FRENCH COMMANDERS OF ACADIA.
After the capture of Fort la Tour by Sedgewick's Massachusetts
invaders in 1654, Acadia remained nominally in possession of the
English for twelve years. Half a century had elapsed since the attempt
of de Monts to establish his colony, yet little progress had been made
in the settlement of the country and the valley of the St. John
remained an almost unbroken wilderness. The first English trading post
on the river, of which we have any knowledge was that established in
1659 by Sir Thomas Temple at the mouth of the Jemseg.
As related in the last chapter, la Tour, Temple and Crowne received
from Oliver Cromwell a grant that included nearly the whole of Acadia,
and la Tour soon after sold his right to Temple, his co-partner. The
latter decided to establish a fortified post at the Jemseg as more
convenient for the Indian trade and less exposed to marauders than the
fort at the mouth of the river. There can be little doubt that Temple
would soon have enjoyed a flourishing trade, but unfortunately for his
prospects, Acadia was restored to France by the treaty of Breda, in
1667. He attempted to hold possession of his lands, claiming that they
did not fall within the boundaries of Acadia, but at the expiration of
three years, during which there was considerable correspondence with
the home authorities, he received the peremptory orders of Charles II.
to surrender the fort to the Sieur de Soulanges. In the formal deed of
surrender the fort is termed "Fort Gemisick, 25 leagues up the River
St. John." It was a palisaded enclosure, with stakes 18 feet high
connected by cross pieces fastened with nails to the stakes and firmly
braced on the inside with pickets nine feet high leaned against the
stakes. The gate of the fort was of three thicknesses of new plank. It
was evidently a frail defence, but sufficient for the Indian trade.
The armament consisted of five iron guns, varying in weight from 300
pounds to 625 pounds, mounted on wooden platforms. Within the palisade
was a house 20 paces by 10, two chimneys, a forge, two sheds and a
store house. The fort stood on a small mound near the top of a hill,
less than 100 yards from the bank of the Jemseg river. It commanded an
extensive view both up and down the River St. John. A fragment of the
rampart is still visible, and numerous relics have from time to time
been dug up at the site or in the vicinity. The fort site is now owned
by Mr. Geo. F. Nevars.
After the treaty of Breda the Chevalier Grand-fontaine was appointed
to command in Acadia, with Pierre de Joibert, Seigneur de Soulanges et
Marson, as his lieutenant. One of the first acts of Grand-fontaine was
to have a census taken, from which we learn that there were then only
a little more than 400 people in Acadia, very few of whom were to be
found north of the Bay of Fundy. Grand-fontaine was recalled to France
in 1673, and Chambly, who had been an officer in the famous Carignan
Salieres regiment, succeeded him as commandant. The control of affairs
in New France was now transferred to Quebec, where a governor-general
and intendant, or lieutenant-governor, resided.
About this time large tracts of land were granted as "seigniories" by
Count Frontenac and his successors. The seignior was usually a person
of some consideration by birth and education. He received a free
grant of lands from the crown on certain conditions; one of these was
that whenever the seigniory changed hands the act of "faith and
homage" was to be tendered at the Castle of St. Louis in Quebec. The
tendering of faith and homage was quite an elaborate ceremony, in
which the owner of the land, divesting himself of arms and spurs, with
bared head, on bended knee, repeated before the governor, as
representative of the sovereign, his acknowledgement of faith and
homage to the crown. Provision was made in all seignioral grants for
the reservation of oaks for the royal navy, of lands required for
fortifications or highways, and of all mines and minerals; the
seignior was also required to reside on his land or to place a certain
number of tenants thereon and to clear and improve a certain portion
within a stated time. From the year 1672 to the close of the century
as many as 16 seigniories were granted on the St. John river, besides
others in various parts of New Brunswick. The first in order of time
was that to Martin d'Arpentigny Sieur de Martignon. It included a
large tract at the mouth of the River St. John, on the west side of
the harbor, extending six leagues up the river from Partridge Island
(Isle de la Perdrix) and six leagues in depth inland. This seigniory
would now include Carleton and the parishes of Lancaster, Musquash and
Westfield. The owner of this valuable property is described as "an old
inhabitant of Acadia." He married Jeanne de la Tour, only daughter of
Charles la Tour by his first wife: she was born in Acadia in 1626. It
is stated in his grant that he intended to bring over people from
France to settle his seigniory, also that he was a proprietor of lands
on the River St. John "from the River de Maquo to the mines of the
said country of Acadia."[3]
[3] Dr. Ganong is probably correct in identifying the "River de
Maquo" with Maquapit and the "mines" with the coal mines at
Newcastle in Queens county. In this case the sieur de
Martignon owned the lands on the north side of Grand Lake
including the site of the old Indian village at Indian point
where so any relics have been discovered. It is quite possible
that the sieur de Martignon and his wife, Jeanne de la Tour,
may have lived there for a time.
After la Tour's death his son-in-law, the Sieur de Mantignon,
seems to have taken up his abode at the old fort on the west side of
the harbor, which in Franquet's map of 1707 is called "Fort de
Martinnon."
In the little world of Acadia, Pierre de Joibert, sieur de Soulanges,
played a leading part during his eight years residence. He was a
native of the little town of Soulanges in the old French province of
Champagne. He had served as lieutenant in Grand-fontaine's company of
infantry and came with that officer to Acadia. It is said that "he
rendered good and praiseworthy service to the king both in Old and New
France." As a recognition of those services he was granted, October
20, 1672, a seigniory at the mouth of the St. John on the east side of
the river a league in depth and extending four leagues up the river;
this seigniory seems to have included the present city of St.
John--Carleton excepted. The Sieur de Soulanges, however, did not
reside there but at the Jemseg. This is evident from the fact that the
document that conveyed to him his St. John seigniory gave him in
addition "the house of fort Gemesik," which the great states "he shall
enjoy for such time only as he shall hold his commission of commander
on the said river in order to give him a place of residence that he
may act with more liberty and convenience in everything relating to
the king's service." The wife of Soulanges was Marie Francoise,
daughter of Chartier de Lotbeniere, attorney-general of Quebec. Their
daughter Louise Elizabeth was born at "Fort Gemesik" in 1673.
The sieur de Soulanges did not long enjoy peaceable possession of his
place of residence; disturbance came from an entirely unexpected
quarter. A band of Dutch marauders under their leader Arenson in the
summer of 1674 pillaged and greatly damaged the fort and seized and
carried off its commander, but soon after set him at liberty. As a
recompense for this misfortune Soulanges received the grant of a large
tract of land at the Jemseg, two leagues in depth and extending a
league on each side of the fort. It is stated in the grant that "he
had made various repairs and additions to the fort in order to make it
habitable and capable of defence, there having been previously only a
small wooden house in ruins surrounded by palisades half fallen to the
ground, in fact it would have been better to have rebuilt the whole,
for he would yet have to make a large outlay to put it in proper
condition on account of the total ruin wrought by the Dutch (les
Hollandois) when they made him their prisoner in the said fort two
years ago."
The little daughter of Soulanges, whose infant slumbers were disturbed
by these rude Dutch boors, was afterwards the marchioness de
Vaudreuil, the wife of one governor general of Canada and the mother
of another.
It is evident the authorities at Quebec knew little of the value of
the lands on the St. John river or they would hardly have granted
them with such prodigality. The Sieur de Soulanges seems to have been
highly favored by Frontenac for the three seigniories granted to him
included an area of more than a hundred square miles. The one at
the mouth of the river possessed all those natural advantages that
have made St. John the leading commercial city of the maritime
provinces. That at the Jemseg was for a short time the head
quarters of French power in Acadia and in its modest way the
political capital of the country. The third seigniory--at the very
heart of which lay the site of Fredericton--remains to be described.
In the grant to Soulanges it is termed, "the place called Nachouac
(Nashwaak), to be called hereafter Soulanges, upon the River St.
John 15 leagues from Gemesk, two leagues on each side of said river
and two leagues deep inland." The grant was made in consideration
of the services rendered by Soulanges and to encourage him to continue
those services; it was made so large because little of it was
thought to be capable of cultivation. This seigniory would include at
the present day the city of Fredericton and its suburbs, the town of
Marysville, villages of Gibson and St. Mary's and a large tract of the
surrounding country; the owner of such a property today would be
indeed a multi-millionaire.
Upon Chambly's appointment as governor of Granada he was succeeded as
governor of Acadia by the Sieur de Soulanges who did not, however,
long enjoy the honors of his new position, for he died about the year
1678 and his widow and children soon afterwards removed to Quebec.
Count Frontenac's interest in the family continued, and on March 23,
1691, a grant of a large tract of land on the River St. John was made
to Marie Francoise Chartier, widow of the Sieur de Soulanges. Her
seigniory included the larger portion of Gagetown parish in Queens
county, the central point being opposite her old residence or, as the
grant expresses it, "vis-a-vis la maison de Jemsec."
The seigniories granted to Soulanges and his widow proved of no value
to their descendants; either the titles lapsed on account of
non-fulfilment of the required conditions, or the lands were forfeited
when the country passed into the hands of the English.
Louise Elizabeth Joibert, the daughter of Soulanges, who was born on
the River St. John, was educated at the convent of the Ursulines in
Quebec. At the age of seventeen she married the Marquis Vaudreuil, a
gentleman thirty years her senior. She is described as a very
beautiful and clever woman possessed of all the graces which would
charm the highest circles; of rare sagacity and exquisite modesty. She
was the mother of twelve children. Her husband, the Marquis de
Vaudreuil, was for twenty-two years governor general of Canada, and
her son held the same position when the French possessions passed into
the hands of the English; he was consequently the last governor
general of New France.
La Valliere succeeded the Sieur de Soulanges and was for six years
commander of Acadia. He cared little for the dignity or honor of his
position provided he could use it for his own benefit. He established
a small settlement at the River St. John and engaged in fishing and
trading. Many complaints were preferred against him by rival traders.
They alleged that he encouraged the English to fish on the coasts,
granting them licenses for the purpose, that he traded with them in
spite of the king's prohibition; also that he robbed and defrauded the
savages.
These charges seem to have been well founded. An Indian captain named
Negascouet says that as he was coming from Neguedchecouniedoche, his
usual residence, he was met by the Sieur de la Valliere, who took from
him by violence seventy moose skins, sixty martins, four beaver and
two otter, without giving him any payment, and this was not the first
time la Valliere had so acted.
In 1685 la Valliere was replaced by Perrot whose conduct was, if
possible, even more reprehensible than that of his predecessor. He was
such a money making genius that he thought nothing of selling brandy
to the Indians by the pint and half-pint before strangers and in his
own house, a rather undignified occupation certainly for a royal
governor of Acadia.
Examples such as these on the part of those in authority naturally
found many imitators, indeed there was at this time a general
disposition on the part of young men of the better families in New
France to become "coureurs de bois," or rangers of the woods, rather
than cultivators of the soil. The life of a coureur de bois was wild
and full of adventure, involving toil and exposure, but the possible
profits were great and the element of danger appeared in the eyes of
many an additional fascination. The rulers of New France from time to
time enacted stringent laws against these "outlaws of the bush" but
they were of little avail. The governor of Quebec felt compelled to
represent the conduct of the Canadian noblesse in unfavorable terms to
his royal master. "They do not," he writes, "devote themselves to
improving their land, they mix up in trade and send their children to
trade for furs in the Indian villages and in the depths of the forest
in spite of the prohibition of his majesty."
The rapid progress of New England caused Louis XIV to express
dissatisfaction at the slow development of Acadia, and he desired a
report of the condition of the colony to be transmitted to Versailles.
Monsieur de Meulles, the intendant, accordingly visited Acadia in 1686
where he found the French settlements "in a neglected and desolate
state." He caused a census to be taken which showed the total
population to be 915 souls, including the garrison at Port Royal.
There were at that time only five or six families on the St. John
river. Bishop St. Vallier made a tour of Acadia the same year,
visiting all the Indians and French inhabitants he could find. The
Marquis de Denonville in a letter to the French minister of November
10, 1686, announced the safe return of the bishop to Quebec after a
most fatiguing journey and adds: "He will give you an account of the
numerous disorders committed in the woods by the miserable outlaws who
for a long while have lived like the savages without doing anything at
all towards the tilling of the soil."
[Illustration: ESTAT PRESENT DE L'EGLISE ET DE LA COLONIE FRANCOISE DANS
LA NOUVELLE FRANCE
_Par M. L'Eveque de Quebec_
A PARIS, Chez ROBERT PEPIE, rue S. Jacques, a l'image S. Basile, au
dessus de la Fontaine S. Severin.
M. DC. LXXXVIII.]
Many interesting incidents of the tour of Mgr. St. Vallier are related
in a work entitled "The Present State of the Church and of the French
Colony in New France," printed in Paris in 1688. A fac-simile of the
title page of the original edition appears opposite. As this rare
little volume contains the first published references to the upper St.
John region some extracts from its pages will be of interest. The
bishop was accompanied by two priests and five canoe men. They left
the St. Lawrence on the 7th of May and proceeded by way of the Rivers
du Loup and St. Francis to the St. John.
"Our guides," the bishop says, "in order to take the shortest road,
conducted us by a route not usually traveled, in which it was
necessary sometimes to proceed by canoe and sometimes on foot and this
in a region where winter still reigned; we had sometimes to break the
ice in the rivers to make a passage for the canoes and sometimes to
leave the canoes and tramp amid snow and water over those places that
are called portages (or carrying places) because it is necessary for
the men to carry the canoes upon their shoulders. In order the better
to mark our route we gave names to all these portages as well as to
the lakes and rivers we had to traverse.
"The St. Francis is rather a torrent than a river; it is formed by
several streams which descend from two ranges of mountains by which
the river is bordered on the right and left; it is only navigable from
the tenth or twelfth of May until about the end of June; it is then so
rapid that one could make without difficulty twenty to twenty-five
leagues in a day if it were not crossed in three or four places by
fallen trees, which in each instance occupy about fifteen feet of
space, and if they were cut out, as could be done with very little
expense, the passage would be free; one would not suppose that it
would cost 200 pistoles to clear the channel of these obstacles which
much delay the traveler.
"The River St. John is of much greater extent and beauty than that
just named, its course is everywhere smooth and the lands along its
banks appear good; there are several very fine islands, and numerous
tributary rivers abounding in fish enter its channel on both sides. It
seemed to us that some fine settlements might be made between Medogtok
and Gemesech, especially at a certain place which we have named
Sainte Marie, where the river enlarges and the waters are divided by a
large number of islands that apparently would be very fertile if
cultivated. A mission for the savages would be well placed there: the
land has not as yet any owner in particular, neither the king nor the
governor having made a grant to any person."
The place here referred to by St. Vallier afterwards became the
mission of Ekouipahag or Aukpaque. A mission for the Indians has been
maintained in that vicinity, with some interruptions, to the present
day. The islands which the bishop mentions are the well known and
beautiful islands below the mouth of the Keswick stream. There is no
mention by St. Vallier of the Indian village at Aukpaque, which was
probably of rather later origin: there may have been a camping ground
in that locality, however, for the Indians had many camping places on
the islands and intervals, particularly at the mouths of rivers, to
which they resorted at certain seasons. The name Ekouipahag or, as our
modern Indians call it, Ek-pa-hawk, signifies "the head of the tide,"
or beginning of the swift water. The charms of the place have excited
the admiration of many a tourist since St. Vallier's day. At the time
of the Acadian expulsion a number of fugitives, who escaped their
pursuers, fled for refuge to the St. John river, and took up their
abode at this spot where they cultivated the intervals and islands
until the arrival of the Loyalists in 1783, when they were again
obliged to look for situations more remote.
The progress of Bishop St. Vallier coming down the St. John river was
expeditious, the water being then at freshet height. At the mouth of
the Madawaska, which he named St. Francois de Sales, he met a small
band of savages, who pleaded for a missionary. The day following, May
17th, he came to the Grand Falls, or as he calls it "le grand Sault
Saint Jean-Baptiste." His book contains the first published
description of this magnificent cataract[4]. The rapidity of the
journey is seen in the fact that the bishop and his party slept the
next night at the Indian village of Medoctec, "the first fort of
Acadia," eighty miles below the Grand Falls. Here they found a hundred
savages, who were greatly pleased when informed that the bishop had
come for the purpose of establishing a mission for their benefit. This
promise was fulfilled soon after by the sending to them the Recollet
missionary Simon, of whom we shall hear more ere long. It is evident
that the French adventurers the bishop encountered in the course of
this wilderness journey led a pretty lawless life, for he observed in
his narrative: "It is to be wished that the French who have their
habitations along this route, were so correct in their habits as to
lead the poor savages by their example to embrace Christianity, but we
must hope that in the course of time the reformation of the one may
bring about the conversion of the other."
[4] "Nous vimes l'endroit qu'on appelle le grand Sault Saint
Jean-Baptiste, ou la riviere de Saint Jean faisant du haut
d'un rocher fort eleve une terrible cascade dans un abime,
forme un brouillard qui derobe l'eau a la veue, et fait un
bruit qui avertit de loin les navigateurs de descendre de
leurs canots."
Medoctec was undoubtedly the principal Indian village on the St. John
at this time; it was situated on the right bank of the river, eight
miles below the Town of Woodstock. Here the Maliseets had a palisaded
fort and large cabin, similar to that described by Lescarbot at the
village Ouigoudy on Navy Island, where de Monts was welcomed by
Chkoudun in 1604. The only other fortification constructed by the
Indians on the St. John river, so far as known, was that at the mouth
of the Nerepis, at Woodman's Point, called by Villebon, in 1697, "Fort
des Sauvages de Nerepisse." It was evidently merely a palisaded
enclosure, and on Southack's map of that period is marked "Wooden
Fort."
Hitherto the Indians of Acadia had lived peaceably with the whites,
but the closing years of the seventeenth century were destined to
witness a sad transformation.