Bush Runner: The Adventures of Pierre-Esprit Radisson (Untold Lives Series)

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Canadian history books pay too little attention to the impact of the arrival of Europeans in North America during the 1600s and 1700s. When they do look at that period, their message is usually about European settlers transforming the primitive continent. The Dutch and their (temporary) French business allies seemed to have targeted Groseilliers as the less intelligent, most treacherous, and more gullible of the pair. The spy had chosen the right target. Touret pumped Groseilliers for information, then offered the Frenchman a Dutch passport and passage to the Netherlands as a guest of their effective ruler, Johann de Witt. Radisson and Groseilliers were the focus of espionage directed at the highest levels of three governments: those of France, Holland and England. - Mark Bourrie A fascinating, funny, at times very gruesome and violent, but nevertheless wildly entertaining story.” Pierre-Esprit Radisson came to New France (modern Québec) as a young boy with little expected of him. Intelligent—if not necessarily learned—and charismatic, he was by nature a survivor with fluid loyalties. Based largely on Radisson’s journals, the book follows a life that moves in Indigenous communities (as a prisoner, as an adopted family member, and as a trader) and takes on dangerous and unsanctioned fur trading missions in his early years, eventually arriving in the courts of King Louis XIV of France and Charles II of England and laying the foundation for a massive fur trading enterprise in Hudson’s Bay (first for the French and then for the English). He was, as the author notes in his introduction, everywhere “a time traveller to the 1600s would want to see”. He became a minor celebrity in his time known to kings and other highly-positioned figures. But it was never enough to produce the wealth he lusted for.

Written in a wry and almost conversation manner, it is presented without any obvious agenda. Bourrie clearly enjoys the adventure aspect of the life at the centre of his story—with some infectious fondness for the rogue, even while articulating Radisson’s many character flaws—and has no time for mythmaking. He is dismissive of some of Radisson’s own claims in a delightfully direct manner. He is not afraid to occasionally assert his own voice or views, breaking the fourth wall to provide context or insight, in ways that can sometimes be jarring, but are often helpful. His other books include The Killing Game, a book about ISIS, Fighting Words, about Canadian war reporting, and The Fog of War, about media censorship during the Second World War. Bush Runner also makes it clear that what Europeans really brought to North America were guns, iron axes and diseases the natives were unprepared for. The native tribes spread across the continent had a pretty good life before the arrival of the Europeans. The tribes living in the Great Lakes region farmed and hunted. The average native was bigger and healthier than the usual European.Mr. Bourrie’s analysis of Radisson as an “eager hustler with no known scruples” seems to be on the mark. But those less-than-admirable traits helped create a prevailing mythology about his adventures. It also gave a Baron Munchausen-like quality to his stories that allowed him, in Gump-like fashion, to “Run Radisson Run” around the known world. If you only ever read one book about seventeenth century Canada, make it Bush Runner: The Adventures of Pierre-Esprit Radisson by Ottawa author Mark Bourrie. Radisson and des Groseilliers claimed to have learned about a fur trade route at Lake Superior through the Sioux and Cree. This would have led to the 1660 trip to Hudson Bay, but Mr. Bourrie doubts it occurred. Pierre-Esprit Radisson came to New France (modern Québec) as a young boy with little expected of him. Intelligent—if not necessarily learned—and charismatic, he was by nature a survivor with fluid loyalties. Based largely on Radisson’s journals, the book follows a life that moves in Indigenous communities (as a prisoner, as an adopted family member, and as a trader) and takes on dangerous and unsanctioned fur trading missions in his early years, eventually arriving in the courts of King Louis XIV of France and Charles II of England and laying the foundation for a massive fur trading enterprise in Hudson’s Bay (first for the French and then for the English). He was, as the author notes in his introduction, everywhere “a time traveller to the 1600s would want to

Bourrie points out that judging ancient First Nations people “on the details of torture adapted from the historical record is akin to reading Rudolf Hess’s autobiography of his years as Auschwitz commandant to get a grasp of how mid-20th-century Europeans lived and felt.” That said, he spares us nothing – not the burning of hands and feet, the pulling of fingernails, or “the dance of the heads.” Don’t say you haven’t been warned. Radisson’s name and an outline of his place in North American history are known to anyone who has attended grade school in Canada. We were taught that he and his brother-in-law Médard des Groseillers played central roles in the fur trade, the struggles of New France, and the founding of the Hudson’s Bay Company. But Radisson’s life, even when discussed outside of the classroom, is rarely presented as something that might stand alone from the anesthetizing abstraction of colonial powerbrokers, politics, and paperwork warriors.

Besides being a businessman, he was an admitted cannibal and murderer, and he enjoyed connections to royal courts and enthralled kings by writing — specially for them — accounts of his journeys. Murderer. Salesman. Pirate. Adventurer. Cannibal. Cofounder of the Hudson's Bay Company. Known to some as the first European to explore the upper Mississippi, and widely as the namesake of ships and hotel chains, Pierre-Esprit Radisson is perhaps best described, writes Mark Bourrie, as “an eager hustler with no known scruples”. Kidnapped by Mohawk warriors at the age of 15, Radisson assimilated and was adopted by a powerful family, only to escape to New York City after less than a year. After being recaptured, he defected from a raiding party to the Dutch and crossed the Atlantic to Holland - thus beginning a lifetime of seized opportunities and frustrated ambitions. You can harvest the beans by pulling them straight off the plant, but I find it easier to use fruit snips and cut them off. It's Canadian non-fiction. Unlike other media, the book business is still doing really well. Even the non-fiction side of the book business is doing quite well.

Historian Mark Bourrie tells the story of the explorer's adventure-filled life in his book, Bush Runner Known to some as the first European to explore the upper Mississippi, and widely as the namesake of ships and hotel chains, Pierre-Esprit Radisson is perhaps best described, writes Mark Bourrie, as “an eager hustler with no known scruples.” Kidnapped by Mohawk warriors at the age of fifteen, Radisson assimilated and was adopted by a powerful family, only to escape to New York City after less than a year. After being recaptured, he defected from a raiding party to the Dutch and crossed the Atlantic to Holland—thus beginning a lifetime of seized opportunities and frustrated ambitions.The book follows the life of Pierre Radisson, Who at the age of 15 was kidnapped by Mohawk warriors from his home near the small settlement of Trois-Rivières in New France. He was later adopted into the tribe. A cultural practise I have heard mentioned off hand in other Native peoples history refereeing to the great lakes region's people but have never been able to find more in depth explanation until now. This story provides quite a bit of interesting insight and information about the life and culture of the native tribes of the great lakes/St. Lawrence valley region in the 1600's that only someone womb spoke their language lived among them would be able to relay. The bush runner bean ‘Hestia’ is deservedly popular for patio pots. It is free-flowering and showy with red and pink flowers and a plentiful crop of beans. Watering is critical at the flower production stage. If the plants dry out the buds drop. In warm weather, when the plants are in full growth and flower; they enjoy being sprayed with water over leaves and flowers in early morning or evening. This also helps with pollination. Varieties In his new book Bush Runner, Ottawa author Mark Bourrie portrays the European arrival much differently through an unvarnished account of the life of Pierre Radisson. Radisson has stayed in the history books for his role in developing the fur trade and helping to set the stage for the opening up of the continent to European settlement.

But there used to be these giant magazines that were in weekend newspapers, and Saturday night city magazines, Toronto Life. And that part of the media has withered along with other print media like newspapers.Mark Bourrie beautifully describes Radisson as the ‘Forrest Gump of his time’…well-written…compelling.” Radisson’s human experience on the frontlines and in the forests breathes life into this period, but it also intersects with the major events, cultures, and players of the era like few others. Bush Runner: The Adventures of Pierre-Esprit Radisson is written and researched rather well. Sourced from Radisson's journals, which are the best first-hand accounts of 17th century Canada, this biography tells the extraordinary true story of this protean 17th-century figure, a man more trading partner than colonizer, a peddler of goods and not worldview. Mont d’Or’ has flattened succulent pods of soft yellow. They are delicious cooked and served cold with vinaigrette dressing. These yellow beans are often called wax beans. There are bush varieties of scarlet runner beans as well as haricot or French beans. These can be grown in smaller pots, troughs or vegetable growing containers. They can even be grown in window boxes or balcony troughs.