Peter Navarre was an American fur-trader and scout.
Background
Peter Navarre was born on March 28, 1790 in Detroit, Michigan, United States. His grandfather was a well-known settler, Robert Navarre; his father, François dit Hutro (or Utreau) Navarre. His mother, through her mother, was a member of the Campau family, probably Marie Louise Godet, though Pierre at one time gave her name as Marie Louise Panat Campau. The family moved to the River Raisin country when Pierre was still young.
Career
About 1807 he and his elder brother, Robert, built the cabin near the mouth of the Maumee which was to be Pierre's permanent home. Pierre, inured to the woods and skilled in Indian ways, became a fur-trader, and is said to have traded with the Miamis at Fort Wayne, where he made the friendship of Chief Little Turtle.
When the War of 1812 disrupted the border trade, Navarre and three of his brothers joined the army of Gen. William Hull. They were included in the surrender of Detroit, but, released on parole, went to the River Raisin, where they served as scouts to Gen. James Winchester. They managed to escape from the massacre in January 1813, and a little later, Navarre became a scout in William Henry Harrison's army. Many tales were told in later years of his daring adventures: of his great speed in carrying messages over the wilderness trails; of his courageous escape after capture by the British; of his racing the British to carry the news of their approach to Fort Stephenson.
He was present at the battle of the Thames, where his services were valuable because of the respect that the Indians in the British service had for his abilities. Navarre himself said that he witnessed the death of Tecumseh and that he was one of the soldiers detailed to bury that chief.
After the war, he devoted himself again to the fur trade, and was probably the Pierre Navarre who was employed as a trader in the St. Joseph's and Kankakee Outfit of the American Fur Company in 1820. After a disagreement with his superior, Navarre was discharged, only to be hired by William H. Wallace, another Company trader, to trade near Terre Haute, Indiana. He was again discharged.
Later Navarre left the fur trade and spent the rest of his life on his farm near Toledo. In 1864 a special bill was introduced into Congress to grant him a pension of eight dollars a month. The bill was reported adversely by the Senate committee, but the pension was later granted and helped to swell his scanty income in the last years of his life. As an old settler and a veteran of the War of 1812, he was held in some respect at Toledo.
Achievements
Connections
He was twice married: in 1825 to Geneveva Robert, who died in 1827, and some time later, to Catherine Bourdeau. He was survived by several children, two of his sons having served in the Civil War.