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BOUT 1687, the Iroquois, from some neglect on the part of the governor
of New York, were induced to join the French interest; and in a council
which was held in the Iroquois country, the hatchet was buried and
a treaty concluded, by which the Indians promised to become the firm
allies of the French. The Dinondadies, a tribe of the Hurons, were
considered as belonging to the confederate Indians, but from some cause
they were dissatisfied with the league with the French, and wished by
some exploit to indicate that they preferred the English interest.
Adaris, nicknamed by the French, “the Rat,” was the head chief of the
Dinondadies, and famous for his courage and cunning. He put himself at
the head of one hundred warriors, and intercepted the ambassadors of the
Five Nations at one of the falls in Hadarakkin river, killing some and
taking others prisoners. These he informed that the French governor had
told him that fifty warriors of the Five Nations were coming that way to
attack him. They were astonished at the governor’s perfidiousness, and
so completely did Adaris’s plot succeed, that these ambassadors were
deceived into his interest. The Five Nations did not doubt that this
outrage upon their ambassadors was owing to the treachery of the French
governor, and they immediately formed a scheme of revenge, the object of
which was the destruction of Montreal.
At that time the island of Montreal contained the largest and most
flourishing settlement in Canada. It contained about fifteen hundred
inhabitants, and many flourishing plantations. The Indians thought that
if they could destroy Montreal, the French power in Canada might easily
be annihilated They assembled about twelve hundred of their bravest
warriors, and marched for the banks of the St. Lawrence, with great
secrecy and rapidity. The time fixed for the attack was the 26th of
July, 1688, when the harvest was approaching.
Just before day break, on the morning of the 26th, the whole body of
the Indians crossed the river, and advanced towards the settlement,
endeavoring to make their march as secret as possible. The great body
of the French settlers were reposing in security, but here and there
an early and industrious farmer was abroad, looking after his farm
and cattle. One of these, named Boulard, was the first to discover the
approach of the enemy. He was walking down his lane, between a thicket
and his wheat-field, when he heard a strange rustling in the bushes, at
a little distance, and he stopped and leaned against a fence to observe
what caused it. Boulard had not waited long before he caught sight of
the form of two or three red men coming through the wood, and he was
discovered by them at the same time.
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As one of them rushed toward him, gun in hand, he sprang into his
wheat-field and endeavored to conceal the direction he took. A volley of
musketry followed him, and he was wounded, yet he kept on, fear giving
him extraordinary strength, and he reached the house of a neighbor. The
alarm was given; but it was too late. Twelve hundred red men, like so
many bloodhounds, were let loose upon unprepared settlers. An awful
silence followed. Houses were burned, plantations destroyed and the
inhabitants butchered. But little resistance was offered to the Indians,
and that was soon crushed. About four hundred persons were killed upon
the spot, and the Indians retreated carrying with them a large number
of prisoners, who were doomed to a more dreadful death. The loss of the
Indians in the expedition was trifling.
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The destruction of Montreal was a terrible blow to the French, and it
was so well fol: lowed up by the powerful Iroquois, that it is thought,
if the Indians had been acquainted with the art of attacking fortified
places, the enemy would have been forced to abandon Canada. But they
had not the necessary knowledge; and the English were not wise enough
to supply them with it. The French maintained their ground, and the
Iroquois were afterwards punished for their unscrupulous warfare.
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