1642-1644.
VILLEMARIE.
Infancy of Montreal • The Flood • Vow of Maisonneuve • Pilgrimage •
D'Ailleboust • The Hôtel-Dieu • Piety • Propagandism • War • Hurons and
Iroquois • Dogs • Sally of the French • Battle • Exploit of Maisonneuve
Let us now ascend to the island of Montreal. Here, as we have seen, an
association of devout and zealous persons had essayed to found a
mission-colony under the protection of the Holy Virgin; and we left the
adventurers, after their landing, bivouacked on the shore, on an evening
in May. There was an altar in the open air, decorated with a taste that
betokened no less of good nurture than of piety; and around it clustered
the tents that sheltered the commandant, Maisonneuve, the two ladies,
Madame de la Peltrie and Mademoiselle Mance, and the soldiers and
laborers of the expedition.
In the morning they all fell to their work, Maisonneuve hewing down the
first tree,--and labored with such good-will, that their tents were soon
inclosed with a strong palisade, and their altar covered by a
provisional chapel, built, in the Huron mode, of bark. Soon afterward,
their canvas habitations were supplanted by solid structures of wood,
and the feeble germ of a future city began to take root.
The Iroquois had not yet found them out; nor did they discover them till
they had had ample time to fortify themselves. Meanwhile, on a Sunday,
they would stroll at their leisure over the adjacent meadow and in the
shade of the bordering forest, where, as the old chronicler tells us,
the grass was gay with wild-flowers, and the branches with the flutter
and song of many strange birds. [1]
[1] Dollier de Casson, MS.
The day of the Assumption of the Virgin was celebrated with befitting
solemnity. There was mass in their bark chapel; then a Te Deum; then
public instruction of certain Indians who chanced to be at Montreal;
then a procession of all the colonists after vespers, to the admiration
of the redskinned beholders. Cannon, too, were fired, in honor of their
celestial patroness. "Their thunder made all the island echo," writes
Father Vimont; "and the demons, though used to thunderbolts, were scared
at a noise which told them of the love we bear our great Mistress; and I
have scarcely any doubt that the tutelary angels of the savages of New
France have marked this day in the calendar of Paradise." [2]
[2] Vimont, Relation, 1642, 38. Compare Le Clerc, Premier Etablissement
de la Foy, II. 51.
The summer passed prosperously, but with the winter their faith was put
to a rude test. In December, there was a rise of the St. Lawrence,
threatening to sweep away in a night the results of all their labor.
They fell to their prayers; and Maisonneuve planted a wooden cross in
face of the advancing deluge, first making a vow, that, should the peril
be averted, he, Maisonneuve, would bear another cross on his shoulders
up the neighboring mountain, and place it on the summit. The vow seemed
in vain. The flood still rose, filled the fort ditch, swept the foot of
the palisade, and threatened to sap the magazine; but here it stopped,
and presently began to recede, till at length it had withdrawn within
its lawful channel, and Villemarie was safe. [3]
[3] A little MS. map in M. Jacques Viger's copy of Le Petit Registre de
la Cure de Montreal, lays down the position and shape of the fort at
this time, and shows the spot where Maisonneuve planted the cross.
Now it remained to fulfil the promise from which such happy results had
proceeded. Maisonneuve set his men at work to clear a path through the
forest to the top of the mountain. A large cross was made, and solemnly
blessed by the priest; then, on the sixth of January, the Jesuit Du
Peron led the way, followed in procession by Madame de la Peltrie, the
artisans, and soldiers, to the destined spot. The commandant, who with
all the ceremonies of the Church had been declared First Soldier of the
Cross, walked behind the rest, bearing on his shoulder a cross so heavy
that it needed his utmost strength to climb the steep and rugged path.
They planted it on the highest crest, and all knelt in adoration before
it. Du Peron said mass; and Madame de la Peltrie, always romantic and
always devout, received the sacrament on the mountain-top, a spectacle
to the virgin world outstretched below. Sundry relics of saints had been
set in the wood of the cross, which remained an object of pilgrimage to
the pious colonists of Villemarie. [4]
[4] Vimont, Relation, 1643, 52, 53.
Peace and harmony reigned within the little fort; and so edifying was
the demeanor of the colonists, so faithful were they to the
confessional, and so constant at mass, that a chronicler of the day
exclaims, in a burst of enthusiasm, that the deserts lately a resort of
demons were now the abode of angels. [5] The two Jesuits who for the
time were their pastors had them well in hand. They dwelt under the same
roof with most of their flock, who lived in community, in one large
house, and vied with each other in zeal for the honor of the Virgin and
the conversion of the Indians.
[5] Véritables Motifs, cited by Faillon, I. 453, 454.
At the end of August, 1643, a vessel arrived at Villemarie with a
reinforcement commanded by Louis d'Ailleboust de Coulonges, a pious
gentleman of Champagne, and one of the Associates of Montreal. [6] Some
years before, he had asked in wedlock the hand of Barbe de Boulogne; but
the young lady had, when a child, in the ardor of her piety, taken a vow
of perpetual chastity. By the advice of her Jesuit confessor, she
accepted his suit, on condition that she should preserve, to the hour of
her death, the state to which Holy Church has always ascribed a peculiar
merit. [7] D'Ailleboust married her; and when, soon after, he conceived
the purpose of devoting his life to the work of the Faith in Canada, he
invited his maiden spouse to go with him. She refused, and forbade him
to mention the subject again. Her health was indifferent, and about this
time she fell ill. As a last resort, she made a promise to God, that, if
He would restore her, she would go to Canada with her husband; and
forthwith her maladies ceased. Still her reluctance continued; she
hesitated, and then refused again, when an inward light revealed to her
that it was her duty to cast her lot in the wilderness. She accordingly
embarked with d'Ailleboust, accompanied by her sister, Mademoiselle
Philippine de Boulogne, who had caught the contagion of her zeal. The
presence of these damsels would, to all appearance, be rather a burden
than a profit to the colonists, beset as they then were by Indians, and
often in peril of starvation; but the spectacle of their ardor, as
disinterested as it was extravagant, would serve to exalt the religious
enthusiasm in which alone was the life of Villemarie.
[6] Chaulmer, 101; Juchereau, 91.
[7] Juchereau, Histoire de l'Hôtel-Dieu de Québec, 276. The confessor
told D'Ailleboust, that, if he persuaded his wife to break her vow of
continence, "God would chastise him terribly." The nun historian adds,
that, undeterred by the menace, he tried and failed.
Their vessel passed in safety the Iroquois who watched the St. Lawrence,
and its arrival filled the colonists with joy. D'Ailleboust was a
skilful soldier, specially versed in the arts of fortification; and,
under his direction, the frail palisades which formed their sole defence
were replaced by solid ramparts and bastions of earth. He brought news
that the "unknown benefactress," as a certain generous member of the
Association of Montreal was called, in ignorance of her name, had given
funds, to the amount, as afterwards appeared, of forty-two thousand
livres, for the building of a hospital at Villemarie. [8] The source of
the gift was kept secret, from a religious motive; but it soon became
known that it proceeded from Madame de Bullion, a lady whose rank and
wealth were exceeded only by her devotion. It is true that the hospital
was not wanted, as no one was sick at Villemarie, and one or two
chambers would have sufficed for every prospective necessity; but it
will be remembered that the colony had been established in order that a
hospital might be built, and Madame de Bullion would not hear to any
other application of her money. [9] Instead, therefore, of tilling the
land to supply their own pressing needs, all the laborers of the
settlement were set at this pious, though superfluous, task. [10] There
was no room in the fort, which, moreover, was in danger of inundation;
and the hospital was accordingly built on higher ground adjacent. To
leave it unprotected would be to abandon its inmates to the Iroquois; it
was therefore surrounded by a strong palisade, and, in time of danger, a
part of the garrison was detailed to defend it. Here Mademoiselle Mance
took up her abode, and waited the day when wounds or disease should
bring patients to her empty wards.
[8] Archives du Séminaire de Villemarie, cited by Faillon, I. 466. The
amount of the gift was not declared until the next year.
[9] Mademoiselle Mance wrote to her, to urge that the money should be
devoted to the Huron mission; but she absolutely refused.--Dollier de
Casson, MS.
[10] Journal des Supérieurs des Jésuites, MS.
The hospital was sixty feet long and twenty-four feet wide, with a
kitchen, a chamber for Mademoiselle Mance, others for servants, and two
large apartments for the patients. It was amply provided with furniture,
linen, medicines, and all necessaries; and had also two oxen, three
cows, and twenty sheep. A small oratory of stone was built adjoining it.
The inclosure was four arpents in extent.--Archives du Séminaire de
Villemarie, cited by Faillon.
Dauversière, who had first conceived this plan of a hospital in the
wilderness, was a senseless enthusiast, who rejected as a sin every
protest of reason against the dreams which governed him; yet one
rational and practical element entered into the motives of those who
carried the plan into execution. The hospital was intended not only to
nurse sick Frenchmen, but to nurse and convert sick Indians; in other
words, it was an engine of the mission.
From Maisonneuve to the humblest laborer, these zealous colonists were
bent on the work of conversion. To that end, the ladies made pilgrimages
to the cross on the mountain, sometimes for nine days in succession, to
pray God to gather the heathen into His fold. The fatigue was great; nor
was the danger less; and armed men always escorted them, as a precaution
against the Iroquois. [11] The male colonists were equally fervent; and
sometimes as many as fifteen or sixteen persons would kneel at once
before the cross, with the same charitable petition. [12] The ardor of
their zeal may be inferred from the fact, that these pious expeditions
consumed the greater part of the day, when time and labor were of a
value past reckoning to the little colony. Besides their pilgrimages,
they used other means, and very efficient ones, to attract and gain over
the Indians. They housed, fed, and clothed them at every opportunity;
and though they were subsisting chiefly on provisions brought at great
cost from France, there was always a portion for the hungry savages who
from time to time encamped near their fort. If they could persuade any
of them to be nursed, they were consigned to the tender care of
Mademoiselle Mance; and if a party went to war, their women and children
were taken in charge till their return. As this attention to their
bodies had for its object the profit of their souls, it was accompanied
with incessant catechizing. This, with the other influences of the
place, had its effect; and some notable conversions were made. Among
them was that of the renowned chief, Tessouat, or Le Borgne, as the
French called him,--a crafty and intractable savage, whom, to their own
surprise, they succeeded in taming and winning to the Faith. [13] He was
christened with the name of Paul, and his squaw with that of Madeleine.
Maisonneuve rewarded him with a gun, and celebrated the day by a feast
to all the Indians present. [14]
[11] Morin, Annales de l'Hôtel-Dieu de St. Joseph, MS., cited by
Faillon, I. 457.
[12] Marguerite Bourgeoys, Écrits Autographes, MS., extracts in Faillon,
I. 458.
[13] Vimont, Relation, 1643, 54, 55. Tessouat was chief of Allumette
Island, in the Ottawa. His predecessor, of the same name, was
Champlain's host in 1613.--See "Pioneers of France," Chap. XII.
[14] It was the usual practice to give guns to converts, "pour attirer
leur compatriotes à la Foy." They were never given to heathen Indians.
"It seems," observes Vimont, "that our Lord wishes to make use of this
method in order that Christianity may become acceptable in this
country."--Relation, 1643, 71.
The French hoped to form an agricultural settlement of Indians in the
neighborhood of Villemarie; and they spared no exertion to this end,
giving them tools, and aiding them to till the fields. They might have
succeeded, but for that pest of the wilderness, the Iroquois, who
hovered about them, harassed them with petty attacks, and again and
again drove the Algonquins in terror from their camps. Some time had
elapsed, as we have seen, before the Iroquois discovered Villemarie; but
at length ten fugitive Algonquins, chased by a party of them, made for
the friendly settlement as a safe asylum; and thus their astonished
pursuers became aware of its existence. They reconnoitred the place, and
went back to their towns with the news. [15] From that time forth the
colonists had no peace; no more excursions for fishing and hunting; no
more Sunday strolls in woods and meadows. The men went armed to their
work, and returned at the sound of a bell, marching in a compact body,
prepared for an attack.
[15] Dollier de Casson, MS.
Early in June, 1643, sixty Hurons came down in canoes for traffic, and,
on reaching the place now called Lachine, at the head of the rapids of
St. Louis, and a few miles above Villemarie, they were amazed at finding
a large Iroquois war-party in a fort hastily built of the trunks and
boughs of trees. Surprise and fright seem to have infatuated them. They
neither fought nor fled, but greeted their inveterate foes as if they
were friends and allies, and, to gain their good graces, told them all
they knew of the French settlement, urging them to attack it, and
promising an easy victory. Accordingly, the Iroquois detached forty of
their warriors, who surprised six Frenchmen at work hewing timber within
a gunshot of the fort, killed three of them, took the remaining three
prisoners, and returned in triumph. The captives were bound with the
usual rigor; and the Hurons taunted and insulted them, to please their
dangerous companions. Their baseness availed them little; for at night,
after a feast of victory, when the Hurons were asleep or off their
guard, their entertainers fell upon them, and killed or captured the
greater part. The rest ran for Villemarie, where, as their treachery was
as yet unknown, they were received with great kindness. [16]
[16] I have followed Dollier de Casson. Vimont's account is different.
He says that the Iroquois fell upon the Hurons at the outset, and took
twenty-three prisoners, killing many others; after which they made the
attack at Villemarie.--Relation, 1643, 62.
Faillon thinks that Vimont was unwilling to publish the treachery of the
Hurons, lest the interests of the Huron mission should suffer in
consequence.
Belmont, Histoire du Canada, 1643, confirms the account of the Huron
treachery.
The next morning the Iroquois decamped, carrying with them their
prisoners, and the furs plundered from the Huron canoes. They had taken
also, and probably destroyed, all the letters from the missionaries in
the Huron country, as well as a copy of their Relation of the preceding
year. Of the three French prisoners, one escaped and reached Montreal;
the remaining two were burned alive.
At Villemarie it was usually dangerous to pass beyond the ditch of the
fort or the palisades of the hospital. Sometimes a solitary warrior
would lie hidden for days, without sleep and almost without food, behind
a log in the forest, or in a dense thicket, watching like a lynx for
some rash straggler. Sometimes parties of a hundred or more made
ambuscades near by, and sent a few of their number to lure out the
soldiers by a petty attack and a flight. The danger was much diminished,
however, when the colonists received from France a number of dogs, which
proved most efficient sentinels and scouts. Of the instinct of these
animals the writers of the time speak with astonishment. Chief among
them was a bitch named Pilot, who every morning made the rounds of the
forests and fields about the fort, followed by a troop of her offspring.
If one of them lagged behind, she hit him to remind him of his duty; and
if any skulked and ran home, she punished them severely in the same
manner on her return. When she discovered the Iroquois, which she was
sure to do by the scent, if any were near, she barked furiously, and ran
at once straight to the fort, followed by the rest. The Jesuit
chronicler adds, with an amusing naïveté, that, while this was her duty,
"her natural inclination was for hunting squirrels." [17]
[17] Lalemant, Relation, 1647, 74, 75. "Son attrait naturel estoit la
chasse aux écurieux." Dollier de Casson also speaks admiringly of her
and her instinct. Faillon sees in it a manifest proof of the protecting
care of God over Villemarie.
Maisonneuve was as brave a knight of the cross as ever fought in
Palestine for the sepulchre of Christ; but he could temper his valor
with discretion. He knew that he and his soldiers were but indifferent
woodsmen; that their crafty foe had no equal in ambuscades and
surprises; and that, while a defeat might ruin the French, it would only
exasperate an enemy whose resources in men were incomparably greater.
Therefore, when the dogs sounded the alarm, he kept his followers close,
and stood patiently on the defensive. They chafed under this Fabian
policy, and at length imputed it to cowardice. Their murmurings grew
louder, till they reached the ear of Maisonneuve. The religion which
animated him had not destroyed the soldierly pride which takes root so
readily and so strongly in a manly nature; and an imputation of
cowardice from his own soldiers stung him to the quick. He saw, too,
that such an opinion of him must needs weaken his authority, and impair
the discipline essential to the safety of the colony.
On the morning of the thirtieth of March, Pilot was heard barking with
unusual fury in the forest eastward from the fort; and in a few moments
they saw her running over the clearing, where the snow was still deep,
followed by her brood, all giving tongue together. The excited Frenchmen
flocked about their commander.
"Monsieur, les ennemis sont dans le bois; ne les irons-nous jamais
voir?" [18]
[18] Dollier de Casson, MS.
Maisonneuve, habitually composed and calm, answered sharply,--
"Yes, you shall see the enemy. Get yourselves ready at once, and take
care that you are as brave as you profess to be. I shall lead you
myself."
All was bustle in the fort. Guns were loaded, pouches filled, and
snow-shoes tied on by those who had them and knew how to use them. There
were not enough, however, and many were forced to go without them. When
all was ready, Maisonneuve sallied forth at the head of thirty men,
leaving d'Ailleboust, with the remainder, to hold the fort. They crossed
the snowy clearing and entered the forest, where all was silent as the
grave. They pushed on, wading through the deep snow, with the countless
pitfalls hidden beneath it, when suddenly they were greeted with the
screeches of eighty Iroquois, [19] who sprang up from their
lurking-places, and showered bullets and arrows upon the advancing
French. The emergency called, not for chivalry, but for woodcraft; and
Maisonneuve ordered his men to take shelter, like their assailants,
behind trees. They stood their ground resolutely for a long time; but
the Iroquois pressed them close, three of their number were killed,
others were wounded, and their ammunition began to fail. Their only
alternatives were destruction or retreat; and to retreat was not easy.
The order was given. Though steady at first, the men soon became
confused, and over-eager to escape the galling fire which the Iroquois
sent after them. Maisonneuve directed them towards a sledge-track which
had been used in dragging timber for building the hospital, and where
the snow was firm beneath the foot. He himself remained to the last,
encouraging his followers and aiding the wounded to escape. The French,
as they struggled through the snow, faced about from time to time, and
fired back to check the pursuit; but no sooner had they reached the
sledge-track than they gave way to their terror, and ran in a body for
the fort. Those within, seeing this confused rush of men from the
distance, mistook them for the enemy; and an over-zealous soldier
touched the match to a cannon which had been pointed to rake the
sledge-track. Had not the piece missed fire, from dampness of the
priming, he would have done more execution at one shot than the Iroquois
in all the fight of that morning.
[19] Vimont, Relation, 1644, 42. Dollier de Casson says two hundred, but
it is usually safe in these cases to accept the smaller number, and
Vimont founds his statement on the information of an escaped prisoner.
Maisonneuve was left alone, retreating backwards down the track, and
holding his pursuers in check, with a pistol in each hand. They might
easily have shot him; but, recognizing him as the commander of the
French, they were bent on taking him alive. Their chief coveted this
honor for himself, and his followers held aloof to give him the
opportunity. He pressed close upon Maisonneuve, who snapped a pistol at
him, which missed fire. The Iroquois, who had ducked to avoid the shot,
rose erect, and sprang forward to seize him, when Maisonneuve, with his
remaining pistol, shot him dead. Then ensued a curious spectacle, not
infrequent in Indian battles. The Iroquois seemed to forget their enemy,
in their anxiety to secure and carry off the body of their chief; and
the French commander continued his retreat unmolested, till he was safe
under the cannon of the fort. From that day, he was a hero in the eyes
of his men. [20]
[20] Dollier de Casson, MS. Vimont's mention of the affair is brief. He
says that two Frenchmen were made prisoners, and burned. Belmont,
Histoire du Canada, 1645, gives a succinct account of the fight, and
indicates the scene of it. It seems to have been a little below the site
of the Place d'Armes, on which stands the great Parish Church of
Villemarie, commonly known to tourists as the "Cathedral." Faillon
thinks that Maisonneuve's exploit was achieved on this very spot.
Marguerite Bourgeoys also describes the affair in her unpublished
writings.
Quebec and Montreal are happy in their founders. Samuel de Champlain and
Chomedey de Maisonneuve are among the names that shine with a fair and
honest lustre on the infancy of nations.