Luc de la Corne

Luc de la Corne, (1711 – October 1, 1784) was the son of Jean-Louis de La Corne and the brother of Louis de la Corne, Chevalier de la Corne. As in the case of most of his contemporaries, he was an officer in the colonial regular troops. He had a varied and courageous military career which earned him the cross of Saint Louis in 1759.

He became a very successful merchant and was heavily involved in the Montreal end of the fur trade. His brother, Jean-Louis, was heavily involved in the fur trade and exploration and Luc controlled the eastern end of his activities. Another brother, François-Josué de La Corne was the commandant of Fort Kaministiquia for a time and large fur trade profits were realized. He was in partnership with Louis-Joseph Gaultier de La Vérendrye for three years south of Lake Superior. In the same period his brother, Louis de la Corne was commandant of the western forts founded mainly by La Vérendrye. Most of his ventures made large profits and, at the time of his death, he was one of the richest men in Canada.

In 1761, Luc was returning to France. He was only one of seven survivors when the ship Auguste ran into terrible weather and sank. The seven endured some terrible hardships but eventually found themselves back in Montreal. Luc de la Corne resumed activities in the community and became an active member of the Legislative Council. He remained in Canada until his death.

External links

* [http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=2004 Biography at the "Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online"]
* (http://www.angelfire.com/art/peina/Newsletters/Jun01.html)