A thirty-six-month contract in the New World meant surviving harsh winters, hostile natives, strange diseases, scurvy and hunger. Few men and women stayed beyond the end of their contract. Nicolas Rivard Sieur de Lavigne was one of these men. His children would help build two nations across the face of North America. Their descendants would take names like Rivard, Lavigne, Lacoursiere, Laglanderie, Dufresne, Lanouette, Préville, Beaucourt, Preville, Loraner, Feuilleverte, Bellefeuille, Monendre, Maisonville, Mongrain, Rivac, Rival, Rivvault, Vertefeuille, and Lamy.This is his story.