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The life of René Bourassa dit La Ronde
Biography
René Bourassa dit La Ronde was baptized at La Prairie, across the St. Lawrence from Montréal in present-day Québec, Canada, on December 21, 1688. His parents were François Bourassa and Marie Le Ber. His father had contracted for the Ottawa country in 1688 and Michilimackinac in 1690; his mother belonged to the Le Ber trading family.
He married Agnès Gagné at La Prairie on October 23, 1710; they had three children. After her death in 1719 he married Marie-Catherine Leriger de La Plante on September 28, 1721, and five more children followed. René, born in 1718 to Agnès, and René-Clément, born around 1722 to Catherine, were different sons.
His trade reached beyond the colony’s permitted routes. An unauthorized journey to Orange, now Albany on New York’s Hudson River, in autumn 1721 led to a fine of 500 livres. By 1726 he was sending canoes into the western fur country with Nicolas Sarrazin and François Lefebvre Duplessis Faber. In 1727 he traded at Baie-des-Puants, now Green Bay in Wisconsin.
A more closely documented journey began with a two-month passport issued on March 27, 1729. René, L’Ange Guérin dit Lafontaine and his cousin François Le Ber were allowed to carry letters toward New England, but commerce was expressly forbidden. They left Montréal on March 29, underwent inspections at La Prairie on March 31 and Fort Chambly on April 1, and completed a thirty-seven-day Chambly–Orange–Chambly trip. René made his final declaration at Montréal on May 11. The inventory lists food, brandy, tobacco, fire-making equipment, gun supplies, snowshoes, sledges and deerskin for footwear, showing the practical demands of the journey.
By 1735 he was hiring men for La Vérendrye’s western posts. He was at Saint-Joseph, near present-day Niles, Michigan, that July and wintered at Fort Saint-Charles in the Lake of the Woods region. In June 1736, traveling toward Michilimackinac with four companions, he was captured by a large Dakota war party. The historical account credits an enslaved Sioux woman in his party with pleading for his life and securing his release. Later that year René and Laurent-Eustache Gamelin dit Châteauvieux established a trading post at Vermilion and wintered with Ojibwe people.
From 1737 his business increasingly centered on Michilimackinac, the fort and trading settlement at the straits between Lakes Michigan and Huron in present-day Michigan. In 1739 he sold forty-five pots of wine to Céloron de Blainville for a French-Indigenous force campaigning against the Chickasaws. He later supplied goods used in negotiations with Indigenous nations. His family moved to the post in the 1740s. He owned a house, another lot within the fort and meadow land outside; scholarship identifies a June 1, 1754 meadow or marsh concession on the road toward Grand Lac as his eighth concession, with more than eight recorded by 1763.
His business and household history included enslavement. A September 28, 1717 notarial record documents his purchase for 400 livres of an Indigenous girl brought into the colony by Michel Bisaillon. Scholarly work attributes at least five enslaved people to René and Catherine. A March 17, 1750 register entry names Marianne, enslaved by Sieur Bourassa, and her son Basile; the elder René was Basile’s godfather. Other entries name Charles, about eighteen in 1750, and Ignace, about fourteen in 1754. Those latter entries do not securely distinguish the elder Bourassa from the younger generation.
By the late 1740s his sons René and Ignace handled much of the business. On August 3, 1744 the younger René married Anne-Charlotte-Véronique Chevalier, and the elder René stood as godfather when baptismal ceremonies were supplied for their infant son. His daughter Charlotte-Ambroisine married Charles-Michel Mouet de Langlade on August 12, 1754. These marriages connected the household with other Great Lakes trading families.
During the Ojibwe capture of the British-held fort in 1763, René lost horses and cattle. Following the British return in September 1764, he left Michilimackinac and spent his remaining years in Montréal. He was buried there on September 7, 1778; his exact death date is uncertain.
The burial listing places René Bourassa dit La Ronde at Cimetière Notre-Dame (1672-1830), Montréal, Montréal Region, Québec, Canada.
Images & documents
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View source ↗Family relationships
Parents
Partners
Children with Agnès Gagné
Children with Marie-Catherine Leriger de La Plante
A life in dates
33 events
- Baptism
Baptized at Prairie-de-la-Madeleine (La Prairie), son of François Bourassa dit La Ronde and Marie Le Ber.
La Prairie, Quebec, Canada
Show on map → - Slave Purchase
Notarial record documents purchase for 400 livres of an enslaved Indigenous girl brought into the colony by Michel Bisaillon.
La Prairie, Quebec, Canada
Show on map → - Marriage
Married second wife Marie-Catherine Leriger de La Plante; five children followed.
La Prairie, Quebec, Canada
Show on map → - Legal Trade Violation
Fined 500 livres for illicit travel/trade to Orange (Albany); archival deliberation identifies the unauthorized autumn 1721 journey.
Montréal, Quebec, Canada
Show on map → - Western Trade
Entered western fur trade with Nicolas Sarrazin and François Lefebvre Duplessis Faber; dispatched canoes to the pays d'en haut.
- Fur Trade
Traded at Baie-des-Puants (Green Bay).
Baie-des-Puants (Green Bay), Wisconsin, United States
Show on map → - Passport
Received two-month passport to carry letters to New England with L’Ange Guérin dit Lafontaine and cousin François Le Ber; commerce expressly prohibited.
Montréal, Quebec, Canada
Show on map → - Journey
Departed Montréal for Orange/Albany; equipment was inspected at La Prairie on March 31 and Fort Chambly on April 1.
Montréal, Quebec, Canada
Show on map → - Journey Return
Completed final return declaration after 37-day Chambly–Orange–Chambly round trip.
Montréal, Quebec, Canada
Show on map → - Western Trade
Hired engagés for La Vérendrye posts; was at Saint-Joseph in July and wintered with La Vérendrye at Fort Saint-Charles.
Fort Saint-Charles (Lake of the Woods), Minnesota, United States
Show on map → - Connection to this place
Winter residence — Fort Saint-Charles site, Magnusson Island, Angle Inlet, Lake of the Woods, Minnesota.
Fort Saint-Charles site, Magnusson Island, Angle Inlet, Lake of the Woods, Minnesota, United States
Show on map → - Connection to this place
Trading stop — Historical Fort Saint-Joseph vicinity, Niles, Michigan.
Historical Fort Saint-Joseph vicinity, Niles, Michigan
Show on map → - Trading Post
With Laurent-Eustache Gamelin dit Châteauvieux, built a trading post at Vermilion and wintered with Ojibwas.
Vermilion River trading post, Minnesota, United States
Show on map → - Capture
Captured with four companions by a large Prairie Sioux/Dakota war party while traveling toward Michilimackinac; an enslaved Sioux woman pleaded for his life and he was released.
Fort Saint-Charles (Lake of the Woods), Minnesota, United States
Show on map → - Residence Trade
From 1737 onward his commerce increasingly centered on Michilimackinac.
Fort Michilimackinac (Mackinaw City), Michigan, United States
Show on map → - Military Supply Trade
Sold 45 pots of wine to Céloron de Blainville for a French-Indigenous force campaigning against the Chickasaws.
Fort Michilimackinac (Mackinaw City), Michigan, United States
Show on map → - Family Relocation
Moved his family to Michilimackinac and became a prominent resident trader/property holder.
Fort Michilimackinac (Mackinaw City), Michigan, United States
Show on map → - Family Alliance
Son René, born in 1718 to Agnès Gagné, married Anne-Charlotte-Véronique Chevalier at Michilimackinac. The couple's infant son was acknowledged at the ceremony, with the elder René serving as godfather.
Fort Michilimackinac (Mackinaw City), Michigan, United States
Show on map → - Enslaved Household Record
Michilimackinac register records Basile, son of Marianne, identified as an enslaved woman of Sieur Bourassa; René served as godfather.
Fort Michilimackinac (Mackinaw City), Michigan, United States
Show on map → - Enslaved Household Record
The Michilimackinac register records Charles, about eighteen, as enslaved by Sieur René Bourassa. Whether this was the elder or a younger René Bourassa is uncertain.
Fort Michilimackinac (Mackinaw City), Michigan, United States
Show on map → - Grandchild Birth
A grandson was born at Michilimackinac to René Bourassa the younger and Anne Chevalier.
Fort Michilimackinac (Mackinaw City), Michigan, United States
Show on map → - Enslaved Household Record
The Michilimackinac register records Ignace, about fourteen, as enslaved by Mr. Bourassa. Which generation of the Bourassa family the entry refers to is uncertain.
Fort Michilimackinac (Mackinaw City), Michigan, United States
Show on map → - Property
Land record cited in scholarship describes an eighth concession: a meadow or marsh on the road toward Grand Lac.
Fort Michilimackinac (Mackinaw City), Michigan, United States
Show on map → - Family Alliance
Daughter Charlotte-Ambroisine married Charles-Michel Mouet de Langlade.
Fort Michilimackinac (Mackinaw City), Michigan, United States
Show on map → - Fort Capture
Ojibwa warriors captured Fort Michilimackinac from the British garrison; DCB reports René’s horses and cattle were killed before the British return.
Fort Michilimackinac (Mackinaw City), Michigan, United States
Show on map → - Return To Montreal
After the British returned to Michilimackinac in September 1764, René soon left the post and spent his remaining years in Montréal.
Montréal, Quebec, Canada
Show on map → - Connection to this place
Reported historical burial ground — Historical Notre-Dame burial-ground precinct, Old Montréal near Place d’Armes.
Historical Notre-Dame burial-ground precinct, Old Montréal near Place d’Armes, Québec, Canada
Show on map → - Connection to this place
Unauthorized journey destination — Albany, New York.
Albany, New York
Show on map → - Connection to this place
Inspection and return corridor — Fort Chambly.
Fort Chambly, Quebec, Canada
Show on map →
More about this person
Other names
René Bourassa dit La Ronde · Bouracas · Bourasseau
Work & roles
fur trader
merchant
Notes & sources
Family records
- Canada's History — L’esclavage en Nouvelle-France
- Christina M. Dickerson — Diplomats, Soldiers, and Slaveholders
- Citizen Potawatomi Nation — Bourassa family history
- Dictionary of Canadian Biography — René Bourassa dit La Ronde
- DNA consolidated biography and timeline evidence and decisions
- FamilySearch — Marie-Catherine Lériger dit La Plante family record
- Jacqueline Peterson — Ethnogenesis: The Settlement and Growth of a 'New People' in the Great Lakes Region, 1702–1815
- Location evidence: person 345
- Mackinac Baptism Records 1750–1754 — Daniel Bourassa, 8 October 1752
- Mackinac Letter Book / Burton Historical Records — Bourassa family note
- Mackinac register of baptisms and interments, 1695–1821
- Mackinac State Historic Parks — Colonial Michilimackinac History
- New France Archives — 1723 Marine Council deliberation on illegal Orange/Albany travel
- Société d’histoire de La Prairie — Bourassa roots in La Prairie
- Société d’histoire de La Prairie — Un passeport pour la Nouvelle-Angleterre
- Sylvie Tremblay — Les Bourassa, Cap-aux-Diamants no. 83 (2005)
- Wisconsin Historical Collections, vol. 18 — Mackinac Register (Library of Congress)