Augustin le Gardeur de Courtemanche (December 16, 1663 – June 29, 1717) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

soldier and ambassador from

Labrador , nickname = "The Big Land" , etymology = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Canada , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 ...

Biography

Born in

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Communauté métrop ...

on December 16, 1663, Augustin le Gardeur de Courtemanche joined the military in 1690, serving under René Robinau de Portneuf on his expedition to

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

during

King William's War King William's War (also known as the Second Indian War, Father Baudoin's War, Castin's War, or the First Intercolonial War in French) was the North American theater of the Nine Years' War (1688–1697), also known as the War of the Grand All ...

. He distinguished himself during the capture of Fort Pejpescot in

Casco Bay Casco Bay is an inlet of the Gulf of Maine on the southern coast of Maine, New England, United States. Its easternmost approach is Cape Small and its westernmost approach is Two Lights in Cape Elizabeth. The city of Portland sits along its south ...

. In April 1691,

Governor General of New France Governor General of New France was the vice-regal post in New France from 1663 until 1760, and it was the last French vice-regal post. It was replaced by the British post of Governor of the Province of Quebec following the fall of New France. ...

Louis de Buade de Frontenac Louis de Buade, Comte de Frontenac et de Palluau (; 22 May 162228 November 1698) was a French soldier, courtier, and Governor General of New France in North America from 1672 to 1682, and again from 1689 to his death in 1698. He established a nu ...

sent de Courtemanch to

Fort Michilimackinac Fort Michilimackinac was an 18th-century French, and later British, fort and trading post at the Straits of Mackinac; it was built on the northern tip of the lower peninsula of the present-day state of Michigan in the United States. Built arou ...

to inform nearby natives of the French victory. In 1693, he was assigne to

Nicolas d'Ailleboust de Manthet Nicolas d'Ailleboust de Manthet, also known as Nicolas de Manthet, born 1664, killed in action 1709, was a Canadian captain in the French marines serving in Canada. He was one of the leaders of the French and Indians at the Schenectady massacre 16 ...

, who was defending against the

Mohawk nation The Mohawk people ( moh, Kanienʼkehá꞉ka) are the most easterly section of the Haudenosaunee, or Iroquois Confederacy. They are an Iroquoian-speaking Indigenous people of North America, with communities in southeastern Canada and northern Ne ...

. On April 1, 1694, he was given a company and sent to Fort St. Joseph on the bank of the St. Joseph River.

Louis-Hector de Callière Louis-Hector de Callière or Callières (12 November 1648 – 26 May 1703) was a French military officer, who was the governor of Montreal (1684–1699), and the 13th governor of New France from 1698 to 1703. During his tenure as governor of ...

sent de Courtemanche to France in 1698 to inform

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Vers ...

of the death of de Frontenac and to request de Callière as the next Governor General. For his efforts, which were successful, de Courtemanche was named a captain on his return. He spent the late 1690s pursuing commercial interests with trader Raymond Martel. In the fall of 1700, he was sent with Jean Enjalran to convince the

Iroquois The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years to ...

and the

Odawa The Odawa (also Ottawa or Odaawaa ), said to mean "traders", are an Indigenous American ethnic group who primarily inhabit land in the Eastern Woodlands region, commonly known as the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada. They ha ...

to make a peace deal in

Montréal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-p ...

. That December, he became one of the first of European descent to visit the place that would become

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. He found a tribe of

Wea The Wea were a Miami-Illinois-speaking Native American tribe originally located in western Indiana. Historically, they were described as either being closely related to the Miami Tribe or a sub-tribe of Miami. Today, the descendants of the ...

and

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

preparing for war. He was able to convince Miami chief Chickikatalo to return with him. De Courtemanche was granted a ten-year land concession adjacent to the

Strait of Belle Isle The Strait of Belle Isle (; french: Détroit de Belle Isle ) is a waterway in eastern Canada that separates the Labrador Peninsula from the island of Newfoundland, in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Location The strait is the northern o ...

, giving him exclusive seal hunting and Indian trading rights there. He probably returned to Labrador in 1704, as a wrote a memoir to its intendant,

Jacques Raudot Jacques Raudot (1638 - 20 February 1728, Paris) was the co-Intendant of New France between 1705 and 1710 with his son Antoine-Denis Raudot. In 1709 Raudot issued an ordinance to clarify whether individuals could legally own slaves, in New Franc ...

, describing his military service. On November 12, 1712, de Courtemanche was named commandant of Labrador, tasked with enduring its fishing interests. De Courtemanche married Marie-Charlotte Charest on July 20, 1697. He died on June 29, 1717. His step-son

François Martel de Brouague François () is a French masculine given name and surname, equivalent to the English name Francis. People with the given name * Francis I of France, King of France (), known as "the Father and Restorer of Letters" * Francis II of France, Kin ...

succeeded him as commandant of Labrador.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Le Gardeur De Courtemanche, Augustin 1663 births 1717 deaths People from Labrador History of Chicago People of pre-statehood Michigan