Médard des Groseilliers
Médard Chouart des Groseilliers (baptized 1618 ; † between 1695 and 1698) was a French ranger and fur trader.
Des Groseilliers traveled around Lake Huron on behalf of Jesuit missionaries in the 1640s . 1654–56 he explored the north of what is now Ontario and learned from the Indians about the abundant fur-bearing areas in the northwest of Lake Superior . So he went there in 1659 with his brother-in-law Pierre-Esprit Radisson and returned with thousands of skins. But these were confiscated by the French administration and the two rangers were arrested for "trading in fur without a license".
In 1669 they turned to the English and took the ship Nonsuch by sea to Hudson Bay , from where the hunting areas could be reached. With that they had found a way to bypass the French-controlled area. They established a first base on the coast and started hunting and trading fur animals. This success prompted the English to found the Hudson's Bay Company .
Both Radisson and des Groseilliers were persecuted as traitors by the French. Even so, Groseilliers was able to return to New France , where he later led several raids on trading posts of the Hudson's Bay Company. Des Groseilliers died after 1695, possibly in the Sorel-Tracy area in New France.
Web links
- Grace Lee Nute: Médard Chouart Sieur des Groseilliers. In: Dictionary of Canadian Biography , Vol. 1 ,. University of Toronto / Université Laval, accessed November 26, 2015 .
- Grosseliers at Canada's National Museum of History and Society , Musée virtuel de la Nouvelle-France , either English or French. With animation of his two great journeys
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Des Groseilliers, Médard |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Chouart des Groseilliers, Médard |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | French ranger and fur trader |
| DATE OF BIRTH | baptized 1618 |
| DATE OF DEATH | between 1695 and 1698 |