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
Dr. Carolyn Podruchny Professor of History, York University | Making the Voyageur World: Travelers and Traders in the North American Fur Trade
Dr. Jay Gitlin Professor of History, Yale University | The Bourgeois Frontier: French Towns, French Traders, and American Expansion
Dr. Mary Anne Poutanen Professor of History, McGill University | Beyond Brutal Passions: Prostitution in Early Nineteenth-Century Montreal
Dr. Jane Lamm Carroll Professor of History, St. Catherine University | Daybreak Woman: An Anglo-Dakota Life
Dr. Patrick Lacroix Director, Acadian Archives, University of Maine–Fort Kent | Prelude to the 'Great Hemorrhage': French Canadians in the United States, 1775–1840
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
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
Dr. Remi Roy Emeritus Professor of Political Science, Montmorency College, Laval, Quebec
David Vermette Independent historian | A Distinct Alien Race: The Untold Story of Franco-Americans
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
The City of Little Canada
The French-American Heritage Foundation of Minnesota
The French Heritage Society
Gervais and Laurence family descendants
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.
