It was just such a raid by the Iroquois on the Allard’s home village of Charlesbourg. This raid begins the action in Book Two: The Hunter. While out hunting, young Jean-Baptiste Allard and Joseph happen upon the raiding party. More from luck than skill, the boys thwart the effort and are regarded as heroes. You will have to read the book to discover how, but this notoriety drives much of their young adult lives. Read More
Blog
Indian Raids
September 14, 2013
Indian raids were common in both the French and English Colonies, and they were often related to the alliances between the two native groups and the two European colonies. Several famous raids are part of the stories and are found as late as Book Five: The City in the Wilderness. A few are well-known like the wars of Pontiac and Tecumseh and more are less renowned but equally interesting. Read More
Relations of the Jesuits
September 11, 2013
For two hundred years, the Jesuits sent reports of their dealings with the Native Americans back to France where they were published and sold in chronicle form. In their day, they were among the most widely read publications in France. Originally published in Latin, French and Italian, today the enormous collection of 73 volumes is available in many languages including English. They provide researchers with priceless information of the times and the native people. I also drew upon these books when researching The Allards. Read More
The Jesuits in French Canada
September 3, 2013
A Catholic teaching order, the Jesuits are still active today and run many American Catholic schools and Universities. They were not the only order active in French-Canada but arguably had the greatest impact, particularly on the natives who they taught and converted regularly. Unfortunately along with religion they spread many diseases new to the New World such as smallpox, eliminating great swaths of the population. Read More
Algonquins
August 26, 2013
The Allard Series Native American characters are for the most part fictitious with the exception of the few famous characters such as Pontiac and Tecumseh. I drew their characters from French-Canadian histories, folk tales, and the stories of my ancestors. I would be the first to admit that I have romanticized them. The family of Henri (Book One) follows the Allards into the later volumes. They were Christian as were many Canadian Algonquin having been converted by the Jesuits. They lived and worked closely with the Allards. This was much more common in New-France than in New-England. Read More
Iroquois
August 21, 2013
In the British Colonies to the south of Quebec, dwelt a group of natives called, Iroquois, again a group of many tribes sharing a similar language. Generally agrarian, less nomadic, and more aggressive, in my view the Iroquois were as different from the Algonquin as the English settlers were from their French counterparts. Although the English and Iroquois did not share the amicable relationship enjoyed by the French and Algonquin, they did frequently bond in the long term struggle between the two European colonies, and these alliances helped shape the history if eastern North America well past the American war for independence more than a century after the immigration of François Allard to Quebec. Read More
Native Canadians
August 14, 2013
It would be inconceivable to describe life in early Quebec without the native people. The predominant group was Algonquin, a collection of many tribes sharing a similar language. Generally hunting nomads, the Algonquin formed an amicable relationship with the French settlers and both groups were influenced by the other. Natives occasionally lived and worked on the farms of the French-Canadians and Jean-Baptiste Allard and his friend, Joseph, formed a life-long attachment that followed them through the adventures of Book Two: The Hunter. Read More
Early rural Quebec
August 11, 2013
The second book of The Allard Series, The Hunter, turns from the life of François Allard to follow that of his son, Jean-Baptiste. While his immigrant parents are products of the France and the old world, Jean-Baptiste is every inch a product of Quebec. Failing to share his parents’ passion for farming, Jean-Baptiste is drawn to the thrill of the wilderness, and along with his native best-friend, Joseph, he embarks on a life of hunting, fishing, trapping and exploration in the brave new world. Read More
The Allards Book Two: The Hunter
August 7, 2013
THE ALLARDS BOOK TWO: THE HUNTER: The Trailer
On a bright summer day in 1689, an eleven year-old boy and his native friend happen upon an Iroquois raiding party. Through ingenuity, knowledge of the wilderness and dumb luck, Jean-Baptiste Allard and his friend, Joseph, help foil the raid and save their small village in rural Quebec from disaster. Some years later, an unscrupulous explorer, Antoine Cadillac, hears their story and enlists the young men to aid him in his exploits into the western frontier.
Together in Book Two: The Hunter they endure the hardships of the wilderness while sharing the exhilaration of exploration and discovery. As they help found such posts as Detroit, Michilimackinac, and New Orleans, they meet the famous and the unknown who will accompany them and their descendants as the Allard Saga continues. Read More
On a bright summer day in 1689, an eleven year-old boy and his native friend happen upon an Iroquois raiding party. Through ingenuity, knowledge of the wilderness and dumb luck, Jean-Baptiste Allard and his friend, Joseph, help foil the raid and save their small village in rural Quebec from disaster. Some years later, an unscrupulous explorer, Antoine Cadillac, hears their story and enlists the young men to aid him in his exploits into the western frontier.
Together in Book Two: The Hunter they endure the hardships of the wilderness while sharing the exhilaration of exploration and discovery. As they help found such posts as Detroit, Michilimackinac, and New Orleans, they meet the famous and the unknown who will accompany them and their descendants as the Allard Saga continues. Read More
Heros of The Pain Doc
August 4, 2013
Well, enough about drugs. How about the heroes of the book? I see them as three: Joe Brownstone for his honesty and ethics which again I feel represent most physicians today, Luis Martinez for finally stepping up to the plate and especially Julie Frye who could stand by no longer in spite of the potential consequences. Now I’ll move on to lighter fare and return to the Allard Series with Book Two: The Hunter. Read More