a soldier, ship captain, explorer, colonial administrator, knight of the order of Saint-Louis, adventurer, privateer, trader, member of Compagnies Franches de la Marine and founder of the French colony of La Louisiane of New France. He was born in Montreal of French colonist parents. Destined for the priesthood, he chose a life of adventure. At the age of 12, he became a cabin boy on his uncle's ship trading to Port Royal, Acadia. A few years later he was in the fur trade at Sault Ste. Marie in Canada, where he would have learned something of canoe travel in the wilderness. He later became quartermaster on one of his father's ships.
