Marie-Anne Gaboury
Marie-Anne Lagimodière , b. Gaboury (born August 2, 1780 in Maskinongé , Québec ; † December 14, 1875 in Saint-Boniface , Manitoba ) was a French- Canadian who, at the beginning of the 19th century, was known to be the first woman of European descent to travel to what is now western Canada and settle there . She is also the grandmother of Louis Riel , the founder of the Manitoba Province.
biography
Gaboury was born in Maskinongé, a village near Trois-Rivières . In her youth, after the death of her father, she led an inconspicuous life as the housekeeper of the village pastor. On April 21, 1806, she married Jean-Baptiste Lagimodière, a fur trader who worked in Rupert's Land for the Hudson's Bay Company . Immediately after the wedding and contrary to the customs of the time, Gaboury traveled west with her husband. They came from Montreal by canoe to the confluence of the Assiniboine River and Red River (this is where the city of Winnipeg is now ). They spent the winter in a Métis camp near Pembina in North Dakota , where the first of seven children were born in January 1807.
The following spring, the family traveled to the Saskatchewan River Valley , where they stayed until 1811. Marie-Anne Gaboury was the first woman of European descent to settle on the Canadian prairies. During this time she led a semi-nomadic life and accompanied her husband on numerous trapper excursions and bison hunts that took her to what is now Alberta . On one of these expeditions, the family was briefly captured by the Tsuu T'ina because of their ties to the Cree . They were able to escape on horseback, but were followed for five days until they were able to get to safety in Fort des Prairies (in what is now Edmonton ). Otherwise, relations with the First Nations were good and Gaboury often piqued the natives' curiosity as she was the first white woman they had ever seen.
When it became known that Lord Selkirk was planning a permanent colony on the Red River, the family returned and were among the first to settle the new Red River colony in the spring of 1812 . The first few years of the colony were marked by clashes between the Hudson's Bay Company and the rival North West Company , which escalated in the Pemmican War . The couple stayed out of the conflict, but Jean-Baptiste Lagimodière was commissioned by Colin Robertson to report to Lord Selkirk in Montreal. In the winter of 1815/16, Marie-Anne Gaboury stayed behind and had to find refuge with the natives when Fort Douglas was destroyed by the North West Company.
In recognition of his services, Jean-Baptiste Lagimodière received a plot of land on the Red River from Lord Selkirk, where he farmed until his death in 1855. Gaboury died in 1875 at the age of 95. She also witnessed the events of the Red River Rebellion , in which her grandson Louis Riel (son of their daughter Julie, born in 1822) played a leading role and was instrumental in establishing the province of Manitoba .
The École Marie-Anne-Gaboury , a bilingual primary school in Winnipeg , is named after her .
Web links
- Marie-Anne Gaboury . In: Dictionary of Canadian Biography . 24 volumes, 1966–2018. University of Toronto Press, Toronto ( English , French ).
- Center culturel Marie-Anne Gaboury
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Gaboury, Marie-Anne |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Lagimodière, Marie-Anne; Gaboury (maiden name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | first female settler of European descent in western Canada |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 2, 1780 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Maskinongé |
| DATE OF DEATH | December 14, 1875 |
| Place of death | Saint-Boniface |