The Fur Trade Revisited: Selected Papers of the Sixth North American Fur Trade Conference, Mackinac Island, Michigan, 1991

The Cadottes: Five Generations of Fur Traders on Lake Superior

The Cadottes: Five Generations of Fur Traders on Lake Superior Theresa M. Schenck Between 1686 and 1840 five generations of the Cadotte family were active in the Lake Superior fur trade. At one time or another they were involved in almost every aspect of this lucrative commerce: as voyageurs, derks, traders, interpreters, and even as financiers. Some sought to make a fortune, others pursued adventure; many more were born to the fur trade and knew no other life. Although Mathurin Cadotl had made his first voyage to Sault Ste. Marie with Nicolas Perrot and Daumont de Saint-Lusson in 1670 and was probably a coureur de bois for many years, it was not until 1686 that he received his first conge to trade among the "sauvages es/oignez"--distant nations.2 Forming a partnership with several friends, he continued his activities among the Ottawa at least until 1690, when he hired his wife's half-brother to take his place. About to become a father for the first time, he retired to the quiet life of a habitant at Becancour, near Trois Rivieres, and later, in Batiscan. Memories of the fur trade were kept alive in the Cadot family, and in 1717 Mathurin's eldest son, Jean-Franc;ois, made his only recorded voyage to Michilimackinac. Two other sons, Rene and Charles, followed, each making several trips here between 1722 and 1733.3 Upon their return, these young men used their earnings to establish themselves by purchasing cleared land, and were thus able to marry and begin families. Hence the fur trade, while it did not bring great wealth to the voyageurs, brought at least some access to security. It was not until the third generation that a permanent commitment to this new country was made. Inspired by his grandfather's tales of adventure, as well as by those of his father and his uncles, Jean-Baptiste-the eldest son of JeanFranc ;ois Cadot-entered the fur trade at the age of 18. On 23 June 1742 he contracted with Jean-Baptiste-Nicolas Roch de Ramezay to go to the post of Nipigon with the first canoes to leave that year. He agreed to hunt, fish-in a word, to do all that was commanded him for a period of three years, during which time he could engage in no private trade. At the completion of his term, on his return to Montreal, he would be paid the sum of 700 livres.4 But the young Jean-Baptiste did not return to Montreal. For him the family farm in Batiscan held no attraction, even though his father's death in 1743 had 189 THERESA M. SCHENCK Figure 1. Record of marriage of Jean-Baptiste Cadot, Ste. Anne's Register. Courtesy of Ste. Anne's Church, Mackinac Island, Michigan. left him to manage the estate. Here, in the "pays d'en haut,"-upper country-he would live out his life and found a new family. By the mid-eighteenth century, Sault Ste. Marie was important not only as the gateway to Lake Superior but also as a summer rendezvous for Indians and voyageurs alike. The French, realizing its strategic value in controlling the fur trade, decided to establish a fort there to intercept Indians bringing their furs to trade with the British. When Louis Legardeur de Repentigny arrived in the fall of 1750 to take charge of this new seigneury, he found a Frenchman living there married to a Native woman, and hired them to clear the land and prepare it for planting.5 The Frenchman, later revealed to be Jean-Baptiste Cadot,6 stayed on to become interpreter at the fort and an effective mediator with the Indians. The fact that his wife was related to several of the local chiefs, including Madjekewiss, must have helped considerably. When the British trader Alexander Henry the elder, reached the Sault on 19 May 1762, at the end of the Seven Years War, he found that the French had already left, and "the only family was that of M. Cadotte, the interpreter, whose wife was a Chipeway.,,7 Realizing the importance of learning the Native language in order to establish himself in the Indian trade, Henry resolved to spend the winter with the family, where Chippewa was the only language spoken. Later that summer, a small detachment of British soldiers arrived under Lt. John 190 THE CADO'ITES: FWE GENERATIONS OF...