History of Montréal

Native Peoples:

Archeological evidence suggests that hunters crossed the Bering Strait from Asia 40,000 years ago and spread through North and South America. Around 10,000 ago, when the glaciers retreated, hunters followed herds of caribou and other game into eastern Canada. By about 1,000 AD most natives of southern Ontario and Quebec had begun to cultivate beans, corn and squash.

The site of Montréal was occupied by Hurons when it was first seen by Europeans. The native village was called "Hochelaga", and was joined to other villages by networks of trails. The main structures in Huron villages were bark-covered longhouses, where several related families worked, ate and slept. Their major source of protein was fish, although beaver and deer were hunted for meat as well. The community expected its members to show generosity, self- sacrifice for one's family and stoic acceptance of adversity. Hospitality and helping the needy were great virtues. Those who accumulated wealth were expected to be generous and to provide for the less fortunate. Prestige came from generosity, not accumulation of goods. Because their society was based on communal sharing rather than private accumulation, native values differed greatly from those of European invaders.

For information on native peoples: John A. Dickenson and Brian Young, A Short History of Québec. Copp, Clark, Pitman Ltd, Toronoto, 1993. http://www.mohicanpress.com/mo08016.html http://www.autochtones.com/

Jacques Cartier arrives in Hochelaga - 1535:

When Cartier asked the name of their country, the natives replied with what was probably the Iroquois word "kanata" meaning "village" or "few huts". Therefore, the French named the new land "Canada". Further French exploration of the region did not occur for another three quarters of a century. Fishermen, however, continued to visit. They returned to France with furs and fish, establishing the new world as a place of valuable economic potential.

For information on Jacques Cartier:

Richard E. Bohlander (editor), World Explorers and Discoverers. MacMillan Publishing Company, New York, 1992.

John L. Field and Lloyd A. Dennis, Land of Promise: The Story of Early Canada. Abelard-Schuman, New York, 1962.

Francis Parkman, France and England in North America. Literary Classics of the United States, Inc., New York, 1983.

http://www.cyber-north.com/public/cartier.htm

http://www.plpsd.mb.ca/amhs/history/earlyexp.html (caution -student written site)

http://www.win.tue.nl/cs/fm/engels/discovery/cartier.html

Samuel de Champlain visits - 1603:

Samuel de Champlain made numerous trips to the New World and had tried to set up a colony in what is now Nova Scotia. He explored the Montréal area in 1603, but found no trace of the Amerindian village described by Cartier.

Champlain was interested in the site, however, and after building a fort in what is now Québec City in 1608, he returned in 1611 to clear an area which he named "Place Royale". He hoped to establish a new colony or a fur-trading post here. This plan was abandoned when hostilities broke out between the French-allied Hurons and Algonquins and their enemies, the Iroquois. The founding of Montréal had to be postponed, and cannot be attributed to Samuel de Champlain, "Père de la Nouvelle France", who died in 1635. For information on Samuel de Champlain: Samuel Eliot Morison, Samuel de Champlain, Father of New France. Little, Brown and Company, Boston, 1972.

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Ithaca/7318/CHAMP2.HTM

http://plpsd.mb.ca/amhs/history/champ.html -@-

Ville-Marie; City planned as mission post - 1639:

The Church was quick to send missionaries and nuns to the New World. By 1639, both the Récollets and the Jesuits had establishments in Québec City. They were zealous to convert the natives to Christianity, despite the hardship, loneliness and danger they faced in a primitive land. The Jesuit Relations, yearly reports of their work in Québec, made fascinating reading for both church and lay people back in France. The accounts were filled with tales of the strange natives who lived in the wilderness, and the sufferings of the missionaries who went to win souls. In the aftermath of the Protestant Reformation, a wave of religious fervor swept France. A group of believers founded the "Société de Notre Dame de Montréal" whose goal was to establish a mission, a hospital and a school on the faraway island.

The colony is founded - 1642:

The Société de Notre Dame de Montréal chose Paul de Chomedey, sieur de Maisonneuve, to be the military leader of the mission. Jeanne Mance was sent to start a hospital. The group of about 40 idealistic colonizers left La Rochelle in 1641. When they arrived in Québec City they were asked to stay to strengthen the numbers in that settlement, but they felt called to Montréal and set out after wintering in Québec City. They arrived at their destination in May, 1642, and named the new colony "Ville-Marie de Montréal", dedicating their new home to the Virgin. They built log homes and a small fort on the shore. When the settlement was threatened by a flood the following winter, Maisonneuve promised if the city were spared, he would climb the mountain and plant a cross on top. This he did, in the same spot where a large metal cross now stands. Construction of the Hôtel-Dieu (hospital) began in 1645, and a few years later the first school was opened under the direction of Marguerite Bourgeoys, who also founded the Sisters of the Congregation of Notre Dame, an order of teaching nuns still at work in modern Montréal.

For information on the early colony:

http://www.pagemontreal.qc.ca/meg/oldmontreal/oldmontreal.html#othertour

Troubled relations between French and Amerindians:

The colonists became allies of the Hurons and Algonquins, but the powerful Iroquois resisted the European invaders. Hostilities grew as the fur trade became more important. In 1644 the Iroquois attacked the village of Ville-Marie and Maisonneuve killed the Iroquois chief in hand-to-hand combat. A statue of Maisonneuve stands on the site of this battle in the present-day Place d'Armes.

The constant threat of attack made survival of the small colony questionable. In the spring of 1660, Adam Dollard des Ormeaux volunteered to ambush the Iroquois in the hopes of preventing a full-scale attack upon Ville-Marie.

Despite the obvious danger of the mission, sixteen men joined him and they went up the Long Sault rapids where their numbers were reinforced by forty Hurons and Algonquins. They took up a position in a deserted stockade which was soon surrounded by over seven hundred Iroquois. The French and their native allies held the enemy off for days, but finally their water supply began to give out. The Huron allies deserted to the enemy and told the attackers how few Frenchmen occupied the stockade. On the ninth day the Iroquois swarmed over the stockade and killed all seventeen of the French. The Iroquois must have been impressed by the power of the French, who could hold off hundreds of attackers for days. Their confidence shaken, they did not attack the colony of Ville-Marie.

When the Marquis de Tracey and his regiment, the Carignan- Salières, arrived in Canada in 1665, they mounted an invasion of Iroquois territory so fierce that the settlements were undisturbed for a few years. Finally, in 1701, Hector de Callière, governor of New France, signed the "Peace of Montréal", a treaty between the French and the Iroquois.

For information on Dollard des Ormeaux:

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Ithaca/7318/DOLL.HTM

The colony grows:

Louis XIV took an active interest in France's colony in the new world. He realized that the population was not growing because New France was governed by a fur-trading company, more interested in making money than in the growth of the new settlements. He brought the colony under his personal control and set up three positions for its governance: 1. The Governor Is the king's personal representative Directs troops in case of war Has the power to make treaties with the natives

2. The Intendant

• Sees that laws are observed
• Collects taxes and oversees spending of public money
• Secures settlers and grants lands
• Controls prices charged by merchants

3. The Bishop

• Concerns himself with affairs of the Church
• Controls education, hospitals, charity and missions to the indigenous population

The most famous of the "Intendants" was Jean Talon, who arrived in this position in 1666. Determined to increase the population of New France, Talon arranged that French soldiers, completing their tour of duty in the New World, would receive land in the colony. Officers were given large land grants and they became "seigneurs". Enlisted men became the "habitants", who worked the land of the seigneurs. Talon realized that the colony needed women, and arranged for peasant girls, many of them orphans, to be sent from France. These "filles du roi", were given a dowry by the king. An annual allowance was paid to families who had ten children, and an even larger bonus for families of twelve children. Families with fewer than ten offspring received nothing. Talon's efforts showed results. When he arrived, the census was 3,2l5 people. By 1673, one year after his departure, the census showed 6,705 inhabitants. The custom of marrying young and raising a large family continued, and by 1700 the population had grown to 16,000.

The Fur Trade:

Although Montréal was founded as a mission post, it soon became an important site in the fur trade. The popularity of the beaver hat in England made beaver pelts in high demand. Before 1652, the fur trade was the exclusive monopoly of the various merchant companies. However in 1652 the laws were liberalized and the "coureurs des bois" emerged. Until this time the natives had been coming to the trading posts. Now the "coureurs" would go directly to the source to procure the pelts in demand. Many travelled to the Great Lakes and the upper Mississippi, called the "Pays d'en Haut" because one had to paddle upstream to get there.

The Intendant Jean Talon and the religious community wanted to limit the number of men going out as "woods runners". The manpower was needed in town to defend the community. Farms fell into disrepair when the men were gone, and on their return the "coureurs" were rowdy and disorderly - a bad example for all, especially to the Amerindians whom the missionaries were trying to convert.

In 1681 Louis XIV limited the number of annual trading leaves in order to cut down on the numbers of coureurs. Those who disobeyed could be flogged, branded or sentenced to life in the galleys. The fur trade, however, offered a life of adventure and gain. It became so popular that the numbers of pelts arriving each year in French trading posts soon outgrew the demand or the quantity that the market could handle. In the years 1675-85 the annual production was 89,500 pounds. In 1685-87 it ws 140,000 pounds. In 1689 some 800,000 pounds of pelts were brought in. Many pelts piled up in store rooms to rot.

In 1696, Louis XIV published a decree restricting trade to the establishments on the river. Thus ended the "first generation" of coureurs des bois. By 1716, however, the leave system was re-established and a second generation of coureurs arose.

The seventeenth century canoes carried 3 men and 1,000 pounds of cargo. By 1725, canoes were large enough for 5 men, and after 1740 they could carry 6 or more men. The larger canoes could carry 3,000 pounds of cargo. The outgoing cargo consisted mainly of trade goods, which were:

1. A white blanket with blue or red bands - this could be exchanged on the spot for a beaver pelt being worn by a native - the already-worn pelts were more valuable as the inner hairs had already been broken down

2. Light red or blue fabric for native women to make skirts

3. Items of clothing

4. Weapons, ammunition, gunpowder

5. Metal tools, cauldrons, knives, scissors, needles and the like

6. "Cheap goods" - glass beads, bells, mirrors, combs, earrings, dyes, tobacco

7. Alcohol, not legal as a trading item, was carried mainly for the coureurs to consume and for the Frenchmen at the trading forts. It was, however, sometimes distributed among the natives in order to gain friendship

Cargo also contained gear for canoe maintenance, sails and rigging, various tools, utensils and food. Provisions included lard, dried fruit, peas, flour, biscuits, wine, salt and vinegar.

The coureurs themselves had to undergo terrible hardships. They travelled long distances, often paddling all day in searing heat. In places where rivers were not passable they had to unpack the canoes, and portage canoe and cargo through the woods. Rain and wind could capsize their boats, they were tortured by mosquitoes and were under constant threat of ambush by the Iroquois. As they travelled, the "coureurs" sang aloud lively French folk tunes to keep spirits up and paddles in time.

The French continue to explore:

Montréal became the capital not only of the fur trade, but the starting point of explorers who travelled to the Great Lakes, the Gulf of Mexcico and the Rockies. Father Marquette, with trader Louis Joliet, went on a long journey of exploration which led them to the Mississippi. In the 1650's Pierre Radisson and the Sieur des Groseilliers travelled through the Great Lakes and as far north as Hudson Bay. They planned a shorter voyage to Europe by way of Hudson Bay, but France was not interested in the plan. They then turned to England and the Hudson Bay Company was founded in 1670.

In 1699 a native Montréaler, Pierre le Moyne d'Iberville, founded the new French colony of "Louisiane". Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, Sieur de La Vérendrye explored Manitoba and Saskatchewan and set up a series of trading posts between 1731 and 1738. His sons continued his explorations, in 1742 going as far west as the foot of the Rockies in what is now Montana.

For information on the Fur Trade:

http://canada.gc.ca/canadiana/beave_e.html -@-

http://www.vmnf.civilization.ca/popul/coureurs/index-en.htm

History of the Hudson's Bay Company:

http://www.hbc.com/hbcf/

The Conquest - 1760:

Conflict between Britain and France in North America was partly due to a desire to control the fur trade, as well as a carry-over to the new world of hostilities in Europe. The Seven Years War (1756-1763) pitted France, Spain, Austria and Russia against Britain and Prussia. In 1759 British General James Wolfe defeated France's General Louis-Joseph de Montcalm on the Plains of Abraham at Québec City. The French forces retreated to Montréal, but the English moved in via the St. Lawrence, from both Quebec City and Lake Ontario, as well as down the Richelieu River. Montréal surrendered in 1760, and the city was spared a long siege and further bloodshed.

The British Regime:

In February, 1763, the Peace of Paris was signed and Nouvelle France was renamed "The Province of Quebec". The British allowed the French Canadians to keep their laws, their religion and their language.

There followed several years of instability, with most of the French nobility returning to France. In 1775 the city was again invaded, this time by Americans who anticipated that the conquered French would support their struggle against England. The clergy and the seigneurs opposed helping the Americans. American General Richard Montgomery marched down the Richelieu River and captured Montréal without a fight. At the same time Benedict Arnold laid siege to Québec City. The two American armies joined at Québec in December but were held off by the British and finally withdrew in the spring.

English speaking immigrants began to arrive in Montréal - many Scots were attracted for the fur trade. Loyalists from the 13 rebellious colonies to the south sought a place where they could remain true to their king. In 1815 immigrants from Ireland began to arrive, escaping famine in their homeland. By 1831 the linguistic majority in the city was English speaking.

Montreal was the center of some violence during the Rebellions of 1837 and 1838, a political uprising against British rule, led by Louis-Joseph Papineau and Georges Etienne Cartier. A resulting riot and fire which destroyed the parliament building caused Canada's capital to be moved from Montréal.

Confederation - 1867:

Fear of American invasion encouraged colonists in Canada to unite. In 1867 the British North America Act provided for Canadian Confederation. Originally composed of four provinces - Ontario, Québec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, the Confederation had a parliamentary system of government with a separation of federal and provincial powers.

For information on history of Montréal:

John A. Dickinson and Brian Young, A Short History of Québec. Copp Clark Pitman Ltd., Toronto, 1993.

Claude Morneau, ed., Montréal 1999. Editions Ulysse, Montréal, 1998.

http://www.tourisme.gouv.qc.ca/anglais/tourisme_a/histoire_a.html history -@-

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Ithaca/7318/NVFR2.HTM

http://www.vmnf.civilization.ca/somm-en.htm

http://www.touribec.com/quebec02.html -@-

http://www.nouvellefrance.qc.ca/histoire.htm

Names of the Filles du Roi, husbands and marriage dates:

http://users.deltanet.com/~ms900/Kings/daughters.html -@-

History of the Hudson's Bay Company:

http://www.hbc.com/hbcf/