François-Marie Patorni – The French Presence in New Mexico

Description

François-Marie Patorni is an independent scholar living in Santa Fe. After his retirement from the World Bank in Washington D.C., he moved to Santa Fe in 2004. His upcoming book, New Mexico: The French since the 1500s, is expected to be published in 2019.

Patorni is a member of numerous historical societies and has given over fifteen lectures in New Mexico and Colorado. Patorni has an MBA from the Wharton School in Philadelphia and various degrees from France.

The history of the French, French Canadians and other French-speaking people in New Mexico covers the last 500 years and all areas of New Mexico. Over time, Santa Fe emerged as a communication hub, as three main trails converged upon the city: the Santa Fe Trail, reaching east to Missouri and the rest of the United States; the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, the oldest trade route, reaching south to Mexico City; and, heading northwest, what became to be known as the Old Spanish Trail, ultimately extending to California.

After an overview of the history of the French in New Mexico, we will focus on French presence on the Old Spanish Trail. Along the trail, we will meet French trappers and traders (several of whom etched their names on canyon walls), including François Laforest, Baptiste St. Germain, Baptiste Guerra, Baptiste Lafargue, Gervais Nolan, Jules Legutre, Antoine and Louis Robidoux, Etienne Provost, François LeClerc, Céran St. Vrain, Bernard Pratte, Jean-Baptiste Chalifoux, Antoine Leroux, Denis Julien and others.