Pierre Forcier - Death.

Beaver Wars.

From their very first contact the French and Iroquois had been at odds to control the territory along the Saint-Lawrence River. Both parties wished to secure the lucrative fur trade with Europe and the French had allied with the Huron, a long standing rival of the Iroquois.

King Louis XIV sent the Carignan-Salières Régiment in 1665 to protect the colony. The additional arms brought some respite, though once the soldiers left the raids again ramped up.

Denonville was charged with restoring order when he arrived in August 1685 with a detachment of the Troupes de la marine. They set out to capture fur trading outposts from the English and to harass the Iroquois Confederacy. This, of course, was met with resistance and led to some of the bloodiest clashes recorded in the New World.

Among the most storied was the Lachine Massacre in August 1689. When the French answered the attack our ancestor Clément Lériger of the Troupes de la marine was captured by Indians and held for three years.

Militia.

All able-bodied men were expected to rise in defense of the colony. Many did not own guns and would report armed with axes or farm implements to fight, though our ancestor Pierre did have a fusil. The long gun had a smooth bore that was suitable for firing both a round ball or buckshot. It was not an accurate shot, though it could be quite effective. The powder was loaded into the muzzle and tamped down, then a ball was added, and finally a paper wad. The flintlock firing mechanism is akin to striking a match to ignite powder in the pan. The resulting flash fired the gun.

And so armed, Pierre answered the call in May of 1690.

Fallen.

The records do not reveal the precise circumstances, but Pierre Forcier and Jacques Vacher died in battle.

Saint-François-du-Lac register: 1690 18 May Burial of Pierre Forcier and of Jacques Vachel, killed by the Iroquois. Present: Sr. Jean Crevier, Jacques Joyel, many soldiers & all the habitants.

M. Vacher dit Laserte did not have any children. Our ancestor Pierre, 42, left behind a wife and five children including our six year old ancestor Marguerite.

Another Start.

A few months later his widow Marguerite Girard married her neighbor René Abraham dit Desmarais on 30 November 1690. He brought one son to the union, and together they had two more: Pierre Abraham dit Desmarais born 10 May 1691 and Jean-Baptiste Abraham dit Courville born a few years later. Pierre married Marie-Josèphe Joyal, daughter of Jacques Joyal. Jean-Baptiste married Marie-Françoise Danis, granddaughter of Honoré Danis, our ancestor.

Marguerite Girard died in Hôtel-Dieu-de-Québec in ville de Québec in August 1695 when her daughter, our ancestor Marguerite Forcier, was 11. She would marry in another ten years. Abraham died in 1716.