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remont, 1954). Jean Durand signed a contract as a recruit
for New France on 3 March 1657. By 1660 Durand had completed
his three years of service and obtained a land concession at
Cap Rouge. On 3 Oct. 1661 before witnesses that included
Pierre Boucher, squire, sieur de Grosbois and governor of
Trois Rivieres, he contracted to marry Marie Fayette,a fille
du Roi who had arrived that same year.  Durand returned  to
Cap Rouge and Mlle. Fayette remained in Trois Rivieres with
the nuns until Durand returned for the church ceremony.  We
don't know what happened exactly, but on 12 Jan. 1662, Mille.
Fayette appeared before a civil notary and had the first
agreement annulled. She then contracted to marry  Charles
Pouliot, had that civil agreement annulled, too, but finally
on 26 July 1662 married Nicolas Huot.
And Jean Durand? On 23 Sept. 1662 in Quebec he contracted
to wed an orphan Huron girl, Catherine Annennontak dit Crea-
ture De Dieu, the daughter of Nicolas Arendanki and Jeanne
Otrino-Andet, who had been raised in the convent of the Ur-
sulines at Quebec since 1654. She was probably 14 when  she
married Jean Durand. Their descendants in Canada and  the
United States now number in the ten of thousands.
All of this provides an interesting sidelight to the filles
du Roi and proves that the marriages were not quite as hasty
as thought. There were second thoughts on both sides, and
if one or the other thought there was the possibility of a
better match, they were not slow to change their earlier
decisions.
Except for approximately 80 filles du roi, the origin of all
the known daughters, or king's girls, is known, and 52-plus
percent of these women came from just two provinces of France,
the Ile-de-France(Paris area) and Normandy.
Economic reasons of the period were of great importance, but
this doesn't explain why larger numbers of women from other
provinces weren't among this group. A church member with a
strong missionary desire was another reason. The big reason
was simply communication. It is highly unlikely that vast
numbers of the peasants of the interior of France were even
aware of New France. They were too busy with a daily strug-
gle for existance. As now, many of the people moved to the
cities. It is in the cities the first and largest institut-
ions of public aid, such as orphanages, are organized.
These institutions were staffed by priest, brothers and sisters
of Catholic Orders. It would be these people who would  get
the reports from New France with the appeal for manpower and
financial aid to develop the country and Christianize Indians.
The Normans, of course, were a majority of the first settlers
of New France. This province located along a major French sea-
coast would receive the most news and most likely have rela-
tives in New France. The filles du roi numberes about 15 % of
the total number to come to New France. Following is a list
of some that are your ancestor.
From "Lost in Canada" by Elmer Courteau,201 Liberty Place,So.St.Paul,M