Individual Family Migrations

After the Civil War, the first French immigrants left Quebec, Canada, to come to the land of promises in the United States.  They settled in the little community of Provemont, Michigan.

Several years after these pioneers were established in Provemont, they found their farm holdings were small, families were numerous and they saw little hope of preserving their French heritage.

Isidore Plamondon, who had left Michigan to work on farms around Lacombe, Alberta, wrote such enthusiastic letters home that his father, Joseph Plamondon and several of their group decided to accept his invitation to come and see the Canadian west for themselves.

The Missionaries in Provemont were also encouraging Catholic and French speaking families to come and settle on fertile farmlands in the Western prairies.

And so, the migrations began in 1907, 1908………

Many of the Plamondon’s migration are found in the “From Spruce Trees to Wheatfields” book as listed in the Reference below. Some have been summarized in the stories below to highlight the challenges that many migrants faced. We welcome other migrations stories. Please contact the museum.