Merriam-Webster defines adventure as "an undertaking usually involving danger and unknown risks" or "an exciting or remarkable experience." Today, our adventures tend to be the latter. They are positive things in our lives, like my solo-trip by car from St. Louis, Missouri to Arizona and New Mexico this past summer. That was truly an adventure!
My ancestors' adventures were different. They were frightening, life-altering experiences. It's hard for me to think of the things they endured using the term "adventure." This is especially true for my French-Canadian ancestors. They came to the wildest places in North America, broke ground, and established families. They traveled down rivers and lakes, deep into the unknown interior of what is now the United States, and settled there too. Imagine how remote their tiny villages were in comparison to those on the Eastern Seaboard. They didn't live next to their indigenous neighbors. They lived among them. They intermarried with the friendly tribes and fought with their adversaries.
Michel Messier dit St. Michel was one of these men.
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