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Pierre Boucher, interpreter, soldier, seigneur (baptized 1 August 1622 in Mortagne, France; died 19 April 1717 in Boucherville, QC).
Career Highlights
Pierre Boucher lived in Huronia from 1637 to 1641, assisting the missionaries, living among the Indigenous people and learning their dialects (see Indigenous Languages in Canada). From 1645 he lived in Trois-Rivières, distinguishing himself in its defence against Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) raids. He became captain of Trois-Rivières in 1649, and governor in 1654.
Boucher was sent to France in 1661 to plead for help, returning with soldiers and supplies and a commitment to make New France a crown colony. He built his seigneury of Boucherville into one of the most prosperous in the colony. His memoirs contain a valuable record of the fur trade, Indigenous people, and his remarkable life.
