Family History – Provost Family Reunion

Pierre Landry “Pete” Provost was born in St. Jacques, Quebec, a small town near Montreal. He spent much of his youth seeking gold in various mines in the United States. By 1875, Pete abandoned his dreams of striking it rich and made his way to Alberta, joining many of the early European pioneers and missionaries who had settled at Blackfoot Crossing. Among Pete’s 600 neighbors were the local magistrate, Col James Macleod, famed native guide, Jerry Potts, farm instructor, David Grier, and clergyman, John McDougall. Many of these surnames have been married in to the Provost family of today. Pete was a stock raiser and operated a supply wagon, bringing goods (and some say whiskey!) from eastern Canada.

Pete took his first wife, Fearless Woman, from the Blood Tribe. She was the daughter of Red Crow and Pretty Woman. Together, they had 4 children: Petre was born in 1877, Mary Josephine in 1878 and Marguerite “Maggie” in 1879. By 1879 Pete had applied for a homestead and moved the family to land near the Peigan Reserve. Their young son, Petre, died sometime before 1881, but in 1883 they welcomed another son, Leonard Peter. In 1886 Fearless Woman and Leonard Peter fell ill, and Fearless Woman and her remaining three children returned to live with Red Crow’s band. Fearless Woman and Leonard Peter died the following year, leaving Mary and Maggie in the care of their grandmother, Pretty Woman.

Pete approached Many Chief of the Peigans in 1886, asking for a wife. Many Chief and one of his wives’, Stands In Water, had a young daughter named Crow Pretty Woman. Crow Pretty Woman became Pete’s second wife, although they were not legally married until 1895. Crow Pretty Woman gave birth to Peter Charles “Charlie” in 1887, Napoleon Joseph “Nap” in 1888, Julia in 1891, Philomene Mary in 1893, and finally Pierre “Pete Jr.” in 1895.

With the exception of the two boys, Petre and Leonard Peter, who died young, all seven of the other Provost children were sent to St. Joseph’s Industrial School, known as “Dunbow”.

Maggie died at Dunbow when she was 16. Pierre “Pete Jr.” died in combat during World War I. The remaining five Provost children married and raised families.

Mary Josephine was sent to Montana to marry a carpenter/farmer in a marriage arranged by Dunbow School.
Charlie, Nap and Julia married and settled on the Peigan Reserve.
Philomene married a man she met in Calgary, and left with him shortly after marriage to his homeland in Cardiff, Wales.

Our reunion will bring together the descendants of these five children. We make our homes on the Piikani Reserve, across Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom and Europe. The reunion will give everyone a chance to learn the history of our family and meet cousins for the first time – and have a lot of fun and great food in the process!