The History of Montreal Read online

  Iroquois raids intensified starting in the late 1650s, which led to a new strategy: sending Frenchmen up into the Pays d’en haut to bring back furs from the nations around the Great Lakes. Radisson and Des Groseillers paved the way in 1660, returning to Montreal with a lucrative haul.

  This was the background to the Battle of Long Sault in 1660. The young soldier, commander of the city garrison, Adam Dollard des Ormeaux, came up with a plan to attack the Iroquois along the Ottawa River on their way back from a hunting expedition. It may also have been his intention to ensure safe passage for Radisson and Des Groseillers, who were expected back soon. Dollard des Ormeaux left Montreal with 17 companions, taking up position at the Long Sault rapids along with a few Algonquins and some forty Hurons. But soon they came up against a group of Iroquois who were preparing to launch a major attack on New France. The Iroquois called for reinforcements posted at the mouth of the Richelieu River, and after several days of fighting, the French and the few Algonquins and Hurons who had remained loyal to them were defeated and killed. The battle nevertheless relieved the pressure exerted by the Iroquois that year.

  At first wholly dependent on the Société de Notre-Dame for materials and supplies, the Montreal colony was beginning to generate economic activity of its own. A social structure was also taking shape. First, there was the group of habitants, the people who were no longer employed by the Société de Notre-Dame and who owned property in Montreal. They were fortunate enough to be able to trade with the Aboriginals and were the lifeblood of Montreal society. They included farmers, artisans, a small number of future merchants who came into their own later on, and a smattering of nobles. A new society like Montreal was a place of social and economic mobility for many of them. Then came the indentured servants who worked for the Société de Notre-Dame, the journeymen, tradesmen, and servants. They formed the largest group in 1663: historian Marcel Trudel estimates that two thirds of Montrealers worked for the other third.

  Sweeping changes in France in 1663 altered the course of Montreal’s history. The Company of One Hundred Associates stopped managing New France, which would now be governed by a more centralizing royal administration. The considerable autonomy Montreal had enjoyed since it had been founded was reduced. What’s more, the Société de Notre-Dame, short on energy and resources, was dissolved and the seigneury of Montreal was transferred to the Saint-Sulpice seminary in Paris.

  The new French administration, determined to come to the aid of its subjects who were being harassed by the Iroquois, sent troops in 1665. Their expeditions to Mohawk lands had little military success, but did bring about peace, to the great relief of Montrealers. That same year, Maisonneuve was somewhat cavalierly sent back to France by the king’s representative without a word of explanation.

  It was the end of an era, the end of Montreal’s beginnings. Montreal now had roots, thanks to the efforts of the Société de Notre-Dame and the courage and tenacity of its inhabitants, in particular Maisonneuve and Jeanne Mance.

  CHAPTER 3

  The Heart of an Empire

  For close to a century, Montreal was the beating heart of a commercial and political empire that covered a large portion of North America. It was at the head of a fur-trading network whose needs drove the territorial expansion of New France. And it also helped lead to the creation of a French empire in North America, of which Montreal was a key hub. This aspect of Montreal’s development deserves a chapter to itself. Other aspects of Montreal’s history in the age of New France are addressed in another chapter.

  The fur trade and a widening sphere of influence

  The French military intervention of 1665–1666 led to a period of relative peace with the Iroquois and trade picked up again in a big way. Middlemen, mainly from the Odawa nation, hauled large loads of goods to Montreal, and the annual fur fair every summer was a highlight of life in Montreal, although it diminished in importance as a new system took hold.

  Over time, Montrealers got into the habit of organizing their own trading expeditions, eliminating the need for Aboriginal middlemen. At the start, these coureurs des bois or woodsmen were illegal, but the government legalized—and controlled—the new system in 1681. Trading permits were now required for expeditions to the Pays d’en haut. Needless to say, keeping a close eye on such a vast area was difficult, and some traders continued to operate illegally.

  Expeditions were usually organized by merchants associated with voyageurs who worked the canoes. Merchants outfitted the expedition and provided the goods to be exchanged, while voyageurs headed west to trade and bring furs back to Montreal. Profits were shared between both parties. Voyageurs took on hired hands to transport the goods.

  Demand led to the overexploitation of fur-bearing animals and the gradual exhaustion of stocks. This meant that voyageurs had to travel further and further to find areas that had been less exploited. This in turn encouraged exploration of the continent and widened the sphere of influence dominated by Montreal. Montreal’s footprint extended as far as the Great Lakes as of 1679, when Daniel Duluth reached the far end of Lake Superior, hence the name of the American city of Duluth. Then came expansion to the south: in 1673 Jolliet and Marquette reached the Mississippi, in 1682 La Salle made it to the mouth of the Mississippi, and in 1699 Montreal’s Pierre Le Moyne d’Iberville founded Louisiana. (His own brother, Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, also a Montrealer, would later be the founder of New Orleans. Moreover, the layout of what is now the French Quarter of New Orleans was inspired by the layout of Montreal.) The following century, expansion spread west: between 1731 and 1743 La Vérendrye and his sons explored all the south of what are now the Canadian Prairies and the north of the Great Plains on the other side of the current Canada-U.S. border.

  Expansion so far from the Montreal base soon required permanent trading posts to be set up in the west, where voyageurs would spend the winter with the local inhabitants. These posts often doubled as forts—some with a garrison—that ensured the political and military control of the region in the name of the king of France. The biggest forts were at Detroit, at the entrance to Lake Erie, and at Michilimakinac, where Lake Huron meets Lake Michigan. Western expansion was also justified by competition from English merchants plying their trade both to the south (the New York colony) and to the north (the Hudson’s Bay Company). The English sold certain supplies for less and sometimes paid more for furs. Both the Aboriginals and the French were therefore tempted to go for the better deal. Like trading permits, contraband was difficult to control.

  Montreal merchants also met with internal competition. There was, of course, competition among themselves, but it also came from the colony’s administrators at Quebec, who traded in secret, as well as the officers in charge of the garrisons out west, who traded to cover their expenses. If merchants were to survive, they had to join forces with the competition. Growing numbers of people involved in trading also contributed to the colony’s expansion.

  The fur trade was therefore a complex world, where stakeholders and alliances could change depending on who was governor at Quebec. In the 1690s and 1700s, trade was hindered by overproduction of beaver pelts, which sparked a real crisis. The colony’s administrators sought to resolve this problem by reducing trade, which led merchants to look for other types of fur.

  Montreal merchants could not be expected to make a fortune in such conditions. Some of them became rich through trade, but their fortunes were subject to the vagaries of war, competition, and the market. In any event, Montreal remained the organizing force behind the fur trade and the gateway to the west. All the leading merchants settled in the town, most voyageurs and hired labourers came from the Montreal area, and trading expeditions were organized and equipped in Montreal. Although small in stature, Montreal was already a nerve centre whose influence could be felt thousands of kilometres away.

  All this activity did not lead to the growth of Montreal by itself, however, since it required no real labour in the town. Aboriginals were t
he providers, while more than a thousand Frenchmen—or Canadiens as they were known—mainly from Montreal, worked out west in the last decades of New France, many of them for long spells. In Montreal, a handful of merchants, with the help of a few clerks and servants, were enough to manage businesses and handle goods. A few artisans made tools and clothing to be traded with the Aboriginals, but most products were imported from France. Profits from trade were invested in building new homes, warehouses, and stores in Montreal or were spent on services. Once the system was up and running, the number of people working in this sector in the town remained fairly stable.

  The fur trade nevertheless remained Montreal’s principal economic activity and source of income. According to historian Louise Dechêne, one third of the working population depended on the fur trade, directly or indirectly. It was a source of fascination for many Montrealers who hoped to cash in on the opportunities it offered, one way or another. The lure of the west remained hard to resist, and the spirit of adventure left its mark on Montreal’s way of thinking. Young people, often from farming families, left the Montreal area in droves to work out west for a season or two as hired labourers before settling down on their land and starting a family.

  France’s North American Empire

  Though westward expansion was born of commercial needs, it also became part of France’s political and military strategy, namely creating a French-speaking domain in North America that would counterbalance the expansionism of England and its colonies. All new lands explored were officially claimed in the name of the king of France and, by the start of the eighteenth century, France’s North American Empire stretched from Acadia to Louisiana, spanning much of the continent and encircling the English colonies. Montreal now played a pivotal role as a gateway to the west.

  The success of the strategy required an alliance with the Aboriginal nations, crucial commercial partners who were also a military power that the French chose to join forces with. At the end of the seventeenth century, the weak link in this policy remained the Iroquois, partners of the English. Hostilities resumed in the 1680s, leading to a French military expedition against the Seneca people in 1687. In 1689, an Iroquois war party attacked Lachine, killing some of the villagers and taking others prisoner. The Lachine massacre plunged Montreal into turmoil. Iroquois raids would only intensify in the area over the years to come.

  Governor Frontenac replied by organizing punitive raids on villages in the English colonies, then by undertaking a military expedition against Iroquois villages in 1696. This brought an end to the conflict, but Frontenac wanted a lasting peace. His successor, Louis-Hector de Callière, would continue the project and in 1701 managed to get some 40 Aboriginal nations from among their traditional allies and the Iroquois Five Nations to sign the Great Peace or Grand Settlement of Montreal, both among themselves and with France. The far-reaching event saw over a thousand Aboriginal delegates travel to Montreal from afar to take part in the discussions and the impressive rituals surrounding the negotiations. The Treaty of 1701 became the cornerstone of the strategic alliance with the Aboriginals. The Iroquois officially remained neutral in conflicts between the English and the French and would never again threaten Montreal. A major page in the town’s history had been turned.

  From this point on, it was the struggle between the English and the American colonies that would be the focus of military attention. Between 1689 and 1763, four major wars broke out in Europe, pitting France against England. These wars had repercussions in North America, where the colonies also had their reasons for fighting with each other. The history of each conflict goes beyond the scope of this book, but suffice it to say that Montreal was involved on many levels. In 1690 and 1711, it was the target of two Anglo-American expeditions intending to lead an invasion via the Richelieu River Valley, but both turned back before reaching Montreal.

  Montrealers took part in the military effort. Many noblemen were officers for the French troops, while the bourgeoisie and habitants joined the Canadian militia. Militiamen in particular were used in the raids against the English colonies.

  No one epitomizes Montreal’s involvement in military efforts and France’s expansionist strategy in North America more than Pierre Le Moyne d’Iberville, the best-known son of merchant Charles Le Moyne. From 1686 to 1697, he took part in many campaigns against English Hudson’s Bay settlements and helped make a French presence possible there, all while reaping the benefits of the fur trade. In 1690, he took part in one of the raids organized by Frontenac against the English colonies at Corlaer in what is now upstate New York. Then, in 1696, he led a French expedition that first went on a campaign in Acadia, then captured some of the English posts in Newfoundland as far east as St. John’s, this time profiting from the cod trade. Three years later, he founded Louisiana, where he set up a first French fort. He died in Havana in 1706, on an expedition against the English West Indies. D’Iberville is a prime example of the ties between commercial and strategic considerations in French expansion in North America. He was also a testament to Montrealers’ ability to adapt to the North American environment and their continental vision.

  The governors of Montreal also had an important role to play since, in addition to ensuring the town’s defences, they tended to be responsible for organizing military expeditions across the continent. Some went on to have brilliant careers in the colony. Louis-Hector de Callière, for instance, who held the post from 1684 to 1698, was Governor General of Canada from 1698 until his death in 1703. Philippe de Rigaud de Vaudreuil, his successor as governor of Montreal in 1699, also took over the role of Governor General from 1703 to 1725 and founded a veritable dynasty, with his son Pierre occupying the colony’s highest post from 1755 to 1760 and another of his sons, François-Pierre, becoming governor of Montreal in 1757. For his part, Claude de Ramezay stands out for the length of his term as governor of Montreal (1704–1724) and had one of the town’s grandest houses built for himself.

  The many wars that punctuated the first half of the eighteenth century led the French government to bolster the colony’s military defences. They had a number of forts built, each defended by a garrison, in the Great Lakes region, in the Mississippi region, at Louisbourg on Cape Breton Island, along the Richelieu, and in the Ohio Valley. In Montreal itself, officers and soldiers from the Troupes de la Marine, the equivalent of modern-day marines, had been part of daily life since 1683. Their numbers swelled in times of war, and the buildup towards expeditions across the continent from Montreal added to the excitement. At the start, France supplied the troops, but from the eighteenth century onward Canada’s merchants and farmers took over the role of provider. Procurement for the troops and the soldiers’ pay stimulated the local economy and had money circulate around the town.

  Military considerations were also behind the authorities’ decision to fortify the town. Louis-Hector de Callière, then governor of Montreal, had a wooden stockade put up between 1687 and 1689 in order to protect the town from the Iroquois. In the following century, the stockade was replaced by a stone wall, this time designed to keep English attacks at bay. The engineer Chaussegros de Léry built the wall between 1717 and 1744.

  But the balance of power was to shift against Canada in the long term. England dominated the seas and England’s colonies were much more densely populated than France’s. The Seven Years’ War from 1756 to 1763 saw Anglo-American troops deliver the death blow to New France. The colony’s fate played out at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham in 1759, and Quebec fell into the hands of the invading troops. In the summer of 1760, three British armies marched on Montreal, one from the west down the St. Lawrence, one from the south going down the Richelieu, and another from the east coming up the St. Lawrence. Governor Vaudreuil, who had withdrawn to Montreal, saw that resistance was futile and capitulated on September 8, 1760. It marked the end of the French North American Empire. The British Conquest would have major consequences for Montreal, and we will explore them in Chapter 5.

  CHAPTE
R 4

  A Small French Town

  1665–1760

  After our brief look at the fur trade and French expansion in North America, time now to return to the town and its development. Montreal’s political and administrative reorganization from 1663 to 1665 turned a new page in its history: the remote settlement was taking on the trappings of an urban centre. Its institutions and general look and feel were just like those of a small town in the depths of the French countryside. The name “Ville-Marie” quickly fell by the wayside: despite a strong religious presence, the missionary ideal behind the settlement had given way to commercial interests. So what was Montreal like in the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries? And the people who lived there?

  The town’s development

  Montreal had a population of some 600 people in 1663 and twice as many by the turn of the century. The number of people who lived there passed the 3,000 mark around 1731 and 4,000 in 1754. Growth rate picked up a little during the peace that followed the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713, but generally lagged behind the rest of Canada.

  Between 1663 and 1760, the countryside of the St. Lawrence Valley saw the strongest population growth. Peace with the Iroquois helped agriculture develop around Montreal. Having for years been concentrated close to the town, it gradually extended to the rest of the island, spilling over to Île Jésus or Jesus island (now the city of Laval) and the north and south shores.