The Madster's Voyageur Diary

This is a school assignment. It is a diary I made up of a girl who lived around 1800. She lived in a big family and was very adventurous. She didn't know how to spell, so please don't think I have horrible spelling.


Voyageur National Park


This here is a journal from 1804 to 1805. From what we can gather, it belonged to Annemarie Isabelle Gerard, a female voyageur who loved adventure. But in those days there were no female voyageurs, so she had to disguise herself as a man. We found these few 8 pages (which we believe had more entries) in the bottom of a old voyageur birch bark canoe in 1945,along with a much longer journal, which is on the left. Sadly, the other journal had no name, with pieces ripped that looked like were the names should be. The only clue we have is to who this person is, is the initials, “CPG”. Experts say this journal belonged to a relative of Annemarie, or at least a person in her brigade. These diaries are antiques, so please don’t touch!


Voyageur National Park



Quebec, Canada
April 3, 1804

Bonjour, je sui femmes heureux! My name is annemarie isabelle gerard, da 2nd old of pierre and gereldine gerard. I am tie for 7th child wif my twin broder, andre we like 2 pod in pees there is 13 of we yuny gerards, wif 5 of girl- marguerite, 20 , moi, 16, anna, 12, clarise, 10, papillona, 8, delia, 6, claire 3 of month- and 6 of boy.- phillipe, 23, jacques, 18, andre, 16, charles, 10, gabriel, 7, paul, 4- We troupeau gerard anna,phillipe
andre,gabriel and me from papooose us father have 4 ago year then he marri moi mere detape, gereldine, who huusband did dy an emediatli find me fader. snag hem by da nek and use hem for a huusband and a fader. She is smell like da spoiled cabage in bad buter. He is very quiet man at home keep hemself to hem, and don;t talk much. I blabber tu much, so i tell yu somting else.I love da open of forest, and advencher, so i run away to be voyager, and not be cuped up in da howse, wif 23 child and huusband dat like hees gun dat kill da ducks maguerite is stuk wif dat kind of da life i dion’t want it. I don’t want to be da slav of da drunken brut! Mon dieu! I tink dat andre will keep mi secret, and teach mi to be a man. I can finaly lern to spit! Only da family won’t now i wil kep secret from phillipe, jacques an pap, who also is voyager now to hunt duck an der. Adieu!





dis is the der i kill for super

Montreal, Canada
April 23, 1804

Mon Dieu! Mi hands are so swolen they is as beeg as mi heed an por mi body, it is all of endolori andre is no much better. Mon Dieu, as i was saying! Today we left Montreal a crowd was all of us cheering! it feel as if dey were cheering for moi i was goeng to bow, buut, i was sweating as if a were da pig, even afder 9 stroks! Mon Dieu! I am such the wimp! andre did better for he don boy work- not dat i did eny- buut i was weak. When i was about not to bear it eny longer and i was about toooo die, we stopped. Thanks of the god we had da pork an da corn for diner it was da nasty food-was it da food?- i ever had in me stomach, to witch i had olmost emptyed on mi plate i was so da hungery, i did enheiled it befor i reaslize what i did just eten. andre sayed that my face look like i have eten gereldines perfume. -Mon Dieu, did i look dat bad?- Inow have the new male name, Henri Pierre. Uhhh, i em to sick to my estomac!












Dandilions


Near St. Anne’s
May 1, 1804


I did not feel eny better then last entri is a voyager life dat hard? mi hands is cru and da blooted look phillipe say the will feel fin afder a few weks. Mon Dieu! I can not wait dat long for my hand s will fall of by than and be flooting raund the st. lowrence river. Mon Dieu!- what do i ceep riting dat word!?- we have stop at some cadlic church name st. anne. pretti niseeglise. Everi person give a donation and give a lettle preyer for da safe trip. andre an moi skroungeed for da coin, put dem in da lettle box, den we bot nelt an us prey. I preyed for papa and phillipe and jacques and andre and me. I preyed for everibodi at home -ecept for gereldine whose i hoped to sufocated in her purfume, sorri god- i also preyed for reel food.- mabyegereldine is a merchant femme, but she can kook up da storm




Lake Nipissing-i tink-
June 29, 1804

mi preyers were usless. apapa is dead. Us all were thropw out of the boat in da midle of da storm it was cold an whet and thunder an litning crique over we’s boat i felt scared , wif da ominus clouds cracling over we’s heeds. i feel small an helpless. den it cam. Da wave. Da vague. it push us over da boat an in to da churning waters of da lake nipissing. phillipe and jacques and andre and moi ecaped wif bruses and 1 brocen toe and 2 srain ancles. papa drowned. 4 out of da 12 , 1/4 -i went to skool- died, mi fader 1 of dem. it is to hard to talk about it. i felt horible.Now i don’t have or now my bialogikal parents! Mon Dieu! They is buring da dead 1’s temoraryly. I can not wach! i moost not cri! i am a man! i moost be a man. i-i m-moost not sh-sho m-mi true identiti! M-m-m-i.....




mi faders brocen blade

Grande Portage
August 10, 1804
Grande Portage!
reel peeple! Reel places! REEL FOOD! It smell like reeel food, not flee riden da pork and corn! I have live on dat for too long! Mon Dieu! girls have been wincing at me ever sice mi got of da canoo Mon Dieu!
They like moi! they LIKE moi! Merchant! A Rendevous is in a coople of da ours. i tink i mit go adieu!
.....
MON DIEU!
Gereldine has remarryed! 2 month afder her ofer huusband have died! Por claire! she will never now her reeel fader!
AHHHHHHHHHHH!
.....
i nevr tasted booooooze befor! i lov it! it tasti!-hic!- i have mi first fite todey! wif-hic!- phillipe!-hic!- mi i is sor and-hic!- blac!mon dew!god fod and-hic!- god lafs!
i dased wif andre everiwon laffing and-hic!-drunc i so drunc i can t rite!-hic!- mon dew! i go to -hic!- slep now! adeeu! -hic!-
















mi beeeeutiful wine!
In the middle of nowhere
August 29, 1804

Had mi first portage todey mon dieu! those pacs way about da ton! jocques spraned hes ancle . he can still padle doe. and gess what, gereldine had a baby not just the baby, but twins!TWINS! There is now 13 mouth to feed! An when we get back 15! 15! the babies is a da boy and da girl. Jean and Gabriella! Mon Dieu! Can da life get eny da wors!












da babies

A cabin in Boringland
December 25, 1804

Crismas is here in alesageland. When we cleened up the canoo, i foound a bunch of papers. i piced dem up and what do yu tink thay were? Mi fader’s diari wif the initials “CPG:! MI DECISED FADERS DIARY, Mei he rest in da peece!
MON DIEU!
I had been reeding hes diari in some parts were jus plain a lesage and digusting, such as pierre-named afcer papa- my nephew-in-laws, who is such da total brat, while papa go on on how strong and smart and corage for the 2 year-old boy.Mon Dieu! All he is is a fat of a lettle boy with red hares and da frecles alwais screching dat angelice, hes 1-year-old sester-who is such the total angel- has more den everiting he has. All i tink is that he does et becase she is get some attenton, an he es not geting enof. He alwai had a puurple lolipop wif hem. Strangest of times. But enyway, I founded dis pasage dated May 18 ,1804 za dey zat da brigade left da Montreal. He talk how i run away da dey befor we left, and how he feel terible about fiting wif me da dey befor about marrying a cleck wif lots of money. i did never reelize dat i have hurt hem. pauvre papa! and da.........



Mon Dieu! i founded a papsage da dey befor papa die. et say “Henri Pierre and i had a lettle talk on da familyes back home. He had told me of hes sweethart, gereldine-o.k., i have lie becase he is mi fader for sakes of da god!- and i told hem of mi beutifuul gereldine-gross!-. i now it es bad to lie , but she es not zat god looken and steenks like da cow in da hog fat _wey to go papa, may you rest in da gods peece!-. And wile us were talk, Henri reminded mi of my pretty annemarie-WHAT?- he has da same chine and i’s, and da meories floded back about zat fite. Ohhh, iam sorry aneemarie” I forgiven yu papa! Ohhh papa!





Grande Portage
April 3, 1805

CIVILIZATON! DA STREETS! DA STORES! DA CARAGES! DA HORSES!
DA FOOD!
It is been exact 1 yeer sise i lef for Grande Portage wif andre,phillipe,jacques and pap, mey he rest in da peece. Meny tings have changed. Moi run away, we leeving for Grande Portage, da new fader, da twins. Papa dieing. All en 1 yeer Mon Dieu! phillipe and jacques have dues to be da paid. papa did two, but hes die, so i don’t now what thier go to do a bout it. I have ripped a ll the names from hes diary so noone weill notise it wes hys. andre and moi is going back to da home to reunite wif old freinds and da famili, den take anna,gabriel,lis and Delia to live gy our wages. It could hapens. Bahh! i alreedi feel sick wif civilzaton. i crave da river, da trees and da forest. I moost live da life of da voyager! Mon Dieu! It has only been 3 minets and i wants to get bac on da canoo and paddle to Grande Portage. It call to me. But now i moost fly. Adieu!