NOTE
THE HURONS, ALGONQUINS AND IROQUOIS
HURONS
The Hurons were the Wendots or Wyandots, and were divided into various clans or families, such as the Bears, the Rocks, the Cords, etc. They were the parent stock of the five Iroquois Nations and were related to the Petuns and Neutrals, their neighbours on Lake Huron, or Attegouestan, as they called it. They were also connected by blood with the Undastes or Susquehannas of Pennsylvania. The derivation of the name of Hurons, as the Wyandots were called by the French, is fanciful but apparently authentic. When Champlain, in 1609, was visited at Quebec by a tribe of these Wyandots to sell peltry from the far-off Northwest regions, the irregular tufts of hair on their half-shaven heads seemed to the Frenchman to represent bristles (la hure) on the back of an angry boar. "Quelle hure!" they exclaimed, and those possessing the stock of bristles they called "Hurons."
Their country was eight hundred or nine hundred miles away from Quebec, around Lake Huron. "Roughly speaking," says the Rev. T. J. Campbell in his "Pioneer Priests of North America," "the territory of the Hurons was at the head of Georgian Bay, with Lake Simcoe on the east, the Severn River and Matchedash Bay on the north, Nottawasaga Bay on the west, and was separated from the Neutrals on the south by what would now be a line drawn from the present town of Collingwood over to Hawkstone on Lake Simcoe. The train for Toronto, north of Midland and Penetanguishena, runs through the old habitat of the Hurons."
Many of the clergy who served Montreal had laboured among them. In the beginning the Hurons would not listen to any allusion to Christianity. Success only began in 1639, and lasted but for ten years, for before the end of 1650 as a distinct people they had vanished, being exterminated by their implacable foe, the Iroquois.
THE ALGONQUINS
The Algonquins are said to derive their name from the word Algonquin, "the place where they spear the fish," i. e., the front of the canoe.
They were once a great race. Indeed today they number 95,000 of which 35,000 are in the United States and the rest in Canada. Their hereditary enemy, the Iroquois, were not so numerous, and thus we find Champlain allying himself with the Algonquins against the scanty sixteen or seventeen thousand Iroquois who lived in the New York territory. But herein lay Champlain's mistake. The Algonquins were wanderers and not warriors. They were a simple, stupid people, who neither cultivated the ground nor learned any textile arts and had no settled habitations. They were all worshipers of the Manitou, shameless in their immoralities and just as cruel to their captives, as were the Iroquois. They were, owing to their nomadic life, a prey to the latter and a difficulty to the few missionaries to Christianize them adequately, for every group would have necessitated a priest to follow them in the hunt for game or fish, as they wandered from place to place.
Yet, portions of them, being less fierce than other tribes of their race, welcomed the missionaries, who sympathized with them in their poverty and wretchedness. Thus at Montreal, as at Three Rivers and Quebec, these were the basis of the Indian converts.
"When the Algonquins were a great nation they claimed," says the author of the "Pioneer Priests of North America," "as their own, almost all the upper regions of the North American continent, and even out in the Atlantic there was no one to dispute Newfoundland with them, except an inconsiderable and now forgotten people, known as the Beothuken. Cape Breton, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia, and all the country from Labrador to Alaska was theirs, except where the Esquimaux lived in the East, the Kitunabaus in the far Northwest, and the Hurons, Petuns and Neutrals in the region near Georgian Bay. In what is now the United States, New England was counted as their country, and though their deadly enemy, the Iroquois, had somehow or other seized the greater portion of New York, yet the strip along the Hudson belonged to the Algonquins, as also New Jersey, a part of Virginia, and North Carolina, Kentucky, Illinois and Wisconsin."
Algonquin is the generic name, but its many subdivisions and tribes have their specific names such as those set down in ethnological tables as the Abenaakis, Arapahoes, Cheyennes, Crees, Delawares, Foxes, Illinois, Kickapoos, Mohicans, Massachusetts, Menominees, Montagnais, Mohawks, Narragansetts, Nepinues, Ojibways, Ottawas, Powhattans, Sacs, Shawnees, Wampanoags, Wappingers, etc.
IROQUOIS
The Iroquois were descendants of the Indians whom Jacques Cartier had met on the banks of the St. Lawrence, in 1634. But at this time they had drifted mysteriously to what is now New York territory, their central seat, that of their confederacy or league of five nations, being at Onondaga.
They were never numerous but they were very warlike. Although they lost many in war, by disease and drunkenness, for they were filthy and immoral in their habits, they recruited their strength by adopting captives seized in their raids.
They lived in palisaded towns and were more intelligent than the other races. Their houses, unsanitary and overrun with vermin, were arched constructions, sometimes of 120 feet in length and were covered with bark. In the centre of the lodge were the fires of the separate families, who were divided into stalls. The smoke escaped as best it could. They did not cultivate the land because they were so often on the warpath, neither did they devote much energy in cultivating the textile arts; hence they wore the skins of animals.
They had very vague notions of a Supreme Being, their chief object of worship being Agreskoué, the God of War, who had to be propitiated with gifts and even by human sacrifices. Theirs has been described by General Clark as literally "devil worship." They had no priesthood as such, but each brave had his oki or manitou, adopted after a protracted period of seclusion and fasting. They had their medicine men, who seemed to the missionaries to use diabolical arts in their incantations, spells and dances. Many of their sorcerers, however, were childish charlatans. They were immoral, thieves, liars, gamblers; they allowed their children to run wild, their women to grow up depraved and corrupt from girlhood. They were cruel and cannibals. The orgies of the dream feasts were unspeakably atrocious, especially after the introduction of "fire water."
They were called by the French collectively "Iroquois," by the English the "Five Nations," whereas they styled themselves the Hodenosaunee, a People of the Long House, because of the shape of their lodges. They were joined by the Tuscaroras about 1721 and from then on they were called by the English the "Six Nations."
As to their name the Bureau of American Ethnology derives it from an Algonquin word, "Iriakhoué," meaning "real adders." Charlevoix gives a descriptive derivation from hero, or hiro, meaning "I have spoken," with which they terminated their discourses with the suffix que, or some equivalent gutteral sound which expressed pain or pleasures, according to the intonation. Thus the French called them "Iroquois."
The five nations were named as follows:
| (English) | (French) | (Iroquois) |
| The Five Nations | Iroquois | Hodenosaunee (People of the Long House) |
| Mohawks, | Agniers, | Ganeagono (People of the Flint), |
| Oneidas, | Onneyutus, | Oneyotekiano (Granite People), |
| Onondagas, | Onontagués, | Onundagono (Hill People), |
| Cayuga, | Gogogouins, | Gwengwhehons (Muckland People), |
| Senecas. | Tsonnontouans. | Mundawono (Great Hill People). |
"The Six Nations, Indians in Canada," by J. B. Mackenzie, gives some modern characteristics of the Iroquois, observed on the Grand River, after a length of experience and intimate knowledge of the appearance and manners and racial customs, which may be quoted to illustrate the life of their ancestors of the period we are now treating. The reserve, the writer notices, comprises the Township of Tuscarora (about twelve miles square) with an insignificant strip of territory in the Township of Onondaga—both of these lying within the County of Brant and a small portion of the Township of Oneida, in the adjoining County of Haldimand.
The following present-day characteristics are noted: The Indian maintains a better average as to height than his white brother, say at about 5 ft. 8½ in. He is straight and is rarely "bowlegged." The Indian would appear to be built more for fleetness than for strength; litheness and agility are with him, marked characteristics. The dignity of chief among the Indians is attained upon the principle of heredity succession. In case of the death of a chief, this did not necessarily devolve upon the next of kin. The naming of his successor with the privilege of determining whether or not he fulfills, in point of character and capacity, the qualifications requisite to maintain worthily the position, is confided to the women of the dead chief's family, whose tribe has been deprived of one of its heads. They are given a wide latitude in choosing; so long as they recognize through their appointment the governing, basic theory of kinship to the deceased ruler, their nomination will be unreservedly approved.
The chiefs are looked upon as the fathers of the tribe. In the earlier days when the demon of war was about, wisdom and bravery were the chief requisites.
Oratory is still of supreme importance with the modern Indian. In this he is well equipped with a deep, powerful voice of rare volume and resonance. He has great facility of gesture and marvelous control of facial expression, which becomes the index of his emotions—a perfect mirror of his imaginative soul. It is no wonder then that, we hear of chiefs and orators of old haranguing for hours, for, even today, the undivided, keen attention bestowed on an orator, the unflagging interest evinced, the genuine and sympathetic appreciation his more ambitious flights evoke, the liberal applause exhorted by periods, when denunciation, scorn, or other strong mood that may possess the speaker is expressed—periods at which he has been aroused to withering, or flaming invective—all make us vividly realize the powerful oratory of their predecessors. The contemplative and esthetic bent of the Indian, living amidst nature's simplicities and deeply impressed by them, overflowed in the similes and metaphors of his speech. There is no doubt of his rightful claim to eloquence. The present-day Christian Indian "believes vaguely in the existence of a Supreme Being, though his idea of that Being's benignity and consideration relates solely to an earthly oversight of him, a parental concern for his daily wants. His conception of future happiness is wholly sensual—bound up, in many cases, with the theories of an unrestrained indulgence of animal appetite, and a whole-souled abandonment to riotous diversion. That estimate of an hereafter, which has gained his unreserved, his heartfelt approbation—one, in the more complete idealizing of which these coarser fancies constitute familiar adjuvants—adopts for cardinal, for constant factor, his thoroughgoing addiction, in some renovated state of being, to pastimes found congenial and appeasing in life—their undisturbed enthroning, as it were. Joyously, anticipation clings to a haunt delectable—happily and charmingly contrived to embosom spacious parks immure seductive coverts; refreshed soothingly his spirits by dreams of illimitable, virgin preserves, which should be stocked with unnumbered game, and where—equipped to perfection for the chase—he should plunge with satiety into its vehement pursuit."
"It has been said that the Indian, agog for some ample scheme of ethics, is much more prone to follow the evil than the moral practices of the whites.... There can be no doubt, I fancy, that were the Indian to be thrown continuously with a corrupt community amongst the whites—should he consort freely with a class with whom a lower order of morality obtains—his acquisition of higher knowledge, instead of giving him better and finer tastes, must inevitably make him more skilled in planning works of iniquity."
The writer draws attention to the sardonic delight the humorous Indian takes in perpetrating some dire practical joke on his victim. The same trait was shown in this early period, when the brave would calmly smoke his pipe and grimly watch the Christian missionary's finger forcibly placed in it, gradually frizzle away.
The modern Iroquois is a supremely indolent creature—fasting stoically when food does not come easily, but ever ready for unbounded feasting.
The effect of spirituous liquors on him is the same as of old, and justifies the attempts of the Montreal clergy to suppress its traffic to the natives. "Intoxicants," says the writer quoted, "when freely used by the Indian, cloud, often wholly dethrone his reason, annul his self-control; madly slaying all the gentler, enkindle and set ablaze all the baser, emotions of his nature, impelling him to acts vile, inhuman, bestial; with direful transforming power, make the man a fiend, leave him, in short, the mere sport of demoniac passion. It may be thought that this is an overdrawn sketch, and that, even if it were true—which I aver it to be—full exposure of its fearsome aspect, its sombre outlines, might well have been withheld."
FOOTNOTES:
[44] Dollier de Casson says that Montreal was all handed over on October 15, 1641. Vimont, who was an eye witness, gives the date as May 17, 1642. See "Relations for 1642." We combine both accounts.
[45] The scene was the angular tongue of low-lying land, known by Dollier de Casson who came in 1666, on September 7, as "the Common," its memory being preserved by Common Street, watered on the south by the lapping waters of the great St. Lawrence and on the east by the narrow river St. Peter, long since dried up, which, meandering from the northwest, skirted the meadow on the north and emptied itself into the main stream. At this point and up this harbour the flotilla came to anchor. On the third side of this triangle was a marshy land which was dried up by Dollier de Casson and became the "domaine des Seigneurs."
[46] Later this chapel gave place to another 25 feet long by 26 broad, the former room now becoming a "parloir." The new meeting place in the fort is sometimes spoken of as the chapel or the church. The abbé, Louis Bertrand de la Tour, says there was a church in 1645. We may thus put it earlier.—"Annales des Hospitalières par la Sœur Morin."
[47] "The house of the fort," says Sister Morin in her Annals, "existed till 1682 or 1683, when they finished demolishing it, although it was only of wood, where is at present the house of M. de Callières, our governor today." On July 2nd, 1688, de Callières obtained a concession of the land occupied by the fort. The land book (livre terrier) of the Seminary has the description: "Quinze perches et demie de front sur le fleuve, à continuer à pareille larguer jusqu'au bord de la petite rivière; en superficie 1882 ½ touses, avec droit de passage, sur la pointe en avant, appartenant aux Seigneurs." This point was the original cemetery till 1654. From Callières' building the Place Royale began to be spoken of as the Pointe à Callières. Jacques Viger, one of the fathers of historical researches in Montreal, said that in his early days he had seen the ruins of de Callières' house.
[48] The parish register has frequent records of their names as sponsors for the baptized Indian children. They were proud of the honour. Among the names frequently occurring in the following few years are Madame d'Ailleboust, Jeanne Mance, Philipine de Boulogne, Charlotte Barré, Catherine Lezeau and Madame de la Peltrie. Next year, 1644, there is only one baptism recorded; the Iroquois were on the warpath and had driven the Hurons away. The godmother on this occasion was Madame de la Peltrie. The date, January 21, 1644, in the parish register fixing this, shows that she had spent the winter of 1643-4 in Montreal. She left, when the river opened in the spring, to return to the Ursulines of Quebec, whose establishment she had founded and with whom she resided till her death. Her stay in Montreal had been prolonged by her interest in the new foundation, and by her desire to help it in its early struggles. Her departure was deeply regretted by the colony, and by none more than by Jeanne Mance, for there were all too few ladies to help in the devoted work. M. de Puiseaux left at the same time. Madame de la Peltrie's character has been frequently discussed. Kingsford in his "History of Canada" devotes two pages to her. As Montreal only had her presence for less than two years we have given this note as the impression left of her by all the Montreal chroniclers. Kingsford says, Vol. I, p. 165: "Much romance has been thrown over a somewhat commonplace character. Her portraits remain. A more coquettish, heartless form of beauty is seldom to be found, either under the adornment of fashion or the hood and veil of the devotee." Madame de la Peltrie never became a nun. It is to be feared that Kingsford theorized on matters of Catholic custom through lack of adequate knowledge, or appreciation.
[49] In the parish church of Notre Dame there is still preserved the first register of the births, marriages and deaths. It is a manuscript volume in quarto composed of five note-books. The earliest entries are in Latin and are ratified by either Père Poncet or Père Duperon, who served the mission. The first registers were probably written on fly sheets in 1646 and afterwards copied, for until June 24th the handwriting appears to be that of a copyist. There are certain blanks as if the names had been forgotten. The baptismal book appears to start with an error. The first baptism, that of an Indian child, is put down for April 28, 1642 (this is probably the date of Father Poncet's appointment), whereas Père Vimont in his "Relations" for 1642, says it was on July 1st. The second baptism took place on October 9th. Several other baptisms are marked down for the month of March, 1643, but the copyist, better informed, has written "August" between the lines. In those days handwriting and spelling were not "de rigueur."
[50] This spot, named Pointe à Callières, "ad confluxium magni et parvi fluminis," was at the junction of the River St. Peter and the St. Lawrence opposite Ile Normandin, and took its name from the house of the governor, then Chevalier Hector de Callières, built there in 1668. It is now occupied by the custom house (1914). The plans of the Château Callières are preserved in the plans of Montreal, 1723, by M. de Catalogne, and in those of 1761 by M. P. Labrosse. This remained a cemetery till 1654, when, owing to the inundations, the burials were transferred to a plot occupied in part today by that Place d'Armes, which, being in the neighbourhood of the hospital, was called in the act of burial of 1654 the "new hospital cemetery." The bodies were not removed, out of respect, till 1793, when the land had been ceded by the seigneurs to Louis Guy, notary, by an act passed before Joseph Papineau, November 22, 1749. The Hôtel-Dieu ground was used as the cemetery for twenty-five years.
[51] Dollier de Casson tells this story, which he had from eye-witnesses; de Maisonneuve was a very generous and unselfish man.
[52] The more so, as the publication of the "véritables motifs," issued by the Associates of the Company of Montreal in defense of the settlement in clearly stating its aims and justifying the singlemindedness of its promoters, had gained it many friends, among whom were many in high places.
[53] The Jesuits had charge of the mission from April 28, 1643, and continued it up to August 12, 1657. The Sulpicians then took it over, their first act recorded in the first registers of births, marriages and sepultures being on August 28, 1657.
[54] One value of the "Motifs" for modern day readers is that it gives the foundation of Montreal the note of inspiration which is a mark not claimed by many other cities.
CHAPTER VII
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.
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.
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.
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.