excess water evaporated untilthe whole swelled like spun silk.

First came the syrup; then the taffy,which was thicker but not yet sugar. Theygathered pans full of clean snow, dribbled itin tawny streams from the ladle, and watchedit sink down into pools of Cold crispness. Onethought he could eat so much! But soon thesweetest- tooth wasiatisftd. Later they couldcook eggs or thick ham slices in the syrup,pour it over pancakes or drop dough into it,boiling hot.

Then came the critical period. Theright moment for turning to sugar had to becalculated before it boiled over or burned. Atprecisely the right time it was turned intowgting containers - goose-egg shells, breadpans, cake tins, or birch bark cones. The re-mainder in the big iron pot was scrapedinto fudgy smoothness, such as moneycould never buy, The sugar kept indefi-nitely, and home-made scrapers were inmany homes. Scraped maple sugar cov-ered with thick country cream made a de-licious dessert, worthy of the most impor-tant guests.

No doubt the children who grow uptoday have many advantages but it is unfortu-nate that they will miss customs of our pastthat have been modernized or altogetherabandoned in the name of progress.

A few maple 'sugar cabins have sur-vived, mostly in Canada. The rest have fallen

A

"-

1

192

to ruins, with only rusty boiling pans andequipment attesting to their existence. HOw-

ever, in this as in all other industries, The big.ger ones. have lasted. Here we pay tribute toPete Daigle's Maple Sugar Club: in Sinclair,Wine. From a simple camp, Pete has devel-oped a popular ,,ear round entertainmentcenter. Even though modernized, theprocess of making maple products is still en-joyed by many every spring.

SECRETS IN A NUTSHELL

' Can you keep a secret? You don't,have to; but if you do, make sure theperson you tell it to is of the opposite sex,or it will lose its power. Cpn you tell it

often? Not too many times, because itmay weaken with repetition. Of what useis it? These particular secrets are curesfor warts, pain of bums, worms, rheumatism,eczema (called le' Iff le). the itopping of blond,goiter, ticks or colic of horses.

Sickness and death, lightning and fire,often struck terror in the heart of man. Thus,he learned to use the traditional controls ofnature at his disposal, techniques handeddown from one generation to the other.

Sickness was natural, but more .or lessfrightening, and had to be controlled if pos-sible. There were in a parish about a dozenpeople who knew the secret cures tormostafflictions. One individual would ktiow onlyone or two, and these could be toil only topersons of the opposite sex. Neither werethey to be offered when the need arose. In-stead, the person with the power would waituntil asked to perform the secret although hesometimes did it privately when he judged itexpedient. Later, he might ask when the painor bleeding stopped, and was often gratifiedto learn that it was shortly after he hadperfrimed his ritual. The practitioner couldnot ask for payment, and many would not

have thought of accepting anything. How.ever, in later years, offers were soften willinglyreceived. Some left a small dish on a bureauand turned their backs so the Patient orrelative .could put something in it withoutenibarrassmen t.

Ar

They clainied no power of their ownother thqn simply the knowledge of the secretprocedurb. Others rarely tried to learn it al-though it was always good to pass it'pn beforedying so that people would continue to deriveits benefits. The renown of the successfulones was more important in the public mindthan the knowledge itself, and patients oftencame from far to see those of good reputa-tion.

. -

Some cures were full of religious sym-bolism, like the one for the goiter, otherswere quite natural. One healer would rub awart, whisper a few words, and say, «Forgetabout it, now, and it will disappear». A manleft the house with a quart bottle, returned itfilled with water from some mysterioussource, told the patient to wash his eczemawith that for nine consecutive days, then takea good laxative, and the eczema would leavehim. For the stopping of blood, there were,and stilk are, several procedures, but no oneperson practiced more than one method. Itwas important that this be done in private,and that the bleeding not stop too quicklybecause the patient would faint.

A strict 'taboo was having sued a

per around at slaughtering time becauseupon seeing the blood, he would inadvertent-ly think of the secret and stop the flow, leav-ing a gaping white wound; die pork meat wasunfit, and there was no blood for the«boudin».

One cure for horse colic could bepracticed publicly and required no cross-sexin the telling. Take five strips of cedar bark

1L)

about -three inches long from the side of thetree toward the rising sun, t.Put these on top9f one another in the shape of is cross in a fry-

/ ing pan, pour water over until well covered,and boil all the water away The, colic disap-pears as the water evaporates.

YOU DO NOT FEEL WELL?

To purify the blood and for general well-being:

Drink absinthe steeped it hot water.(This remedy was Widely used during

the 'epidemic of Spanish influenza in 1918).

For asthma or to thin the blood:Boil white fir and tamarack in wateruntil water diminishes by one half.Take 3/4 cup, four times a day.

For hernia:Apply suet from a black sheep.Take thick cobwebs, twist around alead disk, saturate with olive oil andapply. .Grind cowslip to a pulp bet-ween two stones and apply.

For earache:Blow smoke from a pipe into the ear.Let the water from a handful of :,nowtrickle into the ear. Eau de frene(ash) - take a stick of green ash abouta foot longer than regular firewood,put- in a stove, leaving extended endout downward. The dripping liquidis your remedy.

For falls, bruises, bumps:Mix gunpowder and molasses: Takea scant 1/2 teaspoon three times aday. (Gunpowder is made from niteror saltpeter, charcoal and sulphur).

To remove the rotting flesh from openwounds:

Apply green moss. (This was prac-

193

ticed by the Indians,before the com-ing of the white man).

or a bee sting:Apply mud, or tobacco juice.

To lower a fever:Steep catnip. and drink the infusion.

For sprains:Apply hot greenronions. Apply cuss(de l'anguille).

For toothache:Rub with du boil de tonnerre. (Thiswood was taken from a tree that hasbeen felled by lightning).

O

To induce vomiting in people and animals:Peel the bark of pimbina (high bushcranberry) upward,,steep in hot water,and drink.

For a purgative: A

Peel bark of pimbina downrd, steepand then drink.

For pleurisy:Drink stove soot mixed with milk.Heat the sore portions with oatsacksof ashes.

For worms:Make an infusion of aspen hark andgive in small doses. Drink milk boiledwith garlic" skins. (It is a fact thatsheep which pasture around aspenhave no wo:ms).

Boils and furuncles:Once a day for nine consecutive days,take a tablespopn of a sulphur-molas-ses mixture. Make an infusion of wildrhubarb roots; take with a little gin.L

For whooping coughs:

00

194 .,1

Take fork and honey. Mix poplar.. buds, sandragon, pine gum. and

camphor; rub the chest with thispreparation.

For a whitlow or felon (tour dMix yellow homemade soap chipswith molasses, and wrap around theknger. fake the thin skin inside an(..L;gshell, and wrap around the finger.Apply a paste of pepper, gunpowder,gr !ase and turpentine.,

For a forei0 body in the eye.Put a flaxseed in the eye. Take theupper eyelid with your fingers andmake the sign of the cross with it,

For4baby's diaper rash:Scrape de l'ecorce de pruche (hem-lock bark) into a powder and apply.

For callouses, bunions, sore feet:Steep hemlock bark in hot water untilthe water gets quite dark; soak feet in

A purgati to purify blood in women:Mix one quart milk, fleur de surreauBlanc and, whiii wine. The milkcurdles, and esehave the patientdrink before each meal some of theclear liquid, A popular measure forthis, as well as many other remedies,was un petit verre a patte.'

Soothing syrup for hoarseness:Cherry bark, honey and black pepper.

GET WELL SOON!

Note: Although freckles are not aJisease, they were not to be desired: a lovelywhite complexion, with no trace of suntan,was highly sought, and supposedly attainedby washing with buttermilk. Freckles were

Lr,

1.0

said to be removable by 'washing them awaywith the dew of the first of May, or withwaterdat collects in tree stumps.

WORDS OF YESTERDAY

There are some words' that a :eacteristic of the Acadians, and that areAed by other races, For example.not find in the dictionary une vailloche, faireboucherie, tasserie and batterie, tiese are

1

Norman words.

A braie wasSome Canadians fromcall the Madawaskan

sed in preparing flax ,the Province of Quebecbreyons because they

reproach them with reyer or ecorcer (break-ing up) the French language. When.a womandid not mind her own business, she was calledune grande braye.

Listed below are some common wordsillustrating this distpttion of °speech. Themiracle is not that-4e still speak French, butthat we have conserved a recognizable, evenagreeable language. As for our errors, let usremember that someone once said, «Si notrelangue porte de nompreuses blessures, c'estpeut-titre parce qu'elle a traverse beaucoup debatailles et recu de vilains coups».

An old Acadian word meaning diffi-culti!s, tribulations: tribouil.

.., Hemlock was called: aricot.

Froid iAkaid: frette: droit: drette; fait:faite; pot is pronounced potte.

From the English oust, inIny sayouter; from stooks, des stouques.

The older citizens gay, jornee for jour -

nee; tojours for toujours; tchete for quetitchure for cure; tchuire for cuire; tchulottefor culotte. V'

Up to the 18th century, they wereright when they said avri; now it is aril.'

In reTerenee to drowning, someonesaid, «On ne se noie pas en Acadie, on se.neye..r. il.s'est neye»,

Old timers stilt say, mirwe for miroir;tirwe for tiroir; mouchwe for mouchoir.

The word imposer has been retainedin Acadia with the meaning Of empeche( . . .

fa n 'hYTose pas que . .

The floor is called l a place . . . laverla place.

Molasses is d'la menasse.4

To do the housework is faire le beurda,or berda. Berdi-berda means that all is in dis-order.

Morning is la matinee; afternoon is as'te orloeve.

Tuberculous: pomonique.

To cure: djerir.

God: Le Bon Djeu.

Distinct nautical terms dating fromliving close to the sea remain.

case.Echelle is used for escalier, or stair-

..

Le large used to mean the high seas;inland it means «that part of the farm at theextreme limits near the woods».

a

.77

Haler is used for tirer. or to pull..

Amarer means to tie.

TS

Embarquer and debarqu er is to embarkand to disembark respectivelw

Mater is to rise ..,rtically.

Chavirer is their term for turning or up -;sttting, orlosing one's mind., ,

Larguer is to let go.

Virer de bord means to turn around.

Bord is used for ;\room; ether au bordalways means to go to ty waterside.

INDUSTRY DEVELOPS

The very first crop or.the colonists,that of 1786, was,good except the wheat,which was nearly all destroyed by a Septem-ber frost. This wheat was ground.betweentwo large stones which were turned one

ainst the other by means Of a handle. Then'the flour was separated by sieving it through alinen cloth. Buckwheat was ground the same,way/. For barley, a «pile» was used. This wasa 'piece of wood with a depression in it,in the shape of an inverted hat, The grain wasput in this, pounded with a stick, thus break-ing all the shells. After clea*g, it was readyfor soup. Later came the gffst4nill, with themiller keeping a certain amount of grain forhis work. It was powered by water runningover a large wheel, turning two stones, w"lichground the grain.

For half a century, the Acadianslabored under the most primitive conditions.They remained isolated, retarded in huluistryand agriculture, far from markets and suffer-ing from lack of communication. From themanes and tails of horses, they made rope;they tanned hides to rilake leather for foot-Wear and harnesses. Clothes, 'sails, basketsand hats were also homemade. Their skillwith the axe and chisel provided them with

146

rakes, furniture and needed agricultural im-plements.

The three greit innovations thatmaterially transforintd the interior of housesand conditions of life were ,.the stoves, theflour mill& and the hydraulic sawmills. Stoveswere brought from Canada by boat on the St.John River: The first flour Mills Were con-structed aroi nd 1800, installed on brooks af-ter the fashion of those of Nova Scotia andBale Francaise:- The first in the region wasowned .1)y Paul Potier of Sti.Basile. It turnedslovily,, its overshot wheels withstood theforce of spring floods and lolled with the drierseason of midsummer, but it ground buck-wheat into flour that was the currency of theland, Then there was another in St. David,the work of Louis Bellefleur. Firmin Thi-bodeau bought Francois Cormier's mill ir:Grand Isle and made so many successfultransformations t at he finally had white,flour for sale. It s the reign of the grind-stone.

ti ar

In 1878 the first Canadian PacificRaikoad train arrived on two narrow railsthrough a covered tunnel; at the same spotwhere the, station is today, thus connectingEdmundston with the rest of New Bruns-wick. On JaIU.y 1, 1889, the Temiscouata,with a wood-fa engine and accommodatingpassen rs and baggage, had a regular 113mile ru Our own Bangor and AroostookRailro was opened here in 1910.

A box served as a temporary sta-tion, ith Mr. H.R. Bard as first agent. Mr.EldonTapley was agent from 1911 to 1931;Hector Cyr until 1935; Neil Robertson until1936: Alfred Lausier until 1968; then he wasreplaced by Hercules Levesque who is presentagent.

From the first, in 1910, a station was

built in St. David, followed by a woodenstructure in Madawaska the following year.In 1926 the latter was replaced by a brickstatior. which was razed to make way for thepresent building in 1959.

THE GENERAL STORE$

In the days when men lived separateand solitary lives, it was the country storethat was the venter of, the community,People 'gathered there not only because itprovided them with things they needed, butfor a certain social atmosphere, a warmth andneighborliness that has vanished from theAmerican scene. Here one could look aroundat leisure often taking half an hour to choosea yard of ribbon. There were cubes of indigofor the dye pot, the open cracker and picklebarrels, hardware, dress goods, thread, pow-der and ammunition from Europe. From theWest Indies came barrels of molasses, salt,sugar, chests of coffee and tea, spices, rum anddyes. The air was heavy with the smell ofstrange places, whale oil, kerosene, raw hidesand humanity.

Bartering was the common way totrade, and the'av'tier was often paid in butter,sheep, rag coverlets,\cordwood, wool or corn,all in small lots and processed at home underprimitive conditions. The farmer fabricated allhe could within his own fampy and abstainedfrom buying imported goods.as much as pos-sible.

411

Iron was used with great parsimony,forged into tools and rkpair parts that couldnot be made of wood.

A buyer did not ay out his moneywith a careless hand in,..tfAse days. Customerswere relaxed, and the store owner practicedthe art of patience and tactful,waiting. Mer-chandise was examined, prices discussed,every item compared with the other and final-ly the serious business of whether to satisfy

2 )

the heart's desire or necessity Was resolved.

In the 1870's the mail order catalogwas introduced! Since the companies would-not barter for goose feathers or eggs, it wasmany years before they were a serious rival tothe country store. A more vital competitorwas the peddler with his overflowing cart sethigh so it could travel over deeply. ruttedroads, and who .could sweet talk the womeninto buying anything in . return for skins,feathers °I...wool, old rags, discarded horse-shoes or other seraph-on. He brought to thehousewife a touch of the outside world, acontact with civilization that did much torelieve the monotony of her days.

Loafers were hardly profitable to theroprietor, but he put up with them whilethey played checkers by the stove, heckledeach other, or alternated between heateddis-cussions and sudden gusts of loud laughter.He was often the postmaster, the only sub-scriber to a newspaper, and was looked up tofor advice in both business an.i domes icaffairs.

No one knows exactly what was thecritical time for that era. It did not seem tochange from one year to the next, and yet itis gone. With the coming of the automobile,the world grew smaller, the community toolarge for what the general store could supply.14ople loved to go for a ride to where therewere orderlt departments,. better displays,quick service, and one price for all, even if itmeant making the transition from the com-modity to the currency dollar.

Still the country store is recalled witha certain wistfulness, humor and affection.How many folks would give much to slip intothe shadows of the past for one evening, tothis leisure point of assembly - to sit on thewooden bench, chew tobacco and whittle a

. 197

bit, listen to the fI9,w of talk or long periodsof silence, at ilwetime when life's pace wasuncomplicated and slow!

WHERE THERE IS LIFE

Sickness, birth 'and death are norespecters of time and season. When therewere no doctors and storms raged outside,-thefArmers sat' tight and tended their stock, andlet nature take its course. People- knewenough to stay well or they relied on homeremedies. Diseases like mumps, measles.whooping cough, rash or croup were eitherignored and allowed to run themselves out; orthey were treated with medications madefrom traditional family recipes and com-pounded in the home kitchen.

Rural people were afflicted with along list of ailments - frostbite, colds, sorethroats, kidney trouble, summer complaint,cuts, fits, gallst6nes, and le corps barre.Special and violent experiences in a rough en-yironnient (knifings, gunshot wounds,accidents with axes, scythes, and pitchforks)called for emer y treatment. Giant treesthat did not fal w ere they were supposed towere called «widow makers». So the peoplegathered herbs, roots, and bark along forestglades and stream banks, and hung them inbunches from the rafters of the back shed tobe used as needed. In their gardens they grewcatnip (herbe a Matte), camomile, absinthe,and mint. Roots such as racine de mosque(calamus root) ravine de chiendent (couch-grass) and cowslips were preserved.

The general supposition was thatcold causes most illnesses, and so heat andthe things associated with it, such as soot,snuff, and hot compresses were often used.A great many of these have been droppedwith the development of science and modemmedicine, but sometimes a doctor is not

2

198

surprised to be called only after sqme,of thesehave been tried. Some were rational andsome were not, and many had no curingproperties; however, when the principle wassound, alleviation of pain or a cure resulted.Others, have been found to actually havescientific value.

Much could be said for the earlycountry doctor, whose services were usuallycalled for by a distraught man on horseback.He would dress warmly, hitch up the sleighand drive long distances, in all possible weath-er conditions, sometimes with his horsefloundering in snowdrifts up to its belly.Often he would stay overnight at the patk,,t'sLome, working in deplorable conditions, wait-ing for a new addition to the population,, ormerely to see what turn the illness wouldtake. He was paid in fann produce such asmeat, jams, buckwheat, maple sugar, etc..;

, sometimes, not at all. One doctor, whodelivered a large portion of the people alongthe valley and back settlements has manysuch memories. He recallsleturning home,either gratified for having been successful .orwith a heavy heartbecause Death had won.He would hang the reins over the dasher, tellthe horse to go home, curl up on the seatwarmly wrapped in a robe de carriole, andawake some time later at his own barn &or,

* * *

gOur remedies oft in ourselves do lie which.we ascribe to Heaven».

Shakespeare

INDIAN LORE

On the whole, the Indians were notthe rugged, super healthy race that we oftenthink they were. It is not by accident thatthey were the real discoverers of botanical

materia medico; their whole livesovere spentin the open, searching far food and fightingthe weather and the elements of nature.Flimsy shelters, ground vapors and chillingwinds left them ptible to all kinds of N.2)pains, fevers and al ments. Recent discoveriesshow that they were also victims of bonedeformities and decayed teeth.

They were hunters first, both of gameand hostile tribes, so all work concerned withfood was left to the women. They ate onlyone meal a day, in the morning, sitting orstanding around the fire. The men and boyswere served from a clay pot in the embers,then the women andigirls ate. Leftovers werekept warm all day, and anyone who felthungry, including visitotts, could help .them-selves. Dishes were never washed, but werescraped with cornhusks and allowed to dry;they became so coated with grease that theyturned a deep brown. The tepees belonged bytradition to the women, and they were al-lowed to draw on them but not scenes fromreal life.

The Indians taught the whites to huntand to fish, using traps and nets with stone sink-ers. During their many years-Lin this territorythey had learned much about plants by looking,tasting and smelling. They knewiwhich red ber-ries made delicious food and which ones causedagonizin stomach, pains. They ught thewhite rn n what to use for.dyeing, w aving, forhealing w nds and treating sickne -; about avariety of yo g stems, leaves andfl Overheadsthat could be eaten as greens, and of roots,bulbs, seeds and acquainted them with maplesugar. Arrowhead bulbs taste much like pota-toes after they are boiled or baked. Wild car-rot roots are very bitter but not when firstsoaked in boiling water then baked in ashes.Seed pods were boiled while young and tenderand served as a vegetable. Sometimes their mil-ky sap was collected, dried, and chewed like,

gum. Certain barks and berries were used ininfusions as a drug.

They showed the whites how to planttheir corn over dead fish, in order to have abetter yield.

Many Indian dishes have found their wayinto our kitchens, especially those made withpotatoes or corn. Some of their words relatingto foods include cacao, caribou, mals (corn),patate, tapioca, tomate,also quinine (a drug),and tabac (tobacco).

PARLEZ-VOUS FRAIKAIS?

All living languages change. In fact, themany languages spoken today have so alteredthat historians doubt their common origin.There are many reasons for this, the most mark-ed being wars, which ate followed by new re-gimes that often create long lasting hybrid idi-oms. Other causes, slower and less violent, aremigrations, change in climate affrAing vocal'cord, international relations, commerce, morenecessity of coining appropriate words forrecently discovered objects or processes.Thus some words, like clothes, a:e mend7ed, shortened or lengthened, while othersbecome obsolete and are rejected.

It is true that, compared toParisian French, the French we speak ismonotonous. Our vocal cords are morerelaxed and we do not roll our r's. Thereis less vibrating of syllables, which accountsfor the fact that our speech is not so musicalas theirs. BasiCally, though, it is the same ingrammar, syntax and vocabulary.

In view of the act that our an-cestors were illiterate peasants, we expecttheir language to be less refined, to lack theelegance of professors and poets. However, a

199

diamond in the rough is no less a diamondthan the one cut with many facets, and noother dialect approaches closer the academicFrench than that of the Canadian or Acadian.

Many words and expressions havebeen conserved by the Acadians, with thesame sense they originally had, but they arenot in the dictionary any more. Some (suchas nautical terms) have been lost through geo-graphical isolation simply because there was nomore use for them. In Madawaska we have ablending of half Acadian and half Canadian.This is due to a fusionain about equal numbersfrom Acadia through the St. John River andfrom Kamouraska through the forest. Theearly absence of schools fostered the conserva-tion of traits of vocabulary and pronunciationof each group. The Acadian syntax has be-come entangled with that of the Canadian,and seems to be giving in to the latter'ssimpler internal structure and formation ofwords.

The fact rem, that we are the keep-ers of the French la- Age. The stubbornfolks who begot us Lid a taste of prison inorder to defend their right to the maternaltongue. Ours is not a patois. When educatedpeople adapt the rich old base of the mothertongue to modern phrasing, deleting the unac-ceptable words, their language reveals an in-describable charm. The historians, chroniclersand poets are only adapters; they transcribefor the eyes what we create for the ear. Theold terms of Acadia, so alive and picturesque,are giving way to the infiltration of alien ideasand customs, and are definitely becomingAnglicized, especially in cities and suburbs.Let us conserve them with extreme care, be-cause «Chaque mot qui part est une time quimeurt». (From an old Canadian poet whowished th4t no one word be lost).

* * *

200

PICTURESQUE WORDS AND MEANINGS

Along with the French language, theIndians adopted the white man's custom ofcalling each other names. Thus, they calledthe Iroquois, Les Nez-Crochus.

Ritnouski means retreat of dogs.

Chippewa means a windy fellow.

Rivi Ere-du-Loup means river of theWolves.

Some say Canada is Iroquois forKanata, meaning a cabin or lodge. Others sayit is Algonquin for Odanah, meaning a settle-ment; while still others claim that the Spanishsailors, failing to find gold mines, cried «Aca-nada»!

The St. Francis River was called Amil-cungantEguake, meaning «banks of the riverabounding in dry meat». (This probablyreferred to game meat, but it could not havebeen venison because there were practicallyno deer here before the loggers came).

Allagash is Indian for «HemlockBark», or «North Flowing Waters». There isan old superstition that anyone who drankAllagash waters would die with his boots off.

The Iroquois referred to the Adiron-dacks as «bark eaters».

The St. Francis tribe was called Abe-naki, or Wabin meaning people of thedawn.

There are two theories on the St. JohnRiver's name: one says it was called Woo loos-took in honor of a great ct .ef; the otherclaims it was the Wallastook, meaningcrooked river, or shallow river.

2

ook.The Big Black was called Chinkaza-

Eagle Lake was Pongokwahemook;

Mada vas was Med-a-wes-kek, forporcupine pl

Sunakade meant place where cran-berry abounds;

Trackadie, Passamaquoddy:lands or fields;

fertile

Seguboonakake or Shubenacadie: placewhere edible roots such as potatoes and arti-chokes flourish in abundance,

Cabahonoce meant ducks' sleepingplace.

Other Indian words, adaptations ofwhich we recognize in our everyday speechare the following:

boucan - a grill for smoking meat; wealso use boucaner.

matacne - Indian for tattoed; Acadiansused it to denote varicolored animals.

mlcoine - wooden spoons such as thatused in making butter.

pietrow--+Algunquin) ugly, deformed

piconllle - (Algonquin) very lean,emaciated

pimbina - our high bush cranberrythat is used for making jelly

mackinaw - warm covers

babiche - narrow length of leather for

crude sewing or thongs

odiche - dodish, petticoats for smallchildren

kayak - closed canoe of skin used byhunters and fishermen

touladis or touradis - (Algonquin)large gray trout

tobagan light sled with front turnedupwards

pioui down on young birds

quiliou used by the coareurs de bois,meant the great royal eagle

REMINISCING

Before 'iron was available, plows weremade from the roots oi hardwood trees.Oxen-drawn harrows were fashioned fromthree pieces of hardwood through which holeswere bored for teeth made from branches.The scythe and the flail of .the 19th centurydiffered little from those of biblical days.The scythe ,could be swung swiftly, but itflung stalks in all directions. Then came thecradle scythe which had prongs along theblade, .that caught the grain'as it was cut andlet it slide to the ground in a neat pile. Farm-ers used to thresh by beating the heads ofthe grain, or driving their animals back andforth over the spread-out grain until theirfeet had trampled the kernels loose. Winnow-ing was a slow hand process of tossing thegrain into the air, in a strong breeze, until thechaff blew away. Before the gristmill, buck-wheat was ground between two flat rocks, sothat the grain broke and produced the flour.

LA FAUCILLE

Hanging from wooden pins or leaningagainst the wall, the old farm implements are

201

covered with dust in the shed where no oneever goes... no one except him, old and bent,who goes to see his friends, companions of hisancient labors. He picks them up and softlyspeaks to them. Like him, they have been re-placed by machines, faster, noisier, more ef-ficient, better suited to the frantic impatienceof our times. Here, away from curious eyes,hidden from insults and disrespect, they sharetheir memories - the two handled winnowingbasket, the flail, the pitchfork with the wood-en prongs, the little curved scythe (faucille),the brale on top of the bakehouse, the plow-share with a dent in its side, pieces of harness- the relics he has put to rest.

And he remembers. How many cropshe cut when his arms were solid and sure!He would straighten out at the end of thefield, sweat glistening on his brow, and admirethe blond heads of grain that lay like a goldencarpet. And the flail, as old as he! Like his,its joints fail it now; rust has gnawed at itsiron ring and the leather of its copes has driedand shriveled. But its wooden beater of wildcherry, its support of maple are sound. Hehandles the pitchfork with fondness. Once abranch in the forest, it was found on a sum-mer night. He sharpened its teeth - it was allof one piece and so solid it never faltered un-der the heaviest hay. Yet, it was so light hiswife could handle it as well as any man. Andhe hears his dead father's voice...oNow, mysons, we have sold this hay. Let us give agood measure, and more...» The inbornhonesty, the generosity of his forefathers,where have they gone?

His mother's loom, all made of pine, ispartly dismantled. Fine cobwebs weave backand fr,..th between it and the working bench.Iron:cally, they remind him of the syntheticfibers that have made the fine art of weavingobsolete. Ah, yes! the young people oftoday would not understand us; better to letthem sleep in their dark corner. He softlycloses the door and comes back to the house,

202

and a smile hovers on his good old face.

THE SUNDAY POETS

Diereville lauded the ingenuity of theAcadians in this poem:

Sans avoir appris de metiers,Its sont en tout bons ouvriers:II n'est rien dont ils ne s'acquittent,Cent besoins divers les excitentA se donner ce qu'ils n'ont pas:De leur laine, ils se font habits, bon-

nets et bas.Ne se distinguant point par de nouvel-

les modes.Its portent toujours des capots,Et se font des souliers, toujours plats

et commodes. ,De peaux de loup-marins et de peaux

d'orignaux.De leur lin ils se font encore de la toile;Enfin leur nudite par leur travail se

voile.

THE TRAGEDY OF THE ST. JOHN RIVER

The St. John River was called theOangundy by the Indians of those days, andeven at the present time the Malecites use thename Oangundy. It was at what is now calledSt. Anne, N.B. opposite Grand Isle on thisside of the boundary line where the line ofcanoe laden Mohawks started with the Indianmaiden Malabeam on their way down theriver.

In the sweet days of summer fivehundred years ago

Where the broad Oangundy swept onin might below the ceaselesstorrent, which down the great

falls boreOver the steep, with sudden leap,

full eighty feet or more.There on the bank above, an Indian

town arose.

Where dwelt the warlike Malicites,the Mohawks were their foes.

Then red skinned sons of slaughterhad joined in many a fray

With savage ire and carnage dire sham-ing the light of day.

But buried was the hatchet, they wentto war no more

The little children gambolled abouteach wigwam floor

Around the 'savage village were maizefields waving green

Mid such sweet peace you scarcecould guess that ever war had been.

Sakotis and his daughter, the darkeyed Malabeam

Sailed up the Oangundy beyond theQuisibis stream

And there upon the island they restedfor the day

Their hearts were light, the woairWasbright, and Nature's face was gay.

But, like a clap of thunder when theheavens are calm and clear

The warhoop of the Mohawks fell ontheir startled ear

And a sharp flint tipped arrow piercedold Sakotis' breast

Ere Malabeam could run to him, herfather was at rest.

And bounding through the thicket onrushed a savage crowd

Of Mohawks in their war paint, withziphoops fierce and loud

'And ere the orphaned maiden hadtime to turn and fly

They bound her fast, all hope waspassed, except the hope to die.

There by her slaughtered father theweary hours she passed

Till the sun went down, and the loftytrees a gloomy shadow cast

Thinking of home and kindred, of thefriends she could not warn

The murderous night, and the gorysight, would greet the morrow

morn.

But one who knew her language said,«As soon as the sun goes down

Your bark canoe shall guide us toyour father's town

Do this, your life is spared you, thenwed a Mohawk brave

Refuse, your doom is torture, orworse, to be a slave».

Then said she, «I will guide you andwed a Mohawk brave

Though you have slain my father, Ineed not be a slave

The stream is swift and broken, youwell might go astray

Keep your canoes together, and I willlead the way».

Just as the gloom of darkness spreadover hill and dale

Down the swift Oangundy theMohawk fleet set sail

Three hundred Mohawk warriorschanting a martial song

Their paddles gleamed upon thestream as swift they sped along.

In four lines together, each to thenext held fast

The maiden in the center, V- greatcanoe fleet passed

And he who knew her language aline of silver drew

As he bent to the forward paddle inthe maiden's birch canoe.

The song was done, and silence fellupon every tongue

Of warriors old, grizzled, and thebraves untaught and young

Hate filled every swarthy bosom,

203

nearing the thrice doomed townFlow on, 0 mighty river, and bear the

foemen down.

But little cared the Mohawks, thewind might wail or sigh

The moon might hide her glory, theclouds obscure the sky

With hearts intent on slaughter, withtongues on carnage fed

They toiled, and still before them thestrong armed maiden sped.

And now the Indian village lies but amile below

A sound like muffled thunder seemson their ears to grow

«What's that?» «'Tis but a torrent»,the Indian maidetiaplied

«It joins the Oangundy, which hereflows deep and wide».

«Speed on a little further, the town isnow hard by

Your toils are nearly over, and nightstill veils the sky

The town 'is wrapped in slumber,but ere the dawn of light

What stalwart men shall perish, whatwarriors die tonight!»

But louder still, and loudef, thesounds like thunder grew

As down the rapid river the swiftflotilla flew

On either shore the foam wreathsj shone like a line of snow

But all in front was darkness, 'twasdeath which lay below.

Then with a shout of triumph theIndian maiden cried

«Listen, ye Mohawk warriors, who sailon death's dark tide

Never shall earth grave hide you, orwife weep over your clay

Come to your doom, ye Mohawks,

209

204

-A( ind I will lead the way.»

Then sweeping with her paddle onepotent stroke, her last

,Down the fall her bark is borne, therdreadful brink is passed.

And down the whole three hundred,with swift succession go

Into the dark abyss of death, fulleighty feet below.

And many a day thereafter, .beyondthe torrent's roar

The swarthy Mohawk dead werefound upon the river's shore

But on brave Malabeam's dead face nohuman eyes were set

She lies in the dark stream's embrace,the river claims her yet.

The waters of five hundred yearsflowed above her grave

But daring deeds can never die whilehuman hearts are brave

Her tribe still tell her story and roundtheir council fires

Bless her who died in the raging tideek to rescue all their sires.

FROM FATHER TO SON

The family, which was often verylarge, constituted the basic wealth of thecitizens. Because of their need for unity andfamily solidarity, marriages were arranged bythe parents, who chose someone in a familywith whom there was a common bond of kin-ship, friendship or trust. When courting start-ed, it was done at home with close chaperon-ing of daughters and no prolonged visitingperiods. It was not unusual for a father to beasked for his daughter's hand in marriage afterone month courting. The young man ex-plained a

-

plained his financial position and receivedtentative reply. Then shortly after, the twosets of parents agreed on the terms for themarriage contract. The pretty young girls

2u

brought to their marriage the honesty of theirsouls, an indomitable courage, the ability towork with their hands, used to hard work infields and home, and the disposition for ahappy wife and good mother. Our FrenchAcadian women had a reputation for keepinga clean house and the progress of the springand fall grand ménage dominated their con-versations for several weeks during the year.There were houses with ceiling beams thathad been scrubbed so much that their edgeswere actually worn round! Dowries consistedof household linens and utensils, blankets, afeatherbed, livestock, and more rarely, apiece of land. By right, the cradle went to theoldest daughter in a family. (It is interestingto note here that there were no divorces).

If the young husband was to be theinheriting son, the couple took up residencewith his parents. Little by little the mother-in-law relinquished her duties as head of thehousehold and eventually the older couplemade preparations for their retirement. AfterMadawaska was incorporated into a town,they would go to the town clerk and legallyturn over the bien to their son, taking in turn,a life support mortgage and making specificrequests. This was written in English, whichthey could not read, but their plow-callousedhand affixed an X to the paper, and it becametheir most important document, to be putaway carefully in the coffre dans la grandechambre. It insured maintenance for the restof their lives, while reassuring them that theirprecious land holdings would remain in thefamily.

Town records list the meager belong-ings of these people and reveal how importantit was to be assured of a funeral and sub-sequent Masses.

For example, one can read: «Provid-ed heir will make available (to the father)suitable harness, horse, buffalo robes and car-riages, in accordance with the seasons, for the

rurpose pf doing his necessary religious dutiesas long as he can manage a horse: that heshall provide his mother with sufficient meat,tea and snuff, and medical care; that he shallbe sure to bring in a confessor in sickness orold age; also, provide a sufficiedt piece of landand manure to plant two bushels of potatoesyearly; provide tobacco and pipes at hisineces-sity: alsoili sugar pot as long as he thinks itproper to make maple sugar; provide the oldcouple with suitable clothing and house-roomin their ho.me. At their deaths, that they willhave a High Mass of Requiem, then six lowMasses in accordance with the rules of theChurch of Rome. for the repose of theirdeparted souls. Also, he is to give a two yearold heifer to his sister.»

We note here that a sort of matriarchyseemed to exist. The wife and mother wasqueen of the humble home. Her husbandnearly always asked her permission to gosomewhere, never started any project withoutdiscussing it with her nor would he give ananswer without consulting her first. Familieswere numerous, often having eighteen totwenty-one children.

Growing old was an entirely naturaland satisfying process. In no time at all, itseemed, the wheel had turned full circle andit was time to make provisions for old age anddeath.

Hospitals being unknown, people diedat home, in their own beds. They werewashed, dressed in their Sun best, and laidout sur les planches, ich re boards,covered with a sheet. The coffin aker wasnotified. Vital Bellefleur, a carpe ter here,was one such. Another was Mich 1 Morin.Usually made of pine, the c fin wasfashioned after the general bui of thedeceased; that is, if he were a tall man, a wom-an or a child. Some were made fancier,with a widening at the shoulders and taper-ing at the foot. A three-day wake was held;

b\

205

during which friends and relatives came tosay prayers, and a table was laid out withfood twenty -four hours a day.

Then came the morning of thefuneral, the time for alter porter en terre.Lacking other facilities, burial was done inwinter as well as in summer, and many recallthe funeral procession coming upon the gravehalf filled with nyirling snow during the harshMaine winter; Often memorial cards weremade, with 'a, lock of hair tucked inside as asouvenir. During the period of mourning,which lasted a year, the relatives did not playcards, attend public mtings, weddings orany other fektivities, and they strictly ob-served'the custom of wearing black.

The front of St. David cemetery has afew wooden tombstones left, the inscriptioncarved with a knife. Then there are °someiron crosses with ornate scrollwork made bythe blacksmith. oCi GU)) for «Here Lies»,dates from Old Acadii.

ON EST CATHOLIQUE

As family life revolved around theseasons, so was it always in close union withthe religious year. The Catholic faith was notjust a Sunday affair to our fathers. It wastheir strength, their perpetual help, their veryway of life. On a wall of every home the longblack crucifix had a place of honor. At itsfoot the family knelt together to say morn-ing and evening prayers. Other wall decora-tions were religious pictures and the framedcoffin handles of departed ones.

Sunday was devoted to attendingMass and afternoon Vespers, and St. Davidparishioners spent all day ill at ease in theirbest suits of drap de pays and robes dedroguette pronounced drayette. Theirdevotion to Notre Dame de L'Assomptiondates to the very .first parish at Port -Royal.

206

The old citizens who lie in thecemetery would probably think that we havelost all sense of piety today. They would findthat Latin has given way to the vernacular,and many of their lovely customs have simplyvanished.

I heard an o1 ien1an recall that in the1800's they had the pain beni. One of themore proerous farmers would _bring tochurch a loaf of bread on Sunday. The priestblessed it, then it was passed around. Every-one in turn, would take a pinch of it, crosshimself and eat. This. however, did not re-place Communion, which was not receivedas often as it is today.

The period of Lent meant forty dayswhen meat was not eaten, and fasting and rigiddiscipline were strictly observed. There wasno dancing; parties or drinking, and HolyWeek seemed far' away indeed. During Masson Holy Thursday, when the church bellstolled, it was said that «they had gone toRome», to return on Holy Saturday. Thencame Easter, the greatest feast of the church,and everyone turned out in their springfinery. As on all Sundays, custom d;:tatedthat the men file out of the church first, thenthe women and children.

Long ago, two outstanding feastswere St. Marc's Day, and f(La Fete Dieu.»On the former, the priest blessed a largebowl of assorted seeds. A man from eachfamily brought home a handful, and everyonehelped to separate them into various kinds,which were the first to be planted. Childrensowed these while saying «Paters». Later thefarmer would wear a long apron, gather thetwo corners to form a pocket for the seedsand sow them after having made the sign ofthe cross.

On the Fete Dieu the procession ofthe Blessed Sacrament had a special charm. It

was called the Holy Parade, and everyone at-tended. It is said thOthe Indians dressed bril-liantly, arnItill witiespears and muskets, as fora military parade. The elevation was salutedby a volley of artillery and they sang, 0 Salu-tarts, Hostia.

When the bishop came to confirm, thepeople would balise the road where he wasto pass. That is, they cut many small trees ofmaple, beech, etc., bore holes in the ground atintervals, and tamped the trees in, thusmaking a lovely green passageway. All along,people knelt and made the sign of the cross asthe bishop and clergy went by.

On November 1, All Saints Day, thetown crier held an auction in front of thechurch for Masses for the souls of the dead.An incongruous assortment of produce wasbrought in - pumpkins, poultry, headcheese,rag rugs, bolts of cloth, pigs, geese, etc.Articles were sometimes bought, then givenback, for a Mass to be said «for the mostabandoned soul in Purgatory».

After the time of Advent came therevelry of les fetes, with the lumbermenhome after a long absence, often to find anew baby in the cradle. Christmas was notgiven the general importance that it is to-day; certainly it had none of the commer-.cial aspect. All the parish was present andbeaming at Midnight Mass, and all went toCommunion, males before females. After-wards, there were home reveillons with wine,candy, fat pork, croquecignols, and tour-tieres.

At New Years, the priest blessed thecongregation, «Bonne, sainte et heureuse an-nee, et le paradis a la fin de vos jours.» Therewas well wishing and hand shaking as peoplegreeted one another on the church steps andin every home the father blessed in turn, eachmember of his household.

Reprinted by permission of the author.

212

THE FRENCH IN VERMONT

1609 W 1976

by

Peter WoolfsonBurlington, VT

The North American Experience

The French presence in North Americacan be officially dated from July 24, 1534 atGaspe Harbor (in what is now the eastern partof the Province of Quebec) where JacquesCartier and his men erected a thirty foot crossupon whose crossbars rested a shield deco-rated with «fleurs-de-lis» and the inscription,«Vive le Roy de France.»

Explorers, missionaries and coureursde bols (fur traders) pushed that initial effortfrom the shores of the St. Lawrence throughmuch of what is today Canada and the UnitedStates. No less than twenty three of theUnited States were colonized by Frenchpioneers or French Canadians (Maurault, 1950,9). A remarkable number of cities werefounded by these explorers and colonizer::Biloxi (Mississippi), Chicago (Illinois'', Detroit(Michigan), Dubuque (Iowa), Duluth (Minne-sota), Mobile (Alabama), New OrleLns (Louis.iana), Niagara Falls (New York), Peoria(Illinois), Pittsburg (Pennsylvania), and St.Joseph (Missouri) to name some.

The French experience goes deep intothe sinews of American history. The Battleof Bunker Hill is really the Battle of«Boncoeur» Hill; there are other Frenchnames of national significance: Paul Revereand Faneuil Hall; the cradle of AmericanLiberty.

The French Experience in Vermont

Any account of the French experiencein Vermont must begin with the explorationsof Samuel de Champlain in 1609. MiriamChapin writes, «The first French contactwith Vermont occurred when Samuel deChamplain came up the Richelieu River to theLake that bears his name. (1958, 22).ChaMplain, who had founded New France,may have also, in retrospect, sealed its doom.For when Chatri6lain, in support of hisAlgonkin guides, sprayed and killed threeIroquois chiefs with his arquebus, he sealedin blood the undying enmity of the powerfulIroquois confederacy who then becameinvaluable allies of the English.

The Early Forts

Champlain, however, never revisited theLake that bears his name. Settlements didnot begin until. some fifty-seven years laterwhen Sieur de la Mope, retracing Champlalon'sroute, built Fort Ste Anne on what ik now IsleLa Motte. In the winter of p666, FatherDollier de Casson, a Sulpician from Montreal,came to visit sick soldiers at the Fort. Th..chapel that was built for him during his three-months' stay is purported to be the firstreligious edifice in New England. (Wilson,1953, 21). Since the fort was establishedin what was considered a no-man's land be-tween the warring Indians, the establishmentof villages was considered too dangerousNevertheless, it was common for the soldiersto have small gardens - officers could keep

207

213

208

cows. Some of the soldiers eve g built summerhomes on their garden plots! (Pages from thePast, 1961, 159). When the soldiers retired,around the ages of forty or fifty, they wereallowed to settle upon and cultivate a piece ofground. Each discharged soldier was given apiece of land forty arpents long and threearpents wide (an arpent is 192 feet). He wasalso given cows, tools, and assistan5g in build-mg a house. Thus, the colonization ofVermont begin.. But this initial colonizationwas to be short-lived. Coolidge claims thatwhen the French Were driven out by theEnglish in 1759, the French left no trace oftheir' hundred and fifty years of occupationoother tlian the mute and deserted ruins oftheir homes and military posts, surrounded by'the cultivated fields whiclr represent civiliza-tion.»... (Coolidge, 1938, 301). Adams, of theVermont Archaeological Society, argue' thatsome of the French farms were remoteenough to escape notice by the English. Inreality, he suggests the praience inVermont was never totally discontinued; butthe past remains dim.

The American Revolution

It is not until tie American Revolutionthat immigration into Vermont appears again.The Continental Congress in 1774 invitedCanada to be part of its confederation ofAmerican provinces. However, Mgr. Briand,Bishop of Quebec, and other notables de-clined the offer. They were dedicated to con-solidating the position of the French CatholicChurch in a predominantly Engsh Protestantmilieu. Nevertheless, the majority of FrencilCanadians sympathized with the Americans;so much so, that the F.,glish governorhesitated to raise a force of Frenilh Canadiantroops, lest he provide training and arms forthose who could become potential enemies.In spite qf the fact that Bishop Briand for-bade the AdmOstration of the sacraments toany Canadian rebel, Colonel Moses Hazen was

\able to recruit two companies of FrenchCanadians to ,fight on the side of theAmericans. In addition, James Livingston,under the orders of Benedict Arnold, recruit-ed another troop of 100 to 150 men. Whenthe war was over in41783,. the FrenchCanadians who had.fought on the side of theAmericans were offered extensive tracts ofland on both the New York and Vermontsides of Lake Champlain. (Maurault, 1951,11).. The impact of this French Canadian im-migration, however, was not extensive: thecensus of 1790 which counted only heads of`families lists only twenty-nine French familiesin Vermont - an estimated one hundred andfifty-three persons in a population of eightythousand. (Huntley, 1940, 27).

The,Ftpineau Rebellions

21,4

Immigration into Vermont picked upsome as a result of the rebellions of 1837-8.The struggle was in essence, one between theEnglish-speaking minority and the French-speaking majority. - The imglish-speaking ol-igarchy controlled the government, whereasthe French controlled the elected assembly.The French were more numerous but feltpowerless in their own affairs. Joseph LouisPapinsau, Speaker for the Assembly, -lookedto the American model for a more equitablegovernmental structure. The British govern-ment, fearing again the loss of control, de-clared' that the colonies could have neitherself.dovernment nor elected legislativecouncils. Papireau talked of revolution. Hisfollowers, KLes Patriotes», founded «Fits Jela Liberte» Associations in imitation of theearlier American Revolutionaries. English-speaking Lower Canadians, in retaliation,organized their military groups. Riots soonensued. Papineau and his lieutenants, in orderto avoid trouble, left MontreLl. Their actionswere misinterpreted - and Papineau's arret twas ordered. He then fled to the UnitedStates; several of his lieutetunts came to

\Vermont: Louis Permit to Middlebury,Thomas Storrow Brown to St. Albans,Etienne Rodier to Burlington, followed byLudgar Duvernay who had first stoppedbriefly at Rouses Point. (Rumilly, 1958, 19).

Duvernay was a newspaper editorhe had been arrested in 1832 for publishingan article denigrating the legislative councilin his newspaper, «La Minerve». He choseBurlington, Vermont to practice an ,hisjournalistic skills in the defense of FrenchCanadian independence and liberty. He choseBurlington because it was large 7,000people, had a university -- whose cornerstonewas laid by Lafayette in 1825 and was nearWinooski where several refugee Canadianswere employed in the woolen mills. Thuswas established the first French Canadiannewspaper in the United States, «tePatriote.» However!' the experience_ wasshort-lived six months. Most of the fol-lowers of Papineau were granted amnesty andreturned to Lower Canada to take up theirlives where they had left them.

The Great Migration

.The greatest im igration of CanadianFrench to New Ens nd occurred between1840 and 1930. T e first migrants wereseasonal workers who came to New Englandfor the harvest season. But as land of goodquality became scarce and family farmsdeteriorated, many. French Canadians came toVermont in search of better farmingconditions. Industrialization of Vermontpicked up after the Civil War. Bassettestimates that between 60,000 and 75,000French Canadians came to New England

...between 1866 and 1873. In the month ofApril, 1873, alone, the trains coming fromCanada carried 2300 French C Jnadiansthrough St. Albans. On the thin'. of May,1869, a single train carried six hundredFrench Canadians locked inside its cars to

209

void confusinnd to make desertion im-possible. In site of the mill recruiters'propaganda, the workers did not find theAmerican streets paved with gold. In 1880,for example, a millworker received theprincely sum of seventy-two cents for aneleven and a half hour day! It was necessaryfor an entire family to work in the mills inorder for a living wage to be made. More-over, because of the health hazards of breath-ing cotton fibers, the average working life ofa mill hand was ten years or less!

The 'depression of 1930 saw the end tolarge cotton and woolen mills in Ver:nontthe mills in Winooski limped along, however,until 1957. From that time on, more andMore French Canadians came to Vermont towork in dairy and lumber industries.. TheState has remained primarily rural nearlytwenty-seven percent of Vermont's ruralpopulation are French-speaking -- 19% ofthe farm population is French-speaking aswell.

According to the 1970 census, there are42,193 people who claim that their mothertongue is French nearly 10% of the popula-tion. The number of people who are descen-dants of French Canadian immigrants in thestate are, of course, much larger; the censusdid not take account of French surnames ororigins.

210

References

Bassett, T. D. S.\o, 1952 A French Twist to Vermont Society:

1865-1880 Urban Penetration ofRural Vermont. PhD. Dissertation

Harvard.

Chapin, Miriam1958 The French Vermonter, Vermont Life

Guy 0. CollidgeSept., 1938 French Occupation of the

Champlain Valley: 1609-1759. PVHS

New Series Vol. VI. No. 3 143,313.

Huntley, Mildred1940 The Canadian French of Franklin

County. Unpublished Master's Thesis:he University of Vermont.

Maurault, Oliver

1951 Newcomen Lecture on the Franco -

American, Middlebury, Vermont.. A

Pages from thWastJuly, 1951 «Peter Kahn's Travels in North

America» Vermont Quarterly Vol.

XXX, No. 3 159-171.

Rumilly, Robert193 isto0 des Fran o-Americains

tisocket, RI: L'Unkin Saint Jed!,Baptiste d'Amerique.

Wilson, Fredrick R.July, 1953 «A History of Catholicism in

Vermont» Vermont Quarterly Vol,XXL.No. 3 211-219.

Reprinted by permission of the author,

21G

THE RAPID ASSIMILATION OF CANADIAN FRENCH IN NORTHERN VERMONT

by

Peter Woolfson

The French Language

France, in signing the Treaty of Paris in1763, officially washed its hands oLS NewFrance. To all intents and purposes, socialand intellectual interactions with the MotherCountry ceased. To some, this isolation has

meant the creation of a linguistic relic:«Plusieurs Quebecois se font grande gloirede parler la langue de Moliere en Amerique.Quelle mire! disent-ils.» (Landry, 1972,71). To speak of Canadian French as frozenin the seventeenth century, is of course agross oversimplification. First of all, the isola-.tion from France was never a total one -- theCanadian Clergy. was often reinforced byEuropean French-speaking priests and nuns.Besides, the Canadian Clergy felt its respon-sibilities to maintain standards of «le bonparler francais» in their sermons, writings,and teachings: this meant standard EuropeanFrench. Moreover, as every linguist knows,the only frozen languages are the dead ones:living languages change, grow, add, borrow,and deptve. Where would hardly be able torecognize he dialect of Quebec as his own!

In 1960, «Frere Untel», Jean-PaulDesbiens. introduced the term «joual» torefer to the distinct working class or folklanguage of Quebec. Mark Orkin in his veryfunny book, French Canalan, Me? defines«joual» as follows:

The people's language of KayBeck. The joual is said toderive from the popular pro-nunciation of cheval. i.e..horse, although it is. notclear what a horse has to do

211

with the folk speech of FrenchCanada. (1975, 77).

in reality, «jouil» has more relevanceas a political symbol than it does as a de-scriptive term. La revolution tranquille ofthe 1960141preached the doctrine of Maitrechez nous, «Masters in our own house». Joualbecame a symbol of Quebec's unique linguis-tic identity and thus a potent indicator of anew Quebec brand of nationalism. «Joual»has become a symbol of the Quebec separa-tists. Militant Quebecois university studentsat Laval refuse to speak anything else. Butsince it is a political symbol, it is not anaccurate term to-use as a description of thedialect of Frenth spoken by the farmers andworkers of New En4 gland.

There are several differences betweenthe French Canadian dialect of New Englandfarmers and workers and standard French.On the phonological leVel, there is a diphthon-gization of vowels - /per/ to /peyr/ «father»:some short tense vowels have become lax/rit/ to /IV: short lai in final position has be-come /..1/«open o» as in /Kg nc) -1/«Canada»:/t/ and /d/ are often affricated to Its/ or /dz/before a high front vowel as in /ptsit/«petite».Orkin points out another noticeable charac-teristic of Canadian French pronunciation:

Reduction forms the essence ofjoual. Consider ):1), way ofexample the first person pro-noun. Everyone is familiar,with the difference betweenthe noisy bragging English ((IDand the quiet French oje»whose lower case initial

212

letter offers a glimpse in-

to a whole world of self-'

assurance. Jolla!, on the otherhand, subjugates the ego byreducing it to a whispered «j»

as in «j's'rai» (in Canajan:«Allbee»). «rvas aller cher-cher» (in Canajan: Allgo C»).

(Orkin, 1975, 25-6).

There are also considerable changes ingrammar and syntax. One of the mostnoticeable is the appearance of Englishstructures and words which are used so ex-tensively in the language that it is some-times called «franglais.», Thui we get ex-pressions such as «J'ai reste mon chapeaua la maison» for «J'ai laisse mon chapeauchez moio and «II a eu une nervous break-down» for «II a eu tine depression nerveuse(Dube, 1971, 207). The Quebec governmenthas become so concerned about the amou*hof English used in ordinary French conversa-tion that it has published series of pam-phlets giving the standard French words foruse in carpentry,,plumbing, mechanics, andsports like bowling.

Sociolinguistic Factors

There has always been two kinds 4fFrench in Canada: standard French and thelocal dialect. Horace Miner in his classic eth-,nography of French Canada, St. Denis writes:

The schools try to ,lisseminate standardFrench by eliminating not only Englishwords but also. antiquated forms, localvariations, and bad grammar. However,the teachers are daughters of localfarmers and 'speak much the samedialect as their students. Such teacherscan correct grammar ,and retard theuse of some of the words and ex-pressions on the list of nonstandardFrench forms but usually the substitute

expressions are accepted as literaryones which have no particular bear-ing on common speech. This consciousrevision of the local languae haseffected a few changes in dronunciationand choice of words. Such change isusually accomplished by attaching anaroma of humor to the nonstandardword and ridicule fo its userN Thismethod necessitates the developmentof a particular attitude on the part ofthe natives toward their speeth. Thepriests, urban professional men, andgovernmental officers, and schools,newspapers, and radios, have all, eitherby example or crusading force, madethe native feel that his traditionalspeech is a brogue, a patois. It symbol-izes the uneducated «habitant»; a wordwhich is gaining, a derogatory signif-icance. The cure preaches: «You areno longer «habitants»; you are «cultiva-teurs.» (Miner, 1939, 33).

)

Tliis self consciousness about their dialectis common among older Franco-Vermont-ers. The conflict between the two formsof language is reibforced by the local highschool French teachers, especially if theyare of Franco-American extraction. It is theirduty to teach local children how to speakgood French. Even bilingual and biculturalspecialists are hard puf to deal with thequestion. On the one hand, advocate's oftransitional bilingual education, push the useof the home dialect in the early years of

, education but argue that the ultimate goatis to eventually replace it with English in theclassroom. Other bilingual-bicultural expertswho advocate maintenance of the Frenchlanguage in the school argue the benefits ofsikaking a language `that has currency in

1SEurope, Asia, and Africa. ilingualism, forthem means bidialectalism,' a best, includingabilities to speak, comprehend, read, andwrite French, particularly a standard French

4

which can be used to communicate through-out the Francophone world. Neither form ofbilingual-bicultural education is geared tomaintain, intact, the French Canadian dialectin the home. The old stigmas, consciouslyor not, remain.

Just as there are different styles ofFrench, there are different styles of English.Each of us is multilingual to some extent:that is, we have different styles and formsof language which we use in different socialcontexts. However, if the dialects of Englishused in the home and community are so ad-vanced to be almost nonintelligible to out-siders, we may have to consider this a

bilingual problem as well. RowlandRobinson in his story, Uncle Llsha's Shop,gives us examples of Franco-Vermont English:

«Ah, Onc' Lasha' You pooty badhole man. Haow you fell dat time youtink you dead? Wha' you tink you go?A'nt you sorry you don't was beenmo' gooder? Wh' you tink you go,hein?» (Robinson, 1933, 138).

It is no wonder, the child who must jugglefour different dialects, each to a large de-gree, mutually unintelligible, opts for onlyone: the English dialect of his anglophonepeers and classmates.

Economic Realities

In 1863, the Canadians of Burlingtonorganized a chapter of the Union St. JeanBaptiste - the well-known mutual aid societywhose chief purposes were to preserve theFrench language and cultural traditions. Theeconomic realities of American life can beseen in their motto: «Au dehors, l'anglaispour les affaires. mais a la maison, rien que dufrancais.» Outside. English for business, butat home, nothing but French. It was a dif-ficult dualism to maintain. Without function-

213

al value, the French language soon deterio-rated to a language used with the very old,(grandparents), and the very young (infants).

The church, where once the battles oflanguage were fought - (French the guardianof the faith) - was, in most cases, unable tomaintain its French services. In/1934, forexample, Reverend Pariseau of St. Joseph'sin Burlington appealed to Bishop Rice toallow him to preach his sermons in English.The Bishop replied:

The French language is and mustalways be the language of St. Joseph'sParish. But due to the conditions thatabout one-half of the members of theparish do not understand Frenchenough so that they can profit from asermon in that language, and thatabout 80% of the parishioners arerather English-speaking people, I grantthe special privilege that: a) Announce-ments may be read in English, butmust be first read in French; b) In-structions may be given in English,but a sermon in French must im-mediately precede the English one.

(Rogers, 1973, 10).

The erosion of French language servicescontinued to its inevitable conclusion. Theexperience of St. James Catholic Church inIsland Pond is typical of many:

During a mission on June 14, 1940, Fath-er Therier, pastor for 21 years, died. Hisdeath marked the end of bilingualism inthe parish. This was not just a local pat-tern but one which had taken place inhundreds of parishes in New Englandand New York. (Carbonneau,1970,p.7).

-It was the local priest who kept the Frenchlanguage traditions alive. But more oftenthan not, French-speaking priests were

214

replaced by non French-speaking priests,even in areas like Canaan where the popula-tion is heavily French. This has become anadditional hardship for those older Franco-Vermonters who want to have their confes-sions heard in French; and a hardship forparents who want to help their children withtheir catechism, but who learned it in anotherlanguage.

The parochial school followed the samepattern. St. Francis Xavier School inWinooski reflects the trend. Richard Hatin, aformer student at the school, declared, «Tenyears ago French was used in the classroomfor half a day; then it was reduced to an houra day, now French is an optional subject likeany other foreign language in the school.»There are too few parents interested in seeingtheir children learn French, and too fewteachers in the elementary parochial schoolswho can teach it. In addition, financial dif-ficulties plague the parish school system:more and more of them are closing -- moreand more students are, as a result, moved intothe public school systems where, except for afew places likeltanaan, Vermont, they haveeven less French instruction at the elementarylevel.

The monolingual French child is notprepared for the public school system. Addedto his natural timidity in entering a newexperience .is the bewilderment of incompre-hension and misunderstanding. Often, thechild begins to resent his parents, since theydid not prepare him for school by teachinghim English. He soon finds it morecomfortable to respond to his parents'questions in English. He and his youngersiblings begin to play in English like they doin school at recess. He has lost most of his«raison d'etre» for speaking French.

Marcel Char land, former director of theU lingual Project in Island Pond sums up the

2O

realities of the situation well:

Within the project area, English isthe principal language used for practi-cally all public functions includingtown meetings, school instruction, so-cial services, religious worship and in-struction, government operations, auc-tions, buying and selling in stores andshops, industries and daily work, recre-ation and by the news media.

The French language is not formally de-nied for the public functions listed butover the years its use has diminished inthese areas to the point of being at pres-ent not a viable means of satisfactorycommunication for most members ofthe originally French-speaking commun-ity, and it is used publicly by the chil-dren of French-speaking parents,among themselves when at play or atschool.

(Charland, 1973, 1).

And so the language is rapidly beinglost. There are few first generation Franco-Americans who feel comfortable in French,and fewer second generation who can speakit at all.

But the situation is not one withoutremedy. A few years back instructors of theCollege of Education at the University ofVermont along with Canan community

ople decided to encourage Franco-VermontIii rents to become more involved with theirs hool system. They came to the conclusionthat potluck dinners and discussion groupswould bring people together. The final resultwas that there is more French heard on thestreets of Canaan, today, than there w fiveyears ago.

But what is ultimately nee a ed is areason for learning French and mai taining it.

For xample, some of the young men ofCanaan maintain their French because it helps

them in dating French-Canadian girls in

Sherbrooke, Quebec.

Bilingual-bicultural programs whereone is taught not French, but in French andwh,re one is taught to feel positively aboutone's heritage and home, may, in part, reducelinguistic assimilation. But the ultimaterealities are economic. Parents and childrenmust be convinced that speaking French iseconomically viable. It is not so, as long asteachers are monolingual in Eng,lish, and onlytheir classroom teacher aides are bilingual, ifindeed there are any.

1..

221

215

4,

216

REFERENCES

Carbonneau, John Miner, Horace1970 Notes on the Centennial Anniver- 1939 St. Denis Chicago: Phoenix Books

sary of St. James Catholic Church inIsland Pond, Island Pond, Vt. Orkin, Mark M.

1975 French Canajan, Me? Canada:Char land, Marcel Lester and Orpen Lim:ted

1973 Proposal for Continuation of Bi-lingual Program: Fiscal Year 1974, Robinson, RowlandOrleans-Essex North Supervisory 1933 Uncle Lisha's Shop Rutland, VT;Union. the Tuttle Company

A

Dube, Normand1971 Guidelines for the Teaching of

French to Franco-Americans PhD.Dissertation: The Ohio State U.

Landry, Louis1972 Quebec Francais ou Quebec Que-

becois Montreal: Les Presses Libres.

Rogers, Ann1973 The French Canadians in Vermont:

Their History and Religion. Un-published term paper.

Reprinted by permission of the author.

222

THE FRANCO-AMERICAN HERITAGE IN MANCHESTER, N. H.

by

Thaddeus M. Piotrowski, Ph.D.

PREFACE

There are three types of «French» peopleliving in Manchester, N. H. today. Theseare: the French from France; the French-Cana-dians; and the Franco-Americans. This mono-graph will generally concern itself with thegroup which represents the largest French con-tingent in Manchester, the Franco- Americans-which happen to be overwhelmingly French-Canadian in origin.

The difference between the French-Cana-dians and Franco-Americans is that while tileformer are still citizens of Canada possessing aFrench heritage, the latter (who also possess aFremth heritage) are not Canadian citizens (al-though at one time they may have been) butrather they are American citizens.

BY way of definition, the Franco-Ameri-cans are residents of the United States who,either by birth or the process of naturalization,are American citizens and consider-within theframework of our democratic pluralism-theirFrench cultural heritage an integral componentof the «American way of life.» They presentlyconstitute a minority group which has stemmedfrom within. It does not exist in this country byreason of any treaty, or conquest, or territorialaggrandizement, that is, it is not a minoritygroup in the European sense of the word. Rather,it results from the movement of individuals fromone section of North America to another whomthe bond of a common faith and a common lan-guage welded into a cohesive group.

Therefore, it is no wonder that theFranco-American ethnic group--by historical

217

rright-is entitled to a privileged position withinthe American commonwealth. In the continentalsense of the word, it was already «American»before it flowed from Canada to the UnitedStates. In fact, Senator Henry Cabot 1...odge ofMassachusetts, in a lecture before the BostonCity Club on March 20, 1908, would not evenspeak of the French-Canadians as «immigiants»:

Later than any of these was theimmigration of French-Canadians,but which has assumed such largeproportions, and has become astrong and most valuable elementof our population. But the Frenchof Canada scarcely come withinthe subject we are considering be-cause they are hardly to be classi-fied as immigrants in the acceptedsense. They represent one of theoldest settlements of this conti-nent. They have been in the broadsense, Americans for generations,and th0,-foming to the UnitedStates is erely a movement ofAmericans across an imaginaryline from one part of America toanother. 1

In a research paper published in 1967 inLe Travailleur of Worcester, Dr. Robert A.Beaudoin showed that the word «Franco-American» appeared for the first time inL 'Avenir National (a French daily once pub-lished in Manchester) in November of 1897. ByFebruary of 1898 it was already in commonusage although there was still some disagree-ment surrounding the word. The name itselfadequately c: .racterizes these people's pres-

c: 2 2 3

218

ence in the United States as their migration herewas just another episode of the approximatelytwo hundred years these French people collec-tively spent in Canada. After all, they wereFrench fifteen centuries before becoming Cana-dian. Thus, the phrase «Franco-American» isused by the French from France living in theUnited States as well as by the Americans ofFrench-Canadian descent. In addition, theFrench spoken by the French-Canadian--Amer-icans approximates the basic French languageas it is spoken in France. It can be said thatthere is only one French grammar but manylocal dialects.

At the present time, the total French-Canadian population of North America is aboutevenly divided between Canada and the UnitedStates, with approximately half of the Ameri-can proportion re ing in New England. Inthe United Sta , Franco-Americans claim apopulation of out one to two million.2

AN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

The largest city in New Hampshire wasoriginally called «Nuffield» because of the manychestnut trees located in the area. This name wasfollowed by others until in 1810, under the in-spiration of Samuel Blodget, the town of Derry-field became the town of Manchester. At thistime the total population of the Queen City was615.

In 1831, the Amoskeag manufacturingcompany bought up virtually all the land wherethe city now stands. The following year, thestreets of the town were laid out and lots wereoffered for public sale. In 1846, Manchester be-came incorporated as a city and nine years later,the mill property alonecovering over 1,400acres of land was valued in excess of $ 662,000.

The initial rapid expansion of Manchester,however, was not due to any French-Canadian

224

influence. The French-Canadian population ofManchester before the first half of the 19thcentury was sparce indeed. This was partly attri-butable to the lack of transportation, (the rail-way between Montreal and Boston was built in1851until then business was done on horse-back, as usual) but also to the New Englandcolonial antipathy, toward all foreigners andCatholics.

After 1850, however, the French-Cana-dian immigration grew to such proportions asto influence every phase of Manchester's exis-tence: political, social, economic, and religious.Regarding the last, the Jesuit Hamon states:

The rapidity with which it wasaccomplished, the facility withwhich the Canadians, trans-planted on a strange soil, imme-diately reformed the Catholicmold of the parish that madethem so strong in Canada, theenergy they used to buildchurches, convents, to group to-gether and to organize intoflourishing congregations sus-tained interiorly by all that cannourish Christian piety, defend-ed against all pernicious influ-ences from without by theforce of organization and a

press generally well directedall of these elements of Catho-lic life organized in a quarterof a century in the womb itselfof the citadel of Puritanismseems to indicate an action aswell as a providential missionwhich future alone will revealin all its importance.3

The major reasons for the Canadian mi-gration to the United States were the follow-ing: love of adventure, the precarious condi-tions of Canadian commerce and industry, the

lack of public works, the shortage of employ-ment in rural districts, the difficulty of obtain-ing high priced farms, the lack of roads andmeans of communication, the lack of education-al opportunities for children, debts, poor crops,distant markets, propaganda, and discrimina-tion.4

Generally, the Canadians who came to theStates belonged to one of the three followingcategories: a) habitants, or those who camesolely for the purpose of making some money topay off their debts after whickki they would re-turn to Canada; b) nomads, or those who movedaimlessly back and forth between the U. S. andCanada; and finally, c) the permanent residents,or those Canadians who established domicile,started organizations, built churches andschools, and were gainfully employed.

Regarding the third category, a list offirsts would include: Louis Bonin, who bears thedistinction of being the first French-Canadianresident of Manchester--arrival date: 1833; LouisMarchand and Sara Robert, who contracted thefirst marriage (between French-Canadians) inthe Queen City in 1839; the son of Mr. & Mrs.Benjamin Chartrand who was the first *first1,;eneration» French-Canadian to be born in Man-chester (1851); and finally, John Jacques, whowas the first French-Canadian to be interred inthis city (1853).

By 1870 there were 2,500 French-Cana-dians in Manchester's total population of23,536. In 1880 there number rose to 9,000,in 1887 to 12,770, in 1889 to 14,063, and in1890 to 15,031which was one-third of Man-chester. (For the immigration Statistics bydecades beginning with 1900 cf. section en-titled, «Inunigration Statistics For Man-chester, N.H.»)

Needless to say, the Canadian govern-ment did not sit by idly while this mass exoduswas emptying its chronically underpopulated

219

country. As early as 1870in a frantic effort tostem the emigration of its citizens and perhapsto entice its lost flock to returnCanada beganoffering 160 free acres of land to anyone whowould settle it. This offer, however, did notapply to Canadians already established in theProvince of Quebec but only to immigrants, sothat the exodus from Quebec to the U. S. con-tinued for many years. The Province of Quebecalso appropriated $ 60,000.00 for the task of re-turning expatriated Canadians. From all of NewEngland only 600 families were finally inducedto return «back home» and of that number 300resettled back in the States.5

The efforts of the Canadian governmentwere for the most part offset by the glamorouspropaganda campaign of the mill agents whoconveniently «forgot» to tell the prospective«operators»or mill workers--of the 72-hourweek, of the noisy and dangerous nature of theiroccupation, of the cotton dust, the humidity,the heat, and the fatigue which caused -many tofall ill and some, especially the children, to die.Neither did they tell them that the longest theycould expect to work in the millsat least untilthe nineteen hundredswas about ten years.

And still it is incredible that upon cominghere and being subjected to- these harsh condi-tions of existence, they con nued to stay on.Their wages, as the wages of eir children aftera few months of apprenticesh , we_e about adollar a day. Jacques Ducharme in The Shadowsof the Trees, records a scrap of paper showingthe budget calculations of one of these very firstimmigrants in Manchester:

225

Wages $ 1.00 per dayFive working in family5x6 equals $ 30.00 week and$120.00 month

Tenement $15.00 monthFood $ 20.00 monthOther items $ 10.00 monthAmount saved $75.00 month.6

220

The recruiting techniques of the millagents, because they addressed themselves to theeconomic interests of the people, proved to bevery successful. But it is the hardships enduredin the transit which offer us the greater insightinto the determination of these hardy immi-grants. Jacques Ducharme provides us with sev-eral examples of the method of transportation inthe early days. Nicolas Proulx, the great grand-father of Mr. Ducharme, was commissioned byhis mill superintendent Rirecruit some mill helpfrom Canada. His efforts produced 40 girls andboys who were sardined into old lumber wagonsand .brought to Manchester. The entire trip tookonly 10 dayswhich was fast even in those days.They would travel from early sunrise late intothe night, sleep in barns or fields, and be some-times greeted by angry townspeople who march-ed on them with guns and pitchforks.

Another case involves Clovis Davignon whocame to Manche ;ter on foot to rejoin his parents.

had a little maney,» related young Davignon,«and got as far as Newport. I met some French-Canadians at the station there, told them who Iwas, and where I was going. They loaned mesome money, and I went to Manchester. Fromthere I followed the river. My money didn't lastlong, and I worked on farms for my meals. I wasabout seventeen then, I didin'tinind sleeping outof doors every now and theno/

Well it took young Clovis Davignon fullsix weeks to get to this fair city where, after anadventurous trip, a good beating from his father,and a good night's rest, he got a job in the millsthe very next day.

The immigration process itself was a recur-rent drama of distanced love seeking reunion. Thefather, or elder child, or someone else would leavefamily and «fortune», procure a mill job, savemoney, and finally send for the others. Over theyears it became a familiar sight in many New Eng-land towns: the anxiously-pacing, foreign-lookingfather awaiting his loved onc.;, the joyful reunion,

and the grand procession «home».8

In time, with the accumulation of hard-earned capital, many French-Canadians broke thecycle of poverty and branched out into privatelyowned businesses and professions or, theyachieved positions of authority within the millsthemselves. It was a well-founded belief thatFrench-Canadians prefer and indeed do work bet-ter under the authority of one of their own.

Thus even before the Civil War, MauriceMathon and Pierre Dorval opened their own gro-ceryistores. Joseph Bellefeuille was a restaurantowner; Mr. Leblanc, a barber; and Joseph Duval,one of the first clerks to be hired by a large Man-chester store. Then too, sensing an unchallengedand therefore lucrative practice in Manchester,cam ctors and lawyers, as well as other profes-si from Canada to «serve their people». Dv,A. .Tremblay, for example, settled here in 1866.

As the French-Canadians prospered and de-cided to remain permanently in Manchester, manybought homes and land. The first property everowned by a French-Canadian was on Concord St.It was the home of Joseph Berard who settled herein 1850. 17 years later, Napoleon Du fort becamethe second homeowner in the city. But it was theMcGregor St. bridge of 1881 which brought theFrench together into what is known as the «NotreDame» section of Manchester. By 1882, therewere 10 French-Canadian families living on thewest side of the Merrimack River . .. «and it wasnatural that a people still interested in their nativelanguage should thus associate themselves togeth-er, the .better to enjoy the advantage of mutualassistance and social contacts.»

The majority of the French-Canadians con-tinued to be employed by the mills which prosper-ed by leaps and bounds. But in 1922 an awesomenotice appeared on the wall of the Amoskeag mill:

NOTICE

IIP

Commencing Monday, February 13,1922, a reduction of 20% will bemade in all hour and piece rates in alldepartments of the Amoskeag. At thesame time, the running time of themills will be increased from 48 to 54hours per week; in accordance withthe schedule posted herewith.

W.P. Straw, Agent 11

The wage reduction was bad news indeed butit was the 54-hour week which infuriated the work-ers for some still recalled the Yuman tragedy of for-mer days and took this to be the first step in thatdirection. The strike which ensued lasted nine longmonths and forced some French-Canadians to gosearching for employment elsewhere. Meanwhile,the company began a massive and somewhat suc-cessful recruitment campaign in Canada which par-tially offset the threat of a general mill shut-down.

In the end, the strikers agreed to work the54 hot Ps but for a higher rate of pay than originallypromised. The Amoskeag had its last good year in1929 with profits in excess of $1,065,000.00. In1930 its net loss was $1,345,000.00.

THE FRANCO-AMERICAN HERITAGEIN MANCHESTER

The Franco-American heritage in Manchesterrepresents an attempt by the members of that eth-nic group to re-establish cultural ties with their dis-tant past and the land they were constrained,1.4leave behind. More than a means of achieving na-tional identitylt was a way or perhaps the wayof establishing a personal identity within a foreignland. Thus, the French customs and traditions, theFrench organizations and institutions, the Frenchlanguage and religion, were simply ways of affirm-ing the fact that these people really and truly be-longed in this «Great Society» of divergent origins.In this way did the Franco-Americans also contrib-ute to the history and progress of Manchester, acity which also molded and shaped them.

,

221

SOCIETIEStb

One significant French society, L'UnionStJean Baptiste, was founded in 1900. Thoughit was fundamentally a mutual aid group, it en-couraged and supported many worthy causesand was essentially the force rest, onsible for therise and prosperity of most of tra.. budding Frenchparishes in Manchester. Besides guaranteeingsums of money to its members as a form of insur-ance in the case of illness or death, the Union's pro-claimed objectives were:

a. To unite among themselves allCanadians

b. To furnish motives for fraterni-zation

c. To cement union within thefamily unit

d. To promote national and eco-nomic interests of Canadianpeople and society

e. To raise funds for welfare pur-poses by annual subscriptions

f. To engage all members in thepractice of honor and frater-nity toward feftqw Frenchmen

g. To prosper the undertakings of theUnion through devotion to St.John Baptist.

L'Union was also concerned with provid-ing for young children schooling in the Frenchlanguage as well as preparing them for their FirstHoly Communion. It was and is also responsiblefor the annual celebration of the feast of St.John the Baptist which falls on the twenty-fourth day of June. This day is usually markedby extravagant bonfires, rallies: parades, ban- 1;*quets and speeches by people of renown. Thefirst public celebration of this event in Manches-ter was held in 1871 in Faneuil Hall. The firstlarge scale celebration with all the festive trim-mings occured in 1889.

227

2 2 2

In general, Union Saint-Jean-Baptiste isa fraternal organization established to promotethe common good of the French popuktion in

New England. Currently, L'Union is the largestFranco-American society in the U.S. registering52,404 members and holding assets in excess of4,700,000.00.

%-

In 1878 another mutual aid society wasorganized which was very similar to L'Union inits social functions. Called La Societe St. Augus-tin, it existed for seven years in the parish whosename it bore.

In the time span generally known as the«Gay Nineties,» many such societies appearedand disappeared. Their main objective was toproffer financial aid to needy members but moresignificantly to promote Franco-American self-identity through the advancement of the Frenchculture in the Queen City. One such society,founded in 1896 andoincorporated in 1899, wasactually a mutual insurance company (or a fra-ternal benefit society) organized and operatedunder the laws of the State of New Hampshire.This was. L'Association Cana o-Americaine( A.C.A.). The first president of he A.C.A. wasT. J. Biron, an overseer for t Amoskeag Manu-facturing Company. Its gent president is

Gerald Robert, the son of another A.C.A. pre-sident, Adolphe Robert.

The A.C.A.which boasts over 27,000members in 66 regional lodges throughout theU.S. and Canada, and which publishes its ownFrench quarterlyis presently headquartered(since 1930) on Concord street in Manchester,N.H. This location serves a multiplicity offunctions: as a reunion center; as an informa-tion center: as a meeting-place for the discussionof questions of mutual interest, or simply thememories of days gone by. But more important-ly, the building houses a most unique librarycontaining over 30,000 volumes of widelysought-after Americana and Canadiana. Further-

more, over the years the A.C.A. has grantedscholarships to students in excess of $341,700.00.In monetary terms, as of December 31, 1972,the success of the A.C.A. is 'indeed impressive:

Insurance in ForceBenefits Paid to DateDividends PaidTotal AssetsSurplus

$50,471,649.0019,394,134.00

1,908,813.0011,674,665.00

1,,146,156.00

The A.C.A. and L'Union, although alikein many respects, have consistently maintaineddivergent views on issues which at times have

proved to be a source of friction between them.For example, L'Union seems to be more assimi-lation-minded insistingas it doeson Americancitizenship as a prerequisite for membership andstressing the integrative aspects of Drench andAmerican cultures. The A.C.A., on the otherhand, willingly accepts both American and Cana-dian citizens and stresses, not assimilation, butcultural distinctionthat is, the preservation oftraditional Canadian cultural components.

DRAMA AND MUSIC CLUBS

Aside from the above very utilitarianFrench societies, there were and are a number oforganizations whose principal aim was and conti-nues to be to provide ways of meeting the ex-pressive needs of the French population in Man-chester. In the early days, due to the languagebarrier as well as racial prejudice, the Frenchwere severely limited in th access to Man-chester's cultural and onal centers. Tothe hard-pressed French mill-hand, whose leisurehours were severely iimited, the formation ofsuch societies was especially important.

Thus in 1870 a drama club by the nameof Le Club Dramatique Canadien-Francais deManchester, New Hampshirethe first of its kindin the citywas formed under the direction of

2

Dr. A. J. Tremblay. Among its accomplishmentswere many operas presented at the Strand Thea-ter, the favorite one being «The Bells of Nor-mandy.»

Four years later, the first public concertof La Bande Canadienne was conducted by J. R.Lafricain. This musical group was later to be-come known as the «City Band.»

Other drama and musical groups followedincluding: Le Bijou (1879); Les Amateurs Cana-diens (1880); Le Club Jacques Cartier ( 1890):L'Offenbach Musical Club (1894); the OrpheonSociety (1920); and Societe D'Operettes (1940)with an accompanying ladies auxiliary (1941).Also deserving of mention is the variety ofchurch choirs such as those of Saint Cecilia,St. John the Baptist, and Ste Marie.

NATURALIZATION CLUBS

We find in the 1880's a proliferation ofNaturalization clubs whose function it was to aidFrenqi-Canadian citizens in their quest 'foramericanization. The Jolliet Club, founded in1884, is one such organization having 9n addi-tional interest in literature. At onetime theJolliet Club was headquartered in the presentA.C. building but prohibition and financialstrain forced it to seek a new home. The loca-tion of the club changed several more timesuntil it finally settled in its present domicile onHigh Street. The naturalization service providedby the Jolliet Club ended in 1928, after whichdate it was carried on by the Jutras Post of theAmerican Legion (founded in 1920 and namedin honor of the first Franco-American to bekilled in the American armed forces) and bySt. Augustin church. Now the oldest as wellas the largest Franco-American civic, social clubin Manchester, its membership listing displaysthe names of many prominent and influentialmen of the city.

223

Several other clubs were established forthe same purpose as the Jolliet Club: The CercleNational; Club Lafayette (a civic luncheon club);The Montcalm Club; and the Canadian Club toname but a few. All are now predominantlysocial organizations.

SPECIALIZED SOCIETIES

Specihlized societies were established in

the form of military guards such as: the Lafay-ette Guard. 143il Regiment of Franco-Ameri-can Volunteers of the United States Army (est.in 1887 and sponsored by the Lafayette Club);the Montcalm Guard established in 1915 andsponsored by the Montcalm Club; and the FochGuard established in 1920. The poem below waswritten by a Franco-American with a good senseof humor and appeared in one of Manchester'searlier newspapers. Many of its passages relate tothe Lafayette Guard.

r-1

The Guard of Lafayette

My w'fe she say to me to-dayyou mak' mistake ol'man

To join de Yankee harmy in de rankof Honcle Sam;

De worl' is full of commotion sincehexplosion IA de Maine.

And de dev's to pay in Cubaand de paymaster is Spain.

De Ian' of ma adoption is as gooda home for me.

As across de line in Canada,my native counterie.

Ma home, ma work, ma fren' are her%in fac' de hol' em set:

So wat can I do ut join de offlueoin Guard of La ayette!

I don't care for me for nobodaybut stand up for de right

12z9

If Honcle Sam he send de wordan' tink he's got to fight.

Good-by ma work on Amoskeag--1 leave it quick you bet

An join de boy wit hutmos' joyin Guard of Lafiyette.

0! Ai't it mak' sensation on de streetof Manchester,

W'en de horder come from Honcle Samto march us down to war!

Noboday'll know dat dis is Joefrom dear ol' Nicolet

W'en off I march jus, still like starchin Guard of Lafayette!

Den Rosy dear don' drop dat tear,but cheer hup lak ma joy,

You know dat Maine went down in flame`

wit all de sailor boy!So if de blame is place on Spain,

an' Honc le Sam say «get»!Just wish us well and shout lak hellfor Guard of Lafayette!

Other diverse societies included: a Pontifi-cal Zouaves Society formed in 1887; the Canadian

Building Company of Construction (1893); theAlumni of the Ancient Students of Hevey School

11924); and, of course, the venerable «SnowshoeClubs», the most prominent of these being the Al-

pine Club which sponsored the Convention ofSnowshoers Union of Canada and the UnitedStates in Manchester in 1927 and again in 1972.

NOTABLE EVENTS

Several nota' Events contributing to thespread of a French culture in Manchester were:

tire First Convention ofFranco-Americans of New

Hampshire held in Manchester in 1890; the estab-

lishment of a French hour on WFEA radio in 1938

I now heard on WGIR); and the Comite D'Orien-tation Franco-Americain devoted to uniting allFranco-Americans of New England in the method-

ical and coherent pursuit of a comtpon ideal inAmerica held in 1947. A musical festival, Federa-tion des Chorales Franco-Americaines in whichall local French singing groups participated was'held in Manchester in May of 1962.

SERVICE CLUBS

The 1950's marked an observable trendaway from fraternal organizations to service dubs.The best example of the latter is Manchester'sRichelieu Club. Basically a sober, Christian, andprayer oriented organization, the Richelieu's chiefaim is to promote personality develoOnent-through -

such means as.the club's annual project of spon-soring a summer outing for the children of St. Pet-er's Orphanage. One structural difference betweena service club and a fraternal one lies in the lengthof the term of club office. Thus, while the ser-vice club holds annual elections, an office in afraternal club may be held indefinitely.

PUBLICATIONS

In the sometimes vested interest of keepingthe Franco-American population abreast of Cana-dian news and conversely of keeping the Canadi-ans informed of New England news, several Frenchnewspapers sprang up in Manchester.

La Voix du Peuple bears the distinction ofbeing the first French newspaper published in Man-chester. Its founders were Dr.Tremblay and Ferd-inand Gagnon. The newspaper, however, wasshort-lived (lasting only from February 25,1869to September 15 of the same year) because theFrench population of Manchester was not yet suf-ficient to maintain it. Before the end of 1891,13 other French newspapers met a similar fate.

One publication which did survive until1949 was L 'A venir Canadien (est. 1889). Its namewas changed to L'Avenir National in 1895. L'Ave-nir was succeeded by a newspaper called L'Action.

230

Today various societies continue to printtheir own publications such as the A.C.A.'sQuarterly and L'Union's (of Woonsocket, R.I.)L'Union.

POLITICS AND COMMUNITY AFFAIRS

Upon arriving in Manchester the Frenchwere not reluctant to participate in politicalelections and to run for political office. Ini-tially, this was very difficult since the strin-gent naturalization laws required them toWait five years the `Priiiiege cdeitiZenshipand therefore franchise. Among some of themore notable early Franco-American officeholders of the city are Abraham G. Grenierwho, in 1882, was elected as the city councilorfor Ward Three and Francis Xavier who joinedMr. Grenier in a similar post. Both were Re-publicans.

In less than ten years there were twomore French city councilors as well as fourRepresentatives on the New Hampshire StateLegislature. In 1896, Henri J. Lemay becamethe head of Manchester's Board of Education.And since 1917 all the city's mayors with theexception of John Monganwere French.The first one was Moise Verrette; the currentone is Sylvio Dupuis.

Other prominent Franco-Americans inManchesterand it is impossible to list themallinclude: Dr. Z. A. Lavoie, president of the..Hillsborough County Medical Society; ArthurE. Moreau, once a prominent Manchester mer-chant; Adolphe and Gerald -Robert, past andpresent presidents of the AssoBifion Canado-Americaine; Judge Alfred J. Chretien andArmand Capistran, past and present presidersof the Manchester District Court the MostReverend G. A. Guertin, Bishop of Manchesterfrom 1906 to 1935; and the Most ReverendErnest Primeau, the current Bishop of thediocese. A. N. Belcourt, writing in 1923 of the

Franco-Americanhad put it well:

225

settlement in Manchester,

They at once entered freely andwith zest into the public life oftheir respective community,state, city, town or village, seek}ing and obtaining and alwaysincreasing representation in themunicipal council, in the statelegislature, in Congress and inseveral instances at the very topof the ,state,_ The slties andtowns which they have created,the parts which they have devel-oped, as well as their generalgood standing are convincedevidence of their adaptability,intelligence, courage and deter-mination to secure for them-selves the advantage and influ-ence which they enjoy underthe aegis of the Star SpangledBanner. All this, with theirnatural fecundity and willing-ness to multiply, undoubtedlyaffords ample promise of theirrapid and substantial advance-ment. 12

THE FAMILY

The «natural fecundity and willingness tomultiply» of which Belcourt spoke was certainlyvery characteristic of early Catholic Frenthsettlers in Manchester. Aside from the religiousinjuctions regarding procreation and the nat-ural tendency to perpetuate one's name throughprogeny, the large Franco-American families(from 6 to 22, children) served a very pragmaticfunction: they assured a household of financialstability in the crucial years of re-settlement. To-day, as the French no longer occupy thebottom-most rung of the social ladder, suchfamilies are the exception rather than the rule.

St This is not to say that Franco-Americanstended to exploit their biological prowess andtheir children for the sake of mere gain, for onecan have a large family and love it too. Indeed, ifone were to state-in capsule form-the single,most identifying characteristic of the French,that indicator would be their extremely strongfamily tics. This can be seen especially well inFranco-American holiday observanCes which areall family centered. The Christmas season, forexample, is a time for general family reunionsand great display _of familial affection. New

---Yzaes ton, is highlighted by-the paternal bless----4-

ing of the children by the father. The latter ex-ample provides us also with a clear indicator asto the Franco-Amerien family structure: it ispatriarchal par excellence.

RELIGION

Perhaps the greatesesingle contribution bfthe Franco-Americaps to the city of Manchesteris the Catholic parch and all it represents. For

. the French-even in this secular society-the par-isinstitutes the focal point of thei existence:it is the extension of their individua i. cl familyunits.

the beginning there were no Catholicparishes in Manchester at all. After 1839, Man-..itester was declared a mission and severalpriests--the first of whom was Fr. John B. Daly-began making regular visits to minister to thespiritual needs of local Catholics. In 1843, Fr.NlcDonald was commissioned to begin St.Anne's parish for the 500 some-odd Catholics ofthe city. This event was certainly a boon to theresident French populace as well as to the pros-pective French-Canadian immigrants who pre-ferred to settle, in a place where they couldpractice their

Unfortunately - -for the French-St. Anne'schurch was founded by and for the Irish Catho-lics of Manchester and the sermon wad always in

asa

Sat

English. Furthermore, many Irish practices, suchas the reverent bowing of the head at Consecra-tion followed by a sign of the.aross, irritated thformer French-Canadians who by'custom and

. tradition always looked directly at the host.Conversely, the Irish often looked askance atthese «foreigners» who dared to confront thedivinity in such an oinsolent» manner.

With growing friction and consternation,the French finally appealed for a clergAban oftheir own ranks and so Fr. Levesque arrived inManchester in 1849. But misfortune strucOagainfor once during tilt liturgy, which was beingcelebrated on the second floor of an old woodenbuilding, the floor collapsed laving the shakenparishioners in their carriages which were parkedunderneath. Needless to say, Fr. Levesque's staywas short-lived. After him several other Frenchmissionaries-the most notable of whom was Fr.Isidore Moiseux '0856P-served the Franco-American community.

Finally in 1871, the French population otManchester numbering 2,500 people received aresident priest, Fr. Joseph-Augustin Chevalier,who was instrumental in building St. t,.Jgustinchurch located on the corner of Beech and,Spruce streets. The church was dedicated onNovember 27, 1872% Some time liter more landwas purchased on Beech street for the cemetery.

Within a decade, the ever increasingenum-ber of Franco-Canadian `immigrants in Manches-ter warranted the erection of another Frenchparish. And so a small, unimpressive chapel wasbuilt on the forested west bank of the Men imacRiver by Fr. J. D. Halde. The area itself wasdestined to become the oNotre Dame» sectionof the city inhabited predominantly by theFrench. The small chapel, bearing the name ofSainte Marie, was later (1891) to be replaced bythe great gothic church on the west side--aperpetual symbol of the unity, faith, and thecultural heritage sif Manchester's Franco-Amer-icans. With the purchase of a cemetery in 1881

9

a

( now Mount Calvary Cemetery bordering Goffs-town Rd.) the parish ran into debt but was«saved» by Fr. Halde's successor, Fr. PierreHevey, the same who built the prese. t SteMarie's one almost wants to saycathedral.

The third parish which was founded with-in the twenty year span between 1871 and 1891,and was that of St. George on the east side of thecity. As the French population increased (in1891 it was already over 15,000) several otherparishes followed: St. Anthony (1899);SacredHeart (1911); St. Edmond (1912); St. John theBaptist (1914): and St. Theresa (1923-24).These national parishes, still operative firing

the grand total of the French parishe in Man-chester to eight.

To the Franco-American his parish is

never merely a church.' Rather it is a means ofachieving national and personal identity. Amongother things, it provides the French-Americanchild with a school whose specific mission is toinculcate within him the Christian doctrine andFrench culture. In light of this, the recentFrench opposition to the diocesan plan of savingthe parochial school system by forming regionalschools is quite understandable. In plain lan-guage, what this means is the closing of the al-ready weakened French parish schools.

In the majority of the eight French pa-rishes several Masses are said in French todayand church publications are printed in bothFrench and English. Many of these parishesmaintain inter-parish French organizations suchas the Ladies of St. Anne, the League of theSacred Heart, and the Children of Marie. Thepenny sales. beano gari-ie, parties, a.-.1 annualcarnivals also provide an opportunity for theFrench to gather socially. Finally, the Catho-lic War Veterans, although not a specificallyFrench organization, is a very popular as well asinfluential group working within the Franco-American parishes of Manchester.

227

CHURCH AFFILIATED INSTITUTIONS

It is important to point out that thqFrench parishes in the Queen City do more thanjust minister to the spiritual needs of their con-stituents. Like their great predecessors of themiddle ages, these churches are also social in-stitutions providing quality care to the sick, theaged, the orphaned, and to those in need.

In 1892, St. Augustin parish opened itsSt. Vincent de Paul Jrphanage. In the same yearSte Marie opened its Asylum for the Aged andOrphaned, an institution administered by theSisters of Charity of St.Hyacinthe from Quebec.Later the Asylum came to be known as St.Peter's Orphanage, and today it is a Day Carecenter. In 1888, Ste Marie's parish opened ahospital which was later relocated and dedicatedin October of 1894 under the title of L'HopitalNotre Dame de Lourdes. This too was staffed bythe Sisters of Charity. In 1911, a training schoolfor nurses was added to the hospital and in the1950's other structural changes were made. Cur-rently the hospital is run under the auspices of alay Board of Directs

An institution which deserves special men-tion is La Caisse Populaire Sainte Marie or St.Mary's Bank located on the west side of the city.La Caisse Populaire was originally a parish or-ganization established by Fr. Pierre Hevey, thepastor of St. Ma, ie's church. In 1908, in aneffort to prevent his parishioners from squander-ing their hard-earned savings ia «get-rich-quick»schemes and to promote the building of homesand businesses, Fr. Hevey launched what waslater to become the first credit union in theUnited States. Accredited on April 6, 1909 asSt. Marie Co-Operative Association, the orga-nization did its business at various locations inthe Notre Dame section of West Manchester.Finally an impressive granite structure was builton the corner of Amory and Main Streets tohouse it. In 1970 this building was replaced by

233

228

an equally impressive structure at 200 McGregorSt. Presently the second floor of La CaissePopulaire Sainte Marie also houses the offices oftwo other organizations: The AAA and the Uni-versity of New Hampshire, The MerrimackValley Branch.

EDUCATION

But it was into the schools that theFranco-American parishes devoted most of theirenergy. The very first French parish in Man-chester. St. Augustin set up a school in the con-vent of the Order of Jesus-Marie Sisters fromSillery. Quebec in 1882. As it was the custom toteach the sexes separately, an old public schoolbuilding was purchased nearby in MS for theeducation of the boys of the parish who after1889 were taught by the Sacred Heart Brothers.

In 1885 Sainte-Marie parish followed suitand erected a school building (presently HolyAngels Academy) staffing it ith the Sisters ofCharity of St. Hyacinthe. One year later a boys'building was erected '.;11 Wayne St. When theSisters of Charity were forbidden to teach boysin 1890, the Marist Brothers of France wereinvited to continue the task in the school nownamed in honor of Fr. Hevey.

In 1899, St. George's parish foundedschool which in 1915 became a free school. In1924, St. George High School for Girls cameinto existence and in the same year the Heveyschool also became a high school for girls.Later, the school became co-educational.Another high school was established in 1933 atSt. Anthony's parish.

The parishes of St. Jean-Baptiste. St.Edmond, Sacred Heart and St. Theresa all builttheir churches as two-storied structures withclassrooms on the second floor. In the case of

4311 these parishes, as money became available,new churches were built and the old chapels on

the first floor of the old structures were reno-vated to provide more classroom space. The firsttrue convent school in New Hampshire, VillaAugustina, was established in 1916 in Goffstownand was staffed by the Sisters of Jesus-Marie.Other orders which taught in the French schoolsof Manchester include: the Sisters of the Presen-tation of Mary., the Sisters of Providence; andthe Sisters of the Holy Cross.

By 1947, there were over 5,000 childrenrolled in Manchester's French parochial

schools. Originally, the entire school curriculumwas taught in French. Later, the French lan-guage was relegated to a half a day, and now itis taught as a «foreign language.» School sub-jects 3ften taught from Quebec textbooks, in-cluded: Art; Music; Penmanship; Politeness;'Religion; French Grammar; History; Mathemat-ics; Science; and English.

In recent years many French parochialschools in Manchester have shared the univer-sal tragedy of all such private institutionsthroughout the country: lack of finances, lackof staffing, and sometimes, lack of students. Forexample, within the span of five years, St.Edmond parochial school was forced to shutdown, St. John the Baptist school decreased thenumber of grades from eight to six, and St.Marie's school merged with a non-Frenchcounterpart, St. Patrick school. Also recently,St. Anthony High School merged with twoother parochial high schools, Bishop Bradley a;,dImmaculata, to form the present Trinity High.St. Marie's High School is now being utilized asa Regional Catholic Junior High.

Once many of Manche.-er's second gener-ation Franco American students, aided by grantsand lolarships, were able to obtain higher edu-cation in Canada, but their numbers now havealso dwindled. The third generation Franco-Americans for the most part--if they go for high-er education at all--enroll at the various univer-sity, colleges, and vocational training institutes

234

in the area.

Among the colleges of New England ofFrench background is Manchester's Notre DameCollege established in 1950 and staffed by theSisters of the Holy Cross, a predominantlyFrench Order.

LANGUAGE

The story is often told of a young Frenchboy who went to confession and, while declaringhis many sins, accused himself of stealing acheval (French for horse). The priest pried theboy about the theft but the boy only repeatedthat he had stoled a cheval. Finally, the matterresolved itself when it dawned on the priestthat all his questions were impertinent sincewhat iizt boy really stole was a shovel and nota cheval. That poor lad, it seems, must go toconfession in every language for the Polish,the Germans, the Spanish, and all the restabuse him in a similar manner.

This story is included here to illustrate avery simple but a very important point which is,that the assimilation process in and of itselfnecessarily produces certain conflicting situa-tions which are unavoidable and sometimestragic. The story of the boy stealing the cheval( or was it shovel?) is an amusing one and bearsno tragic consequences except perhaps to theowner of the shovel (or was it cheval?). Butthe tragedy of the first-generation child laughedat by his peers. misunderstood by his teachers,and criticized by dim-witted adults, is a reallive, recurrent tragedy where real tears flow.Arid the only sin of the child is that he hailsfrom two cultures and sometimes cannot think')f both words at onrc- to describe an obje,:t orexpress an idea. Thus, it is no wonder that weoften find young men with accents so thick oneneeds a chain saw to cut through them, desper-ately and in vain striving to hide their foreignorigin or parentage which by all rational stand-ards should be a source of pride and self-esteem.

229

And what of those who over the yearshave sought fit to Anglicize or even translatetheir true names because of shame or Anglo-Saxon pressureor more precisely, because ofthe shame caused by Angle-Saxon pressure? Thefollowing are but a few examples:

ProulxMayerArsenaultCourtemancheBoisvertLeblancLamontagneGodduDuboisBourgeoisCharpentierPare

LevesqueLetourneauDupontGosselinMorinBerubeBourqueGarneauLalibei .;Michaud

to PrewM ietSnowShortsleeveGreenwood

/ WhiteHillGoodhueWoodBurgessCarpenterPerryBishopTurnerBridge or BridgesGoslinMooreBurpee or BurbeeBurkeGarnerFreemanMitchell' 3

In Manchester too, the Frenchlike theother ethnic groupshave had their bilingualproblems, their share of discrimination andname-calling from the ranks of those whoseparerts too were «foreigners.» But then, neithercan the French be absolved of similar guilt. Suchis the nature of prejudice!

Yet even those who 'resolutely adheredto their French heritage, culture, and languagehave had a difficult time in the land of White,Anglo-Saxon, Protestantism. With the assaultof contemporary radio, television, movies,newspapers, magazirres, school, and business,it has been almost impossible, for instance, topreserve the native language such as it was

spoken «back home.» And let us be perfectly

235

230

clear about one thing I to use the strongestphrase known to contemporary America) thelanguage spoken «back home» even if «backhome» is Paris, was never «Parisian French.»The myth of «Parisian French» is a mere contri-vance designed to assail the colorful colloquial-isms of Franco-Americans. And if one has everheard Franco-Americans indulge in their collo-quialisms he no doubt would immediately sub-scribe to the myth. Franco-American colloquial-isms in reality are nothing more than the slur-ring-over of words which are written as theoStratfordatte-Bowe» school would have it. Thefollowing are some examples:

y ont fory athequierepetiticittemoue & toilea ray la maisonv'In

ils ontit atheierepetiticimoi & toia cote de lavoila 14

maison

Moreover. staying on the amusing side ofthis tragedy, some of the early translations ofEnglish by Franco-Americans are comical in-deed. For example, they mistook the word«dustpans» for «dustpants» and proceeded totranslate it as «pantalons de poussiere.» On theother hand, them is a story of an enterprisingEnglishman who translated the French phraseocinq heures dans quart» (a quarter of five) as«five o'clock in a barrel!»

Finally we shall end with this soberingpassage:

Through evolution and time, theFranco-American element has

lost many of its characteristics.In reality, it may be said that theFrench language is almost lostfor a majority of the children ofthe third generation. But whatabout the fourth? I agree entire-

ly with Mr. Lemaire when hesays that 'there will always beFrench spoken in New England.Perhaps it will not be spoken asmuch as before, but it will be ofbetter quality.' How can it beotherwise when the whole histo-ry of the United States is im-pregnated with French culturethrough the French origin of23 States, the role held byFrance in the War of Independ-ence, the framework of theConstitution inspired by eL'espritdes lois' of Montesquieu, theparticipation of French Canadain the Civil War, the close prox-imity to the Province of Quebec,the progress of education whichis no longer the privilege of the

elite but of the masses, the de-velopment of international tour-ism, the general use of theradio, the pressure exerted bythe Federal Government for theknowledge of foreign languages,the foundation of Franco-Amer-lean Institutes, and finally, be-cause the knowledge of theFrench language offers an outletto our Franco-American youthto earn a living through teaching,interpretation, the commonmarket, diplomatic service, thepeace corps, etc. 15

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

In recent years great efforts have beenmade to set up a French cultural program in thecity of Manchester,ile State of New Hampshire,and in other New England states. 16

Due to the decline of French parochialschools and the limited French instru?tion given

236

in the still viable ones, the Committee forFrench Development has been centering its at-tention on the possibility of utilizing the publicschool system for this purpose.

Three years ago (in 1971), Louisiana hadallowed French to be taught as a second lan-guage in its public schools. The school systemobtained financial aid from the State of Louisi-ana as well as $150,000.00 from France to helppromote a program called the «Council for theDevelopment of French in Louisiana(CODOFIL). Because of the success of theLouisiana project, a similar one had been pro-posed for New England. It is appropriately call-ed CODOFINE, the NE standing for NewEngland.

The CODOFINE Association met at NotreDame College as recently as October, 1972 withrepresentatives from Quebec, Louisiana, and allsix New England states to discuss future goalsas well as funding measures for this endeavor.On July 11, 1973, by the invitation of theLouisiana Commission, a luncheon was scheduled for the Governors and Congressional dele-gates from the New England states to see wheth-er. federal funds could be made available topromote a Franco-American cultural program inthe Northeast. After this, a bill was introducedto the New Hampshire legislature and uponpassing both houses the bill to promote such aprogram in the state was signed by GovernorMeldrim Thomson.

The constituency of the New HampshireCommission for the promotion of Franco-Amer-ican language and culture includes: Louis Martelfrom Manchester, President; Gerald Robert fromManchester; Maurice Lavoie from Nashua; LeoG. Ouellette from Farmington; and ReneBoucher from Somersworth.

Its duties include: to establish, maintain,and develop cultural ties between French-Canadians and French speaking Americans; to

231

foster a special interest in the historical andcultural backgrounds of these groups as well asthe economic, political, social, and artistic lifeof the countries involved; and finally, to helpestablish and promote French language programsin the state schools of New Hampshire.

Last year (in October of 1973) a confer-ence was held at the University of New Hamp-shire's New England Center to evaluate Frencheducation at the university level. At this time,President Bonner had eNpressed a need for some-one to teach a History of Quebec course in 1974and Mr. Robert was asked to look into thematter.

Furthermore, a student exchange programbetween U.N.H. and Canada was Also recom-mended and is currer 41), under deliberation. Mr.William Bittenbender, the Chairman of the StateBoard of Education, speaking in French ex-pressed his support for a widespread effort toenhance both the French language and theFrench culture in North America.

Beginning in November of 1973, Channel9 (WMUR) of Manchester has been broadcastingSoh* Canadienne a complete French pro-gram presented each Sunday from 4:00 to 5:00.WENH TV also sponsors the programRythmes twice a week. Plans are now beingmade through the Federal Communications Com-mission (FCC) in Washington to begin broad-casting all day French programs imported fromSherbrooke, Quebec. These programs are tenta-tively scheduled to begin in July of 1974 onChannel 3, cable television.

The Manchester Union Leader has forsome time now been printing a weekly Frenchcolumn in its Wednesday editions by Mrs.Marcelle Martel.

A course entitled «Canada's Two Cul-tures» is currently being offered by the Merri-mack Valley Branch; and the U.N.H. History

237

2;2

Department is considering offering a course atthe Branch tentatively titled: «Our Lives in thePast and Present: The French-Canadian-Amer-ican Experience.» This course will host a num-ber of qualified lecturers on a variety of topicspertinent to Franco-American-Canadian stud-ies.

And finally, the faculty of the Merri-mack Valley Branch is currently working on acurriculum proposal which will include a «Re-gional Studies» cluster.

THE INTERCULTURAL-ARTS FESTIVAL

In 1971 there were two French-Canadian booths in Manchester's Intercultural-Arts Festival. The first was the Quebec boothwhose theme was white and blue with «fleurde lis». The materials displayed included fold-

ers, pamphlets, maps, brochures, recipes,illustrations, posters, etc. all supplied by theQuebec Government Bureau in Boston. Avaluable collection of photographs (courtesy ofthe Ministry of Cultural Affairs of the Provinceof Quebec) portrayed a variety of subjects,studies and scenes of everyday life in Quebec.

The ethnic food and specialties in theQuebec booth included «Soupe aux pois a lacanadienne,» pain sur la sole, tourtieres,cretons, tartes au sucre, tartes a «la ferlouche,»sucre a la crème, patisseries (eclairs, choux a lacreme Chantilly, millefeuilles), and cafe.

The musical program featured «LeConsensus» a group of young college studentsfrom Quebec City and suburbs who presentedarrangements of folk songs with piano, guitars,and flute. While here, these young people alsoparticipated in a short film in the studios ofChannel 11 in Durham.

There were no specific costumes, onlyplain old-fashioned dresses worn by the ladies

serving food.

The second, the Canadian booth, fea-tured a theme of white and red with maple

leaf. The materials included folders, pamphlets,brochures, maps, and various information onthe Maritime provinces. There were also hugepanels clvicting scenes from Canada, includingthe famous Royal Canadian «Mounties.» TheCanadian Consulate in Boston had also pro-vided a projector and carrousels of famousscenes and events such as from hockey games,the famous barrage of Manicouagan. and the

tulip gardens of Ottawa.

In 1972 the theme of the Canadianbooth was white and red in maple leaf design.

Information included pamphlets, maps, andbrochures on camping, fishing, sports, etc.There was an exhibit of rock and. mineral speci-

mens collected in Canada (courtesy of theCanadian Consulate) as well as a variety ofslides on Canada. A group of students from SteMarie High School, under the direction of aSister of Presentation, gave a vivid historicalpresentation of George Washington and theMarquis de La Fayette. Moreover, some eightygrammar school students under the direction ofMiss Bernadette Benard presented a medley ofFrench folk songs.

All visitors were given small gold mapleleaf pinscourtesy of the Canadian Consulatein Boston.

IMMIGRATION STAT'STICSFOR MANCHESTER , N. H.

The statistical information below comesfrom the Population Division, Bureau of fhekCensus, Washington, D. C. By «foreign stock» '`\is meant persons who were themselves foreignborn or were children of foreign or mixedparentage. The fluctuation between «foreignstock» and «foreign born» reflects the method-

233

ology of the Census Bureau from decade todecade.

1970

Population (City) 87,754Foreign Stock (City) 31,752Foreign Stock (Canada) 18,584Foreign Stock (France) 227

1960

Population (City) 88,282.Foreign Stock (City) 38,784Foreign Stock (Canada) 22,252Foreign Stock (France) 189Mother Tongue of Foreign

Born (French) 5,095

1950

Population (City) 82,732Foreign Born (City) 14,391Foreign Born (Canada-

French) 6,991Foreign Born (Canada-

Other) 878Foreign Born (France) 87

1940

Population (City) 77,685Foreign born (City) 17,396Foreign Born (Canada-

French) 8,432Foreign Born (Canada-

Other) 1,278Foreign Born (France) 61

1930

Population (City) 76,834Foreign Born (City) 21,944Foreign Born (Canada-

French) 10,696Foreign Born (Canada-

Other) 1,422

Foreign Born (France)Natives of Foreign or

Mixed Parentage.- Canada-French

Canada-Other- France

1920

Population (City)Foreign Stock (City)Foreign Stock (Canada-

French)Foreign Stock (Canada-

O ther)Foreign Stock (France)

1910

Population (City)Foreign Born (City)Foreign Born (Canada-

French)Foreign Born (Canada-Other & Newfoundland)

Foreign Born (France)

1900

Population (City)Foreign Born (City)Foreign Born (Canada-

French and New-foundland)

Foreign Born (Canada-English and New-foundland)

Foreign Born (France)

125

16,1492,122

187

78,38459,455

26,706

3,683120

70,06329,708

13,720

2,72154

56,98724,257

13,429

1,69753

234

Footnotes

1. J. Laflamme, «The French Catholics in the UnitedStates,» Catholic Encyclopedia, 1907, p. 277:

2. The above information comes from the LanguageResources Project; «French in New England -- A Socio-Historical Portrait» by H. Lemaire for the Departmentof Health, Education and Welfare, 1963.

3. E.: Hamon, S. J., Les Canadiens-Franoais de laNouvelle-Angleterre, (Quebec, 1891), y p. 3 and 4.

4. «L'Abeilles» Sdminaire de Quebec, 1849, p. 4.

5. French Canadian Influence in Manchester Before1891. A dissertation by Wilfred Paradis, St. Anselm'sCollege, 1949, p. 25.

6. Jacques Ducharme, The Shadows of the Trees,( New York; Harper and Brothers, 1943), p. 160.

7. Jacques Ducharme, op. cit. pp. 38-9.

8. Ibid. p. 59.

9. Emile Tardivel, Guide Canadien-Francais deManchester, NH. (Manchester, 1895), p. 267.

10. Sr Florence Marie Chevalier, The Franco-Americans of New England. An unpublished Ph. D. dis-sertation (Catholic University, Washington, D. C., 1972),p. 241.

11. The Saturday Evening Post, Oct. 31, 1936.

12. A. N. Belcourt, The French-Canadians OutsideQuebec. (Philadelphia, 1923), p. 7.

13. Jacques Ducharme, op. cit , pp. 230-31.

14. Jacques Ducharme, op. cit., pp. 237-39.

15.. Nerve B. Lemaire, The Franco-Americans in NewEngland. An unpublished manuscript prepared for theLanguage Resource Project of the Dept. of Health,Education, and Welfare, 1963, p. 7. (From the sectionon «General Comments»).

16. With the exception of the last two paragraphs, theinformation presented below is based on a personalinterview with Mr. Gerald Robert, president of theA.C.A.

240

REFERENCES

Books

Belcourt, A. N.1923 The French Canadians Outside Quebec.

Philadelphia.

Ducharme, Jacques1943 The Shadows of .the Trees. Harper and

Brothers, New York.

Hanlon, E.1891 Les Canadiens Francais de la Nouvelle-

Angleterre. Quebec

a

235

Tardivel, Emile1895 Guide Canadien Francais, Manchester',

N. H., 1894. Manchester, N. H.

Throp, L. Ashton1939 Manchester of Yesterday, A Hum

Interest Story of its Past. Granite StaPress, Manchester, N. H.

Verrette, Adrien1931 La Paroisse Ste Marie. Manchester,

N. H.

Published Reports

19: Sept.-Dec. Emigration des Canadiens-Frar.79is vers Nouvelle-Angleterre, 1870-1910.Recherches Sociographiques, vol. V, no. 3.Quebec.

Les Douze Missionnaires de L'Est1851 «Pourquoi le Canadien-Francais quitte-

t-il le Bas-Canada.).Le Canadien Emi-grant. Quebec.

Robert, AdolpheJune 1937 «La Survivance de L'Esprit Francaisaux EtatsUnis». Le Canado-Americain.

Grousse, Jacqueline1970 L'Etat du Maine. Comparative Study

of the Franco-Americans in Maine andNew. Hampshire. Quebec.

Periodicals

Robert, Adolphe1950 «Positions Statistiques et Culturelles

de la Franco-Americanie.» Les CarnetsVictoriens. Quebec.

Robert, AdolpheJuly 25, 1918 «Une Nouvelle France dans laNouvelle-Angleterre.» Le CanadoAmericain.

Newspaper Articles

Manchester Daily MirrorDec. 8, 1913 «Foreign Population as Dividedin Manchester.»

Manchester Union LeaderFeb. 22, 1932 and December 31, 1934.

New Hampshire Sunday NewsApril 6, 199"7, May 4 and 18, 1947.

236

Unpublished Material

Chevalier, Sr. 'Florence Marie1972 The Franco-Americans of New

England. Ph.D. dissertation, CatholicUniversity, Washington, D. C.

Houle, 0.M.I., Andre Laurent1955 Prelithinary Checklist of Franco-

American imprints in New England,1780-1925. A dissertation, CatholicUniversity, Washington, D. C.

Langlois, Mrs. Alfred1941 Collection of Franco-American

iFirstsa in Manchester, N. H., 1830-1941. Manchester, N. H.

Lemaire, Herve B.1963 The Franco-Americans in New

England. A manuscript for theLanguage Resource Project of theDepartment of Health, Educationand Welfare.

`Moreau, Arthur J.1932 French Blood in New Hampshire. A

thesis in Sociology. Dartmouth7..ollege.

Paradis, Wilfred H.1949 French-Canadian Influence in Man-

chester Before 1891. A Masters ofArts dissertation. St. Anselm College.

Reprinted by permission of the author.

242

A HISTORY OF FRANCO-AMERICAN JOURNALISM

by

Paul Pare

Franco-Americans founded parishes,schools, mutual societies and newspapers - notnecessarily in that order. If one were todetermine which of these outgrowths of theFranco-American immigration into NewEngland exercised the most lasting influence,it would be difficult to choose. Certainlyjournalism contributed as much as theothers; in numbers alone, newspapers testifyto the lasting presence of Franco-Americansin this country.

Franco-American journalism has re-tained one overriding characteristic in its 130years of existence: its militancy. From thestart its publishers, editors, and writers usedtheir newspapers not only to instruct but tocombat. The battle was fought against the En-glish in Canada, against the Americans and Irishassimilators in the United States, against thoseFranco-Americans who gave in, and in somecases against their very own Church leaders.

Often, too often, Franco-Americansinvolved in the newspaper field foughtamongst themselves on a wide range of issuesinvolving Franco-American life. It hasn'tbeen uncommon to see a newspaper take on apoint of view simply because a certain otherpaper had espoused a different point of view.Bitter feuds developed between editors andthey lasted for years.

It was a journalism of ideas more thana journalism of communication and informa-tion. In that sense it can be said Franco-American journalism never grew up.

Franco-American journalistic efforts

newspapers starting in 1839. Maine has hadtwenty-one. Journalism constitutes the bulkof Franco-American literature and thoseFrancos who did some writing, either fiction,poetry, or historical works, were nearly allinvolved in some way with, a newspaper.Franco-American leaders were nearly alwayseither 'clergmen or journalists. Most of thetime they complemented each other, workinghand in hand. Sometimes, one failed and theother took over; and, in some cases there wasopen disagreement between the two.

Most newspapers lasted a short timebut a small number survived for long periodsand became highly competitive with theirEnglish-language counterparts. Althoughmost Franco-American publishers and news-paper people starved to death, a few acquiredthemselves a fortune.

If the word osurvivance» has meantanything to Franco-Americans over the years, I

it is thanks to their newspapers.

With these general statements out ofthe way, let's take a look at a brief history ofthis unique brand of journalism. First, let mesay that my sources have been AlexandreBelisle's Histoire de la Presse Franco-Ameri-caine written in 1911, Robert Rumilly'sHistoire des Franco-Americains written in1958, .R.J. Lawton's Franco-Americans ofMaine published in Lewiston in 1915, a fewother works, and my own interviews withpersons involved with Maine's French-language newspapers.

The first newspaper which can beare impressive. Francos founded close to 250 called Franco-American by the fact that it

237

243

238

was published in the United States and aimedat an American as well as Canadian readershipis Le Patriote Canadien. It was a weekly,the first issue appearing in Burlington,Vermont, in August of 1839.

It was born in the midst of an abortedrevolt. Its publisher-editor, Ludger Duvernay,was a frustrated patriote. who along with asmall band of French-Canadians attempted tofree themselves from what they consideredtyranny on the part of the English in Canadain 1837.

A few bloody battles in the RichelieuValley resulted in defeat for the Frenchpatriotes. Those who weren't killed inbattle or executed afterwards were deportedto Australia. Those who managed to escapefound refuge in the United States from Maim.to Illinois. One of them, Robert Shore-MilnesBouchette, who published a newspaper inQuebec City prior to the 1837 incident, madehis way to Portland. What he did after that isnot known.

In founding hi!, newspaper, Duvernaywrote the following prospectus: 4Nousn'aurons aucun management pour personne.Nous denocerons tous les coupables sans ex-ceptions et sans egards...* With these wordshe set the tone not only for his own publica-tion but for most of the Franco-Americanpublications which were to follow.

Le Patriote Canadien had subscrib-ers in New York, Philadelphia, Boston,

Dubuque, St. Louis, Detroit, Milwaukee,Chicago, New Orleans, Rochester, Buffalo,Albany, and many other American cities.This testifies to the fact that the patriotesof 1837 had found refuge in a large numberof plAs. The newspaper, however, wasbanned in Canada and that contributed to itsdemise.

244

Le Patriote Canadien was bilingual.Duvernay sought the aid ofAakericans infighting the English Canadians - an assistancewhich never materialized. The paper was alsoanti-clerical at times, the patriotes havingblamed the Quebec clergy for the failure ofthe 1837 revolt.

Duvernay's paper was published foronly six months In that, it also led the wayfor future Fra co-American publications.

In 1842, nada declared amnesty forthe 1837 exilees. Most of them returned tothe homeland inclu ing Duvernay who wenton to found La Societe Saint Jean-Baptiste deMontreal. Duvernay's life is an interestingone. He played an important role in Canadianhistory, having serveein Parliament, havingbeen a leader in the Conservative Party,having been arrested and jailed repeatedly forhis anti-English views. The maple leaf assymbol of Canada was his idea.

Those patriotes of 1837 who stayedbehind were to be joined years later by thefull-scale immigration of French-Canadiansinto New England. These were notpolitical asylum but economic relief by leav-ing their country. One would not have dis-coveredathis from their newspapers, however,since they were as politically and issue moti-vated as was Duvernay's publication.

Much could be said at this point aboutFranco-Americans in the American midwestand their newspapers. A few commentarieswill be enough for the purpose of this class.

In 1871 Chicago had 20,000 Franco-Americans, several French parishes, societies,and a few newspapers including L'Ameriquefounded by Louis Frechette among others.Frechette is one of French-Canada's bestknown poets.

-

This newspaper became Ilwolved inthe election campaign in 1868 won by UlyssesS. Grant. Frechette who was self-exiled toChicago after his own political failures in Que-bec. wrote up the campaign and participatededitorially in behalf of Grant's candidacy.

Not only Chicago but many citiesin the Midwest had sizeable Franco-Americanpopulations and along with them a goodnumber of French-language newspapers.Michigan had 16 newspapers, Illinois had 12,Minnesota had 10, and Wisconsin had one.

Very few lasted for any consequentialperiod of time. In 1910 there were only twoleft: L'Echo de l'Ouest of Minneapolis,Minn.. a weekly, and Le Courrier Franco-Americain of Chicago which was printedoddly enough in Fall River,. Mass. This, bythe way, was not uncommon. The costs ofprinting often forced smaller newspapersto give up their own printing plants. Thehealthier newspapers assumed the printingand by so doing were able to better survivethemselves. Many of the large newspapersalso turned to publishing books as an addedsource of revenues.

Back in the eastern part of the UnitedStates. a few newspapers appeared in NewYork and Vermont around 1867. Le Pro-tecteur Canadien founded by a merchant bythe name of Antoine Moussette and a priestnamed Zephirin Druon at St. Albans, t., in1867 was the first lasting Franco-Americannewspaper.

It played a major role in makingCanada aware of the Franco-American factand was responsible for bringing French-Canadian priests to New England parishes toserve their fellow Catholics. The name itself,Protecteur Canadien implied a certain mili-tancy: here was something to protect. some-thing to defend. The paper lasted slightly

239

more than three years.

The father of Franco-Americanjournalism is Ferdinand Gagnon. Before hisarrival, most Franco-American publicationswere feeble attempts with the possible excep-tion of Le Protecteur Canadien.

Gagnon was born at St. Hyacinthe,Quebec, in 1849. He was destined to becomea lawyer but decided to cut s rt his studiesand immigrate to the United S tes at the ageof 18. He settled in Concord, N.

In 1869, Gagnon moved to Oanches-ter, N.H. where he founded' with Dr. Al.Tremblay (Franco-American historical worksfor some f, .arre reason very often refer topeople by ineir first initials instead of by fullnames.) La Voix du Peuple. This paperlasted seven months. When Gagnon movedto Worcester, Mass., in September of the sameyear, the paper folded.

Gagnon, up until that time, haddoubts about the strength of the French-Canadian immigration to New England. Hethought it was a temporary self-imposed exile,not a permanent exodus, In the spring of1869, however, he witnessed in Worcester thecelebration of «la Saint JeanBaptiste», thetraditional French-Canadian and by extensionFranco-American feast day which falls onJune 24th, and was so impressel that hebecame convinced that Franco-Americanswere here to stay.

In Worcester, he founded L'EtendardNational, at the age of 20 with the help of acorporation composed of the early leaders ofthis Franco-American city. His newspaperwas bought out in 1876 by a Montreal news-paper, L'Opinion Publique which publishedL'Etendard National as a special New Eng-land edition.

245

1

"S

240

Three years later, Gagnon joined with.Frederic Houde who had written for Le Pro-tecteur Canadlen, of St. Albans, in launchinga new paper, Le Foyer Canadien. Some 18months later, in 1874, Gagnon sold out toHoude to start his own newspaper Le Tra-vailleur, which he directed for 12 years untilhis death at a young age of thirty-seven.

As publisher and editor of Le Tra-.vailleur. Gagnoti became the leading spokeE-man of Franco-Americans. Through his news-papers and his numerous speaking engage-ments, he molded public opinion in theeastern part of the United States and inCanada.

At this time, French Canadian opinionwas not exactly favorable to Franco-Ameri-cans. It was popular to paint a dark pictureof Franco-American life in New England'smill cities. «Les emigres vont chercher lechagrin et la misere sur la pretendue tere dela litoerte,» wrote one French Canadianjournalist.

Gagnon, by his person and hisOwAlblications, first Le Foyer Canadiess and

ter Le Travailleur was instrumental in fight-ing these attitudes.

Gradually other newspapers werestarted in New England. Alexandre Belisle'sHistoire de la Presse Franco-Americainementions ten newspapers in 1874. RobertRumilly in his book Histoire des Franco-Americains mentions seven existing that'time. These were mostly in Massachusetts,Vermont and in the Midwest.

The issues were not lacking. One ofthem involved Louis Riel who was halfFrench and half Indian, and led a revoltof the met& in Western Canada againstthe English authorities. His trial, onceapprehended, led to considerable controversy,

246

both in Canada and in New England withnewspapers jumping into fight almost gleeful-ly.

Riel made a visit to Worcester in 1874where he met with Ferdinand Gagnon andFrederic Houde. Immediately the Franco-American press took sides, condemning Rieland his associates on one hand and hailinghim as a hero on the other.

Newspapers also devoted columnspace to argue the merits of the benevolentmutual ieties. Gagnon deplored the factthat the a ual meetings of these societieswere emphas ng the insurance aspects of thesocieties and ne lecting the fraternal calling ofthe founding fathers.

Here we see the great split in Franco-American societies which reached its peaklater in the twentieth century. Of course,newspapers took sides in the debate.

The division which began at this timedeveloped between l'Union Saint Jean-Bap-tiste on one side and l'Association Canado-Americaine on the other. In broad terms,l'Union believed that cooperation with theIrish bishops was the best way to avoid theirassimilative wrath while l'Association Canado-Americaine preached resistance to the Irishassimilators among the clergy and bishopsfrom the start. In later years, [Union tried toestablish closer ties with France while [Asso-ciation believed Franco-American ties shouldbe strengthened with Quebec instead.

Newspapers throughout New Englandtook sides and the battle at times raged fierce-ly on the pages of the Franco-American press.

Back in the late 1870's, ha: times hitNew England with the textile industry beingseriously affected by the economic recession.Labor strikes also made their appearances at

This time in history.

Canadian authorities thought the timewas ripe to launch an effort to attract theFranco-Americans back to Quebec. Farm-lands near the Maine and New Hampshireborders were set aside for returning Francos.The Canadian government named FerdinandGagnon as agent de repatriement.

Although in appearance a contra-diction. Gagnon's repatriation effort and hisfirm Franco-Americanism worked hand inhand. He merely saw repatriation as a choicefor Franco-Americans who had become dis-illusioned. He also saw it as a method of help-ing his homeland, Quebec, reclaim some of itsformer sons and daughters.

Other Franco-American journalistsdidn't see it his way, notably the ediiiar of theJean-Baptiste a newspaper in Northampton,Massachusetts. A journalistic debate began onthe merits of repatriation, some newspaperscalling those Francos who returned to Quebectraitors while other papers used the same epi-thet to describe those Francos who remainedin New England.

The issue started a bitter feud be-tween two Fall River newspapers, L'Echodu Canada and L'Ouvrier Canadien. Thefeud lasted long after the repatriation issuehad died. Repatriation apparently causedmore ink to flow than it did anything else. Itwas almost a total failure with only a smallnumber of persons opting for the return toQuebec.

Not only did the ink flow freelyconcerning issues but personalities became en-tangled in the polemics also. Honore Beau-grand who published La Republique at FallRiver in 1878 i cferred to Ferdinand Gagnonas croquemitaine Gagnon while Gagnonaccused Beaugrand who wasn't without his

241

anticlerical moments of being a freemasonand a Wandering Jew all of this in print.

There was, however, one issue onwhich everyone agreed: naturalization. All ofthe newspapers recommended that the im-migrants become American citizens. Gagnonprescribed naturalization for those who choseto stay. «The Yankees will always have themoney, but we'll take over in politics,D wasthe naturalization slogan. Once naturalized,the Francos started looking around for apolitical party to join.

At first unfamiliar with Americanpolitics, they sheepishly followed their bossesinto the Republican Party, the party whichadvocated tariffs on foreign trade. TheRepublican Party, therefore, was good for theFranco-American workers, so the industrial-ists said. .

Those who looked tot DemocraticParty found the door closed, anyway, thatparty being controlled by the Irish who werenot about to give up any of their newly ac-quired territory.

The Republicans became increasinglypro-American and anti-immigrant and anti-Catholic with the years and the majority ofthe Franco-Americans left the GOP at theurging of their newspapers includingFerdinand Gagnon's Le Travailleur. Somenewspapers remained faithful to the Repub-lican Party, especially in Rr )de Island, andhere was something else to fight about.

Up to now, I've used the wordFranco-American but most of the people I'vespoken of preferred to call themselves French-Canadians even though they lived in thiscountry for years and for the most part wereAmerican citizens. This dual loyalty is in-conceivable today but then it made perfectsense.

242

In 1873, the state of Missouri electeda Franco-American to the U.S. Senate, Louis-Vital-Bogy. He used to say: de suis Canadien-Francais, et j'en suis Fier; je suis catholique etj'en remercie Dieu; je su;, aussi citoyen decette 1, publique, et j'en suis heureux.»

As the flow of immigration took onthe proportions of a tidal wave, newspaperspopped up here and there throughout NewEngland. Increasing in scope also at this timewas the resentment of the Yankees and theIrish who saw their domains .oeing invaded bythe French-Canadians. This served to unifythe Franco-American press which by thistime could boast of about twenty periodicals.

All Franco editors and publishersagreed that Franco-Americans are entitled totheir rightful place in American life.

«Les Chinois de l'Est» is probably thebest known incident of Yankee bigotry at thisperiod but only one of many which illustratesthe anti-Franco feelings.

Although it was felt Francos deserveda place in the great American society, that didnot mean that rightful place had to be gainedby paying the price of assimilation. The word«survivance» increasingly became the sloganof Franco-American newspaper people.

Writer after writer deplored the factthat Franco-Americans were losing groundin the struggle against assimilation. The Fran-cos were losing command of the French lad-guage and the greatest assaults against thela:Iguage were being made in the churches andthe greatest enemies of the language turnedout to be the Irish bishops and the Irish clergy,so it was felt in many Franco circles.

Early in the immigration, the bishopscould easily obtain French-Canadian priestswho were willing to shepherd the Franco-

2 4 8

American flock. But as the immigrants in-creased in number, Canadian priests willing toimmigrate with them became scarce.

Franco-Americans, however, keptdemanding their own parishes and their ownpriests. The newspapers repeated thesedemands with regular insistence: and when-ever a bishop would refuse or whenever hewould appoint a French or Belgian priestinstead, the newspapers embarked on a holycrusade to preserve the language and the faith,and in that order since everyone subscribed tothe slogan: «Qui perd sa langue perd sa fol.»

The first incident or «affaire» tookplace in Millbury, Conn., then came FallRiver, Northampton, Detroit, Ware, Salem,Danielson, etc. The scenario is the same: Aparish with majority of Franco-Americanswants a Franco-American priest; the bishop,almost always an Irishman, refuses; theparishioners go on strike, refusing tocontribute finTffelally and in some casesrefusing to participate spiritually in parishlife; the appeal is then made to Rome whichignores the plea of the Franco-Americans;after some time, the bishop gives in and ap-points a Franco-American priest, or theparishioners give in and accept the Irish priest.

The newspapers play a multiple role inall of this. At first, all cry out in indignationover the bishop's refusal, but as the going getsrougher and some parishioners begin takingdrastic measures, some of the newspapersstart saying that perhaps some parishionersare going too far. Other newspapers respondby asking if the publications calling for res-traint are traitors. Ahd so the debate goes onbetween journalists, the real issue sometimesbeing delegated to the background and ob-scured by rhetoric.

The controversies aren't limited toone locality. All of New England follows the

latest developments through its Franco-American press. The newspapers taking partin these issues at the end of the last centurywere:

Le Messager, Lewiston, MaineL'Independant, Fall River, Mass.Le Courrier, Manchester, N.H.La Patrk, Cohoes, N.Y.La Justice, Biddeford, MaineLe Citoyen, Fall River, Mass.Le Defenseur, Holyoke, Mass.Le National, Plattsburg, N.Y.Le Travailleur, Worcester, Mass.,

(which continued to be published under thesame name after Gagnon's death).

There were other newspapers but thesewere the major ones. These newspapers werenot all on solid financial ground. Many changedhands frequently, some ceased publication on-ly to resume a few months later, when a newsource of funds had ;-.en found.

The two stro4est papers at this timewere Le Messager and Le Travailleur. Notonly were they financially sound but both hadlarge circulations beyond their respective are^sand they also enjoyed a good reputation. Bythe way, exact circulation figures are extreme-ly hard to document.

Despite their differences, the editorsand publishers of a'l these papers met in 1887for the second time and organized the Associ-ation des Membres de la Presse Canadienne-Franraise des Etats-Unis. Note the word Cana-

dienne-Franraise. In later years the organiza-tion changed that to Franco-Americaine.

Le Natio.,,,/ founded by Benjamin Len-thier Plattsburg, N.Y. and later moved toLowell, Mass. in 1890 became the first success-ful daily Franco-American newspaper. Allother papers were .ither weeklies or bi-week-

243

lies. Le Nationaiitalso boasted the mostmodern and complete printing plant. Thisnewspaper also had editions for Fall Riverand Manchester. Lenthier also purchasedLe Travailleur, Ferdinand Gagnon's old paper.He bought Le Courrier of Worcester, Linde-pendance of Lowell and Le Bourdon of FallRiver.

Besides the purchases, Lenthierfounded the following publications: Le Pro-tecteur Canadien in Fall River, borrowingthe name of the older St. Albans paper whichhad ceased publication several years earlier;Le Canado-Americain of Holyoke, Le Foy-er Canadien of Woonsocket, Le Guide duPeuple of Haverhill, Le Drapeau Nationalof Lowell, Le Jean-Baptiste of Cohoes, N.Y.and Le Courrier du Connecticut. In allLenthier by the early 1890's controlled 16newspapers.

The presidential campaign of 1892,which saw the election of Grover Cleveland,a Democrat, accounted for much of thisjournalistic growth 2t the time. Lenthiercampaigned heavily for Cleveland and madegood use of his papers. The DemocraticParty, seeing in the Francos a potentiallylarge voting bloc, also made good use of hispapers.

The election fever had an effect onother Franco-American newspapermen.Lenthier's Le National was joined by L'Etoileof Lowell and by L'Independant of Fall Riveras daily newspapers..

This era was truly one of the few dur-ing which it can be said that Franco-Americanjournalism really prospered. The success wasmostly due to the unprecedented interest inthe Francos displayed by the American polit-ical parties. After the election, however, ad-vertising revenues declined along wit!. thepolitical fervor and Franco newspapers found

244

themselves unable to continue at the samepace. One by one, Lenthier's papers closeddown including Le Travailleur, originally Ferd-inand Gagnon's paper.

According to L.A. Biron who workedfor Lenthier in Worcester, Lenthier was a«promoter». Biron was quoted as saying:«He must have made thousands, the moneypaid by the Democratic Party. After the1892 election, he went West...» Biron wenton to found L'Impartial in Nashua, N.H., in1898, a newspaper which lived on until theearly 1960's.

The high number of Franco-Americannewspapers in a single city during this periodand in the years until the mid-twentiethcentury is not unusual. Over the years,Manchester has had a total of 36 newspapers,not all publishing at the same time, of course;Lowell has had 24; and Fall River has seen 22newspapers come and go, to name a fewFranco-American cities.

Newspapers were the only representa-tives of what we now refer to as the newsmedia. They were also one of the few sourcesof entertainment.

It cost relatively little to start a news-paper. Keeping it going was the problem.

Those Franco-American publisherswho had th it coin printing plants found itadvantag; keep the presses running asmany hotn., f the day as possible. Why notprint anothc newspaper? Another edition?The major elnital expenditure had alreadybeen made and another publication wouldonly mean added revenues. Thus went thelogic which led to this proliferation of news-papers throughout New England.

In the mid-1890's, the wave of FrenchCanadian immigrants was reduced to a trickle

250

due to improved economic conditions inCanada and a renewed interest on the part ofthe Canadian government in keeping itscitizens home. New frontiers were opened upin western Quebec and the Lac St. Jeanregion, the government making it very attract-ive for the French Canadian to emigrate thereinstead of to New England. Farming had beenre-instituted as an honorable profession.

Despite the smaller flow of FrenchCanadians to New England cities, news ofQuebec still attracted attention in Franco-American areis,,andNalmost as much pas-sionate ink flowed in Franco-Americanjournals during this especially lively politicalperiod in Quebec as did during the early yearsof immigration.

Franco-Americans in Maine, althoughsomewhat isolated from the mainstream ofFranco activity in the remainder o'f' NewEngland, nevertheless participated in the greatFranco pastime of founding newspapers.Over the years, Maine has seen 22 Frenchlanguage newspapers come and go. Biddefordhas had nine Franco papers and Lewiston six.Augusta, Van Buren and Sanford have givenbirth to one each, while Waterville producedtwo.

The first Franco-American newspaperin Maine appeared in Biddeford in May of1870, two years after Le Protecteur Canadienof St. Albans, and four years before FerdinandGagnon's Le Travailleur.

The Biddeford paper was namedL'Emigre Canadien and was published byLeon Bossue dit Lyonnais who at the ageof 14 started his journalistic career by pub-lishing a paper in Quebec City. In his life-time, he either founded or was associatedwith a total of 12 newspapers (some of themin English) in New England, and New YorkState and in Quebec. His Biddeford paper,

started relatively early in his career, was aweekly. It lived six weeks.

The second was Le Messager ofLewiston which was the oldest Franco-American newspaper in existence when itdied in 1968, having been publishedcontinuously for 88 years. The story ofLe Messager will come later.

The year 1880 saw the start of twonewspapers in the state. Le Messager inMarch and Le Cri d'Alarme in November.The latter was published in Biddeford byJames Smith and is presumed to have beena Protestant newspaper. It lived only a shorttime and very little is known about it.

Next was Le Courrier de Lewiston.published in Lewiston in January of 1885 byEmile H. Tardivel who had been ociatedearlier with Le Messager. Le Courrier deLewiston lasted no longer than a few weeks.

Tardivel later in life turned to politicsand the practice of law. He was elected to theNew Hampshire legislature and at one timeworked with a Boston law firm.

Urbain Ledoux was involved withthree newspapers in Biddeford which ap-peared in rapid succession between 1893 and1895. A self-made man, Ledoux was born inCanada of parents who had immilrated to theUnited States during the Civil War and whohad returned to Quebec in 1872. Three yearslater the Ledonx family moved to Biddeford.Urbain was one year old. Part of his educa-tion was obtained at the «College Sainte-Marie» in Van Buren.

At the age of 17, he founded Lit:-dependance in Biddeford. That was in 1893which is when Len thier's journalistic em-pire started to crumble in southern NewEngland. Some authors say that Ledoux'

245

paper lasted only a few weeks, others thatit was published for two years. In any ev-ent, two years later, he was writing foranother Biddeford paper L'Observateur whichwas founded by J.S. Bourdon and AlfredBonneau. L'Observateur lasted threeyears.

After leaving this paper, Ledouxfounded a magazine named Le Figaro Illus-tre in 1895 which featured humor and largeengravings. Alexandre Belisle in his Histoirede la Presse Franco-Americaine calls it a veryattractive magazine. The first issue appearedin December and that was also the last. Hethen worked for newspapers in Montreal andWoonsocket and later became active inpolitics.

In 1897 at the age of 22, he becamethe youngest member of the United Statesdiplomatic corps when named to theAmerican consulate at Trois-Rivieres, Quebec.At 29, he was named consul in Bordeaux,France. After that his life is unknown sincehis only biography was printed in 1919.Obituary details might be available by furtherresearching the newspapers in Biddeford.

Biddeford also saw L'Ouvrier Cana-dien in 1895. Some sources say it was calledL'Ouvrier Catholique. It was published bya corporation known as Primeau and Haswelland the paper had Philippe Masson as editor.This paper appeared for about one year.

A very colorful figure who lived onlybriefly in Maine at this time was Jean-BaptisteRouillard. In 1896, he was living inBiddeford where he launched L 'A merique,the state's first French-language daily news-paper. It lasted only a few months since inDecember of the same year Rouillard movedto Lewiston where he founded a weeklyLa Republique. This one was also destinedto have a life span of only a few months.

251.

246

Rouillard became well known in otherparts of New England where he was a journal-ist and political eccentric. An entire chaptercould he written about Rouillard who servedin the Civil War and later preached his dreamof independence for Quebec. He was proba-bly the first separatist.

In 1897, a Waterville doctor by thename of Avila 0. Boulay founded a weeklywith the name of La Sentinel le. which livedabout a year. Dr. Boulay later moved to VanBuren where he wrote for Le Journal du Mad-awaska which was born in 1902.

This northern Maine newspaper waspublished by a corporation and the businessend of the newspaper was in the hands ofAtty. Levite Thibodeau. This man, withhardly any knowledge of the. English languagehad enrolled at Ricker Classical Institute inHoulton and after graduation had apprenticedin a law office in Caribou. Thibodeau was thesecond French resident of the St. John Valleyto be admitted to the Maine bar.

Le Journal du Madawaska didrelatively well and publication continued until1906. When it died, circulation was about3,500.

One year before the Waterville paperwas founded, Alfred Bonneau started La

Justice in Biddeford. Bonneau's journalisticcareer started in Lowell, Mass. Later he movedto Biddeford, founding L'Observateur andthen La Justice.

Bonneau was both proprietor andeditor of his publication which along withLe Messager was the most influential in thestate. Bonneau surprisingly was a staunchRepublican, a fact which must not haveworked in his favor in heavily DemocraticBiddeford.

252

La Justice lasted nearly as long asLe Messager. Its life span was from 1896to 1949.

Maine's best known Franco-Americannewspaper, Le Messager, was founded in1880 by J.D. Montmarquet and Dr. Louis J.Martel. Montmarquet had previously workedwith Ferdinand Gagnon on Le Travailleur,and Dr. Martel became known as anotherFerdinand Gagnon and for some time wasconsidered an official spokesman for allFranco-Americans in New England in thesame way that Gagnon exerted his leadershipin earlier years.

Dr. Martel not only founded a news-paper, he was instrumental in organizing St.Peter's Parish in its early years, in foundingseveral fraternal and cultural societies and St.Mary's General Hospital, the state's firstCatholic hospital. Dr. Martel served in theMaine legislature in 1889 and for several yearswas municipal physician in Lewiston. He diedin 1899 at the age of 48.

Prior to that, in 1884, management ofthe newspaper was confided to a corporationwhich included besides Dr. Mart _I, RegisProvost, Pierre Provost, Louis Provost, andHubert Delorme. That year the newspaperbecame a bi-weekly.

One of the earlier editors was L.Desaulniers who died in a rather dramaticway in 1887 when both he and his wife werepoisoned as a result of a druggist's mistake.

After Dr. Martel died, the paper waspurchased from the corporation by Jean-Baptiste Couture who remained publisher andeditor until 1950.

For many years Le Messager wasprinted in a small wooden building on LincolnStreet near the canal where most Franco-

American stores were located in those days, inproximity to Le P'tit Canada and the largetextile mills.

In 1909, the newspaper was moved toa new four-story brick buildinf on LisbonStreet built by Couture. This is probably anindication that the newspaper had been asuccessful venture and the move furtherindicates that with prosperity Francos movedfurther away from their P'tit Canada andestablished themselves on an equal footingwith their neighboring Anglo businessmen.The Couture family lived in the same build-ing on the upper floors.

Jean-Baptiste Couture was born inQuebec City in 1867, one of nineteen chil-dren. His father, Olivier Couture, was a schoolteacher at a time when this occupation wasalmost exclusively the domain of religiouswomen and men. The younger Couture wasapparently destined to be a teacher also sincehe studied at a normal school but Inter helearned the printer's trade at L'Evenementin Quebec. He stayed there for five years andthen moved to Lewiston.

At the age of 19, he started work atLe Messager apparently in the composingroom. Five years later he had purchased thenewspaper. His father-in-law, NarcisseBrunelle, a well-known and prosperous bakerin town, might have loaned him the money tobuy the paper.

When he became editor, Couture leftthe composing room in the hands of hisbrother-in-law, Arthur Brunelle, who workedfor the newspaper for more than 25 years.

Jean-Baptiste Couture became thesoul of Le Messager, his name being as well-known throughout Maine at the beginning ofthis century as was the name of his publica-tion. His crusades against assimilation found

247

adherents throughout the state. His followerswere called ACouturistes.*

Le Messager along with its counter-parts throughout New England were responsi-ble for the contributions to Franco-Americanliterature which do exist. It was the news-papers who inspired the writers, encouragedtheir work, gave them an outlet and publishedtheir writings. Most newspapers includingLe Messager featured serialized stories of aromantic nature, many of them written bystaff writers or by someone in the communitywith writing abilities. The stories were calledfeuilktons. One of the best-known feuil-leton writers was Louis Tesson whose storiesappeared in Le Messager and some Canadianpublications. Among the ones he wrote forLe Messager were «line ldylle Acadienne»and «Le Sang Noir».

Le Messager published both on thepages of the newspaper and in book formseveral works of Lewiston Franco-Americanssuch as La Jeune Franco-Amerkaine by Al-berte Gastonguay in 1909; Au Fil de la vie byJoseph A' Girouard in 1909 and Fragments deReyes by the same author in 1933; Canuck byCamille Lessard in 1936; Memoires d'un Sol-dat Francais de 1914 a 1919 by Jules Savarinand published in 1928.

Camille Lessard who wrote a novelentitled Canuck wrote for Le Messagerunder the pen name of Liane. For years LeMessager was the only Franco-Americannewspaper with a women's page or societypage entitled «Chez-Nous.4 and written byMiss Lessard.

A native of Lac Megantic, MissLessard was a school teacher who immigratedto Lewiston in 1904. She worked in thetextile mills for four years and one day re-plied to an article which appeared in LeMessager. Jean-Baptiste Couture was so im-

253

248

pressed with her letter that he offered to printa weekly column written by her. Her colurnilwas known as des Chroniques du Mercredi».Two years later she joined the staff on a per-manent basis. She married and lived in Cali-fornia up until her dtath-in 1972.

In 1911, Miss Lessard wrote about herliterary beginnings at the request ofAlexandre Belisle who was compiling hishistory of the Franco-American press. She

wrote :

i:L'encouragement donne a ma pre-miere composition m'ayant donne de la

hardiesse je mg! mis a l'ouvrage et le soir deretour de la manufacture je passai des heuresa ecrire, rayer ou ajouter ce qui me semblaitle plus convenable. Oh! la tfiche fut rude et,quand je me relis aujourd'hui, que de fautesje trouve dans ces essais!

«Personne pour me clinger, toppauvre pour poursuivre mes etudes on faire!'acquisition de volumes qui m'auraient aidee,j'etais livree h suivre mon imagination du!Inspiration de ma petite cervelle.

oEt bien souvent mes faibles ailesse Font fermees et ma pauvre plume est alleese briser sur ma table, mais malgre tout, desencouragements ici et la me stimulant, jecontinual a ecrire, sans aucune remunerationpour le seul plaisir d'ecrire. J'aime tant cab>

Another Lewiston newspaper, LeCourrier du Maine was founded in 1906. A

weekly, it is said to have been inspired by theDominican Fathers who served St. Peter'sParish.

At this time, the Dominicans were

being accused in print of favoring the appoint-ment of an Irish bishop to the see of Portland

to replace Bishop O'Connell who had been

'tamed archbishop in Boston. Le Messager

also charged the French Dominicans withhaving a superiority complex vis-a-vis theirFrench-Canadian brethren and their Franco-

American flock.

The Dominicans were also accused ofhaving demolished the first St. Peter's Churchand having started the construction of a newone at the same site in order to avoid havingto build another church in Little Canada), toserve the growing Franco population. LeMessager also claimed the Dominicans weremore interested in building their monasterythan in the construction of schools for Francoyouths.

It's understandable that in the face of

all this criticism the Dominicans wanted todefend themselves. They followed the habitsof the times which dictated that if one didn'tagree with a newspaper, one founded anothernewspaper to oppose it.

The Dominican Courrier du Mainewas published by Henry F. Roy who wasorganist at St. Peter's Church. He later wrotea book about the controversy of the timesentitled Le Dernier Mot, published in 1925.Le Courrier du Maine lasted as such for sixmonths. The chronology of events which fol-lowed its demise are unclear. A short whilelater, it seems, those involved with Le Cour-vier started publication of Le Petit Journal,a Sunday paper, which some authors refer toas Le Petit Courrier.

The publishers of this newspaper also

printed two French-language newspaperswhich made their appearance in 1911. LaRevue was an Augusta newspaper edited byJ.E. Croteau and a Waterville weekly by thesame name was edited by Alfred Langlois.Both papers were printed in Lewiston and ap-parently did not last long.

254

During this period the influence of

French-Canadian newspapers in Maine,especially in Lewiston and Biddeford, wasbeing felt, certainly to the disadvantage of theFranco-American press.

For example, Lewiston had a repre-sentative of La Nesse of Montreal in theperson of Gedeon Vallee, a local businessman.He worked for the Montreal paper from 1906to 1910 and is credited with having obtained2,000 subscribers during this time.

In later years, La Presse maintaineda series of correspondents in Lewiston. Oneof those was Charlotte Michaud who served inthat capacity for 25 years. Miss Michaudalso worked for the Lewiston Eveningiournal, and later for the Portland PressHerald. When hired by the Journal her assign-ment was to cover everything and anythingpertaining to Franco-American life in Levis-ton-Auburn, presumably to attract Francoreaders from the French-language Le Mes-sager.

Her father, Leonard Michaud, was awriter for Le Message, and the fact his daugh-ter worked for the Journal must have madefor an interesting family situation. Even to-day, Miss Michaud, who is now retired, is con-siderei; by some Francos as some sort of trait-or for her work with the Journal, especiallyamong those whose families were affiliatedwith Le Messager.

Leonard Michaud wrote a series ofexposes or «articles de fond» for Le Mes-sager. During the first World War, he wrotea series of articles under the. title of «Le Botn-hardier». This column traced the exploits ofFranco-Americans serving in the U. S. Armyin Europe.

Other persons affiliated with Le Mes-Amer and who left their mark during thisperiod between 1900 and the early 1920's

249

include:

Louis N. Gendreau who as a youngman established a newspaper L'Etoile dert:st in Coducook, near Sherbiooke, Que-bec, and moved to Lewiston in 397. Hewas the business manager for Le Messagera good number of years but was better knownas a musician and trumpetist. He and othersorganized the St. Dominic Band and later theFanfare Ste Cecile, and the Orpheon, a men'schoral society.

Arthur Brunelle, Jean-BaptisteCouture's brother-in-law, mentioned earlier,who worked in the composing room for morethr.li 25 years, was also an accomplishedviolinist and composer as well as a musical ar-ranger.

Henry diVitry, who moved to Lewis-ton from France was one of the most literaryof the writers affiliated with Le Messager.His stay was relatively brief.

Atty. Francois-Xavier Belleau, whoserved in the U.S. Diplomatic Cobs and laterin the Maine legislature, was never on the staffof the newspaper but contributed manyarticles.

Atty. P.X. Anger, a well-known civicleader, also contributed a number of articlesfor Le Messager.

Le Messager like its counterparts inother New England cities attracted a nucleusof a cultural elite either to its staff or ascontributors. These were professional people,many of them musicians as well. It can besaid that if Lewiston ever produced a trueFrench culture both literary and musical, it islargely due to the presence of Le Messager.

The owner himself, Jean-BaptisteCouture, was not only a patron of the arts but

250

a practitioner of many artistic pursuits. Hefounded «Le Club Musical et Litteraire»with the collaboration of other Franco civicleaders, he had a good singing voice, andstaged and sang in many operas presented bythe Club. In his spare time, he translatedsome of the Gilbert and Sullivan operettasinto French.

He was an ardent patriote fightingwith every strogm: his pen the assimilationof his fellow co-Americans. In thissense Le Messager was a crusading news-paper.

For many years the Franco-Americanpress in Maine had no worst enemy than theIrish bishop of Portland. Like everywhereelse, the Irish bishop's goal was to make theChurch as acceptable as possible to theAmericans. The Church, therefore, had tobecome as American as possible. Thatmeant no national churches where alanguage other than English was spoken orpreached, and no bilingual parochial schools.

Bishop William O'Connell decided in1906 to divide the Waterville parish, St.Francoiii de - ,es. The new parish therebycreated included 1,150 Francos and 250Irish Catholics but the Bishop ordered thenew parish to be known as an Irish parish,and al Eng;:511 language parish.

Maine's two leading papers La Jus-tice and Le Messager fought the Bishop'splan and won a partial victory when theFranco-Americans were allowed to remainwith the older parish.

The same year, 1906, BishopO'Connell was sent to Boston where he laterbecame Cardinal. Maine's Franco-Americanpress started a campaign to have a Franco-American named then next bishop of Port-land. They favored Rev. Narcisse Char land

of Waterville or Msgr. F.X. Trudel of OldTown. The Francos lost. Rome elevatedLouis S. Walsh to the see of Portland. Maineat the time had 80,000 Franco-AmericanCatholics and 35,000 Irish Catholics.

One of Walsh's first acts Was tocirculate a petition in protest of the spoli-ation of churches in France. The petitionsent to be distributed among Franco-Americans was written, in English. LeMessage, wrote that the incident was onlya sample of things to come.

Franco-Americans throughout NewEngland and their newspapers got their wishin 1907 when Georges Guertin was namedbishop of Manchester, N.H. The Franco-American press was jubilant.

Bishop Walsh, however, gave theMaine newspapers less joy. In Waterville, heforced 1,200 Franco-Americcans to join thenew Irish parish created by his predecessor.The Francos refused to change pariih, vow-ing to forever remain faithful to theiroriginal parish and never to set foot inSacred Heart Church. Bishop Walsh alsoplaced restrictions on the use of French inparochial schools.

Gradually, Walsh named Irish pastorsto parishes founded by Franco-Americanswhere Francos were still in the majority.This was the case in Dexter, Caribou, Farm-ington, South Brewer, Orono, South Ber-wick and Sanford. Each time this occurred,Franco-American leaders protested in printwith article after article, editorial aftereditorial, but the bishop still had his way.

In 1907, Waterville hosted a conven-tion of Maine's Franco-Americans. A totalof 10,000 persons participated. The rhetoricwas inflammatory. Parallels were drawn be-tween the situation in Maine then and in

256

Quebec in 1837. Walsh wasn't intimidated.New incidents flared up in Lewiston, Bidde-ford, Waterville and in Skowhegan where heprevented the opening of a French parochialschool.

A peak was reached during theCorporation Sole controversy which startedin 1909 and dragged on for several years.Entire books could be written about thecontroversy. Briefly this is what happened:

Maine law made all Catholic Churchproperty in the state the personal propertyof the bishop of Portland. What that meantwas that the bishop could take some Franco-American funds or an institution built byFranco-Americans and turn it over to theIrish.

Franco-Americans formed «Le ComitePermanent de la Cause Nationale». Thepurpose was to have repealed the Corpora-tion Sole Law passed in the late 1880's.

Godfroy Dupre, a Biddeford lawyer,prepared a bill to be introduced in the MaineLegislature replacing the Corporation Solewith the parish corporation. The latterwould place church properties in the handsof the corporations formed by each parish.The bishop was obviously opposed.

Jean-Baptiste Couture was elected tothe legislature in 1909 to serve in the 1910session. He was to sponsor the bill changingthe Corporation Sole law. Both Le Mes-sager and La Justice backed the new billand both sponsored a statewide petitiondrive which produced 7,500 signatures infavor of the change.

Bishop Walsh himself testified whenthe bill reached the committee hearing stagealong with two Maine bankers representingthe Van Buren Banking Institution and the

251

Maine Savings Bank. The bankers testifiedthat the corporation sole set-up was a bettercredit risk.

The committee report was unanimous:ought not to pass. It was a defeat for theFranco-Americans of Maine.

The Francos retaliated by withholdingtheir financial support from their parishesand another attempt was promised for thenext session of the legislature.

Walsh responded by placing an inter-dict, a step in the process of excommunica-tion, against the six members of «Le ComitePermanent de la Cause Nationale». Includedwere Godfroy Dupre, Dr. Georges Precourt,Albert Be land, a merchant, Dr. Albert May-nard, Alfred Bonneau, editor of La Justice,all of Biddeford, and Jean-Baptiste Coutureof Lewiston

The news of the interdict was carriedby every French-language paper in theUnited States and Canada. Some editorsadvised the group to give in to the bishop;others counseled that the battle be con-tinued. Maine's papers, Le Messager andLa Justice were united in their stand againstBishop Walsh.

In Waterville, Dr. J.L. Fortier who hadsupported the Franco-American campaign tochange the Corporation Sole law, died andwas denied a church funeral by BishopWalsh. The only thing the bishop wouldpermit was a brief service at the home of thedeceased doctor. His widow was quoted asreplying to the bishop's action with the fol-lowing words: «Mon marl a fait sa vie sansl'eveque, it ira bien au del sans lui.»

Franco-Americans throughout NewEngland became united against Walsh afterthis incident. Societies from all over paid

252

for funeral masses for Dr. Fortier in otherdioceses and a New England-wide fund wasstarted for Le Comite Permanent de la CauseNationale.

4

At this time, the Franco-Americanpress throughout New England became anti-clerical especially against -e Oblates whopreached submission to .at bishop in re-treats in northern Maine and the MaristFathers who took over St. Jean-BaptisteParish in Brunswick at this time.

Rome finally spoke on the matter in1911 offering a compromise which was verysimilar to the corporation sole.

During the legislative session held in1913, another bill abolishing the corporationsole was filed in Augusta. In the meantimethe six members of the «Comite» were stillunder interdict.

A compromise came out nf the com-mittee offering a set-up still similar to thecorporation sole except that laymen wouldbe involved but they would be chosen bythe clergy and the bishop. This passed, butthe proposal was still a far cry from whatthe «Comite» had originally proposed.Today, the corporation sole still exists andthe Bishop of Portland still owns most ofthe church property in the state.

The six members of the oComite»which was disbanded because of a lack offunds, submitted to the bishop, one by oneand the interdict was lifted. Only two re-fused to submit, Atty. Dupre and Jean-Baptiste Couture.

The incident althoUgh long anddragged out, served to strengthen theFranco-American newspapers in Maine. Itgave their editors 'something to write aboutand it gave their readers something to talk

258

about. Subscriptions increased and withthem advertising revenue.

At least Le Messager became pros-perous during the corporation solecontroversy. This is when the newspaperwas moved to new quarters on LisbonStreet. La Justice may not have been asprosperous since its editor Alfred Bor aeauheld on to a variety of other jobs includingserving as agent for the Grand Trunk Rail-road in Biddeford.

Although it is not documented it canbe suspected that Le Courtier .du Mainepublished by the Doriinicans and the twoLa Revue papers in Augusta and Water-ville which were born during the peak of thecorporation sole controversy were foundedto give the other side of the coin, to combatthe influence of La Justice and Le Mes-sager.

It probably wouldn't be fair to claimthat the editors of the two leading papers,especially Jean-Baptiste Couture,' prolongedthe controversy in order to serve tfitkr ownfinancial gains. But it can be said that theconrovery and others which were to followcertainly did not hurt business.

As far as the newspaper situation inNew England was at this time, 1910, therewere seven dailies and 20 weeklies.

The start of World War I added a newdimension to Franco-American journalism.Anglo-Americans had acquired a new tastefor tolerance for ethnic differences but thiswas quickly replaced as war broke out with adistrust of everything foreign especiallynewspapers printed in any language otherthan English.

A News service was formed in Wash-ington with the help of federal dollars. It

carried the name «Foreign Language forAmerican Unity.» Although it served as anews service, historians have called theorganiriadn-litore of a propaganda machineand a method of surveillance of foreign-lan-guage newspapers. The federal governmentalso named racial advisors during this periodfor each ethnic group including Franco -

Americans:/7

Franco-American newspapers respond-ed by doubling their efforts to prove theirpatriotism. Names of Francos serving inthe armed forces were printed for everyoneto see. The press was out to prove that thedistrust on the part of the American govern-ment was unfounded.

For decades the immigrants had re-ferred to themselves as Franco-Americans,and not French-Canadians as their fathershad. Most of them were naturalizedcitizens and an increasing number werenatives of the American republic.

During the war and immediatelythereafter there developed a tendency tofear bilingual education and attacks on theFranco-American. parochial school systemwere common throughout New England.The Franco-American press devoted con-siderable column space for the defenseof bilingual schools.

This battle was a losing one asstate after state passed strict laws govern-ing the teaching of content matter inlanguages other than English. The press.however, is credited with having delayedsome of these measures and in some caseswith having softened the tone of the n vteaching laws. Only in recent years has thetrend towards bilingual education developedas a favorable one.

The war ended but Anglo hostility to-

253

wards the foreign language press did not. Or-ganizations like the Daughters of the Ameri-can Revolution and the League of Women Vot-ers adopted resolutions declaring that there isroom for only one language in the U.S., thelanguage of the Declaration of Independence.

The New York Times, today knownfor its liberal point of view, immediately af-ter the war, proposed that newspapers writ-ten in languages other than English not be al-lowed in U.S. Post (Offices. By refusing themthe right to use thitountry's mail service, theforeign-language papers would die, it was be-lieved. Luckily, the plan never materialized,and the Franco-AmericAn press survived.

In 1923, the Franco-American press inMaine found itself with a brand new issue, abrand new controversy, again involving theIrish bishop of Portland.

That year, Bishop Walsh created a newearish in Lewiston, its population composedof Franco-Americans, 80 per cent, and otherCatholics, mostly Irish, 20 per cent. BishopWalsh named an Irish pastor and the new pa-rish was to be known as Holy Cross.

The Franco parishioners wanted Sainte-Croix and had hoped for the eveptual found-ation of a bilingual parish school, hopes whichvanished with the name Holy Cross. Le Mes-sager agreed and another campaign was start-ed by Jean-Baptiste Couture.

It should be noted here that during thelong struggle to have the new parish knownas a French one, the residents of Lewistontried repeatedly to obtain support fromL'Union Saint-Jean-Baptiste d'Amerique, butwithout success. As expected, Le Messageradded the name of L'Union Saint-Jean-Bap-tiste to its list of enemies of the people, theFranco-American people, that is.

254

Louis-Philippe Gagne joined the staffof Le Messager at this time and beganwriting about the Sainte-Croix controversy.His name was to become with the years asclosely linked to Le Messager as was Jean-Baptiste Couture's.

The controversy raged on and offuntil 1925 when Bishop John Murray wasnamed to succeed Bishop Walsh who haddied the previous year. Bishop Murray askedfur some time to study the situation inLewiston and promised to provide someremedies. Le Messager went along andstarted publishing articles proposing a «waitand see» attitude.

In 1926, Bishop Murray named Rev.J. Alfred Rene, a Franco-American, aspastor of Holy Cross and the bishop recog-nized the parish as a French one, approvingthe name Sainte-Croix. This was a majorvictory for the Franco-American press.

In the meantime a new crisis haddeveloped in Rhode Island where theIrish bishop had started a drive for theconstruction of diocesan English-languagehigh schools. He taxed each parish andsince the Franco-American parishes weren'ttoo fond of the idea and their commitmentsto the drive were the lowest, the Bishopstarted taking money from the individualFranco-American parish treasuries for hishigh school drive.

Franco-Americans rebelled, some ofthem filing civil suits against the bishop fortaking the parish funds. The Diocese of

lch Island did not have a corporation soles, and each parish treasury was 'in-dependent of the bishop. The bishop res-ponded by excommunicating the leaders.

This controversy. much simplified inthe above paragraphs, was much more

bitter than any seen up until then in NewEngland. Not only did it place the Francosand the Irish bishop as antagonists but itcreated a severe split among the Franco-Americans.

A newspaper, La Sentinelle wasfounded in 1924 in order to do battle withthe -Irish bishop of Providence, Msgr. Hickey.La Tribune of Woonsocket sided with thebishop. Not only did a duel of words comeabout between the two newspapers as thecontroversy wore on but the two largestFranco-American mutual societies becameinvolved.

L'Union Saint Jean-Baptiste, head-quarted in Woorsocket, favored the bishopwhile l'Association Canado-Americaine, withheadquarters in Manchester, N.H., sided withLa Sentinelle. The Manchester-based societyand the sympathizers with. the views express-ed in the pages of La Sentinelle becameknown as «Sentinellistes».

What also became involved here werethe fundamental theories of each society.L'Union believed in the necessity of severingthe ties with Canada while l'Association Ca-nado-Americaine as its name implies favoredstrengthening those ties. Even after theRhode Island controversy was over whichwasn't really until the early 1930's, thediffering opinions remained and the debatewent on between the two societies.

As expected the Franco-Americanpress took an active (fart in the debate andone of the most influential advocates ot sev-ering those ties with Canada was GeorgesFilteau of Lewiston who wrote for Le. Mes-sager.

Filteau had worked for Le PetitJournal, the successor of the Dominican-inspired Le Courner du Maine. His tenden-

2G0

des were aimed more at submission to theecclesiastical authorities and one mustimagine his discomfort when his newspaperLe Messager attacked Bishop Walsh withsuch ardor.

During the Rhode Island controversyLe Messager remained remote and paid itvery little attention. But as the debate arosebetween the two schools of thought as ex-pressed by the mutual societies, Filteau'swritings on the subject became widely readand widely respected.

Filteau deplored the excesses of whathe called canadianism and fought againstocette mentalite d'exil». He wrote in LeMessager the following:

oEn pretant serment au drapeautoile, nous n'avons pas jure d'oublier

notre langue, nos traditions ou notre foi,car on ne nous le demandait pas. Nousavons cependant pris l'engagement solen-nel de renoncer a tout attachement au Ca-nada, une colonie de l'Angleterre, ou nousne voulions plus vivre.

oNos anciens patriotes de 1880 sontgrandement reaponsables de ce qui nousarrive aujourd'hui. Its ont plus ou mothsfausse notre mentalite et c'est grace a eux sinous sommes encore, par ie coeur, presqueaussi Canadiens qu'Americains. II est plustemps que jamais de changer notre mentaliteet nous n'y arriverons qu'en renoncant radi-calement au Canada, d'une maniere moraleautant que pratique.

oCela ne nous empechera pas de gar-der un respectueux souvenir de la patrie denos ancetres, et dialler de temps en tempsfaire one pieuse visite la-bas.»

These words were written in 1924,they were the sentiments of a young Franco-

255

American and they ushered in a new feelingwhich was quickly picked up by the youngergeneration of Francos.

It can be argued that when thesewords were written in a French-languagenewspaper in Lewiston, Maine, a newspaperwhich did not shy away from fighting forthe rights of Franco-Americans, the Franco-American press had reached its maturity, ithad declared its independence from theFrench-Canadian press which up until thenoffered no distinguishing differences.

This maturity was late in arrivingconsidering that the Patriote Canadien ofLudger Duvernay first appeared in 1839.The Franco-American press in 1924, whenFilteau wrote his declaration of indepen-dence, had only another thirty or so moreyears to go before it would start feeling thesymptoms of an early death. Maybe thedeclaration of independence pronounced byFilteau and others precipitated the pre-mature death.

In any event, Filteau attracted muchattention to himself and a few years later,in 1930, when the officers of l'Union SaintJean-Baptiste started looking for a new vice-president, Filteau's 'name was placed innomination and he received the post.Filteau worked under Elie Vezina who formany years ruled over l'Union as a dictator.Under Filteau, l'Union was modernized con-siderably.

In 1931, Wilfred Beaulieu founded anewspaper in Worcester and named it LeTravailleur after the paper launched 57years before that by Ferdinand Gagnon.Beaulieu's paper was a militant one. Havingbeen involved personally in the Rhode Is-land controversy, Beaulieu promised to fightthe first against assimilation. Gradually itbecame involved with French issues and

261

256

causes, leaving aside Franco-American mat-ters.

The paper still exists today as a bi-monthly and Beaulieu writes a very intel-lectual commentary which is aimed more atan international readership than at a Franco-American one. It is the only Franco-Ameri-can newspaper in existence today.

An incident in 1932 gave Le Mes-sager an opportunity to regain some of itsmilitant crusading aspects of an earlier age.During the state election that year theDemocrats throughout Maine won heavily.The Republicans demanded an investigationinto voting irregularities they alleged hadtaken place in Aroostook County amongthe Franco-Americans of the St. JohnRiver Valley.

Le Messager protested and promisedin print: «Votants de langue francaise del'Aroostook, vous serez venges un jour oul'autre de l'insulte que les republicains vien-nent de vous fake.»

The incident was used by the Demo-crats throughout New England and that yearin the general election, it was clearly aDemocratic victory and never . before hadFranco-Americans elected so many of theirown to various governmental posts in all ofthe New England states.

The depression brought hard times tomost Franco-American areas and among thefirst to suffer were the Franco newspapers.Many of them closed and the remainder sawthemselves become weeklies and bimonth-lies in order to survive.

The exception was Le Messagerwhich became a daily in 1934 with theFrenchman Henri diVitry as editor-in-chiefand Louis-Philippe Gagne as news director.

It can be said that during this time and dur-ing the years W. follow until the early 1950'sLe Messager was the strongest Franco news-paper, both financially and in the measure ofits influence.

The paper 'as still owned by Jean-Baptiste Couture who remained greatly in-volved with its publication until his deathin 1943 at the. age of sennty-six. In the1930's, Le Messager employed over twentypersons full-time and many part-time per-sons. Circulation reached over 7,000.

Couture was a man with %ision andfounded central Maine's first radio station,WCOU in Lewiston. Later his son, Faust,founded WFAU in Augusta, WLOB in Port-land, and WGUY in Bangor.

After the elder Couture's death, FaustCouture and his brother, Valdore, took overthe direction of the paper. In fact, the paperactually chrmged hands in 1941 when Faustbought it from his father, two years beforethe death of the elder Couture.

During World War H, Couture sawmilitary service abroad and Valdore tookover. It appears Valdore was not a verygood businessman and the paper started los-ing money during the mid-1940's.

During the Second World War, anoth-er wave of ultra-patriotism swept the landand from Washington there came an organi-zation known as the Common Council forAmerican Unity. This was a sort of wireservice aimed at providing news of the warto foreign-language newspapers includingFranco-American papers.

Everywhere in Franco-American life,efforts are made once again to prove one'spatriotism. Georges Filteau, formerly withLe Messager and now secretary general of

I'Union Saint Jean-Baptiste was the first topreach patriotism.

During the war, the assimilation ofFranco-Americans reached epidemic propor-tions and the first to suffer from the loss ofa working knowledge of the French languagewere the newspapers. Although many stillspoke French, the number of persons ableto read French decreased with every yearand every obituary.

In 1942, Rhode Island which hadboasted of having dozens of Franco news-papers had none. There were only a handfulleft in all of New England. In 1943,L'Etoile of Lowell, one of the oldest Francopapers and one of the most influential, ceasedas a daily and started appearing only threetimes a week.

L'Avenir National of Manchester,started appearing five days a week. Lint-partial of Nashua, N.H. became a bi-weekly.The only dailies were Le Messager of Lewis-ton and L'Independant of Fall River. InMaine, La Justice of Biddeford was a weeklyand destined to die in 1949.

In 1950, the Couture brothers soldLe Messager to a corporation formed forthe purpose of continuing the publication.The Couture brothers devoted their energiesto the system of radio stations, known as theLobster Network.

The corporation was headed by Atty.Edouard Beauchamp and Guy Ladouceur.Ladouceur was invol :EA in the writing of thepaper as well as in it pl ef4 iction and hired aMontreal newspaperman, Jacques Fortin, aseditor-in-chief. Fortin remained only a shorttime and returned to Canada.

The new corporation went at it in abig way. They subscribed to the United

257

Press (later to become the UPI) which theytranslated and to a French-language wireservice out of Quebec for a brief period oftime.

In 1953, the corporation launched anEnglish-language Sunday paper, called theAndroscoggin News which lasted only elevenmonths. That was long enough however tocause a financial drain which was to start thedownfall of the paper.

In 1954, Beauchamp and Ladouceurwere bought out and Romeo Boisvert be-came general manager. Ladouceur went towork for the Portland Guy-Gannett news-papers and for a while wrote a French-lan-guage column ther

Editor-in-chi was Louis-PhilippeGagne who became the paper's soul in muchthe same way Jean-Baptiste Couture used tobe associated with it. Gagne wrote a columncalled «L'Oeil» and had a radio news com-mentary program on WCOU. He was one ofthe most astute political -commentators ofthe day and displayed a great wit.

Both Boisvert and Gagne were in-volved in politics during this period. Gagnewas mayor of Lewiston and AndroscogginCounty Commissioner while Boisvert servedas mayor and in the Maine Senate from 1960to 1970.

The paper became a weekly in 1957as circulation dropped and the financialmistakes of the past started bearing fruit.Some of those mistakes included the ill-fatedSunday paper started in 1953 and theborrowing of large sums in 1954 to buy outthe shares owned by Beauchamp and Ladou-ceur.

The only state-wide organization ofFranco-Americans, <La Ligue des Societes

263

25 ti

Franco-Americaines» founded in Lewiston inthe early 1920's, became involved in the lastyears of Le Messager. It was instrumental inraising considerable amounts of capital amongFrancos throughout Maine to help Le Mes.sager survive, but the amounts were neverenough and many Francos lost a considerablesum in the venture.

In 1966, Boisvert and the corporatiolsold the paper to Albert Rowbotham of theCentral Maine Press who published it for a fewmonths. Roger Saucier was editor and JeanGastonguay wrote copy which consisted most-ly of translations. The last issue of Le Messagerappeared in early 1967.

In the last years of Le Messager, theMessager Publishing Co.,. a subsidiary, wasdoing very well. It printed eight other news-papers, including a French language paper forLawrence, Mass., another for Berlin, N.H., andLa Floride Franraise as well as some Englishpapers such as Maine Labor News. Row-botham kept on printing some of these whileothers sought out new printing plants.

There were other Maine Franco-American papers which made brief ap-pearances. Replacing La Justice in Bidde-ford when it died was a publication printedby Eugene Hamann who had been with LeMessager earlier. The name of his paper is notknown to this author. Sanford also had apaper called La Justice in the 1940's andWaterville had a French language paper in the1950's for a short time. New England wide.there were twenty papers in 1948. In 1963.the last meeting of «L'Alliance des JournauxFranco-Americains» was held. It had sevenmember newspapers and most were about todie.

After Le Messager closed in 1967,there was only one Franco paper, Le Tra-vailleur published by Wilfred Beaulieu in

Worcester. The paper has been concernedwith news of France more than of NewEngland or Quebec for the past several yearsand calling it a Franco-American newspaperis stretching reality a bit.

And then, there was Observations,a bi-monthly bilingual newspaper publishedin Lewiston from June to December of 1972.The paper was owned by Caxton PublishingInc. which included among its directors DonaldDugas of Lewiston, former director of theLewiston Bilingual Program in the city's publicschool system. Editing the French part ofObservations was Paul M. Pare who also wrotefor the Lewiston 'Evening Journal. The edi-tor of the English section was Sandra ShawWilhelm.

This paper did not owe its start to anyfervor on thr part of Franco-Americans. Agroup of liberal Anglos were interested in start-ing an alternative newspaper in the Lewiston-Auburn area and they felt that in order to betruly an alternative voice in the community,that voice had to be bilingual.

The French section of the paper wasprobably more militant than any other Franco-American newspaper had ever been. Itcriticized a number of institutions for notresponding to the needs of Francos or fordenying the rights of Franco-Americans.

The paper attempted to promotewhat could be called Franco culture, printingoriginal works, recipes, local history, andarticles in Franco-American French as opposedto standard French.

By its very nature, Observations wasdoomed to die from the start. The Englishpart was very liberal, even radical, while theFrench part maintained a certain moderationthrough its militancy. The traditional and con-servative F ranco was reading an English section

264

which offended him while the liberal Anglowas receiving a newspaper half of which wasprinted in a language he could not read.

The paper was aimed at a youngreadership and this created problems sincethe great majority of its Franco readers A erenot young. The younger generation ofFrancos, although vitally interested in thingsFranco, has lost for the most part the abilityto read and write in French, while retaining anability to understand and speak the language.

Observations was anachronistic inthat it attempted to revive a militancy amonga people who nearly unanimously believe thatthe period of discrimination and fanaticismon the part of Anglo-Americans is over.

The experiment which was Observa-tions proved that among Francos in Mainethere is a great thirst for a medium of com-munication, for something which is French.That medium may not necessarily be journal-ism.

Faust Couture recently stated in aconversation that he is convinced that theforeign-language newspaper in this countryis dead. He added that if he were going to doanything French in the communicationsmedia today, he would do it on television.

Television does not require the owner-ship of the medium like a newspaper does;television has its audience already carved out:television is acquiring a social conscience; andair-time is currently available especially oneducational television.

Getting back to the Franco-Americanpress, however. it might be good to examinesome of the causes of the decline in order toavoid repeating them.

Assimilation is the prime cause of this

259

decline and the assimilation process wasspeeded up in the last two decades by tele-vision itself. With assimilation comes the lossof proficiency in French and with that thelack of interest in the foreign-language com-munications media. Of course, this is avicious circle; without a foreign-languagemedia, assimilation proceeds at a faster rateof speed and with assimilation disappears theneed for a foreign-language media.

Throughout its history Franco-Ameri-can journalism was bogged down in its elitistpreoccupations. The journalists themselvesand the intellectuals they were surrounded bybelonged to a cultural elite and the news-papers reflected this.

French-Canadians are very classconscious and this trait was carried across theborder into the United States during the im-migration. Newspapers perpetuated this classconsciousness.

Article after article dealt with the hap-penings and events affecting a small segmentof the Franco population. There was hardlyany popular news and the great working classmasses were neglected.

Whether or not doctor so-and-so wasdecorated by the French government, wheth-er or not this society and that society can getalong and whether or not a certain parish hada French name or an English name, it didn'tmatt-t much to the vast majority of Francoswho were 1 -wer class workin:1, people pre -o. with simply making a living.

The in-fighting between newspapers,betwecil societies, between the Franco-Ameri-can leaders and the Irish clergy. pi cbablybored others who were turned off by theconstant repetition of controversy after con-troversy.

265

260

Another factor which precipitated thedecline was the myopic view of manypublishers, editors, and writers who believedthat simply because their product was inFrench it was good and therefore deservedthe support of the Franco-American popula-tion.

Most Franco publications were ofgood quality but it was easy for Franco news-paper people to slip into a false sense ofsecurity simply because their writings were inFrench and therefore, it was felt, deservedthe support of the Franco-American popula-tion.

Nevertheless, the Franco-Americanpress has had no parallels among the manyethnic groups who chose the United Statesas their new home.

And if this brief work on the Franco-American press can be written today in 1973and read with interest in 1973 some 134 yearsafter Le Parriote Canadien was first printedin Burlington, Vt., it is largely due to genera-tions of newspaper people who preached withevery stroke of the pen that a people shouldnot have to deny part of itself in order tobe accepted into the mainstream of Americanlife.

5)

America has promiseil libt.ty to itsimmigrants. If it has delivered it to theFranco-Americans. it is thanks to their lesswhich at times did not fear advocacy andmilitancy.

Reprinted by permission of the author.

266

BILINGUAL LIVING

by

Normand C. Dube

Mr. and Mrs. Leblanc (a fictitiousfamily) live in a New England communitywhose population is 40% Franco-American.They have three children.

At home, the parents often speakFrench amongst themselves. One can soonpredict the topics of conversation: relatives,a trip, the weather, an anniversary, familyactivities or a homespun story. One can alsopredict the topics of conversation in English:work; purchases, state or national news or achat with a stranger.

The three children, Marc, Suzanneand Colette speak French also. Yet, today,their conversations are often in English.Most of their linguistic experiences arein English: at school, gt the theater, in stores,and in sports.

There are, however, situations whenFrench is the language used for communica-tion. One can soon surmise habits tvheiselecting French or English in a conversation.

The Leblanc family is 5ilingual. Bi-lingualism is an important facet of the familyculture in this communic Along with thelanguage factor, the culture is also made ofother considerations, su-h as geography,economics and :7,3cial living.

1. People's, lives are influenced bytwo countries: the (Inked States and Canad:

2. Traditionally, rAfople were depend-ent, to a large extent, on the paper industry.lumbering, the potaio crop. shoe factories,and small beaesses, for their livelihood.

3. People live in communities wherereligious bonds (catholicism) are strong andwhere civic (Lions, Rotary, Jaycees, AmericanLegion) and fraternal organizations (K.C.,Daughters of Isabella, Club Richelieu) providemuch of the Franco-American social experi-ences.

The Leblanc famil y is the prototypeof this culture - that is, a way of life which isthe result of the daily influences described.

A BILINGUAL EFFORT

Since approximately 1970, thefamilies in this New England communityhave seen some changes occuring in theirelementary schools. Thes_ changes stem fromniitiam:NI and state efforts to adjust educationto ..e. cnild'l environmental experiences.

But they are also the result of thewillingness and interest of parents like the Le-blancs, school administrators and teachers inwanting for their children an education basedup r. in their K language preferences» and«cultural perceptions*: an Americanismwhich includes their ethnic identity.

One thought should be cleared at thispoint. The curriculum which existed six yearsago is still being used. It ha:. a good founda-tion. It has been modified, or supplemented,only in areas where language and culturalneeds contribute to the educational benefitof the child.

Thus, where parents encouraged theirchild's learning, they still do. However,through meetings between parents and

261

267

262

teachers, the assistance given the child is morespecific: the purchase of magazines, the crea-tion of cultural games or the participation ofparents and students in planned trips outsideof the immediate area.

Where the child learned colors andnumbers, he still does. However, teachersnow make conscious efforts to select ex-amples familiar to student - bricks, a church,potatoes, a deer - rather :Nan beginning withunfamiliar objects.

Where the child was exposed to valua-ble educational experiences, such as readingabout George Washington, he still is. How-ever, other experiences are selected whosevalues are geared to support the motivationof the child to learn and his pride in his ownsocial behavior: reading about Ti-Jean ora journalist such as Ferdinand Gagnon.

A BILINGUAL PROGRAM

The bilingual program, begun in 1970in the Leblanc community depends upon theeffort of the whole population. At eachlevel (parents, adminstrators, teachers andstudents) the different groups have had togive of their time and knowledge as definedby their role in the project.

The program, approved by clear-sighted administrators, had to be approved bythe parents. The latter understood the im-plications of such an approval. They organ-ized into an Advisory Council whose membersrepresent the school system in the project.

The role of the parents is to respondto the purpose of the program, which is aneducation to help the students integrate intotheir American environment and still sharein the legacy of their French heritage.

participates in the bilingual project bywriting some of the bulletins, by giving a help-ing hand at some of the conferences and bygathering information for some of the re-

search in the project.

The administrators, as mentionedbefore, were the first to support the program.They made the initial request to Washington;they selected a staff whose competence sup-ported the needs of the project; and, theyencouraged the participation of parents andteachers.

The administrators (3), 6 Board ofEducation members from the area, and onerepresentative from a nearby college have thefinancial responsibility of the project. Thcycan also approve or disapprove the programofferings as suggested by the staff.

The students contribute to the projectby expressing their physical, intellectual andemotional needs. These needs are reflected intheir behavior. The adult observer can evaluate their motivations, their interests and theirsocial preferences through such activities assinging, speaking, dancing, counting or read-ing.

From the very beginning of theproject, the teachers have demonstrated them-selves to be devoted to leir work. Theirinfluence has been unique to the success ofthe program. Much of their time has beenspent in workshops, courses offered and thedevelopment of materials made necessarybecause of the nature of the project. As il-lustrated on many occasions, the enthusiasmand the student-interest of the teachers seemto be limitless.

WORKSHOPS

The teachers, in order to be knowl-The Advisory Council, to this end, edgeable of current innovative trends or to

2 6

focus on general topics of particular impor-tance, took part in regional conferences. Hereare a few examples of workshop topics madeavailable to them:

A. Learning CentersB. Modern MathC. Behavioial ObjectivesD. Social StudiesE. BilingualismF. The Teaching of EnglishG. Ti.e organization of a program in

French

All of the workshops were part of theteachers' in-service training. The choices oftopics for workshops were initiated by them.

COURSES

For six years now, the teachers havehad an ongoing program of self-improvement.The desire to better understand their com-mitments to their students resulted in courseofferings geared to their own professionaldevelopment, to an understanding of some ofthe learning processes and to the structuringof bilingual curriculum in their schools.

Here are a few examples of the cours-es intended to meet these needs:

A. Specialized Education for theBilingual Child

B. Acadian HistoryC. Learning Process in EducationD. French CompositionE. Contemporary Trends in American

EducationF. Classroom Management in a Bi-

lingual ClassroomG. Learning to read FrenchH. Integrating Content in the Bi-

lingual Curriculum1. Structuring Contemporary French

Grammar in the Bilingual Class

263

The courses have given the teachersthe necessary impetus to support theirdecision to introduce bilingual education intheir classroom. They have also providedthem with the stimulus to evaluate their cur-riculum, the resources available for instruc-tion and the countless options of educationalprocess from which to choose.

MATERIALS

The language orientation of the bi-lingual project required the definition of neweducational objectives and the creation ofnew terms, games and activities to meet theseobjectives.

It was in this framework that theteachers committed themselves to the educa-tional behavioral objectives found in the pres-ent teachers' guide. The objectives as in thesample below are those which have been in-tegrated into the curriculum.

264 LE PROGRAMME EN FRAKAIS (K-5)

Les Mathematiques

Nivea u Les objectifs de comportement: maternelle - 5e annie

0 1 3 4 5,

X Ordonner des objets de 1 a 10.

X Ordonner des objets de 1 a 50.

X Decrire les symboles geometriques (cercle, carre, triangle).

X Ordonner des objets de 1 a 100..

X

.

Decrire un objet d'apres sa valeur monetaire,temporelle, spatiale, lineaire ou climaticue.

X

Make une distance ou un poids d'apres le systememetrique (metre ou kilometre, gramme ou kilogramme).

XDecrire une pantie d'un tout en fraction (une moitie, un quartou un tiers).

X Comparer deux phenomenes semblables en graphique.

X,

Les dimensions spatiales

Les Arts

X X Decrire un dessin.

X X X X Fabriquer un objet d'artisanat.

Demontrer une coordination physique.1

Decrire un objet d'apres sa couleur.

Creer une peinture originale.

S'exprimer par la peinture d'illustration.

Nommer les fournitures artistiques,

Appliquer les concepts artistiques: dimension, propOrtion,perspective.

X Identifier des objets d'art de la region. .

X X Illustrer tiois recits u compositions.

X X Creer la mise en scene pour 3 contes.

Classifier des objets dans une des categories suivantes:peinture, sculpture, modelage et architecture.

270

La MusiqueNiveau

265

Les objectifs de comportement: maternelle - Se armee

4 5

X X X X X X Chanter 7 ou 3 .chansonsX . Distinguer les notes basses hautes.

Battre la mesure A 2 et A 4 temps

X X Demontrer le rythme de la musique.

X X Interpreter la musique par le mime.

X Identifier une marche, une dance, une berceuse.

X Werke une marche, une dance, une berceuse.

X Nommer des instruments de musique.

X Identifier les sons des instruments A cordes._ ,

X Identifier les sons des instruments A vent.

Identifier une fanfare, un orchestre «pop» et une symphonie.

Les Sciences Sociales

Raconter une histoire culturelle.

X X Wake la fonction d'un objet.

X Nommer les emotions.

X X Decrire les activites dans une situation. -..

X

.X Raconter l'histoire de l'Acadie.

X Decrire la geographie du Maine.

Werke les mOyens de communication.

X Werke un evenement culturel. _._.._

XResumer la lecture d'une biographie.

XDecrire des situations historiques, geographiques et sociologiques.

X Decrire la fonction scientifique de phenomenea etudies.

X

X

Comparer les ressemblances et les differences entre deuxsituations culterelles.

............_

Decrire un paysage humain et naturel.

X Associer un climat avec une region geographique.

X Distinguer une region urbaine d'ur,e region rurale.

X Associer des situations economiques avec une region.

X Associer des situations politiques avec une region......._

XAssocier des situations sociales et culturelles avec une region.

271

266Les Skills

Niveau Les objectifs de comportement: maternelle - 5e armee

0..

1 2 3 4 5 -_

X Demontrer les commandements donnes oralement.

X Discerner les sons /a/e/i/o/u/

X Discerner les sons /4/e/i/cllle/e(p /

.

Discerner les sons /z/h/u/t/r/i //d/g/s/on/ou/ch/

X

.

Discerner les sons la/au/di/t.u/s//ai/oi/eu/k/

X Nommer des objets et des lieux d'apres des illustrations.

X X Employer des mots dans une phrase orale.

X Mink les mots etudies.

..._

Lire les mcts etudies.

X Associer une phrase avec une illustration.

X

.Lire les phrases a haute voix.

Indiquer la comprehension d'une lecture.

Interpreter l'intonation d'un texte.

X

.Copier les mots etudies.

X Copier des mots dans une phrase.

Ecrire des mots dans une dictee.

eX X

.

Faire les accords grammaticaux etudies.

L, X Ecrire une composition a 3 paragraphes.

The guide also includes suggested materials and activities to meet object-

ives. Many texts for both English and French were written. Other texts andaudio-visual aids were purchased in the content of objectives to be taught.Below is a sample objective with suggested activities to meet that objective.

272

EXCERPT FROM THE FRENCH CURRICULUM GUIDE

L'Objectif de comportement enMathematique d la cinquiEme armee

Objectif Comparaison en graphique

A la fin de l'annee, l'eleve pourracomparer un paysage naturel ou humainavec un autre qui a rapport a l'etude del'Amerique du Nord de telle sorte qu'etantdonne les statistiques d'un phenomene (eco-nomique ou social), it pourra le compareravec un autre phenomene semblable en gra-phique. (Trois cas differents).

Activites suggerees

Activite no. 1:

Le professeur ecrit au tableau ou surun transparent un certain nombre de statis-tiques comme les suivantes:

267

Behavioral Objective in Mathematics for thefifth year

Objective: Graphic comparison

At the end of the year the student willbe able to compare two sets of statisticswhich relate to a study of North America sothat given statistics of a phenomenon(economic or social), he will be able tocompare it with another similar phenomenonusing graphs. (Three different cases).

Suggested Activities

Activity no. 1:

The teacher writes on the board oron a transparency a certain number of statitics like the following:

LA NOUVELLE-ANGLETERRE (NEW ENGLAND)

Notnikde l'Etat(Name of State)

La Population(Population)

Connecticut 2,875,000Maine 989,000Massachusetts 5,383,000New Hampshire 681,000Rhode Island 898,000Vermont 405,000

Source: Nouveau Petit

L'eleve dolt observer que le tableau:

a) decrit un phenomene, c'est-A-dire, lapopulation;

b) co are la population d'un etat aveccelle cies au tres;

c) definit les Mats comme etant ceux de laNouvelle- Angleterre;

Larousse, 1968.

The student must be able to observe that thetable:a) describes a phenomenon, i.e., population;

b) compares the population of one state withthat of the others;

c) defines the states as those of New England;

273

268

d) donne la source des renseignements. d) gives the source of the information.

D'apres ce modele, relive doit imiter le for-mat du tableau. II choisit une region geo-graphique pour son enquete comme:

Usin' this model, the student must imitatethe format of the table. He chooses a geo-graphic region for his study, such as:

a) les provinces du Canada; a) the provinces of Canada;

b) les six plus grandes villes de l'Ameriquedu Nord:

c) les six plus grandes villes dans l'e tat duMaine.

b) the six largest cities of North America;

c) the six largest cities in the state of Maine.

Activite no. 2: Activity no. 2:

L'eleve recoit une feuille sur laquelleest polycopie un graphique semblable ausuivant:

The student receives a sheet with acopy of a graph similar to the one following:

ETATS (STATES) 0 1/2 1 1/2 9 1/2 3 1/2 4 1/2 5

Connecticut

Maine

Massachusetts

New Hampshire

Rhode Island

Vermont

r-1

1/2 6

27

269

Those who have contributed to the materials undertook an enurrnous task; today, some 1,300students are being influenced by their work. More than 800 families now support the bilingualprogram because of their professional efforts.

The teachers also worked out a schedule for the programs (K-5) in English and in Frenchto include art, math, language skills, social studies. The following outlines the schedule for theprogram in French.

SUGGESTED SCHEDULE FOR THE .WEEK

Monday

8 :30 -9 :00

9 . 00 -9 :30

9 : 30 -

9 : 50

9 :5010 : 30

1.i : 30 -11 : 15

Tuesday Wednesday Thursday

PROGRAM IN ENGT "H

Mathin French

rir isic Math'n French in French

Friday

Recess

PROGRAM IN ENGLISH

LanguageSkills inFrench

Art

in French

LanguageOEMs inFrench

Lunch

a-

12 : 45 -

1 :15

1 :151 : 30

1 : 30 -1 : 50

1 : 50 -2 : 45

SocialStudies inFrench

Socia: SocialStudies Studies

in French I in irench

WINNII. -.-

Art

in FrenchLanguageSkills inFrench

SocialStudies

in French

PROGRAM IN ENGLISH

SocialStudies

in French

.dlamma

Recess

PROGRAM 1N Ei TG SH

275

270

A BILINGUAL PRODUCT

Thus, since 1970, families like that ofthe Leblanc, benefit from a program basedupon their aspirations and way of life that is a

bilingual and bicultural education.

impactcertain

It is too early to measure) the fullof the program. There are, however.indications of changes occurring.

Before the bilingual program wasbegun. test results indicated that some 40%of the stt. ents achieved lower than nationalnorms in reading on standardized tests. Scorekeeping in English and math was begun for allproject students in 1970.

Reading and math scores have beenclosely followed and analyzed to assure thatthose students involved in the bilingyalprogram have scores comparable to those ofstudents elsewhere in the nation. The Metro'70 Achievement Test has' been used tomeasure any progress or regress;on. The testis administered twice during the year, inSeptember and in May.

*The Primer level of the MetropolitanAchievement Test was administered to all

kindergarten students in the project to assesstheir readiness skills. Ninety-seven percent ofthe students tested received average, aboveaverage and superior scores in reading readi-ness and 96% of these students receivedaverage, above average, and superior scores in

math.

Grade one students were alsa giventhe Metro '70 Primary I level test. The major-ity of students ( 82(7, ) demonstrated averageor above average results in reading. Eighty-one percent of the students maintained anaverage or acove average score in math.

Ninety percent of the second grade

276

students achieved at the average and aboveaverage level in reading., 91% scored averageand above average in math.

The third grade students maintainedsimilar achievement level with 78% and 90%scoring average or above average in readingand math respectively.

In reading, 73% of the fourth gradestudents rated at the average and aboveaverage level. Seventy percent of the samestudents rated at the average and aboveaverage level in math achievement.

* * *

* In French, the Common ConceptsTest has I yen used to measure studentachievement in the First Grade only. Theaverage has always been above the Nationalnorm in the pre and post tests.

* * *

As compared to 1970, the programhas Made the following differences:

A. No child has had less instruction inthe amount of content studied under the bi-lingual program.

B. All of the students are learningmore French

C. Individual attention given tostudents has increased.

D. Some of the weaknesses in the cur-:icuium have been identified and studied.

E. Teacher preparation, both personalaad professional, has accelerated.

F. Active participation of parents inschoi activities has been more defined and

has increased.

G. Evaluation procedures are moreflexible, more precise and better understoodthrough the use of behavioral objectives.

H. The curriculum, through thematerials written, reflects the linguisticbehavior of the population concerned.

I. The content taught also includessituations and experiences reflecting Franco-American culture.

EPILOGUE

This outline of the bilingual programin the Leblanc Community might leave theimpression that the task is an easy one.

Yet, the work is never done!

The content and the process of educa-tional activities have to be constantly evalu-ated. Both must reflect a regional culture yetextend to that iiversa:-, , which is beyondparochialism.

Public and professional interests haveto .be coordinated. But also, respect forminority identity and majority perceptionsmust be maintained in the balance of freedomof expression.

Finally, in a 'd out of the classroom,everyone must share in expressions of thoughtand in a way of life which constantly requirea spirit of commitment.

The challenge of such an undertakingis for people like the Leblancs who want toknow themselves and want nothing betterthan to participate fully in their American

iy of life:4

* * *

277

271

1

272Results of Metropolitan Achievement Tests Total Reading, Total Mathematics,

Language, and Spelling Scores During Four Years of Project Operation

Grade Score SS Stanine GE SS Stanine GE SS Stanine GE SS Stanine GE

K Total Reading 27 6 - 29 7 - 28 7 -

Total Math 26 6 - 27 6 - 30 7 -

1 Total Reading 38 5 1.8 39 5 1.8 42 6 2.0 40 5 1.9

Total Math 42 5 1.8 41 5 1.8 43 5 1.9

2 Total Reading 52 5 2.6 54 5 2.8 57 6 3.1

Total Math 55 4 2.5 61 6 3.0 65 7 3.3

3 Total Reading 57 4 3.1 61 5 3.3

Tptal Math 71 5 3.8 75 6 4.2

Language 69 5 :.'.9 73 5 4.5

Spelling 63 5 3.5 67 6 4.1

4 Total Reading 68 5 4.3

Toti.1 Math 80 5 4.7

Language 77 5 5.0

Spelling 73 5 4.80

Results of Common Concepts Foreign Language TestDuring Four Project Years

YEAR PRE POST DIFFERENCE

197 -197 42 49 7

197 -197 52 61 9

197 -197 53 60 7

197 -197 50 59 9

Each year, some 150 first grade students in the project were administered the Common Concepts Foreigo

Language Test. The test is usually used nationally at the Junior-Senior high Level. The test consists of 80

questions each to be answered from four pictorial responses. On both the pre and post tests. the project students

have achieved above National norms.

278

CAJUN FRENCH AND FRENCH CREOLE:THEIR SPEAKERS AND THE QUESTIONS OF IDENTITIES 1

by

Dorice Tentchotf

The curious tourist's request «showme a Cajun» can present the Louisianianwith a perplexing problem. Who indeed isa CAjun and how can he be identified? Thetraveller might first be given a comfortablechair and a good history book. As he reads,he will learn about a group of French peo-ple who settled in Acadia in the early 1600's.He might learn something of their life there.He will certainly find ample descriptions oftheir persecution by the English and oftheir expulsion from this New World colo-ny. The period of Le Grand Derangementwill be recounted. He will read how an un-certain number of refugees found theirwayto Louisiana via circuitous routes. Ques-tions about their ancestral existence inFrance before any of these events and ab-out their reasons for migrating to Acadiawill probably remain unsatisfied. In anycase, he will be more curious about howmany there are today in Louisiana andwhy they are called Cajuns.

The tourist is now more eager thanever to set out and n.eet the people Withhis new fund of information feelsconfident about his abilities identifythem. They are French speakers; theyare Catholic and their food habits will befamiliarly French. He makes the acquain-tance of a Taylor, a Sche'naider, aCastille, a de la Houssaye, a Ougas and aBroussard.

We will assu.ne that he is a goodstudent and learned from the historybook that only the Dugas and the

273

Broussards, among these, are Cajuns, i.e.descendants of people who once lived inAcadia. The others, he will discover, areEnglish, German, Spanish, and French inorigin. We will further assume that thevisitor is a French speaker himself. Hefinds that with some effort he can under-stand the speech of some of his new ac-quaintances. Other speakers are almosttotally incomprehensible to him. Theyare not speaking French though he recog-nizes a word here and there. He findsthat all are indf -.i Catholic and that theirdomestic cuit,i.le is superb but is notFrench. Instead he is offered file gumboand rice. He has not only never tastedit before, but the words file and gumboare not part of his French vocabulary.

Perplexed, but intrigued andpersistent, he repeats his question: «Whois a Cajun?» How is it to be amwered? Wesuggest that delving into historical originsand observing traditional behavior are tiltthe only methods available to us forproceeding with our task: hie:It:dyingmembers of an ethnic group.

There is another way of approach-ing this matter, a way which may be moreuseful than others. It is a simple anddirect one and it does more justice tosociocultural reality. The direct criterionof ethnic group membership is ascriptionand self-ascription (Barth 1969:13).Applied to our case, the suggestion meansthat Cajuns are those who so identifythemselves and who are accepted as such

279

274

by others. Acceptance of this criterionwill be helpful in accounting for a greatdeal of behavior as it is actually found inAcadiaiia.

But what does it mean to be aCajun? Most outsiders tend to perceiveCajuns as, a monolithic group, having inmind some stereotype image. Nativesthemselves have a very different modelof their own community. It is composedof a complex of groups and individuals,of crisscrossing and at times shiftingidentities. These distinctions are basedon their knowledge of geographical,social, racial, speech and generationaldifferences as well as on differences" inhistorical origin. From a native pointof view the term «Cajun* has varyingreferential and semantic content depend-ing on who uses it and the context of itsuse.,

Before describing the native Louisi-anian's use of this term, it is useful tobegin by defining a few terms. The«French language* will here refer to allspeech varieties whose basic grammaticalresources derive from continental France.A «dialect» is one variety of a languagespoken in a given geographical area.There are many dialects of French spokenin widely scattered parts of the world.Cajun French is one of them. It is not initself uniform but varies from parish toparish and from town to town withinLouisiana. In what follows, one varietyof Cajun French Ls refelizd to.2

The language known to linguists as«French Creole* has very differentorigins. It developed during the 17thcentury in the course of contaLi betweenFrench-speaking Europeans and Africans,both on the west coast of Africa and inthe French colonies in the New World. It

became th.. native language of manyAfricans on both sides of the Atlantic aswell as on islands in the Indiln Ocean.

French Creole and all of the Creolelanguage.; that emerged during this periodof expanding Western European com-merce have certain important character-istics in common. A largely Europeanvocabulary (either Portuguese, Dutch,French or English) is used with phono-logical and grammatical structures ofmany African languages (Dalby 1971).

In some communities in ticadi-ana both the Cajun French and theFrench Creole are spoken. Though thedistinction between them is well rec-ognized and of great importance social-ly, in certain contexts the two are regard-

ed as closely related.3 For this reason,the term «French» is Sometimes inclusive

of both.

The widest, most generalizingmeaning of the label «Cajun» is «a nativewho is a French speaker.* In this case«French» stands for both the Cajun andthe Creole languages. In contrast to«Cajun* are the labels «American» or«Englishman» terms often used atsemantically identical and therefore inter-changeable. This is reasonable given thehistory of the area and the still importantFrench-Anglo-Saxon boundary bisectingthe State. Either of the terms refers toall outsiders - English speakers - withwhom one may have contact.

Since the term denotes Olt nativewho is a French speaker*, it is not surpris-

ing that black speakers of either theFrench dialect or tie French Creole areoften identified as Cajuns. Some Afro-Americans so identify themselves. This is

interesting for many reasons. It does not

2

OP

appear to be the case that outsiders in-clude black French speakers under thisrubric. To the outsider, that an individualis black suffices as identification in thesame way that the term «Cajun» impliesan undifferentiated population.

There are other aspects of this tobe considered. Southern Louisiana isone of the only areas in the United Statesin which mulatto groups have historicallybeen accorded a relatively higher statusby the local white dominant class (Smithand Hitt 1952). Elsewhere, the offspringof mixed unions have always been regard-ed as «black» in a rather remarkabledenial of biological fact. The expression«free men of color» seems to be limitedin use to Louisiana. It is a literal transla-tion of the French gens de couleur libreswidely used before the Civil War.Throughout the remainder of the Unitedstates the equivalent term is «freedmen.»The expression gens de couleur is in cur-rent usage. Most «blacks» in the area aregens de couleur claiming a white ancestorwithin living memory.

It is apparent that in some local-ities, relations between whites and blackshave been close for a prolonged period oftime. Frequent, informal, daily contactbetween them was a necessary and ac-cepted ingredient of living. This wasespecially so for children who spent muchof their childhoods together.

In the face of an often rejecting andhostile outside world, French-speakingmembers of both races experienced acommon level of identity. So strong wasthi; identity that it over-ruled in part theracial cFstinction so fundamental in theUnited States.

The use of the sole criterion of

275

French speech to delineate the boundariesof the group can still be found amongresidents in some communities. However,the situation has changed enormously inrecent years. Ethnic realignments havetaken place which reflect the impact ofnational, social and political develop-ments. Younger blacks in the smallestvillages have acquired a strong sense ofidentity with Afro-Americans and withthe national black movement. Such in-dividuals do not refer to themselves asCajuns. if they are speakers of French orCreole they call themselves «Creoles».They then further' distinguish themselves(nEg Creoles) from black Americans (negimericains). The term «Cajun» may havenegative connotations and contrast with«white» which has positive connotations.

By the same token, writes in thesmall communities have responded to thesweeping economic, social and politicalchanties of recent years. With their im-proved economic positions, and with theincursion of outside values and view-points, the black-white dichotomy sowidespread elsewhere has firmly en-trenched itself ' ocally.

The use of the term «Creole* bythe native population is complex andappears to vary from community to com-munity. It refers universally throughwitthe region to one of the local languagesknown also as francais nil or jest nig,«nigger French,» gumbo, or descriptivelyas vi: Creole is spoken in somecommunities by most blacks as well asby many whites. For a few older personsof both races, it is an only language.Creole, as a term designating a language,contrasts- with Heal French», or le bonfrancais, i.e. the local dialect French.

281

It has already been mentioned that

276

black Creole speakers may identify them-selves as Creoles.4 So, however, do somewhite French and Creole speakers. Thereare apparently two somewhat differentmeanings to the term. My data indicatesthat the semantic difference may it partbe accounted for by the difference inhistorical origin of those using it. Somewhite and black French or Creole speak-ers use the term «Creole» to mean «allthe native speakers df French,» black andwhite. In this instance it is identical insemantic content to the term «Cajun» asdescribed above. However, white speakersmake a further distinction: whites areCajuns and blacks are Negroes. «Cajun»in this contrast set becomes a secondarycategory with the meaning "white».

Other speakers of French rise theterm Creole in another way. It is anidentity label but in this case it is used todistinguish descendants of «real French-men» who came to Louisiana direct de laFrance, from «Cajuns» who arrived viaAcadia. «Creole» here is in contrast to((Cajun». To claim a «real Frenchman»as an ancestor gives one special status inthe eyes of the community. Here indeedis an echo of the past, when such«Creoles» had high status and sat in theseats of power.

There are as well narrower, morespecific labels abusive in nature usedwithin the group that are apparently em-ployed and familiar to those in a quiterestricted locality.

The uses of «Cajun» and «Creole»cannot be understood .o mean tw uiS-

Crete categories of persons standing in aone to one relationship to each other.Much remains to be investigated.Features such as the age and social posi-tion of the speaker, more refined racial

designations, and other factors need tobe thoroughly chee ed and correlated toterm usage. The context in which labelingtakes place is also significant. It may bethe case that the apparent variation,which neither constitutes a taxonomy nora paradigm, is based on differences be-tween individual cognitive models in thecommunity. Those interested in follow-ing in greater detail the range of problemsinvolved here are referred to Wallace(1966), Tyler (1969), Blumer (1972),Swartz (1960), Rosaldo (1972), andSankoff ( 1971).

Just as an examination of identityterms indicates that a variety of conceptsexist with regard to group boundaries,so individual members of the communityvary from one another when viewed fromthe outside. The range of personalities,of individual experience, of social posi-

tions, is as complete within Acadiana aselsewhere in the United States.

?What is perhaps striking are theunexpected contrasts to be found every-where. They are a cor.,*.ant reminder ofthe degree of change this area has under-gone and the rapidity with which it hasoccumd. There is a marked contrast be-tween generations. A brilliant young law-

yer and accomplished musician may :laveparents who cannot read. Illiterate adultsproud refer to a literate grandparentwho taught youngsters the catechism inl'rench. It is like being shuttled back andforth in a time machine.

fly:re is also the contrast betwe:.ancurrent social position and former back-ground: here, a millionaire who of neces-sity signs his checks with a special markand drives a shiny Cadillac; there, a force-ful and successful power-wielding poii-tician a veritable Mayor Daley of the

village - with not more than a fourth gradeeducation. Conversely, a knowledgeableretired school teacher - the master of alllinguistic variants in the region - is tuckedaway in a little house on the levee of thebayou, seemingly forgotten and unap-preciated.

In a crumbling, unpainted structureso tiny you are amazed to discover threerooms within, lives an ancient, snowy-haired black couple. They can only bedescribed as genteel, true aristocrats.Their French is as close to literary as canbe found in the village. In one of theserooms you are served a demitasse ofinky Cajun coffee with formality and ex-quisite attention to details of etiquette.Voices are modulated and leisure seems tohe the stuff out of which life is made.The crack in the wall that lets in the day-light and the pile of rusted junk cars justto the right of the doorway are forgotten.Nothing less than a colonial palace hungwith tapestries is a fit setting for such anoccasion.

A short distance away in a beautifulante-bellum home complete with classicalGreek columns, lives an elderly plantationowner. 4 maid in uniform answers thedoor and leads you solemnly into asplendid study where the old gentlemansits in somewhat sullied jean coveralls.The two large brass spittoons on el erside of him are used at frequent intein the course of the interview. Though `liehas lived here since early childhood,inheriting his father's fortune, he is anoutsider ,,nd speaks no French. Hisconcerns are mundane, narrowly limitedto the growing of crops for profit andgetting tne «right man» into office. Thecontrasts ar. seemingly endless.

277

It is a revelation to slowly becomeaware of the adaptation of illiterates inthis era of the printed word. They havefor instance, devised ingenious systems forcorrelating phone numbers and namesthat handily function without a flaw,Many are uncannily gifted mathematical-ly. If you have never been shopping withan illiterate in a supermarket, it is hard tounderstand. They do not need cashregisters. Their heads are as quick and asaccurate.

Finally, there are the childrengrowing up with rock and roll, exposedthrough the media to the values andundercurrents in a world become small.The outside woad impinges a little moreevery day. Over time, the incursion hasbeen massive. Technological andeconomic changes and the rapid develop-ment of all systems of communicationhave revolutionized life throughout theregion. Most men nowadays are awayfrom home at least as much as they arepresent. Shift work on dredges and oilrigs is available outside. Many womenhave jobs. Television sets are common-place and cars a necessity.

01%.

Yet, there is continuity and apowerful sense of belonging in the village.Family relationships and a community ofknown individual personalities are an ef-fective force against fragmentation. Thechildren are enveloped by it. It is still aworld of personal not bureaucratic corn-muLication.

How reasonable to assume thatspeech in such a setting is uniform. Ina community of perhaps 500 personsall well known to each other, one couldsensibly expect that speech would behomogeneous. Instead, other languagesare currently in use: Cajun French,

283

278

French Creole and English. Indeed,variants of each of these are also inevidence.

What does such linguistic varietymean? What functions can it serve? Howdo people talk to and understand eachother? These are questions which havelong interested linguists. Some have onlyrecently been investigated. Though muchhas been learned, the surface i§) barelyscratched.

In the community, not everyonespeaks all three languages. Some speaktwo and understand the third; othersspeak only one and understand two, andso forth.' There is great variation in theproductive (speaking) and receptive (un-derstanding) competencies of individuals.Yet speech is not chaotic. There are ruleswhich govern the use of the differentlanguages in the community. Thelinguists' assumption is that the selectionof language in any given instance is notrandom but meaningful. Individualschoose from their options deliberatelywith an ert4,in mind. Their choice iscontrolled by tlr linguistic competen-cies as well as by their hearers and bycommonly accepted social constraints.

To begin with, the languages areranked in terms of prestige: English,Cajun French and Creole, in descendingorder. But this is a simplification. Theranking of English over Cajun Frenchholds true in situations of contact withoutsiders and it is true for children whoidentify more with the outside world.The common observation that parent_speak to their children in English reflectsconcern. They realize that English is asine qua non in the woLd at large. Withinthe local adult community, Cajun Frenchremains the prestigious language. There is

an etiquette involved in using it.

It is, for instance, considered badtaste to speak Cajun ,,French to a FrenchCreole speaker, if one knows Creole.Only a nez retrousse will do so. If it hap-pens, it is meaningful. It puts socialdistance between two people. However,blacks, who do not want to identify them-selves with Cajuns, may well speak Creoleto Cajun French- sp "akers, even when theyare competent in Cajun French.

Bilingual Cajun French and Creolespeakers tend to use Creole as the lan-guage of intimacy. usband and wifeswitch to Creole when are alone orwhen they are relaxed and at home with)theis who understand it. They may ex-change a few remarks to each other inCreole in the course of a Cajun Frenchconversation in which they are partici-pants. The proper use of the twolanguages becomes a more sensitive issuebetween individuals of higher social rank.In an observed verbal exchange betweentwo, wealthy and locally influential men,one a Cajun French speaker, the other aCreole speaker, English was the languageresorted to. The Creole speaker felt itdemeaning to speak Creole in these cir-cumstances. The other thought it some-what patronizing to use Cajun French.Social equals need an «equal* language asa medium of communication. What isunusual in the community is the lack ofcorrespondence between language com-petency and social status. The only ex-planation for this appears to be rapidsocial change.

In a family setting, English is

almost universally spoken to cnildren,tiough French or Creole continues tobe used between patents. In the middleof ig French or Creole conversation with

II I

friends, a parent may turn to, a small childand reprimand. him in English. Manychildren, however, do learn to speakFrench or Creole. It is a part of theirenvironment from birth. Some learn tospeak it during adolescence from theirpeers in school. This is particularly trueof the Creole and particularly true formales. In this setting, where it is spokenin a notably rape' staccato, it acquires thestatus of a secret language which teachersordinarily do not understand. It is thelanguage of symbolic familiarity fog thepeer group. The use of Creole by adoles-cent girls marks them as tradit;onal or«old fashioned» in the eyes of boys, whoprefer to associate with English-speakinggirls.

Elderly married couples can befound who do not speak the samelanguage. Over the years, each spouse hascontinued to use his maternal tongue -

one Cajun French, the other Creole. Eachhas a perfect receptive competence inthe other's language, but seldom, if ever,speaks it. It is pethaps easier to explainwhy the Cajun French speaker does notuse Creole. It is much more difficult tounderstand why the Creole speaker doesnot use French. Social prestige is not theonly motivating force involved in languageuse.

The category «social rapport» ismeant to deal with those situations withinthe community in which a multilingualspeaker addresses an individual who doesnot have a productive competence in thespeaker's most familiar language. In thatcase, the speaker switches to anotherlanguage. Thus, a white tri-lingual speakerwill use French or Creole to establishsocial rapport ,depending on the linguisticcompetence of the addressee. In theseinstances, group solidarity would also be

279

expressed by the use of the appropriate lan-guage. For the black trHingual speaker,however, solidarity within the black com-munity is always expressed by Creole. Bi-lingual French-English and Creole-Englishspeakers may employ English on some oc-casions for purposes of rapport as the ex-ample of the interaction between two prom-inent men illustrates.

What happens when people with dif-ferent linguistic competencies interact?Well, it happens freq ntly and Cajuns arehighly verbal people. I agine an afternoonon the galri of a mode t house. Present arean or lady, who is monolingual Creolespec r, her daughter-in-law and an olderfemal 'friend both Cajun French speak-ers nd myself. Throughout the visit,the main topic of conversation is le vieuxtemps. Talk is constant. Indeed, sociabil-ity is expressed largely verbally through themedium of narrative, banter, jokes, etc.

Transcription of a conversations

F speaker 1: /sit, to peux faire du wiski duriz, uh Madame

C speaker: Oh, au'.F speaker 1: Mais, moi j'etais tout pitite

quand papa faisait du wiski. S'estbiers malheureux t 'a pas eu parler Fa'vek papa.

C speaker: Mo et mo garcon no lusl falsedu yin quand no reste dans bois.

Interviewer: Avek quol?C speaker: 'vek des mares.F speaker 1: Vous oubliez la rerette, Y AS?C speaker: Oh, non. Mo peux fai fa toujous.

Mais na pi des mares. Latin& passenous chasse you des mares. No p.'strouver nil par.

Interviewer: Des mai es samages (pa poussent?

C speaker: Ya pli de ca.F speaker I : J'me rappelle quand petals

pitite, uh, nonk vieux nonk

280

--faisait dot yin. I'vendait fa atout que'qu'un.

F speaker 2: Isais pas si Watt d'vin oud'wiski, mai frappelle (v)war fa.

C speaker: Nouso. no mette les mares abain pot gres. Etats bien puteye.Pi, no meth ca tremper dans potgres. La, quand ye te GONE, letout fait caler.

F speaker 1: Oh, c'est comme fa vousconne quand c'est bon?

C speaker: Oui. Et la, ye te...F speaker: La, quand iicalent, et pi, i're-

trontent en lair encore la, vousles remasse?

C speaker: Ott!.F speaker 1: La, vous les me &its des

bouteilles et les bouches?C speaker: Non, non, non. To me les-to

fais-i' fo to COOL ye. La, quandva commancer-li vattravaillerencore. Li va travailler. To va waa comme dit vieux - to va wa lesalles. les allant! ca va et fa wentcomme ca. Quand ye va refertravailler, to peux met tout ye dansle JUG. Mais, la, to prend un timo(r)ceau d 'bar, o un ti moceaud'linge. To bouche li bien. Tomare sera serre. Pi la, laisses lijus to percois li traivaille pli.

Translation

F speaker: Here, you can make whiskeyfrom rice, uh Madame --?

C speaker: Oh yes.F speaker: But. I was very little when

papa made whiskey. It's too badyou couldn't talk to papa about it.

C speaker: My son and I, we made winewhen we lived in the woods.

Interviewer: With what?C speaker: With blackberries.F speaker 1: You forget the recipe, Yes?C speaker: Oh no, I can always make that.

But there are no more blackberries.Last year we looked for black-berries. We didn't find any any-where.

Interviewer: Wild blackberries that groC speaker: There are no more of those.F speaker: I remember when Iwas small,

uh-uncle-old uncle -- made wine.He sold it to everyone.

F speaker 2: I don't know if it was wineor whiskey, but I remember seeingthat.

C speaker We put the blackberries in astoneware pot. They were well .

mashed. Then we put them to soakin the stoneware pot. When theyhad all disappeared, they had allsunk. They had altogether sunk.

F speaker 1: Oh, is that how you knowwhen it's good?

C speaker: Yes, and they were...F speaker 1: So, when they sink and then

rise up again, you take them out?C speaker: Yes.F speaker 1: So, you put them in bottles

and cork them?C speaker: No, no, no. You put them

7 you make -- you must COOLthem. When they start it willwork (ferment) again. It will work.You will see it. As old -- says,you'll see the comings and thegoings. It comes and it goes likethat. When they stop working, youcan put all of them in a jug. Butthen, you take a little piece of net-ting, or a little piece of cloth. Youcork it well. You tie it very tight.Then you leave it until you can seeit is no longer working.

In the above conversation, theCreole and Cajun French speakers simplyconverse, each understanding the othersand each speaking in her own language.As is evident, English words occur within

.4 281

French or Creole sentences. Another com-mon feature of multilingual conversationsin the community is the occurrence ofEnglish phrases within French sentencesor vice-versa. For instance, consider thefollowing:

C speaker: Mals mo delivrais un ta,un ta. de a bebe. Et mol tout seul. Paspersonne avek.

F speaker 1: Ma maman aussi.F speaker 2: You see. It was Dr.

--, my doctor, and he was in the se:vicequand Il est ne.

C speaker: Mo laissais pas molaissais pa rien, to connals, dans lechemin.

Or

F speaker: Oh, mais the (r). Mals,Don't feel bad, die dit, ca veux meant 'est toujours jeune.

Translation

C speaker: But I delivered many,many little babies. And all alone. P'o onewas with me.

F speaker 1: My mother, too.F speaker 2: You see it was Dr.--,

my doctor, and he was in the service whenhe was born.

C speaker: 1 didn't leave I

didn't ;eave anything, you know, in theway.

or

F speaker: Oh, but dear. But don'tfeel bad. she says, it means that you !e

always young.

So far, it is virtually impos:;ible toknow un what such switching betweenlanguages within one sentence depends.

It is particularly teresting to\`141observe that the Creole sp ker switchesto French forms when she quotes Frenchspeakers in the course of ner narration.The most immediate way to distinguishthe Creole from the French is to note theform of the first person singular: i inFrench and m in Creole (je and mo); inthe third person singular, 1 (I) in Frenchand Ii in Creole. Also, third person pluralin French' is Vs) and ye in Creole.

S -. Creole speaker: Mais, 1 dit, vcuspeux pas fai(re)que'q'chose? Mo dit, oui,mo peux fal(re), mais ca mo peux fal(re)la, mo fera pas ca. Mais, 51 vous crol vouspeux fal(re) que'q 'chose, 1 dit, na jush mniet -- qul va conne. Je vous promais, 1dit. que jamais -- ni mol va jamois diplus a rien a personne si que'q 'chosearrive. Mo dit, mo pas pou(r) ca.

Translation

C speaker: But he says, can't youdo something? I say, yes, I can. But that( which) i can do, I won't do. But, if youthink you can do something, he says,there is just me and who will know. Ipromise you, he says, that never will --nor I ever say anything to anybody ifsomething happens. I say, I'm not forthat. s'

is puzzling. If the Creole...---,"speallZer ca switch to French, why doesshe not d so throughout the conversa-tion? There is no sure answer to this. Shesimply never uses it except to quote..However, her degree of competence inFrench is probably quite limited. Itwould be difficult for her to talk freelyand express herself naturally iv! French.

nfShe is also a wo n without social pre-tentions and th situation did notcompromise her ininy way.

1'

Ie

27

2S2

There are ample indications thatmany Creole speakers have definite limita-tions in their ability to switch to Frenchat will. When a Creole speaker is placedin a position in which he is obliged tospeak Creole and feels compromised byit. interesting conseFeeling uncomfortasocial connotations

uences may follow.because of theed by Creole

speech. such an individual, if he is enter-prising, may sometimes create entirelynew linguistic forms. For instance:

('.jun French: leur char «their car»Creole French: ye (tchen) char

«i heir car»New Form: yeur char «their car»

The Creole speaker, in an attempt to speakCajun French, has created something whichis neither French nor Creole. It appears tobe a compromise between the two: the yeof Creole and the leur of French. It alsoet:akin:sly approximates the English «yourcar» which of course does not mean thesame thing. The target I guage in this caseremains strangely ambiguous.

In another example

Cajun French: ea c'est pureux «thisbelongs to both of them»

Creole French: c'est pou ye touslesdeux -this belongs to both of them»

New Form: c'est pou les deuxd yeux «this belongs to both of them».

The d'yeu.v seems to be a compromisebetween the Creole ye and the Frencheux. However, the situation is ambiguousagain. The new form. d yeux , meaning<of them» literally follows English gram-matical structure. These new forms werenot heard often, but occurred on two dif-ferent occasions involving two differentCreole speakers who did not know each

other.

There is an enormous linguisticvariation in use. What does it mean when,in one village such a frequently used ex-pression as, «I have to go now», is said as:

1) Pal pour aller asteur, 2) i faut jeva asteur, 3) 1 faut mo va asteur, 4) mogain pou cowl asteur.

The first and the fourth examples arethe most distant in that the speakerusing number 1 is not likely to ever usenumber 4. However, in grammaticalstructure, they are very similar: rai«I have», mo gain «I have, » pour aller«to go,» pou couri «to go». Numbers 2and 3 are identical except for, the firstperson singular. People who use numberI also use number 2. Those who usenumber 3 also use number 4. There is aslight semantic difference between num-ber 1, «I have to,» and number 2 «Imust». The same difference is true fornumbers 3 and 4.

This indicates that social value isattached to selectee linguistic forms..These «markers» (linguistic featureswhich are selectively loaded with socialmeaning) distinguish Creole from CajunFrench. Grammatically, in certain instan-ces. the .differences are minimal. TheCreole markers here are the first personsingular mo and the forms gain and couri.

Another example of such a linguis-tic marker:

1) ca ina? «what's the matter?2) qui ina? (4hat's the matter ? >> 3) quoiina? «what's the matter?»

The individua; using number 3 willnot use number 1, though his use of

28

number 2 is not infrequent. Likewise, theindividual using number 1 will not use num-ber 3, though number 2 will be used alter-nately with number 1. Number 3 has thehighest social value, number 1 is the Creoleform: and number 2 apparently an alter-nate form.

There is much controversy in linguis-tic circles today about the meaning of suchvariation and about how to approach it the-oretically. Variation is apparently found inevery known linguistic community. Studiesmade during the past decade have demon-strated that such variation is not only ubi-quitous, social, and functional, but is sys-tematic and regular in nature. Controversyhas arisen as to how to best conceptualizeand describe it. One school of thoughtmaintains that variation is found in the per -forme of the members of every com-munity even though they all share one basicgrammatical system. Rules have been for-mulated to describe the variation withinthis single system ( Labov 1966; Shuy et al1967; Sankoff and Cedergren 1971; Ceder-gren 1973). Another school of thoughtcontends that observed linguistic variationderives from the existence of more than asingle grammar in the linguistic community.1 he variation. it is maintained, can best bedescribed as a scale or continuum with eachgradation representing a particular dammar( DeCamp 1971; Bickerton 1973a, 1973b).

How should the South Louisianalinguistic community be approached? Arethere three distinct grammatical systems:one for Creole, one for French, and onefor English? Or do the French Creole andthe Louisiana French comprise onesystem containing variables? Though ithas not been discussed in this paper,English speech is not uniform either. TheEnglish speech of Afro-Americans in thecommunity is recognizably different from

2 8 9

283

the English speech of whites. In neithercase is it standard. Are there more thanthree co-existent systems? What is therelation between the English and non-English speech i, the community? Is itfeasible to propose that there is a range ofdialects, each with its own grammar, allhaving standard English as a ta.get? Howdoes one theoretically cope withsentences that are composed of lexemesand grammatical features from both theEnglish and non-English languages? Thesituation is complex and no ready answersare available.

What is the process that gives riseto so much variation? On what does itdepend? Is there a direction to theprocess? If so, what is it? These arequestions linguists pose. They are raisediwre because they are pertinent t9. SouthLouisiana where the linguistic situation isas heterogeneous as is the social. The twoare related. Language use appears todepend on social values, attitudes, andchange.

Both the local French and theFrench Creole are spoken, not written,languages. This is to say nothing remark-able about them. All human languagesuntil very recently have been oral. Bothare, however, languages about whichmuch has been written. Excellent as itmay be in other respects, much of what iscontained between the covers of books onthe subject of these languages is biased. Itis written from an elitist point of view. Thelocal speech is examined from the vantagepoint of the literary French standard of theday (whether 19th or 20th century).

Differences from the standard arenoted and interpreted as «mistakes» due toignorance, or as «corruptions» of the«pure» French language. Adjectives such

284

as «quaint» and «simple» often describeboth people and language. One may wellask «quaint» to whom, and «simp'e» bywhat criterion? Frequently forms arefound to be what is called «archaic».Surely it is a misnomer to label a speechform «archaic» when it is currently inuse. The forms are not obsolete to thoseusing theta

Features of Creole speech haveoften been correlated with anatomical andmental characteristics of the black people.This is totally unfounded. Linguiststoday accept as axiomatic that the speechof any ethnic group is completely un-related to the physical and mentalattributes of its members (Wolfram 1971).

ILanguages do not exist in the

abstract apart from the human beings whospeak them. They die wiith their speakers.There is much evidenee of a strong at-tachment to the French and Creolelanguages among the people of SouthLouisiana. These languages and thepurposes which they serve are unique, notquite like speech anywhere else. Theyhave been, and still are for many, the solemedium for the expression of themundane matters of daily life, for therecollecti?n of the past, for dreams, forlaughter and sorrow, for intimacy and

"'comradeship, and for the commu.ficationof matters of life and death. But graveproblems exist. Concern or the futureof the languages is widely expressed andjustified.

Major difficulties stand in the wayof the true renaissance and future growthof the Cajun culture. The Council forthe Development of French in Louisiana,in the few years of its viistence, has madeup an admirable beginning. It brought tothe state of Louisiana a new awareness of

the values inherent in its own diversecultural heritage. It brought to the at-tention of the world a long neglected andrelatively unknown group. Through theefforts of tCODOF1L the problems andthe future well-being of this group arenow the concern of many, both at homeand abroad.

However, some of the fundamentaldifficulties involved in maintaining theculture have yet to be dealt with. The

-greatest emphasis so far has been thestandardization of the language. Thispolicy merits closer examination. A pilotstudy conducted in 1969 (Savells 1969)indicates that there is an underlyingreason for the reluctance of French-speak-ing parents to wholeheartedly support bi-lingual programs in the public school:..The reluctance is due totheir recognitionof the considerable differences betweenthe local dialects and the Frenchpresented to their childreinin the school.Proponents of the bilingual programsmust ask themselves if the people ofAcadiana are motivated to learn a

standard French at the expense of theirnative dialects. Is it the wish of the nativespeakers that the Creole be .completelyignored and summarily dismissed? Havethey been asked? Little, it seems, can beaccomplished without genuine motivationat a grass roots level.

Not very long ago the French andFrench Creole languages were bannedfrom the school grounds throughoutAcadiana by official decree ang offenpunished. This is vivid)), remembermany. The timidity, self-c s scioand linguistic insecurity foun

ersby

sness,among

many Cajuns can be traced to theignorance and insensitivity of the policy-makers of that day. Is the stress that iscurrently placed on imported French

29u

speech contributing to that Sense of.

insecurity? In all fairness, the questionmust be rked and it should be publicly

44444raired.

, Though it may please them tothink otherwise, the future of the Frenchlanguage is not in the hands , ofL'Academie Francaise alone. It is as wellin the hands of the Many diverse popula-tions around the world who speak it.Beside the possibility of failure, there isanother danger involved in the imposi-tion of alien forms on a people: thedanger of creating a cultural imperialism.

It is remarkable to note that inspite of the rich local history and culture,no developed literature exists in either theLouisiana French or the French Creole.There is nig even a published dictionary!Yet, it is widely recognized that peopledo not create freely and build on theirtraditions in a language that is not theirown. Cajun culture cannot be expectedto flourish in continental French literarystyle. .r.r.t)

As long ago as 1934, George Lane(1934) wrote that a linguistic 'atlas ofSouthern Louisiana was a necessity iflinguistic research was to proceed in anorganized manner. A"preliminary surveywas subsequently /conducted. To myknowledge, however, this report was neverpublished. A short paper based onpersonal acquaintance with the substanceof the survey concludes that an atlas anda dictionary of the Louisiana Frenchwould be of great interest (von Wartburg1942). Neither of these is as yet a reality.

A proper survey today requireseven more and different kinds of info.:ma-tion. Linguists are interested in establish-ing the sociolinguistic patterns of speech:

ti

291

285

what groups and 4hich individuals speakwhat languages and what dialects: towhom, in what contexts, and under whatcircumstance? There is not N published zie).source which contains answers to thes6-7*queMions. The boundaries a the speechcommunities have yet to be chartered.

Related to the current stress on stan-dard French speech is the stress on Frenchassociation, Coupled with it isan apparentlack of attention focused on the teachin3of Cajun culture in the schools. The history

. of the Cajuns of Louisiana is a part of thehistory of the, New World. Cajun culture isthe result of centuries of adaptation to anenvironment unlike that of France. Thevery identity of Cajuns is rooted in experi-ence on this side of the Atlantic.

Histories of the Cajun people thatcontinue beyond Le Grand Derangementneedifm.be written. Careful, compardtiveand historical documentation is required.Cajun cuisine has become famous. Researchs needed to document other facets of, the.

culture: oral, literature, architecture, tech-nology, kinship systems, folk medicine,dance, huMor, etc. Bits and pieces aboutthese subjects can be found scattered haap-haardly in a vast literature varying in qual-ity and authenticity.

Finally, it is often argued that eco-nomic development can only be had at theexpense of cultural integrity. Cajuns, it ismaintained, must be integrated into andassimilated by the dominant Anglo-Saxonculture if they are to progress. With the de-mise of the «melting pot» notion, much ofthe bite is gone from this contention. Mostof us today recognize that it neither corres-ponded to a realistically attainable socialorder nor to a desirable one. The minoritygroup movements of the past two decadeshave demonstrated the contrary. Cultural

286

integrity and economic developments cal.. and do go hand in hand. What is needed is arenewal ur pride in the local culture, inthe local languages.

We all have a long way to go in at-taining a true appreciation of the meaningsand subtle nuances embodied in a mother

1. The fieldwork constituting,the basis ofthis study was made possible by a NationalInstitute of Mental Health predoctoral fellowship

*(5 FOl MI-145251-02). My debt to the people ofAcadiana is personal and deeply felt. I also wishto thank Jay Edwards of Louisiana StateUniversity and his wife. Anne, for theirinvaluable comments on an earlier version ofthis paper.

2 Much of the data on which the dis-cussion is based is limited to research carried outin a small rural area of Acadiana. No claim ismade that any descriptive statement can hegeneralized or applied to all of French-speakingLouisiana. Indeed, it would be strange ti.thiswere possible since the region presents a rich.diversified, complex picture with respect tolanguage and culture. Custom differs fromlocality to locality.

3. For a discussion of the mutualinfluences and interpenetrations of the Frenchand French Creole and of the impact of Englishon both languages, see Raleigh Morgan Jr.«Dialect Levelling in Non-English Speech ofSouthwest Louisiana.» in Texas Studies in Bi-lingualipff Glen G. Gilbert, ed. Walter deGruyt r and Co.. Berlin, 1970.

0

tongue. We are all sorely in need of a newunderstanding of the values inherent in di-versity in all areas of human life. Diversity,in any case, seems to be an inevitbble in-gredient of any social alder. It indicatesperhaps a universal human desire for ex"'-

- pression and a liuman quest for meaningand identity in the scheme of things.

NOTES

292

4. This question was addressed in a paperpresented at the l 57 Annual Meetings of theAmerican Socio cal Association by Kara

.Rousseau Smit and Vernon J. Parenton:«Cultural Pattern of Colored Creoles: a Studyof a Selected Seg nt of New Orleans NegroesWith French Cultural Orientations».

5. Since no standard orthography existsfor either the Louisiana French or the FrenchCreole and to did readers with a knowledge ofFrench, French orthography is used as muchas possible throughout the transcriptions.

\5"

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Barth, Frederick1969 Introduction. In Ethnic Groups andBoundaries. Frederick Bart:,, ed. Boston:Little, Brown and Company. pp. 9.38.

9:

Bickerton, D.1973a On the Nature of a Creole Continuum.

Language 49: 640-670.1973b «Quantitative yersts dynamic

paradigms: The case of Rtinirt*I.» In New

Ways of Analyzing Variation :in,English.Charles-James N. Bailey and.itoger,W. Shuy,eds. Washington: Georgetowit, U.niversityPress. pp. 2344.

Blumer, Herbert1972 «Symbolic interaction.» In Culture and

Cognition. James P. Spradley, ed. SanFrancisco. Scranton, London, Toronto:Chandler Publishing Company.

Cedergren, H.

..1973 «the social dialects of Panama.» Unpub-

blished Ph.D. dissertation, Cornell University.

Willy, David K1971 «Black through White: Patterns of ccm-

munication in . Africa and thearew World.»In BlackWhite Speech Relation? ips. Walt

Wolfram and Nona H. Clarke, eds. Washingston: Center for Applied Linguistics, UrbanLanguage Series, pp. 99-138.

DeCamp, D.1971 «Toward a generative analysis of a post-

Creole speech continuum.» In Pidginization

and Creolization of Languages. Dell Hymes,ed.London: Cambridge University press.pp349-370.

Labov, William1966 «The Social Stratification of English in

New York City»: Washington: Center for

293

287

Applied Linguistics, Urbin Language Series.es.

'1Lane, George, S.

1934 «Notes on Louisiana French.» Language10: 323-333.

Rosaldo, Michelle1972 «Metaphors and folk classification.»

Southwestern Journal of Anthropology 28:83-?9.

7Sankoff, Gillian

, 1971 Quantitative analysis of sharing andvariability in a cognitive model.» Ethnology10: 389408.

Sankoff, Gillian and H. Cedergren1971. Some results of a sibcio-linguistic study

of Montreal French». In Linguistic Diversity

in anadian. Society. R. Dannell, ed.Edmonton: Linguistic Research, Inc.

Savells, Jetald O.'1969 Parental attitudes toward bil' giial

programs of instruction in the elementarygrades: a pilot study in three selected com-munities in South Louisiana.» UnpublishedM.A. Thesis, Louisiana State University.

Shuy, R. et. al.1967 «Linguistic correlates of social strat fi-

cation in Detroit speech.» Coopers veResearch Report 6: 1347.

Smith, T. Lynn anti Homer L. Hitt1952 «The People of Louisiana.» Baton

Rouge: Louisiana State University Press.

Swartz, Marc1960 «Situational determinants of kinship .

terminology.» Southwestern Journal ofAnthropology 16: 393-397.

4

es 14,

1S.

Ita

288

)

e-1"7tcStephen A.

1969 «Context and variatioltin Koya kin Ip

. terminology.» In Cognitive Anthropology.Stephen A. Tyler ed. New Yorkjiliolt,Rinehart, and Winston. pp. 487.503!

Von Wartburg, W. .

1942 «To what extent is an atlastf to4isianaFrencli pcissible and desirable? » AmerivanCouncif of Learned Societies..' Bulletin 34:655-661.

)1

Aallace, Anthony F. C;...

-\.1966 Culture and Personality. Slew York:, Random House.

Wolff Walt

1971 «Black-White speech difference's revisited .

In Blackhite Speech,fitationships. Walt

Wolfram and Non HACIarke, eds. Washin'-ton: Center for Applied Linguistics, UrbanLanguage Series. pp. 139-161."

. ,

I-.

10

Repriinted b), permission of the author.

294

ti

A

el

1.

t

*

LA CUISINE CHEZ NOUS

Par

Soeur Marguerite Cyr

Des peuples d'origines, de cultures et decroyances totalement differentes se rencr-trerent, it y a trois cents ans, sur les rivesrocheuses du Nouveau Monde. Nous pour-films done dire avec sincerite que la Cuisine,Chez Nous, n'etait ni francaise, ni anglaise.

C'etait plutot le respect du pass4, et undesir honnete de creer des combinaisons mer-e.Neilleuses avec les aliments qu'on avait en a-bondance, tels que le lait, le beurre, les oeufs,les legumes, la viande, ainsi que les fruitssauvages.

Nos anceties mangeaient des «plogues»trois fois par jour excepte le dimanehe. Cejour IA it y avait du bon pain de menage. Ilmidi, j repas se composait d'une soupe, dular14 die et des patates. Pour dessert, it y avaitde Nta melasse ou du, sirop d'erable. Le sok.encore du lard sale, des patates a «Barnard»;du lait caille et du sucre d'erable.

II y await des fruits sauvages enquantite: fraises, framboises, mores, merises,cerises, bleuets, et pommes. Au printemps,l'erable donnait sa seve precieuse qui devenaitun sirop ou cru sucre delicieux.

11 fallait vendre devproduits de la fermerpour se procurer du the, qu cafe, des epices, etde la melasse. Le t1W et le cafe etaientreserves pour des fetes speciales, et la familleacadienne buvait de l'eau, du lait et du petit-tail.

Chez nous, lei bowies vieilles recettesne dispaPaissent pas; elles sont transmises degeneration en generation. Les plogues, leboudin, les cretons, la tourtiere, sont

289

l'honneur comme eutrefois.

La «maftresSe de rnaisoft», c'estbsurto-utcomme «Cordon Bleu»li faut la (Werke.Elle prepare des mets delicieux inspires par sesbonnes vieilles recettes Elle.n'a pas besoin delivre, ni de mesure. Elle4ait utiliser les millepetits Hens qui sont a sa disposition, et elle lefait avec simplicite et bon gout.

CHOWDER

Il y a longtemps, sur les 'cotes deBretagne, le cri «Faites.,la Chauttiere!» re-sonnait a l'approche d'une flotille de Oche.On allumait des feux de camp sur la plage et.on mettait l'eau a bouillir dans de grandeschaudieres. En debarquant, cheque pecheurdeposait une .prise ou deux dans la marmite,les femmes y ajoutaient pommes de terre,oignons, carpotes et lard sale. Et lorsque le'tout avait mijote, on celebrait «La Fête du,potage.» 'Les Bretons apporterent leurschaudieres, en Acadie. Ce mot se transformafbientot en «chbwder» et designe maintenantla soupe plutot la marmite.

LA SOUPE

Des potages onctueux et parfumes seservaient souvent a la 'able du colon; c'etaitalors un repas complet... Nout avons conservecette tradition chez nous car la soupe etaittoujours bien epaisse, bien substantielle, caron y mettait de la viande, du riz, de I'orge --un peu de tout. Pour faire une bonne soupe it

fallait un bon bouillon que yon preparait laveille: un gigot de mouton ou de boeuf,recouvrir d'eau froide, amener a ebullition;faire cuire a petit feu jusqu'A ce que la viande

295

290*.

rr

devienne tendre. Le lendemain, on enleve lagraisse et, on mgt le liquide dans tin pot de

ofaience, on le r_Acgovr'e dun tinge pour empe-cher is fermentatidq.

«CRETONS DE CHEZ ISIOU,»

2 livres de panne*3 livres de pore hache2 petits rogtions de pore2 tasses d'eau bouillante1 tasse d'Agnoti hache1 c. a table de sel1/4 c, a tire de poivre2 gousses d'ail, Acrasees1 feuille de laurier1/2 c. a the desarriette1/4 c. a the de clou moulu1/4 c. a the de muscade

Couper la panne eif morceau de .1/2pouce. Cuire efeu doux, brassant de tempsen temps,' jusqu'a ce:.qu'elle soit legerementdoree. Couler et garder le gras. Passer les

° residus au hachoir, Mijoter pore et rognonsdans. l'eauatre

pour empecher de colter au fond.1)heure, en brassant de temps a

ti

Ajouter les residus et les ingredients. Couvriret mijoter 2 heures de plys, en brassant detemps A autre. Retjrer la feuille de laurier. Sila preparation semble trop maigre, ajouterAmpeu de gras fondu. Laisser tiedir. Meter pourhien repartirj le gras. Verser dans des bolspasses a l'eati froide. Mettre au froid.

,,t- '*Panne: graisse fondue provenan de

('abdomen du pore utilisee pour sa ferm toet sa saveur.

LES'«PATATES A 13AR ARD»

Nos aucetres mangeaient is patatestroist fois par jour, bouillies, pilees, frites, aufour. Un celibataire nomme «Barnard» avaitl'habitude de fake une quantite depatates au debia de la semaine. Tous les

ti

1'

,

soirs, it fa ait frire des tranches plitatesdans la gyaigse de grillades avec; des oignonStranches, et, lesaniangeait avec des jrillacles delard. Le.nom est devenq célèbre chez nous, etencore aujourd'hui, lorsqu'on fait (uire 'despatates dans la graisse, on appelle celA «despatates a Balnard»...

LE PAIN DE CHEZ NOUS

Depuis que nos ancietres Acadiens op-.

prirent files Indiens comment cultiver le bled'Inde, et en fake une farine, le pain de ble.o,d'Inde est devenu Mare. De meme pour le14. Le «Johnny Cake», le «Boston BrownBread» et les` <Pansus» sont aussi poptilairesde nos jours qu'autrefois...

Trois conditiowequises pour faire du .

bon pain: - de la bonne farine. de la bonnelevure et la force pour pien petrir. Pour ye-Wier la levure, on en prenait une etiteXquan-

-Ate et on ajoutait un peu de fari e. Si apres10 ou 15 minutes la pate lev it, on s'ense ait.

LE FAIN DE MENAGE

Li veille au soir on sort la huche et n

la met pres du poele 'pour faire chauff a

farine. On faisait le levain avec de la fidrine,

de Veau tiede et une ou deux galeffesIrem-pees dans l'eau; on 'ajoutait un plat depommes terre ecrasees. On ajoutait lelevain a la fate, 1 poignee de sel et de l'eau.On petrissait pour en Jaire une pate mile;on laissait replier 2 h., puis on rabaissait lapate qui levait, on la laissait lever une secondefois, on la mettait dans des casseroles, pais aufour. A quatre heares on sortait' le beau paindore du four et on en mangeait avec du bonbeurre frais...

LES PLOGUES (Galettes de Sarrasin I

Nos ancetres mangeaient des ylogues»

C

.trois foisvpai jour... On les faisait avec de lafarine de «lzugophit» (buckwheat) sarrasin. Ilfailait conseiVer une grande quantite de farinepour en avoir ,squill la prochaine moisson.Les recettes etatent variees - plogues minces,plogues levees, plogues au lait-beurre, plogueslu Nit, etc. Les plogues.sont populaires au-jourd'hui comme autrefois et en voyageanton en trouve un peu partfut.

a1.t. de farine de «buckwhit»1 Cde farine blanche1 t. d 'eau

Detremper comme faut, ajouter unpeu de soda etWeau qui a bouilli. Faire cuiredans une poele ce fonte.

«JOHNNY CAKE»Pain de ble d'Inde

ti Un pain 'de ble d'Inde ,qui est devenucélèbre, c'est le «Johnny Cake.» L'origineremonte aux temps otl nos ancetres devaientaller d'un village A l'autre a pied. C'etait l'af-

*ire d'une journee. La mere faisait des petitsidsins de ble d'Inde et elle remplissakt la besatede son maxi qui les mangeait en route. C'etaitdes galettes pout la «journee.» Une bonnedame dont le marl s'appelait <dean», et queles anglais appelaient «Johnny», a sans doutedit a sot\ marl lorsqu'il partait: «Voila lesgalettes de Johnny», - donc «Johnny Cakes.»C'est peut-titre les anglais qui leur ont donnece nom°, enfin... hier, comme aujourd'hui,on mange des «Johnny Cakes» et c'est aussidelicieux que c'etait autrefois!

Tamiser:I

t

1 t. de farine1/2 t. de sucre1/4 c. a thiwilksel1/2 c. kthe de soda1 c. a the de poudre a pate1 c. a the de farine de

tole dfnde

R

291

Manger les ingredients sech et leslaisser reposer. Battre un oeuf et .intorporer:

1 t. de petit-lait2 c. a the de beurre fol ,Au

c. A table de melasse

Y ajouter les ingredients secs, battre,mettre au four pendant 20 minutes. .,Couperen morceau de 2 pouces.a

2 9 7

S

4 4

4

LOUISIANA'S CREOLE-ACADIA CUISINE

by

Ernest Gueymard4

Louisiana, unlike Gail!, is dividedinto two parts, the North and the South.

Culinarily ;peaking, this makesisense.Anglo-Saxon North ,Louisiana is not athome with the brown goux, nor jambalayaand crawfish etouffee. But Soutlii,louisi-ana's Cajun country and Nouvelle Or-leans have a way all their own with herbsand spices, gravies, fish courtbouillons, gum-

.bos and French drip coffee.

In dll sections where the Gallicinfluence has penetrated, one findsLouisiana Creole-Acadian cuisine, which /

. sometimes. is ineptly called French. This isin encl. because South Louisiana cookery isdifferent, partly because of its rathergenerous is in sharpcontrast to the some at bland dishes'found in Louisiana's mother country,France, ,

The state's indigenous cuisine toolong has been a sort of stepchild to worldgastronomy, but happily this situation ischanging. Newspapers and magazinesround the world are devoting more at-tention to Louisiana food and the state'stourist industry is growing. The result:Louisiana cookery getting -its share' ofattention.

Perhaps the bigge t freent shot inthe arm was Time-Life Foo s of theWorld publication, «Am, an Cooking:Crile and Acadian.»

Of course, long years ago Louisiana

'ft292

t

cuisine ,had gained some renown, even inthe days of Mark Twain who spoke of thesaltwatei pompanb 'as being «delici us asthe less criminal forms of sin.»

But before we lose our balance overthe charms of South Louisiana's larder andwhat we do' with it, let's briefly examinethe word Creole, about which there aresome Misconceptions. And we'll examinethe word Cajun, too.

There are several definitions, butbasically most agre that a Creole is a whitedescendant of an original Louisiana settler,especially a French or Spanish settler. TheWM is the French translation of theSpanish word criollo, first used in the 16thcentury by Spaniards to distinguish theirown ,pureblooded children from those rofmixed blood, that is, a Spaniard and a non-Spaniard, born in the colonies.

Of course, Cajun is the corruption ofAcadian, the 'French who were residents ofAcadle, now' Nova Scotia, , and who ar-rived in Louisiana beginning in the 1760's-following eviction by the English. TheseAcadians had come from various sectionsof France originally.

Food writers often ivake an exagger-ated distinction between -called Creolecookery and Cajun cookery. This can bemisleading because basically the two aredouble first cousins and are the same inmany respects, being a happy fusion ofthe food tastes of numerous peoples, notonly French and Spanish.'

wever, there are sortie differences,th Creole uisinileaning more to haute cu i-si e and pertitps ?little less seasoning. Whilejailnbalaya and gumbo would be very at homein both kitchens, flambeed dishes; for in-stance, are more popular in Creole cookeryand boudin rouge (blood sausage) Alight bethe piece de resistance in, say, Mamou.

Some writers, not specific about the* difference, settle for something lace this:

«Cr'eole cuisine is city stuff and Cajun eook-erybelongs in the colintryge

But enough of this divisive talk. Thisis mostly semantics. South Louisiana cook-ery, Creole and Acadian, in all its formsstacks up mightily to the lofty French cuisine, and to the Louisiana palate, it is sup-erior, naturellement.

'fp our way of thinking this cookinghas a cultural connotation, bringing to minda way of life, a certain joie de vivre, 1 toler-ance not found in every clime. This frameof mind is best expressed in a South Louis-iana French expression faitesrouler le bontemps (let the good times roll on). Voila!This feeling has spread to transplanted resi-dents from other sections who before too

ilong, are hopelessly converted even tostrong coffee.

The food likes of the various nation-alities that found their way to South Louis-iana eventually merged into one over is longperiod and out of this mélange evolved whatwe know today'as Creole-Acadian cuisine.

In both New Orleans ,nd all oversouth Louisiana Ithere the Frenchinfluence is apparent, things Gallic aremore or less exalted, even today. The wordCreole has come to signify the best and inthe Creole tradition, one speaks of Creolebeans, Creole mustard, Creole pralines -

293

eve!, Creole horses.

This feeling may be illustrated in theview of some old-timers in the heavily-French populated areas who have not yetaccustomed themselves to this «foreigninfluence» - that is, the influx of people toSouth Louisiana from Anglo-Saxon regions.

In World War II one LouisianaFrench grandmother raised Cain when hergranddaughter married a northern soldierboy stationed in a South Louisiana militarycamp. Later, when the warriage,went onthe rocks and her Ube came home, grannyexclaimed: d never did believe in mixedmarriages».

And another grandmother with closeties to Neu Orleans commented whenasked about New Orleans family namedJohnson. «Oh,» she said, «you mean those«Americans.» ;And so it goes. NativeSouth Louisianans cherish their Latin back-ground and this includes familiarity with agreat number of succulent dishes.

Cooking customs of the variousnationalities in the colonial periodeventually «married.» Although the basiccontributions were initially by the French,South Louisiana cookery influences includethe Spanish, Negro slaves, Indians, Germansettlers, Italians who came much later, andfrom just plain Americans who movedSouth.

The French who came here directlyfrom France or from the West Indies,brought with them the ancient culinaryknowledge of their homeland as did theAcadiang, also French, who brought asomewhat similar but hardier cuisine fromCanada.

A

294

It is said that the French emphasizedhome-grown vegetables, sauces,. and a loveof onions, including the shallot. They likedlettuce too. (The lettuce today in France,incidentally, is hard to beat.)

Tile Spanish lent a pungedv in theiruse of chili, peppers, pimientos, tropicalspices and herbs. The prevalence of parsleyin South Louisiana cookery is credited tothe Spanish. Italians showed us how tomake a good tomato sauce. Germans gavea robust tone to some dishes, includingandouille. a smoked pork sausage, which isalso French:

Let's not minimize the culinarycontributions of the Indians which werenot limited to use of Indian corn and wildfruits. They made bread from maize andalso from powdered dried fruits. Theyknow how to barbecue and fry fish well.

.A popular Indian dish was sagamite,a kind of pap made from maize and some-times cooked with beans and meats.The early French 'explorers, includingLePage du Nate; have left us a vastly dif-ferent picture to that taught the averageschool child. The Red men did not mainlyspend their days finding people to scalp.Beans were a staple crop when PierreLeMoyne,' Sion; O'Iberville established thefirst French 4ttlement in the MississippiValley.

The Indians developed many varie-ties of corn. Only recently an AssociatedPress dispatch told of the research byGeorge Wells Beadle, retired president,ofthe University of Chicago, who says thatthe Indians had developed' some 300 typesof corn by the time Columbus reachedAmerica. Du Pratz gave them credit fordevelopment of the melon and the pump-kin.

The Indians gave us file, powderedsassafras leaves, used as a flavoring andthickening agent in gumbos.

Now just what is this Creole-Acadiancuisine? How is it different from the cook-ery of other lands? Well for one thing, theuse of herbs and spices is rather unique.Perhaps the best way to define the term ;sto describe some traditional SouthLouisiana dishes.

One of the distinguishing character-istics of this .cookery is the foundationmixture we call a rout; oil or buttercooked with flour in thai dear old ironskillet until it's brownish. The roux notonly adds color, but tastes as well, and isused'in making gravies% stews and gtunbos,among other things.

.There's one cardinal principle in

South Louisiana the roux must be darkand must be cooked slowly.

The strong feeling fora own gravyas opposed to a white gravy can be illus-trated in a comment made by a native indescribing a woman whose grooming wasall bad - hair stringy, no makeup, ill-fittinggarments. The critical comment wentsomething like.this: «Why she looks like awoman who would make gray gravy!» Noepithet could be more abrasive than toaccuse a woman of tiis «crirne.»

Hovolong should a roux be cooked?That depends. Some say 20 to 30 minutesis sufficient. Others. wouldn't settle foranything less than an hour, and a NewIberia friend devotes about four hours tothis preliminary task. Surely, these fourhours must have included browning theonions.

3,0

Speaking of onions, South Louisiana

storek pers usually classify them as whiteonion, How onion, Creole onion (the red-dish ones), green onion and shallot. (Greenonions and shallots are different). You'dhave to hunt all year and into the next tofind a typical South Louisiana Gallic cookwho would use the word scallion, a word sooften thrust on us Southerners by writers -even in the very marvelous book, «Ameri-can Cooking: Creole, and Acadian.»

The old black cast iron skillet is animportant part of the batterie d cuisine.Someone has said that in Old Louisianawhen a girl received her dowry a black ironskillet always went with the arriagedot. (Incidentally, this ancient renchcustom of a dowry still prevails in estBaton Rouge Parish where a perpetual funwas established by the philanthropist,Julien .Poydras, for the benefit of needybrides).

Some cooks prefer skillets made ofother metals, but try convincing a 1 ause-wife from Marksville or Breaux Bridge orPierre Part to change.

Another fixture in South Louisianakitchens is the French drip coffee pot.Usually nothing but dark roast coffee - thekind that stains the cup - is used. Someareas use an auxiliary ingredient, chicory,especially New Orleans. It is said that oneounce of chicory per 16 ounces of coffeewill enhance the flavor, but alas, coffeemanufacturers run the gamut, sometimeseven up to 20 per cent. Chicory is cheaperthan coffee - that might explain theseflights of fancy. However, chacun a songout.

In the South Louisiana home oryesterday, and to some extent today, youalways started the day off with a pot ofsteaming black coffee - in bed if you were

295

lucky and this was followed by café aulaic for breakfast. Also, coffee off and onduring the day.

Some Louisianians prefer medium orlight roast and others are reduced to vari-ous decaffeinated coffees. Dripolators andpercolators, or the vacuum method, are allput to use in making coffee. Instantis also used ( a venial sin to a loyal French-man).

In Civil War days coffee addicts werereduced to parching sweet potatoes as asubstitute. Necessity is the mother of in-vention, ma chere, but what a substitute!

If you are having a fall meal, saydinner, coffee traditionally is served at the

- close of the meal, not during the maincourse. Maybe during the meal with asandwich or a light snack, but if you serveit with dinner the only explanation is thatyour Latin blood has e-ini out - you're aYankee or something ev worse.

Incidentally, if ',.314 go to Franceand want some black coffee, don't askfor a demi-tasse. That's American. Justsay Café or Café noir or perhaps justNoir. If you wish cream, say Café

creme.

In this treatment of LouisianaCreole-Acadian dishes, it should be pointedout that all South Louisianians don't agreeon how to cook the same dish, nor are theingredients always the same. However,there is one area in which there is completeagreement - I never knew a Frenchman whodidn't love to eat.

Take the grillades. (Actually, theword designates grilled meat.) The mostpopular way to prepare this dish is tobrown veal or beef cutlets, make a roux,

296

add onions, salt and pepper, green pepper,thyme, sometimes tomato, water and then«just cook down» until tender. A popularWest Baton Rouge cook limits the amountof tomato - «just a tablespoon of paste togive it a glow».

In some areas, breaded veal cut-lets are called grenades or better still,cotelettes de .yeau panties, or grilladespaikes.

In the Breaux Bridge area, a well-known cook explained that she alwaysmarinated her grillades in vinegar forabout two days. This method apparentlyis employed to tenderize the meat. Unlikesome other areas, Ole never uses flour forthe gravy. «Nevair».

Grenades get along admirably withgood old grits. In the Baton Rouge area itis popular to serve this dish «after the fodt-ball game» because it can all be prepared inadvance.

Speaking of grits, authoress MaryLand writes amusingly of this Louisiarlstaple in her recent book, «New OrleansCuisine». She says that there is an oldsaying in Carolina which goes Me this:«Never call it hominy grits, or you will giveCharlestonians fits». You'll also give someLouisianians fits too, although you dosometimes run into that «hominy grits»crowd, (In New Orleans).

There's a little trick you can play onyour northern visitor. Serve him boiled orbaked grits and listen well. Nine out of tentimes he will say «Please pass me somemore grit» - minus the «s». To all Loui-sianians, North and South, grits. is a collec-tive noun and so one should say, «the grits.is good».

392

The Acadian boucherie, when theporker squeals his swan song, is still popu-lar over South Louisiana - about the timewhen cane grinding starts and the frost ison the pumpkin. Neighbors often lend ahand in the hog butchery and as a rewardusually go home with a fresh h,am or atleast some scraps for sausage making.

In the French country one findsboudin bithc, and boudin rouge or bloodsausage. The meat in this sausage canbe any ctitlof the hog. Sometimes it isthe scraps, the head and the feet. Thebetter.. cuts arc used for roasts, rib chops,etc. One St. Martinville store owner saysthat for sausages the meat is boiled, groundcoarsely, then cooked green onions, parsleyand sometimes garlic are added. Nextcayenne pepper and salt, cooked rice andthe mixture is stuffed in pork casings. Thewater of the boiled stock is used as a thin-ning agent if needed. This is the recipe forboudin blanc. For boudin rouge, the;added ingredient is the porker's blood. Saltis added to keep the blood from coagula-ting. For 100 pounds of sausage, you canuse from one to two gallons of blood.

A completely different sausage isandouille, very popular in the MississippiRiver parishes of St. James, S14:41ohn andSt. Charles. You'll find it also' in someother sections, Out not everywhere inLouisiana. The early German settlers, andlate tbe French, in St.John and St.Charles,seem o have introduced andouille toLouisia a. However, andouille existedin France at this time and long before. TheGermans are go cod sausage makers and ap-parently they carried their home customsto the new land.

Andouille is now sold commercial-ly and its preparation has come understricter regulations. In the old days, it is

said, just about everything except theson' was thrown in. And usually theparts used were not the good cuts. Into thecasings went mostly scraps, fatty pieces,.stomach ''rings, the liver, the heart, andeven grow id up intestines. «And the Lordknows what else», one native pointed out.

The meat is always chopped, notground. The famous food writer, WaverlyRoot, says that the name derives from theLatin inducere, which means «to intro-duce». For andouille the ingredients arepushed or «introduced» in the casings.

To make andouille, one of thelasting contributions of the early Louisianasettlers on the German coast (COte desAllemands), the sausage is smoked in top-less and bottomless barrels and hung over-head. Palmetto leaves used to be placedover all. A good art ouelle maker has hiswood preferences for smoking and manylike pecan and hackberry. Sometimesbagasse ( what's left of the sugar canestalk after grinding) is thrown on the smok-ing fire to give flavor, or even cane syrup.

Andouille is eaten as a sort ofhors d'oeuvres (good with beer or a hi-ball)or as meat for a meal, but better still as aflavoring agent in gumbos, especiallychicken gumbo, io which file is added.

Hog killing time nets the owner avariety of meats the boudin, bacon(petit sale), ham (jambon), sausage (sau-cisse), and hogshead cheese (fromage deCochon, ou tete fromagee), and cracklings(gratons).

Nothing of the porker is lostnot even the stomach. A delicious dishis the stuffed ponce, sometimes calledchaudin. The stuffing usually includesground pork, bread and assorted seasoning,

1

297

sometimes even yams. The stomach isbrowned and then sty:med.

One of the most popular of allCreole-Acadian dishes is gumbo. How itevolved in the New World is an interestingstory.

It has been said that the LouisianaFrenchman puts everything into the gumbobut the Creole.

The word for okra in Congolese isquingombo. When the slaves arrived inLouisiana, they continued to eat stewedokra. The dish they made came to becalled gombo, even when other availableingedients 'such as shrimp, oysters andcrab, were added. When okra was not used,the dish was still called gombo, or its En-glish equivalent, gumbo.

The evolution of gumbo may havebeen influenced when the French foundthat in Louisiana they could not duplicateall of the ingredients for their famedbouillabaisse.>>

Okra is the thickening agent. Whenno okra is used, the Louisiana file providesthe thickening agent. Apply the file atabout the time you turn off the fire, other-wise the gumbo will be a fiasco very ropy.The word file comes from the French verbfiler, to twist. If you let it cook, it willbecome stringy. This explanation is by thelate Dr. W. A. Read in his study of Africanwords that have made their way into Loui-siana French.

There are two other meanings ofgombo in Louisiana. The word is ap-plied to a heavy, sticky soil; also to theNegro. French patois.

31)3

There's no end to the different

298

South Louisiana gumbos - the ingredientscould include shrimp, combinations of

,'crabs, oyster, chicken, sausage, duck, squir-rel, or what-have-you. Gombo z 'herbesemploys six or seven vegetables and was amainstay during Lent. If it wasn't a day ofabstinence, a piece of salt meat was alwaysused.

In the strict observance of Lentendays of abstinence - and today, too, forthat matter - some housewives would «re-inforce» the gumbo, that is, make it morenutritious, by dropping in raw eggs whichwould quickly poach in the gumbo liquid.A family from Broussard still follows thiscustom today. Another adds, eggs, buthard-cooked ones.

Along with gumbo, various soupsare an important part of the Creole-Acadian cuisine today. A popular dish isfresh corn and tomato soup. If you livedalong the Mississippi or other streamsthat provided shrimp, there was nothingbetter than to add river shrimp to the suur.The inroads of industry along theMississippi with its accompanying pollutionhave just about ruined this supply, how-ever.

cs

Let us not leave this soup categorybefore commenting on a dish strangelycalled maquechou, which is Indian-stylestewed corn and tomatoes, to which shrimpwas often added. This is just about thesame as corn-tomato soup, without thewater. In former days in many Frenchhomes soup found its way to the tablealmost daily. There was great variety hereincluding white bean soup, and turtlesoup - you name it, they had it.

On a par with gumbo in he eyesof a South Louisiana Frenchman is jam-balaya - «jumbalaya» if you're from the

country. This is a Spanish-Creole dishmade with rice and other ingredients whichrange from any seafood, ground meat, ham,duck, crawfish, sat-Age, chicken, turkey -even cowpeas. In this latter case it's calledjambalaya aux congris. Sometimes to-matoes are used for flavor and color.One South Louisianian described thecontents of gumbo as «just about every-thing short of sweeping up the kitchenfloor».

There are many schools of thoughtin jambalaya-making but most agree thatthe dish is better if you add raw rice to theother ingredients rather than cooked rice.

A variant would be somethingjocularly called «dirty» rice. Perhaps thechopped chicken livers and gizzards addedto the rice contribute to the «dirty» lookof this dish, which, incidentally, is usuallyserved more moist than the jambalaya. Butjambalaya or «dirty» rice - they're bothyummy-yum good!

Shellfisk is very !To)? a part ofSouth Louisida cookery, especially craw-fish (crayfish if you're from the North -that is, if you live north of Alexandria,La. Crawfish used to be a seasonal dish,but now the crawfish are grown commer-cially and the availability has been greatlyextended. They were even on the marketlast Christmas.

Crawfish bisque (la bisque d'ere-pisse) is as popular as ever in Louisiana andone doesn't have to go far to find crawfishin stews, pies, or just fried. The piece deresistance, we believe, is the so-calledcrawfish etouffee (smothered crawfish),said to have been started commercially bya Breathe Bridge, La. restauranteur, MmeHarris Champagne who said that one dayshe didn't have enough time to make a

3 j 4

roux and so she combined onion, butterand crawfish tails and sauteed all. Sheliked it better than with the flour, as incrawfish stew. She put this on her menuand soon the idea spread.

The etoufee is served over ricewhich South Louisiana folks dearly love.They like potatoes, too, but rice comesfirst, and like soup, it used to be eatendaily in the French homes.

Fresh and salt water fish are plenti-ful in Louisiana and the Creole-Acadiankitchens make the most of them. Spicysauce piquante, heavy with tomato, findsits way not only over fish, but with chick-en and other meats, including even squir-rel. Fish courtbouillon, with red fishor red snapper, is deep French countryfare.

Shrimp is a mainstay in SouthLouisiana and is served stewed, friedor stuffed and often used to season vege-tables. Shrimp Creole is a mainstay inCreole-Acadian cuisine.

Many old wives' tales have developedover food poisoning, partly because of thelack of refrigeration. This especially ap-plied to milk and seafood. An uncle firmlybelieved that mixing raw oysters with awhiskey highball would quickly put youunder the sod.

Oysters abound in Louisiana coo. ,-

y, but their use, especially in the old dayswhere proper 5efrigeyation was lacking, waslimited to areas nar where they werefound. The most celebrated oyster dish inthe haute cuisine would probably be Oys-ters Rockefeller and the most popularwould probably be au naturelle on the half-shell.

299

Oyster soup is delicious and is usual,ly made with milk and cream, but in theold Creole cuisine, the soup was also madewithout the dairy product. Some soup fan-ciers use clam juice to compensate for thelack of good oyster water. Bottled oysterssold in the supermarket are washed in com-pliance with health laws and this can bedetrimental tO flavor.

Crab boils, with beer as the beverage,are popular all over South Louisiana. Themeat of the crab is quite a luxury itemthese days and, of course, should never befrozen for best results. Frog-legs are wel-come in some homes, not all. The oldstory about how they jump in the potwhile being cooked is not just fable. Asa child I used to squeal with delight whenthey did.

One of the most typical of Acadiandishes is coush-coush, a sort of fried corn-bread eaten as a cereal with milk and sugar,or with syrup.

Eggplant, squash and mirliton (vege-table pear) lend variety to the SouthLouisiana cookery. There are many waysto prepare these. Our choice is stuffedmirliton. This delightful vegetable cameto Louisiana from the West Indies. Mir-liton is the name of the vegetable in Hai-tian-French. It is called chayote inSpain.

Crisp fried eggplant slices are anexample of distinctive South Louisianacookery. A unique touch is to lightlysprinkle sugar over the slices before serving.Magnifique!

A typical Creole-Acadian dish is

bourn! ( boiled beef) using btisket orsoup meat. This dish is often accompaniedby vegetables cooked along with the meat.

3(15la

300

Or perhaps the meat is served only with ahorseradish-tomato sauce. Game birds havefrom the early days been an importantitem in Creole-Acadian fare, including thedove, the elusive snipe and quail (bob-white).

Duck dishes - goose too - have helda high spot in Louisiana cookery. Themarshes seem to beckon to these wingedvisitors. from the North. The mallard duckis regal fare.

One species that is definitely notpopular is the poule d'eau (pronou*das pool doo). This is the water duckwhose (flesh h:is a fishy flavor. Howkver,the clever cook can minimize objectionableflavors.

A story made the rounds in BatonRouge about a newcomer from the Northwho unwittingly chose poule d'eau asher principal supper dish for a large func-tion. To this day they still talk about MissX's faux pas. (One last comment on pouled'eau just don't pull the trigger whilehunting - let him go on his merry fishyhunt).

A dish popular on many tables -

sometimes called «soul food» - is red beansand rice. The beans are usually cookedwith a generous cut of salt meat or ham-bone. It is on the regular menu of manySouth Louisiana families.

The truffle, a black subterraneanedible fungus, is not really included in ihecategory of Creole cuisine, but the truffledid once grow in Louisiana. For this4ttleculinary morsel we are indebted to theBreazeale family of Natchitoches. On thebrks of a stream where there were oaktfees the family often hunted fo ruffles,using dogs. In Europe, traditionally, fit

farmers train hogs for this task, but dogsare used too.

The truffles, which have a nuttyflavor, were sort of dark tan in Natchi-toches - in Europe you have the black

'truffle of some regions in France and thewhite truffle of Italy. H. Payne Breazealesays that many years have passed since theyhunted truffles - it seems that the time wasusually after a spring rain when the dogswere able to get a scent. Truffles arecostly a small one about one inch by twosells retail for around $4.00. The Breazalesused them to flavor gravies. Often youtruffle a turkey and you do this by insert-ing slivers of the truffle between the skinand the meat of the turkey. They imparta delicious flavor to a creamed sauce.

The French influence in food is verymuch evident at Natchitoches, unlike, mostareas iv North Louisiana. One of thedishes that has become synonymous withthe name Natchitoches is the meat pie, adelicious indivickal pie of beef and pork.This, however, sounds more English thanFrench.

An institution in Louisiana, is thePoor- Boy sandwich. One would notthink this exactly fits in the category ofCreole cuisine, but it really does and datesto the Creole French. In French pour-boire means tip or more precisely, ngtneywith which to drink to the donor's health.Delivery boys and just plain beggars wouldknock at the back door of a New Orleansconvent and ask for a pourboire. TheSisters didn't believe in drinking and hadlittle money, so they giKe out sandwichesinstead, and what sandwiches - a wholesmall loaf of French bread sliced horizon-tally, and filled with whatever was in thelarder. English-speaking beggars soon

kfound out about these pourboires and

3 1) 6

%Nur

imagined that they were for «Po' Boy's*,which of course, they were. Today thePoor Boy sandwich is filled with just about.anything, sliced beef, often with gravy, oroysters or any kind of meat. Poor Boys arepopular over the entire Southweit.

A delightful French custom thatused to prevail in the Creole homes wasthe coup de milieu, when sherbet or aflavored ice was served in the middle of anextended meal. This was taken as an aidto digestion and to provide a little break inthe dining. This custom was not universal,of course, and was limited to the moreaffluent homes and to anniversaries,dinners and banquets.

In the North of Franc,g. (inNormandy) one finds a delightful variationthey serve Calvados (Apple Jack Brandy).The custom is called a trou Normand.The idea, or rather excuse, was that thespirits made a trou (hole or gap thethroat to make way for more foo, tocome. A Louisiana variant in Creole ewOrleans is something called «Creole beer»,consisting of brandy, champagne, .gingerale, and crushed pineapples.

Beverages in the South Louisianahome include wine, but ffee andiced tea are favorites. «We used to drink alot of root beer and lemonade when wetere growing up», one South Louisianianconfided. «Also some whiskey, too, yes.»».

Another drink, tres distinguie, isthe mint julep - Bourbon whiskey overcrushed ice, mint and sweetened water.This probably is more Old South thanCreole.

In the realm of spirits, we want tomention cherry bounce, a potent drinkmade of wild cherries, Bourbon whiskey

and sugar. It is a sort of a s«pick up»drink, something to serve instead of coffeewhen friends drop by.- Port and sherry arealso served, but cherry bounce, very wellnamed, is considered something special.

An unusual wine tale'is related by aBaton Rougean. It is a true story, avers anold friend, a descendant of one ofNapoleon Bonaparte's soldiers who madetheir way to Louisiana following Waterloo.It concerns five transplanted Frenchmenwho wished to return to France for justone visit before they died. Eacha wish that they be buried in their nehomeland, Louisiana. All went well onthe sea voyage, they met distant' kin andwere wined an.1 dined extensively4 inFrance, but on the long sea voyage return-ing, one of the five died aboard ship.

Consternation set in - how cduldthey get the body back to Louisiana forinterment! They rubbed Gallic headstogether and suddenly one of them. cameup with an ingenious plan - and it wor d.They simply deposited the poor soul ina large barrel of French wine. A goodpreservative, because when the ship pulledinto the Port of New OrlFans;.the remainsof their po departed was in tip-top shape.And he happily go o)be buried in the soilof Louisiana.

A popular Yuletide drink in.Soutt.Louisiana is eggnog. In some Frenchhomes they have not capitulated to theuniversally popular rich, cold southern egg-nog. Instead, a less rich hot drink, akin toa Tom and "'Jerry, is served. Fruit cakeand other traditional Christmas cakes, andother sweets also make the rounds.

In the line of desserts, perhaps themost Creole of dishes would be crêpes.The beignet, a fritter or doughnut, is quite

3 0 7( 4

302

tasty. Fig ice cream was popular, alsoalmond nougat and pecan pralines. OnTwelfth Night in many homes all over thestate otie is served King's Cake. In NewOrleans, especially, King's Cake is on themenu for January 'b celebrations whichopen the Carnival season.

In the Cajun country especially, one, may be served oreilles de cochon (deep-

fried pastries shaped like pig's ears). Justas 'good, but eaten at breakfast, is painperdu (lost bread), sometimes calledFrench toast, soaked in a sweetened eggand cream mixture and fried.

A dish perennially popular is. breadpudding. In some areas the dish is en-hanced by pouring over a butter-sugar -Bourbon *hiskey sauce. Less populartoday but superior in every way is floatingisland (lie ftottante).

N

Time changes II of our lives andmany of the old food customs are disap-pearing. More wives are working today andthe old adage tha «slow cookery is goodcookery» sometimes as flown out of thewindow.

Among the changes is the old insti-tution of ithe.bountifuPSunday dinner. Afriend once remarked sadly that her littlekw would grow into manhood withoutever really knowing what Sunday dinnermeant. A sad commentary indeed.

Today in Louisiana there seems tobe a resurgence of things French, thanks tothe efforts of the Council for the Develop-ment of French in Louisiana (CODOFIL).Let us hope, irt addition to a re-birth of lalangue franraise, the culinary traditions asexemplified in Louisiana's unique Creole-Acadian cuisine will remain with us for alltime.

z

Adherence to the sometimes richSouth Louisiana cookery is great - that is if,you don't weaken with heartburn orculinary mishap. It was William MakepeaceThackeray who found New Orleans k<thecity of the world where you can ect anddrink the most and suffer the least.» Sothere! Bon appetit!

Reprinted by permission of the author.

308

Baton Rouge

vi eAt NI PR I... 1. i /

(