NOTE TO USERS This reproduction is the best copy available. UMf u Ottawa L'Universite canadienne Canada's university nm FACULTE DES ETUDES SUPERIEURES 1=1 FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND ET POSTOCTORALES u Ottawa POSDOCTORAL STUDIES L'University canadienne Canada's university Robert Englebert AUTEUR DE LA THESE / AUTHOR OF THESIS Ph.D. (History) GRADE/DEGREE Department of History FACULTE, ECOLE, DEPARTEMENT / FACULTY, SCHOOL, DEPARTMENT Beyond Borders: Mental Mapping and the French River World in North America, 1763-1805 TITRE DE LA THESE / TITLE OF THESIS Nicole St-Onge DIRECTEUR (DIRECTRICE) DE LA THESE / THESIS SUPERVISOR CO-DIRECTEUR (CO-DIRECTRICE) DE LA THESE / THESIS CO-SUPERVISOR Richard Connors Jan Grabowski Christian Morissonneau (Universite Micheline Lessard du Quebec Trois-Rivieres) _Gary_W^Slater_ Le Doyen de la Faculte des etudes superieures et postdoctorales / Dean of the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies Beyond Borders: Mental Mapping and the French River World in North America, 1763- 1805 By: Robert Englebert Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the PhD degree in History University of Ottawa ©Robert Englebert, Ottawa, Canada, 2010 -> Library and Archives Bibliotheque et 1*1 Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-65996-0 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-65996-0 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par I'lnternet, preter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans le loan, distribute and sell theses monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non­ support microforme, papier, electronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in this et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. Ni thesis. Neither the thesis nor la these ni des extraits substantiels de celle-ci substantial extracts from it may be ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement printed or otherwise reproduced reproduits sans son autorisation. without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a la loi canadienne sur la Privacy Act some supporting forms protection de la vie privee, quelques may have been removed from this formulaires secondaires ont ete enleves de thesis. cette these. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires aient inclus dans in the document page count, their la pagination, il n'y aura aucun contenu removal does not represent any loss manquant. of content from the thesis. 1*1 Canada Abstract Title: Beyond Borders: Mental Mapping and the French River World in North America, 1763-1805 Author: Robert Englebert Supervisor: Dr. Nicole St-Onge Submitted: January 27, 2010 This study begins with the Treaty of Paris in 1763. The cession of French territories in North America redrew the geopolitical landscape. However, this dissertation argues that geopolitical change was not representative of, nor did it immediately alter, existing social and economic realities. The French Empire in North America had come to an end, but a sizable French-speaking population remained in both the St. Lawrence and Mississippi Valleys, and throughout the Great Lakes region. Over the next forty years, as the British, Spanish, and Americans carved up the former French territories, they were forced to confront the French-speaking population in the heart of North America. In the midst of regular geopolitical upheaval and instability, I posit that French socio­ economic connections continued to tie French-speaking regions together to form a French river world. More specifically, this dissertation examines socio-economic continuity in the portion of the French river world between the St. Lawrence and middle Mississippi Valleys from 1763 to 1803. Early migration patterns saw Canadiens from the St. Lawrence Valley marry into established French-speaking families in the middle Mississippi Valley in the 1740s. These migration and marriage patterns continued after 1763. They helped connect seemingly disparate French-speaking regions together and kept a broader geographical understanding of French North America at the forefront of living memory. Merchants like Gabriel Cerre traveled back and forth between the two regions, setting up extended networks of communication and exchange through strategic ii marriage alliances designed to facilitate trade. However, merchants did more than simply conduct trade, as they also helped people to handle their personal affairs over long distances. Nowhere was this more visible than in the frequent use of third party representation to handle family succession rights. Merchants and voyageurs became cultural conduits through which French-speaking families stayed connected. Thus, the French river world was both imagined and real, as a product of the lived experiences of merchants and voyageurs and the imaginings of those they represented. Both combined to form a socially constructed mental map, which was mutable and fluid. However, by the end of the eighteenth century, the socio-economic linkages that had helped maintain the French river world slowly began to degrade. Access to British markets and capital, which had initially helped reinforce the commercial networks of the French river world, ultimately undermined long-term social cohesion. The Louisiana Purchase of 1803 ushered in a new era as waves of American migration radically changed the demographic composition of the middle Mississippi Valley. Yet, even as French bourgeois in places like St. Louis shifted their attention towards the construction of mid- America the networks of the French river world were slow to fade. The American Fur Company hired over one thousand Canadien voyageurs out of Montreal for voyages to St. Louis and the limits of Missouri fur trade, keeping elements of the French river world afloat until the 1830s. iii Acknowledgements I would like to thank the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC Doctoral Grant), the John Carter Brown Library (JCBL Fellowship), the Center for French Colonial Studies (Carl J. Ekberg Grant), the Ontario Ministry of Education (OGS), the Voyageur Database Project (University of Ottawa/Metis National Council), the History Department at the University of Ottawa, and the Faculty of Graduate Studies at the University of Ottawa for providing generous funding and support throughout my doctoral degree. Many archivists, curators and academics provided helpful insights and inspiration for this work. In particular I would like to thank Emily Lyons and Jim Baker for helping me during my first visits to Ste. Genevieve and Chester; Ken Bone for sharing his views on Old Mines and French Missouri culture; Jack Greene and Kenneth Banks for taking time to discuss my ideas and research; Robert Morrissey, Guillaume Teasdale and Dale Miquelon for their insights on French colonial history in North America; and Brenda Macdougall, Heather Devine and Carolyn Podruchny for their insights on Metis, fur trade and voyageur history. My dissertation supervisor, Dr. Nicole St-Onge, was instrumental in guiding me through the rigors of academic research and writing. She encouraged me to ask big questions and to push my research beyond my initial expectations. Her many 'suggestions' helped create opportunities to further and share my research. More important, however, was her support, patience and counsel to assist me in bringing years of research and writing to fruition. I am truly thankful to have had such wonderful guidance throughout my doctoral studies. In addition to my supervisor, I would like to thank Dr. Richard Connors and Dr. Micheline Lessard. They reminded me to read broadly and to think of the larger British imperial and French colonial contexts. I would also like to thank my new colleagues in the History Department at the University of Saskatchewan for their patience and support during the final stages of my doctoral studies. My friends have had an enormous influence on my work. To the University of Ottawa crew of Jamie Trepanier, Tim Foran, Katherine Magee-Labelle, James McKillip, Kenneth Sheppard, Amy Gill, Daniel Macfarlane and Julia Morris. Though most of us have now scattered and left the University of Ottawa, I want you to know that your friendship and support helped immeasurably throughout my doctoral studies and pushed me to be a better academic. Numerous friends outside of academia also helped offer support during my doctoral studies, including Cathia Badiere, Kirk Tysick, George Cummings, and Georgia Fakiolas. In particular I would like to thank Derek Rumpf and Molly McCoubrey for their support through all the ups and downs. To my parents, Michael and Donna, and my sister Joanna. You have made this possible more than you know. From reading drafts to answering late night phone calls you saw me through everything and encouraged me to do what I