The Long Road to Little Canada
A Groundbreaking Story of Resilience and Survival on the American Frontier
This joint biography of Red River and Minnesota settlers Benjamin Gervais and Genevieve Laurence is an epic tale of harrowing journeys, unlikely love affairs, political intrigue, and corruption that spans the North American continent. It is a true story of the American West that challenges historical scholarship but reads like a novel.
Explore this website to learn more about the story, get updates on my research and writing progress, and—if you choose—help get the book across the finish line.
Saint Paul, about 1848, by Henry Lewis
Supporters and Endorsers
The Long Road to Little Canada has received financial support, intellectual assistance, and enthusiastic endorsement from leading scholars in French-Canadian, Métis, and Minnesota history, as well as from heritage organizations and community members who share a stake in this story.​​
Scholarly Endorsers​​
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Dr. Carolyn Podruchny Professor of History, York University | Making the Voyageur World: Travelers and Traders in the North American Fur Trade
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Dr. Jay Gitlin Professor of History, Yale University | The Bourgeois Frontier: French Towns, French Traders, and American Expansion
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Dr. Mary Anne Poutanen Professor of History, McGill University | Beyond Brutal Passions: Prostitution in Early Nineteenth-Century Montreal
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Dr. Jane Lamm Carroll Professor of History, St. Catherine University | Daybreak Woman: An Anglo-Dakota Life
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Dr. Patrick Lacroix Director, Acadian Archives, University of Maine–Fort Kent | Prelude to the 'Great Hemorrhage': French Canadians in the United States, 1775–1840
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Dr. Virgil Benoit Emeritus Professor of French, University of North Dakota | Founder and President, L'Association des Français du Nord and the Red Lake Falls (Minn.) Chautauqua & Arts Festival
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Dr. Jeremy Kingsbury Teaching Assistant Professor of History and American Indian Studies, University of North Dakota | Ozaawindib's World: Ojibwe Family, Gender, Warfare and Politics, 1748–1826
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Dr. Remi Roy Emeritus Professor of Political Science, Montmorency College, Laval, Quebec​
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David Vermette Independent historian | A Distinct Alien Race: The Untold Story of Franco-Americans
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MaryEllen Weller-Smith Independent scholar, Fulbright Teacher Exchange alumna | Frances Anne Hopkins: Hudson's Bay Company Wife, Voyageur's Artist
Community and Institutional Supporters​
The Little Canada Historical Society
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The City of Little Canada
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The French-American Heritage Foundation of Minnesota
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The French Heritage Society
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Gervais and Laurence family descendants
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The project has received generous support from more than 30 private donors, but significant funding is still needed to bring the manuscript to completion. If this story matters to you, please consider contributing.
