The township of Bourbonnais in Kankakee County, Illinois, besides being distinguished as the place of abode of the first white settler, claims our attention and interest by reason of the fact that during the late forties a number of Canadian families, brought to the western wilderness by Noel LeVasseur, settled on the Francois Levia Reservationwest of Davis creek, in what is now known as Bourbonnais township, Kankakee County Illinois, forming a unique and populous settlement which for years was known as "Petite Canada." It took courage seventy five years ago to break the "home ties" and set out on untrod paths half-way across the continent to find a home spot in the heart of the wilderness. But our early-day fathers and mothers, while lacking in much which the world of today holds as most essential, were not lacking in courage. In that early day about the scarcest thing was money. The most plentiful thing was unoccupied land, with its timber, in which game abounded, intervals on which grain might be raised, and streams which abounded with the finest fish. Here, then, was an opportunity for the poor man to live while getting a "toe-hold," and here these Canadians settled on small parcels of land, none of which exceeded thirty acres in extent.
This little settlement of ten or a dozen families was a most primitive one, as may be readily imagined. Of the original first settlers, Charles THIBAULTheld sixteen acres, Jean Baptiste AUDETtwenty acres, Alex Dandurandtwenty acres, Luke Betournethirty acres, John Dandurandthirty acres, Francois BALTHAZOR thirty acres, and nearer to the river were located Louis GOYETTEwith three acres, and Alexine GUAYCastoneau and one Deschon(Louis DESCHAMPES) with not to exceed three or four acres apiece. The inference is natural that the title of "Little Canada" was fittingly applied to a community that held tenaciously to old manners and customs and traditions of the Canadian home-land. There was another and more cogent reason for thus distinguishing the newly founded colony. It should be borne in mind that these settlers were of the old Canadian stock and most worthy exemplars of the ancient tradition of big families, and for that reason the community commanded the respect of the countryside. It may heighten your regard for the sterling qualities of those old-time pioneers on being told that the population of "Little Canada" was around about seventy in that day, composed as follows: Charles Tebeault, ten children; John Odette, five children; Alex Dandurand, six children; Luke Betourne, five children; John Dandurand, four children; Francis Baltazor five children; Louis Goyette, four children; Alexine Castonneau, six children;Deshonsix children. Add to these the heads of families eighteen, and you have a total of fifty-nine souls, to which we almost forgot to add old man Marcheterre( Marcel DANDURAND) (who owned and gave to M. Tebeaultthe sixteen acres of land on which he lived for taking care of him in his last days), which rounds out and makes the grand total of seventy which "Little Canada" claimed as its own.
In the early days of the settlements along the St. Lawrence river, "Seigniors," or grants of land from the crown, with a narrow frontage on the water, but extending back into the timber for a mile or more, were allotted to each settler. By this arrangement he had access to the water, plenty of timber for his cabin, as well as interval on which to grow his grain. Another advantage of this early-day plan was that the homes of the settlers were thus brought closer together that they might live more happily and at the same time be the better enabled to resist any sudden attack by the Indians. This idea of living, ingrained in the very fiber of generation after generation of French Canadians, we find exemplified in the little community on the Kankakee in the days prior to the 50's, and this fact alone is proof that the title "Petite Canada" was no misnomer.
Our pioneer friends who first settled "Little Canada," in the Francis LeVia reservation, did not have the advantage of a grant of land from anybody. Francis LeViasold his reservation, consisting of a section of land, to Noel LeVasseurin 1835, and he in torn sold it to Robert A. Kinziein 1837. These pioneers just naturally squatted on the land and acquired it little by little, and their combined holdings for many years did not exceed one hundred and sixty acres.
After seventy years "Little Canada" has become only a memory, dear to the hearts of those who, as children, played in its sylvan shade or busied themselves with the varied occupations of the "habitant." They hunted, fished and trapped in their youth, and grew up wise to the lore of prairie, woods and stream, absorbing, naturally, the deeper wisdom of the wilderness after the manner of their forebears. The hard work and meager fare of that day produced a vigorous, hardy type of citizen, who met the day's tasks and problems uncomplainingly and with a stout heart, and in the end subdued the wilderness realm and caused it to blossom like the rose. "Little Canada," as we have said, in this day is but a memory. The grave has long since closed over those fathers and mothers who, leaving their own beloved Canada, made possible, for a brief space, the "Little Canada" of the LeVia reservation. The sons and daughters of these pioneer sires, such as are left to us, have in turn become white-haired and venerable, and they and their children occupy stately homes, surrounded by broad, fertile acres, in many instances the finest to be found in all the wondrous Valley of the Kankakee.
"Little Canada" that was, is today included within the holdings of Magloire Pepin.The log cabins of the settlers have lone ago disappeared, and even the Francois Baltazorhome, which was impressive for its quality in that day, having been built of stone, is no more. The march of events in this tremendous age has obliterated "Little Canada" completely. It is hopelessly, irretrievably lost, to live no more except in the memory of those who have listened to the narration of tales of its erstwhile glory by some tottering, white-haired grandfather.
When Young Folks Danced
Over in Little Canada
Youth is youth the world over--make no mistake about that. Youth, with its rising tide of life, be it high or low, rich or poor, in the town or in the woods or on the prairie, finds relief from the prosaic hum-drum of everyday life by indulgence in various games, the party and, best of all, the dance. Tales of the dances of the old-time pioneers come to us now and then from out the misty regions of the past, and it is then that we conjure up visions of a gay, light-hearted company of young people, attired in a finery that would be a distinct shock to the sensibilities of the present day, except, perhaps, that one might find, in the wearers thereof, enough of originality and charm to make up for whatever there may have been lacking in style.
Imagination pictures the log house, with its puncheon floor and window panes of greased paper; the broad, hospitable maw of the fireplace, with its andirons and pots and kettles, all suggestive of unstinted hospitality; the home-made furniture, rude but serviceable; and over the throng of dancers, as they move in and out in the various figures of the dance, the feeble rays of the "home-made" tallow candle playing hide-and-seek. Everywhere is radiated the cheer of the abounding spirit of youth, and blended with the soft shuffle of many feet on the floor is the low hum of voices, a suppressed titter on the part of some maiden whose partner has dared whisper how lovely she is, and over all the droning of the music and the strident voice of the backwoods caller.
"Little Canada" in the eighteen fifties, with its ten or twelve Canadian-French families situated side by side, with its youthful population of nearly sixty boys and girls, held many an impromptu soiree in the cabins that comprised the settlement. And they were some times, too--quelque temps-don't forget that. We tell you just as it was told to us. For these occasions the girls put on their best and only calico dress, bought in Chicago at ten cents a yard. This, with a pair of "home-made" cowhide shoes, completed the ensemble, except that some of the more fortunate ones drew on the heirlooms of the family for a bit of bright-colored ribbon, or an ancient piece of lace or jewelry where with to heighten their attractions, like real daughters of Eve, the too insistent glow of healthful, rosy cheeks, was dimmed noticeably by a dash of flour out of the family bin (but not like sister does it today, not hardly) and, with a wild flower or two tucked coquettishly in her hair, she was ready. About all that good form required of Bateese, and Adelor, and Jacques, and Pierre, and Marcel, and others of the boys, was to slip into their best Kentucky jeans trousers and smooth down their hair and make it glossy by the application of a little raccoon oil, and thus "dolled up" and painfully conscious of it the while, they, too, were ready, and by twos and fours sought out the cabin from whose door streamed a welcoming light.
The attendance at a dance in "Little Canada" ranged anywhere from fifteen to twenty-five of the young people, with a sprinkling of the fathers and mothers, who experienced an irresistible itching of the soles of their feet whenever Marcel Odette's wife began to sing. How Marcel's wife could sing! Sapre! Moved by the spell of her entrancing notes, it made the blood to tingle and the feet to move, whether you would or not. We must tell you about it. "Little Canada" among its varied possessions had neither violin, accordion nor any musical instrument whatever--not even a jewsharp. How, then, could anybody dance you ask. Well, it was like this. Marcel's wife had a fine voice. She sung or hummed beautifully all the popular airs for the cotillion, the quadrille, the "French Four" and the Canadian Jig. Marcel's wife, whose name was Adele, was most accommodating. She had been a girl once herself and enjoyed to the full the pleasures of the dance, and when she sang the old tunes rhythmically and with feeling, and in perfect time, Oh, Garcon, it wits beautiful, inspiring, transporting! For years the youth of "Little Canada" did honor to the musical genius of Adele Odette and gave her first place over the best orchestra that ever was. She was possessed of wonderful endurance, for she would sing for hours, with but brief intermissions, and many were the nights when the fun became fast and furious and the dancers, in a frenzy of joyous enthusiasm, insisted on more and still more, until the flying hours brought the dawn and thoughts of home.
Among the dancers in this old-time company, Arrette Baltazorand Pierre Bouvain were, by universal consent, acclaimed the best. "Ah, M'esieu'," said our informant, "just to behold them as partners in the 'French Four,' moving gracefully and keeping time with that old Canadian chanson,'The Twin Sisters,' as sung by Adele Odette--what joy! What pleasure! La! La! La!" Always at the conclusion of the dance there was a great buzzing of voices and a great clapping of hands "for the 'French Four' encore," and with Arrette and Pierre in the lead, flushed and joyous, away they would go again, light as birds, until Adele, red of face and perspiring, threw up her hands in sheer exhaustion.
In the delightfully expressive dialect of the "habitant," who readily conceded honor where honor was due, "Arrette and Pierre wos the mos' bes' dancers in the worl'." And when you recall that "Little Canada" was their world, the statement was not so extravagant as might seem. After a brief rest Marcel's wife would sound the notes of the Canadian Jig, which was generally responded to by some white-haired patriarch who moved with much dignity and often with much ease and grace of movement in the various steps, amid the plaudits of young and old.
Generally, on occasions of this kind, there were refreshments, consisting of small cakes, the surfaces of which were liberally spread with the sugary substance of the wild honey, procured from the family supply in the hickory trough, and a snappy, home-made drink, known as "Epinette." "Connaissez-vous I'epinette?" Well, any native Canadian will tell you that it is a home-brewed beer, made from the juice or gum of the spruce-fir, which abounds in Canada. In "Little Canada" there was scarcity of spruce trees, so necessary when you undertake the brewing of "epinette," so rosin was often used to impart the flavor, if not the "kick," to the beverage, as a graceful tribute to memories of old-time Canada. More often than not the party came to a close with the dawn, and then the boys dropped coppers in Adele's palm, sometimes as many as twenty and twenty-five, and it was then that Adele
was conscious of a great joy that her humble efforts should be rated so highly. Don't smile too broadly at Adele's simplicity. This all happened in the days before much money had made people foolish. As she viewed it, the compensation was more than generous--it was almost extravagant.
Time has laid a heavy hand on "Little Canada," and there remains no trace or vestige of it today. Long, long ago its gray-haired sires answered the call of the grim reaper, and long, long since the youthful habitants, whose excess of spirit made the days and nights of the wilderness ring with their joyousness, have gone out--some near, some far---and with their passing passed also the light of the open door that first illumined the depths of the forests on the Kankakee. One after another the hospitable home fires on the hearth-stones of "Little Canada" burned low and died out in ghastly white embers. Today there is not a cabin left. It is simply the graveyard of happy memories of a day long gone. There are times, though, when the golden-rod is in bloom, when the summer sun hangs low in the west and the air is heavy with golden mists that tremble and shimmer in the early glow of evening, when, from the fringe of timber that lies along the river, comes the call of the cardinal--bold, clear, musical--calling to mind, were one familiar with all that took place in "Little Canada," when Marcel Odette's wife sang the old songs dear to Canadian hearts, while the boys
"Danced all night,
'Till broad daylight,
And went home with the girls in the morning."
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