1644-1651
PROGRESS AND WAR
THE COMPANY OF MONTREAL CONFIRMED BY LOUIS XIV--MAISONNEUVE
REAPPOINTED GOVERNOR--A SYNDIC ELECTED; THE FIRST STEP
IN REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT--THE BUILDING OF THE
HOTEL-DIEU--MILITARY HISTORY--PILOT, THE WATCHDOG OF THE
FORT--THE EXPLOIT OF PLACE D'ARMES--FEAR OF IROQUOIS--LABARRE'S
REINFORCEMENT--AGRICULTURE BEGINS--MONTREAL'S FREE TRADE
MOVEMENT--THE FIRST IROQUOIS WAR IS OVER--MAISONNEUVE
GOES TO FRANCE--THE PROMOTION IN PARIS OF A BISHOPRIC FOR
MONTREAL--CHARLES LE MOYNE--THE FORTIFICATIONS OF THE FORT--WAR
AGAIN--THE SALARIES OF THE GOVERNOR OF QUEBEC, THREE RIVERS AND
MONTREAL--THE CAMP VOLANT--FINANCIAL GLOOM IN MONTREAL--MUTUAL
BENEFIT ASSOCIATION--A PICTURE OF MONTREAL--A TAX PERILOUS, SUDDEN
AND FREQUENT--THE HOTEL-DIEU A FORTRESS FOR FOUR YEARS--THE
ABANDONMENT OF THE SETTLEMENT THREATENED--MAISONNEUVE GOES TO
FRANCE FOR SUCCOUR--THE SKELETON SOLDIERS--MONTREAL A FORLORN HOPE.
Louis XIII, who died on May 14, 1643, was succeeded by his young
son, Louis XIV, then a child of five years of age. The policy of his
father in regard to Montreal was continued by him, through the Queen
Regent under the advice of the Duke of Orléans, uncle of the king,
and of Prince Henri de Condé, former viceroy of Canada, who gave the
"Company of Montreal" by new letters patent, dated February 13, 1644,
in the name of the king, the most powerful and honourable recognition,
ratifying all previous powers given. In particular, it gave it power
to make and receive pious legacies and foundations for the savages and
for other Christian movements. The position of the governor of Montreal
is again made clear, "and to allow the inhabitants of Montreal to live
in peace, police and concord, we permit the Associates to commission a
captain or local governor whom they shall desire to name themselves for
us."--(Edits et Ordonnances, I, 24-25.)
The king ordered M. de Montmagny to promulgate these letters. To make
M. de Maisonneuve's position clearer, the Associates, in accord with
the above royal permit, confirmed him anew by a commission, dated March
26, 1644, as local governor (_gouverneur particulier de ce pays_).
This year de Maisonneuve's initiative had brought about that the town
was erected into a municipal corporation and that the civil interests
should be watched by a syndic or tribune of the people. This officer
was elected to represent the colonists, to look after the general good
of the island, to see after the taxes for the upkeep of the garrison
and to bring to justice those who damaged others' property. It was,
however, an honorary position and was subject to election, no one being
allowed to continue for more than three successive years. The election
was usually held in the "hangar" or the dépôt of "the Company of
Montreal," whither the inhabitants for the most part usually resorted
for all necessary clothing, utensils, and even provisions. Later on,
the elections took place in the hall of the seminary or that of the
fort.
This first step of popular representation was then an advanced
movement. Montreal was thus ahead of Quebec, which did not have a
syndic till 1663. In 1672, as we shall see, even this slight concession
to self government was deplored, and Frontenac, who started with broad
views of interesting the people in their affairs, by continuing them in
their separate classes, was told from France by the Minister Colbert to
desist and even gradually to suppress the syndic's office.
When d'Ailleboust arrived in August, 1643, he had brought an
important communication for Jeanne Mance from her friend the "unknown
benefactress," whom we know as Madame de Bullion. This good lady was
resolved to establish a hospital. She had set aside an annual income
of 2,000 _livres_ for this purpose and now in addition sent 12,000
_livres_ to build and furnish it, besides 200 _livres_ to be employed
according to the discretion of Jeanne Mance.
But sickness had been singularly absent up to this. A few rooms
reserved in the mission house had so far sufficed for hospital
purposes. Indeed, Jeanne Mance had recommended that the money should
be devoted to the upkeep of the Jesuit missions among the Hurons, a
proposition which did not please Madame de Bullion, who insisted in
carrying on her pious design.
Thus on January 14th of this year (1664) she had placed a fund, 42,000
_livres_, to endow the hospital, 6,000 of which were to be employed
at once on building operations. So, confident that the work was now
completed, she sent a convoy of furniture and a present of 2,000
_livres_ for Jeanne Mance for current expenses. This persistency forced
de Maisonneuve to postpone other activities and he now diverted the
work of his carpenters to the new foundation. In choosing the site for
it, mindful of the danger of floods, he chose an elevated spot a short
distance outside the fort across the streamlet St. Pierre,[55] and built
the first Hôtel-Dieu of Montreal, a building 60 feet long by 24 broad,
containing a room for Jeanne Mance, one for the attendants and two for
the sick. A little stone chapel was annexed, about nine to ten feet
square, which was furnished with requirements for the altar next year
by the Company. On October 8th, the hospital, dedicated according to
the pious wish of its founder "au nom et en honneur de St. Joseph," was
ready to receive the sick. It was also furnished by the Associates with
all the appliances necessary.[56] Jeanne Mance must have felt at last
happy on entering on her life-long vocation.
The hospital had its modest farm of four arpents, with its two bulls,
three cows and twenty sheep. M. de Maisonneuve's carpenters surrounded
it with a strong palisade as a protection, should the Iroquois venture
to attack it by night.
Hardly had the hospital been completed than the anxiety of Jeanne Mance
as to its utility was dispersed, for it was immediately needed for the
sick and wounded who filled it on account of the daily attacks of the
Iroquois. Indeed they were soon obliged to add another hall, the two
rooms mentioned not being sufficient.
We now resume the military history of Montreal.
After the loss of five of his men in June, 1643, de Maisonneuve issued
orders to safeguard his handful of men and women. When the men went
out of the fort to their work, the sound of the bell gathered them so
that they should go forth together, armed, and at dinner time it again
recalled them in the same fashion. This precaution was necessary to
guard them against the surprises of the Iroquois who sometimes remained
for days together hidden in the adjoining woods or brush, watching,
cat-like, on the ground or in the trees for an opportunity to sally
forth and cut off any straggler. Then they would retreat with extreme
agility back to their accustomed lairs.
[Illustration: CROUCHING IROQUOIS
(By Philippe Hébert)]
The more impatient of his men were all for attacking the enemy in the
woods, but the governor restrained them, urging the extreme imprudence
of so slight a force attempting to cope with an unknown number, in a
mode of warfare in which the enemy were so experienced. Nor could he
run the risk of losing one of his brave defenders.
A valuable assistance was provided by the watch dogs of the fort
brought from France. We are responsible to Dollier de Casson, and
Father Lalemant in the "Relations" of 1647, for the story of a bitch
named Pilot who every morning made the tour of the fort's environs,
accompanied by her pups, to discover the hiding places of the Iroquois.
Should they scent the Iroquois they would turn quickly on their course,
and barking and yelping furiously in the direction of the enemy, would
convey the news to the fort. Thus many a lurking snare was avoided by
the settlers.
The mother was indefatigable in her duty. If one of the pups became
lazy or stubborn she would bite it to make it go on. Should, however,
one of them turn back and escape, in the midst of the round, a beating
assuredly awaited it when Pilot returned into camp.[57]
On an occasion when the barking and yelping were more insistent than
usual, proclaiming the nearness of the foe, the impetuous ones of the
camp would again approach the governor, asking if they were never to
oust the Iroquois by an attack. The governor's policy of delay was
still maintained. "My brave boys," he said, "it is most unwise."
But now rendered impatient, murmurs arose in camp and doubt was cast
upon the governor's courage. This coming to his ears, and fearing,
lest his prudence, being taken for pusillanimity should thus lower his
prestige and power of command, he determined for once to change his
tactics.
The chance offered shortly, for on May 30th of this year (1644), the
persistent barking of the dogs brought the malcontents to him with
their querulous cry again: "Monsieur, shall we never go against the
foe?" To their surprise the calm, brusque reply of the soldier met
them: "Yes, you shall meet the foe; prepare at once for attack; but let
each one be as brave as his word. I myself will lead you!"
There was hurry in the camp, each one of the men sought his gun, his
ammunition, and his _racquettes_, or Indian snowshoes, for the snow
was deep. But there was an insufficiency of the latter. At last the
scanty force of forty men was mustered. The governor put the fort into
the hands of M. d'Ailleboust, and giving him directions to follow out
should he himself never return from the fray, he led his men towards
the foe.
When the Iroquois had noticed this, dividing their force of two hundred
into several bands, they put themselves in ambuscades and awaited the
approach of the men from the fort. As these entered into the woods,
they were met with shots from the Iroquois' muskets on all sides.
Seeing his men thus attacked by so large a force, M. de Maisonneuve
ordered them to get behind the trees, as the Iroquois were, and then
ensued a brisk exchange of shots on either side, so long and furious
that their ammunition giving out and several of his men being already
killed or wounded, de Maisonneuve ordered a retreat. This was no easy
matter, for they were badly equipped with the snowshoes, and those who
had none sank deep into the snow and were hindered in their retreat
while the Iroquois were all well shod and skillful in their use, so
that, as Dollier de Casson relates:
"Qu'à peine étions-nous de l'infanterie, au rapport de cavalerie."
At this period of unrest and danger the hospital was being built
outside the tort, a quadrilateral building, 320 feet in length and an
enclosure flanked by four stone bastions which were connected by a
wooden curtain twelve feet high. In carrying the wood for construction
a beaten path had been made to it, so that the snow was hard and firm,
and progress was easy here without the need of snowshoes. Thither,
under Maisonneuve's directions, the Frenchmen hurried as best they
could, turning to face the enemy, from time to time, to return their
shots. When they reached the footpath, they ran headlong to the fort at
the top of their speed, terrified by the number of Iroquois pursuing
them, and leaving their commander to fall behind, alone and unprotected.
Meanwhile those left behind in the fort, hearing the uproar, and
seeing their approach, and mistaking them for the enemy, one of them
imprudently fired the cannon which stood already directed towards that
road to guard it during the building operations. Providentially the
fuse failed.[58]
The abandoned leader was now face to face with the Iroquois with a
pistol in either hand, fearful each moment of being seized by them.
Thus he kept them at bay. Meanwhile the Iroquois, recognizing him as
the governor, wished to capture him alive to make a show of him to
their tribes and to reserve him for greater cruelties, and so they
delayed a little till their captain came up, to leave to him the honour
of the capture. The chief now leaped forward towards de Maisonneuve
and was almost on his shoulders, when the governor fired one of his
pistols. The pistol did not act and the savage leaped upon him in fury
and seized him by the neck, but raising his other pistol above his
shoulders the governor laid the chief stiff and dead upon the ground,
to the indignation of the surrounding Iroquois watching this single
combat. They hurried at once to secure the dead body of the chief. In
their anxiety lest there should be any force returning from the fort to
seize their chieftain's body, and bear it away as a trophy of victory
against the Iroquois, their attention was diverted from the governor
who, on the fall of his opponent, had fled and been allowed to escape
to the fort.
[Illustration: MAISONNEUVE'S EXPLOIT
(A bas relief from the Maisonneuve Monument by Philippe Hébert)]
This act of courage silenced all suspicion of personal cowardice on the
part of the governor. His former policy was now commended, and the men
protested they would never expose themselves rashly, again.
The parish records of Ville Marie this year reveal the absence of
Indian baptisms. This is due to the fear of the Hurons in approaching
the beleaguered fort. In addition the approaches were cut off. For
in the spring of this year the Iroquois were divided into ten bands,
scattered here and there on the St. Lawrence, breathing fury against
the French, the Hurons and the Algonquins. The Island of Montreal
itself had been visited by one of these bands at the Rivière des
Prairies, and by another, with whom the recent fight described, took
place.
Thus the whole country was in alarm, when, in the summer of 1644, a
reinforcement from France arrived, sent by the queen regent and the
Company of One Hundred Associates, of sixty men to be divided among the
various posts. With them came another force for Montreal sent at the
expense of the Company of Montreal. At this time Fort Richelieu was in
great danger and the new addition was much valued.
The new expedition was under the command of the Sieur Labarre, who
then came on to settle at Montreal in the summer with a number of new
colonists. The early historians speak very slightingly of this man.
He appears to have had the reputation of being very religious. At
Rochelle he carried a large string of rosary beads in his girdle, and
he also had a crucifix which he had almost incessantly before his eyes,
so as to be considered an apostolic man. Hence his appointment. But
this great "hypocrite" was found out in the intimate village life of
Montreal and he was asked very shortly to retire to France as we shall
see.
This year marks the beginning of agriculture in Montreal. Wheat had
been sown principally through the initiative of Louis d'Ailleboust, who
had come in the previous year.
But the difficulty of tilling and sowing the ground, when the workers
had to carry their arms with them amid the danger of such surprises as
we have described, rendered agriculture precarious, and in consequence
the grain produced this year was not sufficient to support even the
small colony. Its provisions had still to be sent from France.
The year 1645 started with an important change in the attitude of
the Company of New France. Public opinion in the motherland had been
drawn to Canadian affairs. The Montreal venture and the publication
of the "Véritables Motifs" had thrown discredit on the Company as a
colonizing force. This body at first no doubt blustered somewhat, but
finally, from fear of being looked upon as mere private speculators,
it was ready to listen to reason. There had been representation from
Quebec from the colonists there that the monopoly of the fur trade by
the Company menaced commerce and prevented Frenchmen coming to Canada.
A modification or suppression of this monopoly as the only means of
increasing and firmly "establishing the colony" was demanded.
Accordingly, after having considered these matters at its annual
meeting in December, we find the Company at a subsequent one, on
January 7th, making, at the demand of the queen regent and the
solicitation of the Jesuits, a treaty with the colonists of New France,
by which they handed over to them the trade in peltry excluding that
of Acadia, Miscou and Cape Breton. This treaty was concluded between
the Company and the representatives of the colonists, MM. de Repentigny
and Godefroi, on January 14, 1644, and ratified by the king on July 13,
1645.--(Edits et Ordonnances.)
The history, therefore, of free trade for Montreal starts from this
period, for we have seen how it had been crippled in its original
charter. Still the troublous times it had been undergoing had not
allowed them at Montreal to feel their restrictions, just as the
times still ahead were not suitable for availing themselves of their
new privileges, for war paralyzed commerce. If truth be told, the
deputation from Canada had obtained a beautiful scheme on paper; the
Company came out the winner.
The document is worthy of consideration.
After conceding to the "habitans du dit pays," present and to come, the
right and license of the trade in skins and peltry in New France ...
it orders that the said "habitans" shall for the future keep up the
colony of New France, and shall discharge for the Company the ordinary
expenses hitherto paid by it for the maintenance and appointments of
ecclesiastics, governor, lieutenants, captains, soldiers and garrisons
in the forts and habitations, and that in consideration of the expenses
already incurred by the Company.
The Company, however, was to retain the name, titles, authority, rights
and powers accorded in its original edict of establishment and to
remain in full ownership, possession, judiciary, seigneurial tenure of
all the country and extent of the lands of New France.
Thus it placed all responsibility on the inhabitants themselves.
Montreal would not suffer very much, because, being a private
corporation, it had already offered to maintain itself at its own cost.
The year 1645 opened again with Iroquois attacks, "but," says Dollier
de Casson, "God has been favourable to us."
The men of the fort even killed some of their assailants, and owing to
the wise soldiership of the governor, not one of his own were killed,
all this year.
[Illustration: A. The fort built in 1645. E. First cemetery in
Montreal. B. Hôtel-Dieu, founded in 1642. C. Residence of M. de
Chomedey de Maisonneuve. D. Windmill built in 1648.]
[Illustration: RESIDENCE OF M. DE CHOMEDEY DE MAISONNEUVE]
Meanwhile, the Indian allies still kept away. But on September 7th the
fort welcomed a body of sixty of them who came under the escort of a
band of the soldiers sent out from France the previous year. These
latter had been ordered on arriving to winter with the Hurons and
protect them from the Iroquois, and they were now on their way back to
the governor of Quebec with a load of skins to the value of thirty to
forty thousand _livres_.
It will be remembered that the disposition of the peltry was now in
the hands of the colonists themselves on condition that they should
maintain the upkeep of the departments of church and state. On arriving
in Quebec there was a disagreement as to the disposal of the profits
of the sale. Finally the colonists devoted part of their proceeds to
the construction of the Jesuit house there.
This year also de Montmagny and the inhabitants applied the product of
1,250 beaver skins to their new church being constructed at Quebec and
dedicated to Our Lady of Peace in view of the conclusion of peace, now
heartily desired.
The possibilities of trade must have appealed to the Montrealers from
the arrival of the above party, the more so as their restrictions had
been removed.
This month, the negotiations for peace were concluded at a
representative gathering of Iroquois and the French allies with the
French party under de Montmagny and thus the first Iroquois war was
over.
Peace now gave M. de Maisonneuve an opportunity to go to France to
arrange the affairs of his father; so putting his own in order, he left
the government of Ville Marie in the good hands of his lieutenant,
Louis d'Ailleboust. He departed, to the great grief of all the fort
gathered at the harbour mouth, but with the promise of a speedy return.
M. de Maisonneuve left Quebec on October 20th, on one of the Company's
ships bearing their season's fur skins to France. He "deported," as we
would say, with him the "undesirable" Sieur de Labarre, whose hypocrisy
had been unmasked in Montreal, "when it became known," as Dollier de
Casson quaintly relates, "he was frequently taking promenades in the
wood with an Indian woman whom he had defiled (qu'il engrossa). There
was no more of the saint about this man than his chapelet and his
deceitful look, for under the guise of virtue he hid a very wicked
life which has made him since finish his days behind a 'bar' which was
heavier than his name of Barre."
This year the Jesuit missioners in charge of Ville Marie were Fathers
Buteaux and Isaac Jogues. Both of these men were zealous pioneers. Each
bore on his body the marks of Iroquois' ill treatment. Yet they did not
ask to be recalled to France and rest on their laurels. Father Jogues
had, however, been recalled after his mutilation, but his missionary
zeal prompted him to return. He profited by the peace, which brought
many of the Iroquois out of curiosity to the fort, to make friends with
them as he wished to work among their tribes shortly.
After Maisonneuve had concluded the arrangement of his father's affairs
he was free for many conferences with members of the Company of
Montreal. Ever since they had written to the pope in 1643 it was their
great desire, and that of Maisonneuve especially, it being thought that
peace was concluded, to establish a bishopric in Canada. As they had
agreed to support the expense of maintaining such a post, preferably
at Montreal, they arranged that one of their number, a M. Legauffre,
a secular priest who had a private fortune of his own, should be
nominated to fill the episcopal see.
His unexpected death now came, but he left a legacy of 30,000 _livres_
towards the founding of a see.
In the meeting of the bishops at the general assembly of the clergy
on May 25, 1646, Mgr. Godeau, bishop of Grasse, promoted the movement
for the establishment of the see, and in July, at the meeting of July
11th, Cardinal Mazarin promised to employ his services with his majesty
towards that end, while he also promised 1,200 _écus_. But as at Quebec
and Three Rivers there was no desire for a bishop, especially in view
of the uncertain nature of the peace, the negotiations were eventually
discontinued, as it became evident that the state of the country
was too unsettled. Still the progressive Montrealers had by their
enterprise and initiative suggested the establishment of a see, which
was erected later on the coming of Laval.
A notable personage now enters into the story of Montreal, Charles le
Moyne. He was then a young man of twenty years of age, but he had been
already in the colony since 1641 and had traveled in the service of the
Jesuits on their Huron missions. Thus he had acquired the knowledge of
their language and that of the Iroquois, and it was with the purpose
of being useful to the fort at Montreal, as an interpreter with the
Iroquois, that he had been sent by de Montmagny to supply a need which
the fort had experienced in dealing with the Indians.
[Illustration: CHARLES LE MOYNE
(By Philippe Hébert)]
M. de Maisonneuve returned at Quebec on September 20th, but hardly
had he arrived there than he received a letter from M. Dauversière
that his brother-in-law had been assassinated and that his mother was
contemplating a second marriage; the latter, seeming to be looked upon
as a ruinous event for the family, he had to cross back immediately to
France to stay its execution. He sailed for that country on October
31st, but while waiting for the boat to go he transacted some business
in Quebec and returned to M. Puiseaux his original donation to the
Company of Montreal, of the fiefs of St. Michel and St. Foy and the
other gifts which he had given in his early enthusiasm, but which he
afterwards reclaimed.
In recompense the Company of Montreal was reimbursed for the
improvements made on the land at St. Michel. This action of M. Puiseaux
is attributed to his failing faculties. However, by his will made at
Rochelle next year, June 21st, he gave the land of Ste. Foy for the
maintenance of the future bishop.
During the calm, which was soon to be perturbed, Charles d'Ailleboust
completed his fortifications with four regular bastions, so well
constructed that the fort exterior was the pride of Canada. The fault
was the delay in not having chosen another site, for even now the
floods and the ice-pushes from the St. Lawrence threatened many times
to upheave the fortifications, and by 1672 the fort was in ruins. Yet
for the present they were of avail and inspired fear in the Iroquois
and pride in the colonists. Agriculture was largely advanced by
d'Ailleboust by cultivating lands for himself and having the same done
for the settlement.
But war was again looming ahead. Signs were not wanting by the gradual
dispersal of the Indian allies from the fort during the late autumn. On
November 17th, three Hurons who were at Ville Marie, having gone to the
hunt, returned, with the loss of one of their companions. A few days
after, having gone in search of him, they were captured by a band of
Iroquois. On November 30, 1646, two Frenchmen were taken at a distance
from the camp. Thus it became evident that the peace had never been
thoroughly intended, for news came in on all sides of disasters from
the Iroquois. The year 1647 passed in troublous vexations. To the great
joy of the settlement M. de Maisonneuve returned in the spring of 1648
and found that life was indeed a warfare.
The wars of the Iroquois were fiercer than ever. Fear filled the
hearts of all the Montrealers. The fort was the centre of surprises.
Yet this year the first windmill was constructed by de Maisonneuve, at
what is still known as Windmill Point. It was built with loopholes for
musketry, so that the mill was intended not only to grind the wheat but
to be an advanced redoubt and a challenge to the Iroquois to show them
that the French were not ready to abandon their field of glory. On
October 21st Charles d'Ailleboust went to France whence he would return
as the governor general.
A word should now be said of the government of the country. By a decree
of the king in 1647 it had been arranged that the government of the
country should be left in the matter of police, commerce and war in the
hands of three, viz., the governor general, the superior of the Jesuits
and the governor of Montreal.
The governor of Quebec was given a salary of 25,000 _livres_, with the
privilege of having sent to him each year, without expense, seventy
tons of freight by the vessels of the fleet on the condition that he
should provide the fort with arms and ammunitions. He was to have,
besides, his own private lieutenant, another at Three Rivers, and
finally sixty-six garrison men who should be maintained at the expense
of the stores. It was further settled that the governor general should
journey into the country as he should judge fit.
As to the local governor of Montreal his salary should be 10,000
_livres_, with thirty tons of freight, and he was to support a garrison
of thirty men. Finally 5,000 _livres_ were granted annually to the
superior of the Jesuits for their missions.
These privileges of the royal decision did not give pleasure to many
in the colony. M. de Maisonneuve seems to have opposed them in France.
It was alleged that M. de Montmagny, in the frequent absence from
Quebec, of the superior of the Jesuits on missions, and that of the
governor of Montreal, was practically sole ruler; that he was drawing
too large a salary and was not fulfilling the conditions imposed upon
him in safeguarding the other outposts of the colony. Thus there was
dissatisfaction among the colonists, and M. Charles d'Ailleboust with
M. des Chastelets went to France to procure amendments.
M. de Montmagny was about to be recalled. His rule was considered
inefficient. A mémoire by M. de la Chesnaye says that there was a
secret cabal intriguing against the governor, composed of a few of the
chief families, who went to France to enrich themselves, and got one of
their own named as governor general. This alludes to de Maisonneuve,
des Chastelets and d'Ailleboust. The former is known to have refused a
nomination to the post and des Chastelets and d'Ailleboust, among other
things, asked for a reduction of the salary of the governor general
from 25,000 _livres_ to 10,000.
On the 5th of March, 1648, these amendments passed. In addition the
governing council of Canada was now to be composed of the governor
general, the superior of the Jesuits, and MM. de Chavigny, Godefroy of
Quebec, and Giffard, to which body the local governors of Three Rivers
and Montreal should be added when they should happen to be in Quebec.
[Illustration:
The last page of the first deed of concession made by M. de Maisonneuve
to Pierre Gadoys. The deed itself is completely written in the
handwriting of the governor himself. Under the signature of Paul de
Chomedey is the acceptance of the concession by Pierre Gadoys before
the notary, Jean de St. Pierre. This is at once the first deed of
concession and the first notarial act registered in Montreal, January
4, 1648.]
Finally the king ordered that it would be necessary for two at least
of the councillors to deliberate with the governor. The salary of the
governor general was reduced to 10,000 _livres_, the sixty tons of
freight to twelve, and his garrison to twelve men, and it was ruled
that the local governors of Montreal and Three Rivers should each
receive 3,000 _livres_, six tons of freight and six soldiers.
The 19,000 _livres_ over should be partially employed in raising a
"camp volant," or flying squadron drawn from men of existing garrisons
if there should be sufficient so disposable, or if not, it should be
raised as soon as possible. In the summer this flying squadron should
guard all the passages by land and water under the command of some
capable officer to be appointed by the governor, and in the winter it
should be distributed in the garrisons to sally forth thence to beat
the bush and to rove around.
The rest of the 19,000 _livres_ should be employed in purchasing arms
and ammunition. Besides this flying squadron the king allowed a company
formed by the settlers at their own expense to act as the necessary
escort to the Hurons or the missionaries. For the support of this,
trading was allowed on these journeys on the condition of bringing the
skins to the government stores at Quebec and sold at the price fixed by
the Quebec council.
These changes were not received with favour by the old party and
d'Ailleboust was made to realize this on his way back. However, he
came to Quebec as governor general on August 20th and was received
with "generous magnanimity" by Montmagny, who left on September 23d.
Madame d'Ailleboust and her sister, Phillipine de Boulogne, joined the
governor at Quebec. There was grief at Montreal in losing them, but
this was tempered by its pride in furnishing the governor general from
its midst.
A few words are needed in further explanation of the "camp volant"
above alluded to.
"In 1642," according to Benjamin Suite, Canadian Antiquarian and
Numismatic Journal, 1879, "there were no less than seventy soldiers at
Three Rivers whose duty it was, not only to defend that place against
the Iroquois, but to patrol Lake St. Peter also. The same year only
fifteen soldiers were quartered at Quebec--a much less exposed position
than Three Rivers. In the year 1644 some troops were sent to Canada by
Anne d'Autriche. Twenty-three of these soldiers accompanied the Hurons,
the missionaries and a few Frenchmen, who went to the Georgian Bay that
summer. M. Ferland says that the garrison of Montreal numbered thirty
men in 1647; but he evidently means the thirty men placed under the
orders of Jean Bourdon for reconnaissance purposes on Lake St. Peter."
These were "soldiers" from 1642; from 1649 there were volunteers, and
from 1651, if not before, a sedentary militia was established.
About 1647 Montmagny had considered a project for forming an active
militia to be on the lookout against the Iroquois, but his resources
were too slender. In the spring of 1649 the "camp volant" was organized
under the command of Charles J. d'Ailleboust de Musseaux, nephew of the
new governor general, M. d'Ailleboust. It numbered forty men and its
duty consisted in patrolling on the St. Lawrence between Montreal and
Three Rivers.
After the slaughter of Sieur Duplessis Kerbodot, nephew of M. Lauson,
now governing and the successor of de Musseaux, on August 19th,
together with fifteen Frenchmen, the "camp volant" became disorganized
for the winter, but it was apparently reformed in the summer of 1653.
After that it seems to have been neglected during the government
of D'Argenson and D'Avaugour. In fact a body of regular troops was
required to check the Iroquois, and not mere militia, whose men could
not attend to their farm and other business and at the same time keep
beating the country nearly all the year round. Hence the request for
troops, of Father Lejeune in 1660, and Pierre Boucher in 1661. In 1663
a body of militia was organized at Montreal.
The next spring, 1640, the "camp volant" of forty men was sent to
Montreal under the command of the nephew of the new governor, Charles
d'Ailleboust des Musseaux, to help to repulse the Iroquois. About the
same time the new governor went to pay his first official visit to
Ville Marie.
He communicated the king's order as above, and among other instructions
he communicated directions from the Company of Montreal. One, touching
the administration of the Hôtel-Dieu, regulated that the surgeon of
this house should attend the sick of the island gratuitously, both
French and Indians, and that the administration accounts of the
hospital should be rendered annually to the governor of Montreal, the
ecclesiastical superior and to the syndics of the inhabitants, who
should sign an act to be sent to Paris.
During this stay the governor, on May 3rd, put the Jesuits[59] formally
in possession of the Seigneurie de Madeleine on the south side of the
St. Lawrence, comprising land two leagues in length by four in depth,
stretching from St. Helen's island towards the Sault St. Louis. This
had been granted by François de Lauson on April 1, 1647.
Sad news had been brought to Jeanne Mance by the governor that many
of the Associates were losing their interest in Montreal and were
diverting their charities to the missions in the Levant. Anxious to get
further news she went to Quebec in the summer and there she found that
Père Rapin, the Recollect, her intermediary with Madame de Bullion, was
dead; that the Company of Montreal was almost dissolved; that M. de la
Dauversière was dangerously ill; that his affairs had become entangled,
and he was now a bankrupt. As he had money in trust for Madame de
Bullion, this was a blow for the colony.
The outlook for Montreal was now financially gloomy. Ville Marie was
also surrounded by war. Jeanne Mance therefore set sail from Quebec on
September 8th to interest her friends in the struggling settlement.
In this she was very successful. Madame de Bullion received her with
kindness and gave her a sum of money to engage workmen to till lands
to support the hospital. The Associates renewed their interest, and in
order to guarantee the continuance of their _Seigneurie_ a new act was
drawn up to supplement that of March 25, 1644, in which M. de Fancamp
and M. de la Dauversière had sworn that they were occupiers of Montreal
in the name of a company, so that these nine remaining members were now
publicly named and signed their names, making at the same time a mutual
donation, reciprocal and irrevocable, by which they handed over to the
last surviving of them the forts, habitations and outhouses, etc.,
belonging to the said Company. This was signed before the Notaries
Pourcelle and Chaussiere on March 21, 1650.[60]
The Company gave the hospital also 200 arpents of land. Jeanne Mance
saw many of the associates privately and stimulated their interest, as
well as that, of others. In the month of September, 1650, she arrived
at Quebec with some labourers and some virtuous marriageable girls,
leaving it on September 25th for Montreal and arriving there three days
before the feast of All Saints (November 1st).[61]
The year 1650 may be chronicled as that of the first general movement
towards agriculture. The constant fear of Iroquois' attacks had kept
the settlers pent up within the walls of the fort, although there
had been since 1643 individual attempts by Charles d'Ailleboust and
others outside.[62] The activity started by Jeanne Mance in putting
into cultivation the 200 arpents lately conceded by the Associates of
the Company of Montreal to the Hôtel-Dieu encouraged others to take to
the land and to build their dwellings on the concessions which they
now demanded from M. Maisonneuve, since it was now thought there was a
likelihood of peace.
These early grants were only of thirty arpents and to ensure as great
protection as possible against Iroquois attacks, they were clustered
around the fort and the brewery. In granting these lands, however, the
seigneurs stipulated that they could be exchanged later for others at a
remote distance, for the location at present used was reserved for the
future city, for the building of the market place, the port and other
public purposes.
What may be called the history of mutual building societies now starts,
for as the number of workmen were limited, the inhabitants, led by the
motives of fraternal charity and public spirit, formed associations to
help one another in the clearing of their lots and in the construction
of their homes. Thus a contract dated November 15, 1650, between Jean
des Carris and Jean Le Duc, binds them to assist each other to build
at common expense a ho, for each, on a clearing, of ten acres each,
made by them, and that if one of them fell sick the work should be
continued by the other without remuneration.
In the present case after the clearing had been made and the house
built on Jean des Carris' concession, the war intervening would
not allow similar work to be done on that of Jean Le Duc, and in
consequence Jean Le Duc received from his partner 580 _livres_ in
recompense for his services.
The harvest of this year was very successful; "particularly at Montreal
where the lands are very excellent," is the account in the "Relations."
It is not difficult now to present a picture of Montreal or Ville
Marie of this period. On the northeast portion of the triangular piece
of land watered on the east and north by the little River St. Peter
and on the south by the St. Lawrence, there was the fort and the new
concessions with their wooden buildings being erected thereon; on the
southern portion there was a long sweep of ground, an arpent in depth
and forty in length, along the banks of the river westward, on which
the cattle of the soldiers and others who were now becoming farmers
were allowed to stray. This was known as "the Common"[63] and was
granted to Jean de Saint Père as the syndic for the people in October,
1651, on the understanding that it should revert to the seigneurs when
they should need it for city expansion. In this common, which was
protected by the fort and the houses above, the animals, under the care
of a watchman, were safe from immediate attack, since all approaching
this pasturage must necessarily venture from afar and be visible. At
the west end of the common was the windmill near the river.[64] Across
the little river there were the houses of M. Maisonneuve and that of
the Hôtel-Dieu. This comprised the situation.
In spite of the pictures of progress and contentment we have presented
as existing towards the end of 1649 and the earlier part of 1650, we
must remember that Montreal was frequently the rendezvous of bands of
Hurons and their Jesuit missionaries, who told of their flight from the
cruelty of the Iroquois; of forts destroyed, pillaged, of burnings and
massacres. Montreal itself, they were told, was soon be the object
of attack. Hence the bands did not delay. After the horrible scenes
that had occurred at St. Louis[65] in July of 1650 the missionaries
brought down three or four hundred Lake Hurons, the relics of three
to four thousand, to Ville Marie, where they stayed only two days.
The "Relation" of this year says: "This is an advantageous situation
for the settlement of the savages, but as it is the frontier of the
Iroquois, whom our Hurons flee from, more than death itself, they could
not determine to start their colony then."
Dollier de Casson gives us this insight into the fear caused at Ville
Marie by these visits and their recitals of disaster. The evident
reflection then was, "If we who are only a handful of Europeans, do not
offer a firmer and more vigorous resistance than 30,000 Hurons have
done, then we must reconcile ourselves to be burnt alive at a slow fire
with all the refinements of unheard of cruelty."
But this year Montreal was able to breathe in comparative peace. A
picture of Montreal of this year is presented by Père P. Ragueneau, the
Jesuit superior of the missions, writing from Quebec on October 8th
to Father Picolomini, the general of the order at Rouen: "At Montreal
there are barely sixty Frenchmen, twenty Hurons, a few Algonquins and
two of our fathers. They cannot leave this fort, which is always very
much exposed."
In the spring of 1651, a perilous period began. Speaking of this year
the Jesuit "Relations" say in general: "It is a marvel that the French
of Ville Marie were not exterminated by the frequent surprises of
Iroquois bands." Other contemporaneous chroniclers repeat the same.
Sister Morin, in the "Annals of the Hôtel-Dieu of Montreal," writes:
"Often ten men of Ville Marie, or less, have been seen holding their
own against fifty or eighty Iroquois, who have acquired for themselves
a great reputation in all Canada and in France, and the Iroquois have
several times avowed that three men of Montreal have inspired them with
more fear than six from elsewhere."
The attacks now were very frequent and sudden. Although the garrison
fought well and bravely, its losses were severe compared with those of
the Iroquois, who though losing more men, yet were able to replace them.
Some of these encounters have been preserved to us. The following
occurred on May 6, 1651: On this day, Jean Boudard had left his house
with a man named Jean Chicot when suddenly they found themselves
surprised by eight or ten Iroquois. Chicot ran for safety to a tree
recently cut down and hid himself there, but Boudard, making headlong
for his home, met his wife, Catherine Mercier, not far from it. Asking
her whether the dwelling was open she replied: "No, I have locked it!"
"Ah!" cried he, "then it is death for both of us! Let us fly at once."
In their flight, the wife could not keep pace with him and, being
left behind, was seized by the Indians. Hearing her cries the husband
returned and attacked them with fisticuffs, so violently that, not
being able to master him otherwise, they massacred him on the spot.
The cries and confusion aroused three of the settlers, Charles Le
Moyne, Archambault and another, who, running to render assistance, were
seen falling into an ambuscade of forty Indians behind the hospital.
Discovering their mistake they made a retreat to the front door of the
hospital which luckily was open, having escaped a brisk fusillade, as
Le Moyne well knew by the hole in his hat. With the captive woman,
the Indians who had surprised Boudard then sought the hiding place
of Chicot. He defended himself with his feet and hands so vigorously
that fearing, lest he should be assisted by the Frenchmen they now saw
approaching, they took his scalp, taking a piece of his skull with
it. This they carried with them as a trophy, as well as the head of
Boudard, who was commonly known as "Grand Jean." Jean Chicot did not
die, however, till nearly fourteen years later, but Catherine Mercier
was brutally burned after having been inhumanly disfigured,[66] during
the summer of the same year in the Iroquois camp.
Four days later another alarm aroused the fort. About two hours after
midnight, a band of forty Iroquois attacked the brewery and some of the
houses. Two of these, belonging to Urbain Tessier _dit_ Lavigne and
Michel Chauvin, they burned, and the brewery would have been reduced to
ashes if the guard of four men within, had not repulsed their attack
with vigour and put them to flight.
On the 18th of June, on a Sunday morning, a party of four, probably
returning to their newly constructed houses from the church in the
fort, was surprised between the fort and Point St. Charles by a large
body of Iroquois. These four ran to a hut used as a kind of watch house
or redoubt, overlooking a quantity of felled timber, where they were
quickly joined by Urbain Tessier and, resolving to sell their lives
dearly, they kept up a lively fusillade on the enemy.
The noise attracted de Maisonneuve in camp and he sent a relief party
under Charles Le Moyne with such success that the Iroquois were put
to flight, leaving behind them twenty-five to thirty men dead on the
field, independently of those who were taken prisoners. On the French
side only four were wounded, although one of them, Léonard Lucault
_dit_ Barbot, died two days afterwards, being buried in the cemetery.
Belmont, in his "Histoire du Canada," mentions another among the dead,
but the parish register only mentions one.
Thus, amid such daily hostilities, was life insecurely led by the
settlers, since it was not safe to venture even a few yards from their
houses without pistol, musket or sword.
Jeanne Mance, in a memoir to be found among the archives of the
seminary at Quebec, tells how the governor now obliged all the
colonists to leave their newly constructed houses and retire with their
families to the safety of the fort. She herself was forced to leave the
hospital. Maisonneuve turned this into a military outpost to guard the
isolated redoubts scattered here and there in the field and to protect
the workmen, by placing in it a squad of soldiers. He had two pieces of
cannon taken there and swivel guns for the windows of the granaries,
and he had loopholes cut into the walls of the building all around,
even in the chapel which served as an artillery armoury.
In this way the hospital became a fortress for four years and a half.
On July 26th the wisdom of Maisonneuve's arrangement was evident.
Marguerite Bourgeoys is responsible for the story. On this day 200
Iroquois had concealed themselves in a trench originally built as a
defence for the hospital, and which, descending from a height nearby,
close to the place where St. Jean Baptiste street is today, crossed the
site of St. Paul street.
All of a sudden the concealed foes disclosed their presence by
attempting to take possession of the building and to set it on fire.
Meanwhile the garrison within, consisting of Lambert Closse,[67]
the town major, and sixteen of his men made a vigorous and valorous
defence against the 200 from 6 o'clock in the morning to 6 at night,
and losing only one man, Denis Archambault, who met his death by a
splinter from the cast iron cannon which had exploded, killing him on
the spot, but without dealing death to the enemy outside. The cannon
was fired by himself. Finally the enemy were forced to retreat, burning
a neighbouring house in revenge for their loss of men.
Other engagements of a like nature took place but the details have
not been recorded. Three Rivers and Quebec were in similar straits.
Disaster, loss, and want of reinforcement for two years had reduced
Montreal to but about fifty defenders, so that there was now open talk
of abandoning it and leaving Canada.
One hope remained, suggested to the governor by Jeanne Mance; it was
that the 22,000 _livres_ put aside as the revenue for the hospital
might be diverted to the expense of sending out a reinforcement to
save Montreal, and she thought that she might interpret her "unknown
benefactress'" goodwill as agreeable to this, seeing the extremity in
which Montreal now stood.
But de Maisonneuve accepted the offer only on the condition that in
exchange Mademoiselle Mance should receive for the hospital 100 arpents
of the domain of the seigneurs. Meanwhile he could go to France and
call on the unknown benefactress herself whose name was now divulged
to him. Mademoiselle Mance tells how "M. de Maisonneuve determined on
departing for France, told me that if he could not obtain at least 100
men, he would return no more to Ville Marie; and in this case he would
order me to return to France with all our party." Thus the abandonment
of the settlement was now threatened.
Before leaving M. de Maisonneuve named the nephew of Louis
d'Ailleboust, M. Charles d'Ailleboust, Sieur des Musseaux, to be the
governor of Montreal in his stead.
In the meantime the new governor general, M. de Lauson, of whom we
have spoken already, had arrived on October 13th to succeed M. Louis
d'Ailleboust at Quebec. This was no good tidings for Montreal, for
as Dollier de Casson remarks, the new governor made known "his good
feelings towards the Messieurs de Montréal" and the good treatment they
ought to hope from him by retrenching 1,000 from the 4,000 _livres_
granted by the general Company for the upkeep of the governor and his
garrison.[68]
"I do not wish," says he, "to say anything touching the conduct of
this gentleman towards this island, more especially as I wish to
believe that he has always had the very best of intentions, although
he was always wise to his own interest since if he had more frequently
strengthened the embankment here, the Iroquois inundations would not
have so easily taken their course towards Quebec and they would not
have done the mischief they did, for they have not always respected
even his own family."
De Maisonneuve before leaving for France persuaded the governor of
Quebec to send ten men as a reinforcement to Ville Marie. Dollier de
Casson, the quondam soldier now priest, treating this quaintly as
follows, says facetiously that de Lauson kept his promise, "sending
their arms in advance," meaning that he sent none at all. This is
confirmed by M. de Belmont, who says that "M. de Lauson sent, in
spite of his own wish, ten soldiers without arms and provisions."
"But he sent them so late," says Dollier, probably on the testimony
of eye-witnesses, "and put them on a chaloupe so poorly clad that
they almost froze to death, and they were taken for living spectres
coming, as mere skeletons, to confront the hardships of the winter. It
was a rather surprising thing to see them arrive in this turnout at
this season, considering that it was the 10th of December; so much so
that it seemed doubtful whether they were men or not, this only being
cleared up when they were seen close at hand; moreover in constitution
these men were most sickly, two of them being mere boys, though in
truth they have become since very good settlers, of whom one is called
Saint Ange and the other, Lachapelle. These poor soldiers were no
sooner here than their hosts proceeded to warm them up as well as they
could, by giving them good cheer and good clothing, and then they came
to be of service in repelling the Iroquois whom we had to deal with at
close quarters every day."
Surely Montreal must have been looked upon as a forlorn hope!
NOTE
THE EXPLOIT OF PLACE D'ARMES
The site of this is claimed by the Abbé Rousseau in his "Maisonneuve,"
page 77, as the space in front of the fort known as the Place d'Armes,
afterwards the market place and now known as Custom House Square, and
the road abutting the new buildings of the Hôtel-Dieu arising at the
corner of St. Joseph Street (St. Sulpice) and the corner of St. Paul
Street.
The Abbé Faillon, Vol. II, page 25, "Histoire de la Colonie Française,"
argues for the present Place d'Armes in front of Notre Dame Parish
Church. M. L. A. Huguet Latour, the first editor of the _Annuaire de
Ville Marie_, holds the same view.
There was a blazed trail, running up the slope of St. Sulpice Street,
which probably went up to the mountain where de Maisonneuve placed his
cross. In a map of 1680 such a road ran by the northwest corner of the
present Place d'Armes.
Faillon claims it was here that the exploit took place; the argument
of time and distance for the action as related by de Casson being more
congruous for this position than at the lower position just outside the
fort in the sight of the defenders within. But it must be remembered
that the present _Place d'Armes_ did not get its name from this
exploit. This name does not appear till 1717, when Chassegros de Léry,
engineer of New France, forwarded to France a lengthy report as to
the advantage of Montreal for the purposes of fortifications. In this
report he said:
"I have marked a _place d'armes_, in front of the parish church where
might afterwards be moved a number of barracks, the houses which are in
that place being of small value."
During the year the work was commenced, but from lack of funds it was
discontinued. Up to 1721 no further progress was made but in that
year it was fairly entered upon and de Léry superintended it. (_Vide_
"Canadiana," Vol. I, pp. 47, 63, 77; notes of John Talon Lespérance,
Henry Platt, Wm. McLennan.)
Let us compromise and say that most of the action took place on St.
Sulpice Street, between the present and the old _Place d'Armes_,
the latter incidents of the story taking place near the old _Place
d'Armes_.
FOOTNOTES:
[55] The position now can be located as at the east corner of St.
Sulpice (originally St. Joseph) Street and St. Paul Street.
[56] There are still preserved in the present Hôtel-Dieu some jars and
other articles of the original dispensary, as well as Mademoiselle
Bullion's gifts of furniture.
[57] The dog Pilot has been immortalized in Hébert's de Maisonneuve
monument in Place d'Armes, Montreal.
[58] The parish register of March 30, 1644, records that the French
lost in this encounter J. Matenac and P. Bizot, besides Guillaume
Lebeau, mortally wounded.
[59] At this time in the Huron country and its neighbourhood there were
eighteen Jesuit priests, four lay brothers, twenty-three men serving
without pay, seven hired men and eight soldiers.
[60] Names of Associates signing: Jean Jacques Olier, priest, curé of
the Church of St. Sulpice; Alexandre de Rageois de Bretonvilliers;
Nicholas Barreau, priest; Roger Duplessis, Seigneur de Liancourt; Henri
Louis Hubert, Seigneur de Montmart, king's councillor and master of
requests; Bertrand Drouart, Esquire; and Louis Séguier, Seigneur de St.
Germain, who all occupied the Isle of Montreal as well for themselves
as for MM. d'Ailleboust and Paul de Chomedey, Sieur de Maisonneuve.
[61] The first concession and notarial act known, signed by Jean St.
Père, dates from this year, as also does the first of the acts of the
government of M. de Maisonneuve. (See Hist. Soc. Records.)
[62] Among others Pierre Gadbois, Lucien Richomme, Blaise Juillet,
Léonard Lucault dit Barbier, François Godé and Godefroy de Normanville.
From 1650 to 1672 ninety-four houses were built.
[63] The name of "Common" Street records the locality of this "common."
[64] At the present Windmill Point.
[65] The Jesuits, Jean de Brébeuf and Gabriel Lalemant, nephew of
Father Charles Lalemant, S. J., were killed by the Iroquois at St.
Louis on the 16th and 17th of March, 1649.
[66] "Relations," 1651.
[67] Lambert Closse came in 1648. He was second in command of the
garrison. He was of noble family. Contemporary writers call him
indifferently sergeant-major of the garrison, major of the garrison,
major of this place, or "of the fort" or "of the town" or "of
Montreal." He also acted as notary.
[68] Montreal fared ill, whereas the salary of the governor of Quebec
was raised 2,000 _livres_ and that of Three Rivers reached 5,200 and 50
horses, the 3,000 _livres_ granted to the governor of Montreal had been
increased to 4,000. This news had been brought to Montreal by Louis
d'Ailleboust. It was now reduced again to 3,000.