Joseph Montferrand
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Joseph "Joe" Montferrand (October 25, 1802-October 4, 1864) was a French-Canadian logger, strong man and hero of the working man, who was the inspiration for the legendary Ottawa Valley figure Big Joe Mufferaw.
Joseph Montferrand, dit Favre was born in the St. Lawrence district of Montreal in 1802. The family men were known for their strength and powerful build. Joe was 6 foot 4 inches (1.94 m) tall with blue eyes and fair hair. Although he was mild in manner and appearance, he could more than hold his own in a street fight. He successfully challenged several famed boxers during his youth. He came to fame as a result of a challenge issued at a boxing match in the Champs du Mars. Two English-speaking boxers had just fought for the championship. The organizers then asked if there was anyone in the crowd who wished to challenge the champion of Canada. The sixteen year old Montferrand stepped into the ring and with one punch, felled the (former) champion. News of this surprising event spread quickly.
At the age of 21, he joined the Hudson's Bay Company as a voyageur. In 1827, he began work as a logger on the Rivière du Nord in Lower Canada and then moved to the upper Ottawa River. The loggers felled trees over the winter and then drove the logs down the river, eventually arriving at Quebec City. Montferrand spent the remainder of his working years in the lumber trade in the Outaouais. There was ongoing animosity between Anglophones and Francophones and frequent fights between the English, Irish and French Canadian loggers. Montferrand's prowess with his fists and boots was legendary in avenging the wrongs he and his compatriots were subjected to.
Montferrand defended French-Canadian workers against gangs of Irish bullies in the Bytown area known as "Shiners". In 1829, he is said to have beaten a gang of 150 Shiners on the bridge between Hull, Quebec and Bytown. After 1840, he mainly worked the log drives as foreman and he retired in 1857. In his later years, he suffered from pain in his back and joints.
His exploits were already the stuff of legends by that time. He is said to have left his boot heel marks imprinted on several tavern ceilings after somersaulting into the air. He was immortalised in books, plays and songs by La Bolduc and Gilles Vigneault. Sir Wilfrid Laurier wrote a biography of Montferrand based on the oral tradition of the time.
He died in Montreal in 1864.
