Québec Chat News

Submitted by: HOST GFS Suzanne

VOLUME 2, No. 8, May, 2002  

YThis is a reminder of our by-weekly meeting on Tuesdays, 10:00PM EDT and Fridays, 9:00PM EDT. I hope to see all of you there.

Québec Chat, Québec Chat Room.

Your Host, Host GFS Suzanne

Directions: Keyword Roots --> Resources --> Regions of  the World --> Canada --> Canadian Chats --> Québec Chat Room

From one of us:

Each month, I would like to publish a short article coming from one of YOU, in English or in French! It will be up to you to chose the subject, as long as it remains "genealogically correct".

From Benblan, with his permission:

The first attempt to draw a border between the United States and British North America west of the Great Lakes came in 1818 with the partition of the Red River Settlement. It was then that the 49th Parallel was decided as the border between British and independent America. As for the border between Lake of the Woods and Lake Superior, the Rainy River was deemed a convenient natural border. Sioux chief Sitting Bull is said to have commented about this partition: "I don't care about the border... buffalo meat tastes the same on either side."

But this treaty did not provide for a 49th-parallel border extending all the way to the Pacific ... only as far as the Rocky Mountains. England had established colonies in New Westminster (now a suburb of Vancouver) and Victoria, which they accessed from the Pacific Ocean. Incidentally, Victoria was slightly below the 49th parallel. The 1818 treaty left the region open to joint British-American settlement of the Oregon area (that is, Oregon, Washington State and British Columbia). France, Spain, and, curiously, Russia, also made claims for the West Coast area between the 42nd parallel (the northern border of California) and the 54°40' line, which is now the southern limit of the Alaska Panhandle and was, after 1825, the southern limit of Russian claims. Ownership disputes over the area became known as the "Oregon Question".

In 1843, the agricultural potential of the area became apparent, so the question had to be settled quickly. In 1844, expansionist fever in the United States led to the election of President James K. Polk on a "Fifty-Four-Forty or Fight" platform. However, Polk, committed from the very beginning to be a one-term president, agreed in 1846 to have the 49th-parallel border extended all the way to the Pacific Ocean, leaving British Columbia to Great Britain. France and Spain agreed to renounce their claims over the entire area. In 1872 the United States agreed to leave the entire Vancouver Island, even the area below the 49th Parallel, to British Columbia, as that colony was entering negotiations for admission as a Canadian province.

Russia had successfully negotiated the limits of the Territory of Alaska in 1825 with the United Stated and Great Britain. However, during the Crimean War (1853-56) Russian tzars realized the strategic importance of Alaska and did not wish to have it fall into British hands. Since Russian settlers in Alaska were unable to quell the Tlingit Indians, Russia sought to sell Alaska to the United States from 1853. The purchase was concluded in 1867 for 7.2 million $ US following bitter debates in US Congress. "Seward's Folly", as Alaska was known then, remained largely neglected, however, until the early 20th century with the Klondike Gold Rush.

Although the Klondike itself was in Canada, it had to be accessed from the Alaska Panhandle, which brought to light a controversy over the width of the territory the US had purchased from Russia. The main point of the dispute was over ownership of the harbor in Skagway, which lied at the end of a fjord. The 1867 purchase document mentioned a width of 10 nautical miles, but did not say whether it was 10 miles from the mainland coast or from the island's seaside coasts, for areas east of the 141st meridian. In 1905, the United States and Canada agreed to have an international court settle the matter. The court ruled in favor of the United States, partly on the grounds that when the original purchase was made by the US, Canada's territory did not extend beyond Lake Superior. So Skagway was part of Alaska.

Another boundary dispute erupted in 1872 over the status of the islands in the Strait of Georgia, between Vancouver Island and the mainland. This is known as the San Juan Boundary Dispute. Both Canada and the US claimed the islands as theirs but they agreed to have the dispute settled by Emperor Wilhelm I of Germany. The emperor simply drew a line on the map, and said anything north of the line belongs to Canada, and anything south belongs to the United States. The islands on the US side are a separate county of Washington State.

There are still places where people would have the Canada-US border redrawn. Although these involve seemingly insignificant areas, a redrawing of the boundaries would seriously change the lives of the people living in the "disputed" territories. An area in Minnesota called the Northwest Angle (pop. 120, Lake of the Woods County) can only be accessed from Canada, and its inhabitants have been petitioning the US president on a regular basis to get him to cede the area to Canada. But should the President give away the area, even then, it is not clear whether the area should be part of Ontario or Manitoba.

There is also the case of Point Roberts, Washington State (pop. 850, Whatcom County). This small community is on the mainland, on the tip of a peninsula that extends slightly beyond the 49th parallel. Although part of the United States, it can be accessed only from Canadian roads, by traveling through the Vancouver Metro Area. The mainland terminal of the Vancouver-Victoria ferry is less than a mile away from Point Roberts, but to get to the United States one has to travel still about 25 miles on frequently congested urban highways. This town would certainly develop as an upscale suburb of Vancouver should it be ceded to Canada.

It is worth noting that the Canada-US border is visible from space in the West, due to differences in agricultural policies in the two countries (the US favors wheat growing, while Canada lends itself more easily to cattle raising) which makes for soils of different color.

© Benoit Blanchard

Web Site to visit:

National Archives of Canada, Genealogy research - http://www.archives.ca/02/020202_e.html

Conference to come:

Société de généalogie des cantons de l'est

Meeting - Between New France and New England - June 7, 8, 9, 2002

http://www.genealogie.org/club/sgce/congres.htm

The conference will be in French, in Sherbrooke QC.

A Few Québec Surnames:

ABRAHAM, ALBERT, ALLARD, ANDERSON, ARCHAMBAULT, ARMURY, ARSENAULT, ASSOUR, AUBERT, AUCLAIR dit LECLERC, AVARD

BADAILLAC dit LAPLANTE, BANLIAC, BARTLETT (BERTHELET), BASTIEN, BEAUCHAMP, BEAUPRÉ, BÉLANGER, BERGERON, BERNIER, BERTRAND, BÉRUBÉ, BISSOT, BLANCHARD, BOUCHER, BOUDROT, BOUSQUET, BOUTET, BRAZEAU, BRODEUR, BROUSSEAU, BRULÉ, BRUNEL (BRUNELLE), BRUNET

CARON, CARRIER, CASAVAN, CAYÉ, CERÉ, CHAGNON dit LAROSE, CHAPDELAINE, CHAPUT, CHAREST, CHARETTE, CHARON, CHARTIER, CHINIQUY, CHORET, CHOUINARD, CONSTANTINEAU, CONTANT, de CORDÉ, COUILLARD, COURCHESNE, COURTIN, COUSINEAU, CÔTÉ, CREVIER dit DUVERNAY, CROMP, CUSSON, CYR

DAIGLE, D'AILLEBOUST, DAMOURS, DANIS, D'ARGENTEUL, DAVENPORT, DEGUIRE, DEMERS, DENAULT, DENIS de la RONDE, DEROCHER, DESAUTELS, DESJARLAIS, DESJARDINS, DESLANDES dit CHAMPIGNY, DESPINS, DESROCHERS, DESROSIERS (Laniel dit Desrosiers), DEVOST, DION, DIONNE, DODIER, DOMINÉ dit ST-SAUVEUR, DOUCET, DRAPEAU, DROGUE, DUFRESNE, DUHAMEL, DUMAIS, DUMONT, DUPUIS, DUQUET, DUTILLY

FARIBAULT, FAUTEL, FONTAINE, FORTIN, FRÉGAULT

GAUDET, GAGNÉ, GAGNON, GAMELIN, GAUDRY, GAUTHIER, GAUVIN, GENDREAU, GIGUÈRE, GIRARD, GIROUX, GODIN, GOES de GREY, GOSSELIN, GRANDMAISON, GRONDIN, GUÉRET dit DUMONT, GUERTIN, GUIMOND or GUIMONT, GUYON or DION

HACHÉ dit GALLANT, HAMON, HATFIELD, HÉBERT, HERVIEUX, HÉTU, HOUDE, HOULE, HUDON dit BEAULIEU, HUNAULT, HUS

JACOB dit LANGLAIS, JARRET de VERCHÈRE, JARRET dit BEAUREGARD

KIPP, KNAPP

LABERGE, LABONNE, LACHANCE, de LACORNE, LADUE, LAGACÉ, LALANCETTE, LANGLAIS, LAMOTHE, LAMOUREUX, LANDRY, LAPLANTE, LAVALLÉE, LEBEL, LEBRUN, LECLERC dit LAFRENAYE, LEDUC, LEGARDEUR, LÉGER, LEMAÎTRE dit AUGER, LEMAY, LEMIEUX, LEMOYNE de LONGUEUIL, LEPROHON, LEVASSEUR, LÉVESQUE, LOEDEL, LUSSIER

MAGUET dit MAILLÉ, de MANTHET, MARCEAU, MARIER, MARQUIS, MARTEL, MARGANE de LAVALTRIE, MARION, MARTIN, MARTIN-BEAULIEU, MELANÇON, MÉNARD, MERCIER, MESSIER, MICHAUD, MICHON, MIGNAULT dit LABRIE, MIGNIER dit LAGACÉ, MIVILLE dit DESCHÊNES, MONET, MONTREUIL, MOREAU

NADEAU, NADON, NAULT dit LABRIE

OUELLET

PARÉ, PARENT, PECAUDY, PELLETIER, PEPIN, PEPIN dit LACHANCE, PERRAULT, PETIT, PHILIPPEAU, PIUZE, POITRAS, PRÉVOST, PRIMOT

QUEVILLON

RACINE, RAMEZAY, ROBICHAUD, POIRIER, RAYMOND, RAYNAUD dit BLANCHARD, RIVARD, ROBERT, ROBIDOUX, ROLLAND, ROULEAU, ROY, ROY dit DESJARDINS et LAUZIER

SAUCIER, SAVOIE, SÉDILOT dit MONTREUIL, SÉNÉCAL, SÉNÉCHAL, SICARD, SOUCY, ST-GERMAIN, ST-LAURENT

TALBOT, TARIEU de LANAUDIÈRE, TÉTRAULT, THÉRIAULT, THIBAULT, TRUDEAU, TRUDEL

VAILLANCOURT, VALADE, VALIN, VANASSE dit BASTIEN, VEL dit SANSOUCY, VERONNEAU, VIGNEUX

This is YOUR newsletter!  if you want to add surnames, if you find interesting web sites, if you want to publish an article, just send them to HOST GFS Suzanne@aol.com and I will publish them.

Don't forget to visit GenealogyForum on the web:

The Genealogy Forum

http://www.genealogyforum.rootsweb.com/

See you in the Chat Room
HOST GFS Suzanne  :-)) 

© 2002 GFNEWS, a monthly publication of the Golden Gate Genealogy Forum, Inc. of Franklin, MA.
(America Online Keyword: roots.) The Editors welcome your ideas and articles,
success stories, favorite genealogy research tips, comments and suggestions.

© 2002 Graphics By Carol, All Rights Reserved