On La Salle’s Expedition — Pierre You de La Découverte

B. 1658 in La Rochelle, France
M. (1) about Apr 1693 in (probably) Native American camp at future site of Chicago
Wife: Élisabeth (of the Miami tribe)
M. (2) 15 Apr 1697 in Montreal
Wife: Madeleine Just
D. Aug 1718 in Montreal, New France

There were few more colorful characters in New France than Pierre You de La Découverte. During his 60 years, he traveled with La Salle, lived off the grid in a camp of Miami Indians, and ran a successful fur trading business in early Montreal. Not everything he did was virtuous, though; he was involved in some illegal business dealings, and in the trading of Native American slaves.

Pierre was from the parish of St-Sauveur in La Rochelle, France, born in about 1658 to Pierre You, a tanner, and Marie-Renée Turcot. Nothing is known of his childhood, or whether or not he had siblings. He came to New France during the 1670s. The earliest record that mentioned Pierre was a 1677 grant of land that was next to his property. The document described him as a sergeant at Fort Frontenac, a military outpost at the eastern end of Lake Ontario. The recipient of the land grant was René-Robert La Salle, a man who figured prominently in Pierre’s life.

By 1682, La Salle had already made several expeditions out west, and he was seeking to set up a network of French outposts in the Mississippi River basin. In late January, Pierre joined a group of 23 Frenchmen and 18 Indians led by La Salle, and they set out in canoes from Fort Crèvecœur (present-day Peoria, Illinois). The men navigated south through icy waters, entering the Mississippi River. They passed the mouths of the Missouri and Ohio Rivers, and then camped for a week at the future site of Memphis where they built a small fort. A little ways further down the river, the expedition met up with a group of warriors of the Arkansas tribe who had likely never seen Europeans before. Peace was made and La Salle claimed the region for France. The expedition had several more contacts with natives before they reached the Mississippi River delta. The men had to live off the land, and survived for a time on a diet of potatoes and crocodiles. 

Route of La Salle's 1682 expedition down the Mississippi.

On April 9th, La Salle formally claimed the Mississippi River basin for France; this territory represented roughly a third of what is now the United States. La Salle was dressed in a coat of “scarlet trimmed with gold” as he planted a cross and buried an engraved copper plaque at a site near the mouth of the Mississippi. He also drew up a document that was signed by 12 of his men, including Pierre. Soon after the ceremony, the expedition began their journey home paddling up the river. After participating in La Salle’s expedition, Pierre added “de La Découverte” to his surname, and from then on, he signed himself that way. 

La Salle claiming the Mississippi River Valley for France.

Pierre went on to pursue a life in the remote French outposts of the Great Lakes, and this was how for a time he lived among indigenous people. During the 1690s, a camp of Wea Indians (part of the Miami tribe) was located at the site of present-day Chicago. It was said that Pierre married a Wea woman there in April 1693, although it’s likely that this marriage wasn’t a formal arrangement. His wife was known as Élisabeth, and in about 1694, she bore Pierre’s child, a girl named Marie-Anne.

In 1695, Pierre was known to be an officer in Michilimackinac, an outpost located where Lake Michigan meets Lake Huron. It isn’t known if his native family was with him. Not long after, Pierre left his wife and child among Élisabeth’s tribe and moved to Montreal, where he married Madeleine Just on April 15, 1697, a ceremony which was witnessed by Alexandre Turpin and Charlotte Beauvais. Between 1698 and 1706, Pierre and Madeleine had five children, two of whom died young. While married to Madeleine, Pierre had an out-of-wedlock child with a 19-year-old woman. Her name was Marie-Madeleine Drousson dit Robert. It isn't known if she consented to the relationship or not. The baby was a girl born in 1708, and Pierre attended her baptism.

When Pierre lived in Montreal, he had a large house on the Rue Saint-Paul. The house was said to be so big that it looked like a warehouse, a sign that he had acquired some wealth. By 1703, he received a land grant at the far western part of Montreal island so he could more easily engage in fur trading, and he settled with his family there. Pierre conducted much of his business from Île-aux-Tourtres, an island at the junction of the Ottawa and St. Lawrence rivers. He was offering liquor to the Indians which enticed them to stop and trade with him, and this gave him an advantage over other merchants, a practice which was against the law. When other merchants complained about Pierre, the authorities looked the other way because of his connections and his record serving in the military. 

Pierre's signature.

Along with furs and other goods, Pierre also dealt in buying and selling Indian slaves. The slaves often came from tribes in the far west; they were captured by other tribes, then traded until they ended up in New France. One slave named Pascal came into Pierre’s possession while he was living among the Wea tribe during the 1690s; he brought Pascal back to Montreal in 1703, and he was later sold to a man known to treat slaves cruelly. Pierre’s actions suggest a callous indifference to those entrapped by the system of slavery.

Pierre continued conducting his business until he died in Montreal in August 1718. His wife Madeleine survived him, but experienced the huge fire which swept through Montreal on June 19, 1721. A nun named Sister Marie Morin later wrote a memoir of the event describing Madeleine’s reaction to the fire, “Madame La Découverte was the last house in the fire’s path, which was so close that burning sparks fell onto it, but she, wiser than the others, promised God a considerable sum for the salvation of the souls in purgatory, and the fire ceased instantly.” In spite of her efforts, the house on Rue Saint-Paul was destroyed. Madeleine was still alive in 1728, but it isn’t known what became of her after that date.

Children by Élisabeth of the Miami tribe:
1. Marie-Anne You — B. about 1695, (probably) Native American camp at future site of Chicago; M. Jean-Baptiste Richard (1682-?), 15 Aug 1718, Montreal, Quebec

Children by Madeleine Just:
1. Pierre You — B. Jan 1698, Montreal, New France; D. May 1703, Montreal, New France

2. Philippe You — B. 2 Nov 1699, Montreal, New France; D. 1736

3. François d’Youville — B. 24 Nov 1700, Montreal, New France; D. 4 Jul 1730, Montreal, New France; M. Marie-Marguerite Dufros (1701-1771), 12 Aug 1722, Montreal, New France

4. Joseph-Paschal You — B. Apr 1702, Montreal, New France; D. Apr 1702, Montreal, New France

5. Marie-Louise You — B. 20 Mar 1706, Montreal, New France; D. 7 Sep 1728, Montreal, New France

Child by Marie-Madeleine Drousson dit Robert:
1. Marie-Catherine You — B. 9 Sep 1708, Montreal, New France; D. 22 Jul 1724, Longueuil, New France

Sources:
Généalogie du Quebec et d’Amérique française (website)
Quebec Catholic Parish Registers, 1621-1979, FamilySearch.org
Pierre You de La Découverte, Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
René-Robert Cavelier de La Salle, Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
Bonds of Alliance: Indigenous and Atlantic Slaveries in New France, Brett Rushforth, 2013
“French-Canadian Exploration, Missionary Work, and Fur Trading in Hudson Bay, the Great Lakes and Mississippi Valley During the 17h Century, Part 7,” Diane Wolford Sheppard, 2010
Encyclopedia of Chicago (website)