The Founder of New France: A Chronicle of Champlain

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As in 1609, there was a mutuality of interest between
Champlain and the Indians who traded at the Sault. His
desire was to explore and theirs was to fight. By compromise
they disclosed to him the recesses of their country and
he aided them against the Iroquois. In 1615 the Hurons
not only reminded him of his repeated promises to aid
them, but stated flatly that without such aid they could
no longer attend the annual market, as their enemies were
making the route too unsafe. On their side they promised
a war-party of more than two thousand men. A further
proof of friendship was afforded by their willingness to
receive a missionary in their midst--the Recollet, Father
Joseph Le Caron.

Champlain's line of exploration in 1615-16 took the
following course. He first ascended the Ottawa to the
mouth of the Mattawa. Thence journeying overland by ponds
and portages he entered Lake Nipissing, which he skirted
to the outlet. French River next took him to Georgian
Bay, or, as he calls it for geographical definition, the
Lake of the Attigouautan [Hurons]. His own name for this
vast inland sea is the Mer Douce. That he did not explore
it with any degree of thoroughness is evident from the
terms of his narrative as well as from his statement that
its length, east and west, is four hundred leagues. What
he saw of Lake Huron was really the east shore of Georgian
Bay, from the mouth of French River to the bottom of
Matchedash Bay. Here he entered the country of the Hurons,
which pleased him greatly in comparison with the tract
before traversed. 'It was very fine, the largest part
being cleared, and many hills and several rivers rendering
the region agreeable. I went to see their Indian corn,
which was at that time [early in August] far advanced
for the season.'

Champlain's route through the district between Carmaron
and Cahaigue can best be followed in Father Jones's map
of Huronia. [Footnote: This map will be found in 'The
Jesuit Missions 'in this Series, and also in vol. xxxiv
of 'The Jesuit Relations,' ed. Thwaites.] The points
which Champlain names are there indicated, in each case
with as careful identification of the locality as we are
ever likely to get. For those who are not specialists in
the topography of Huronia it may suffice that Champlain
left Matchedash Bay not far from Penetanguishene, and
thence went to Carmaron at the very north of the peninsula.
Returning, he passed through some of the largest of the
Huron villages, and after sixteen days came out at
Cahaigue, which was situated close to Lake Simcoe and
almost on the site of the modern Hawkestone. It was here
that most of the Huron warriors assembled for the great
expedition against the Onondagas. Setting out on their
march, they first went a little to the northward, where
they were joined on the shores of Lake Couchiching by
another contingent. The party thus finally made up,
Champlain's line of advance first took him to Sturgeon
Lake. Afterwards it pursued that important waterway which
is represented by the Otonabee river, Rice Lake, and the
river Trent. Hence the warriors entered Lake Ontario by
the Bay of Quinte.

This country between Lake Simcoe and the Bay of Quinte
seems to have pleased Champlain greatly. He saw it in
September, when the temperature was agreeable and when
the vegetation of the forest could be enjoyed without
the torment inflicted by mosquitoes. 'It is certain,' he
says, 'that all this region is very fine and pleasant.
Along the banks it seems as if the trees had been set
out for ornament in most places, and that all these tracts
were in former times inhabited by savages who were
subsequently compelled to abandon them from fear of their
enemies. Vines and nut trees are here very numerous.
Grapes mature, yet there is always a very pungent tartness,
which is felt remaining in the throat when one eats them
in large quantities, arising from defect of cultivation.
These localities are very pleasant when cleared up.'

From the Bay of Quinte the war-party skirted the east
shore of Lake Ontario, crossing the head of the St
Lawrence, and thence following the southern shore about
fourteen leagues. At this point the Indians concealed
all their canoes and struck into the woods towards Lake
Oneida. Though made up chiefly of Hurons, the little army
embraced various allies, including a band of Algonquins.
Whether from over-confidence at having Champlain among
them or from their natural lack of discipline, the allies
managed their attack very badly. On a pond a few miles
south of Oneida Lake lay the objective point of the
expedition--a palisaded stronghold of the Onondagas. At
a short distance from this fort eleven of the enemy were
surprised and taken prisoners. What followed was much
less fortunate. Champlain does not state the number of
Frenchmen present, but as his drawing shows eleven
musketeers, we may infer that his own followers were
distinctly more numerous than at the battle on Lake
Champlain.

The height of the palisade was thirty feet, and a system
of gutters supplied abundant water for use in extinguishing
fire. Champlain's plan of attack was to employ a cavalier,
or protected scaffolding, which should overtop the palisade
and could be brought close against it. From the top of
this framework four or five musketeers were to deliver
a fusillade against the Iroquois within the fort, while
the Hurons kindled a fire at the foot of the palisade.
Champlain's drawing shows the rest of the musketeers
engaged in creating a diversion at other points.

But everything miscarried. Though the cavalier was
constructed, the allies threw aside the wooden shields
which Champlain had caused to be made as a defence against
the arrows of the Iroquois while the fire was being
kindled. Only a small supply of wood had been collected,
and even this was so placed that the flames blew away
from the palisade instead of towards it. On the failure
of this attempt to fire the fort all semblance of discipline
was thrown to the winds. 'There also rose such disorder
among them,' says Champlain, 'that one could not understand
another, which greatly troubled me. In vain did I shout
in their ears and remonstrate to my utmost with them as
to the danger to which they exposed themselves by their
bad behaviour, but on account of the great noise they
made they heard nothing. Seeing that shouting would only
burst my head and that my remonstrances were useless for
putting a stop to the disorder, I did nothing more, but
determined, together with my men, to do what we could
and fire upon such as we could see.'

The fight itself lasted only three hours, and the casualties
of the attacking party were inconsiderable, since but
two of their chiefs and fifteen warriors were wounded.
In addition to their repulse, the Hurons suffered a severe
disappointment through the failure to join them of five
hundred allies who had given their solemn promise. Although
Champlain had received two severe wounds, one in the leg
and another in the knee, he urged a second and more
concerted attack. But in vain. The most the Hurons would
promise was to wait four or five days for the expected
reinforcements. At the end of this time there was no sign
of the five hundred, and the return began. 'The only good
point,' says Champlain, 'that I have seen in their mode
of warfare is that they make their retreat very securely,
placing all the wounded and aged in their centre, being
well armed on the wings and in the rear, and continuing
this order without interruption until they reach a place
of security.'

Champlain himself suffered tortures during the retreat,
partly from his wounds, but even more from the mode of
transportation. The Indian method of removing the wounded
was first to bind and pinion them 'in such a manner that
it is as impossible for them to move as for an infant in
its swaddling-clothes.' They were then carried in a kind
of basket, 'crowded up in a heap.' Doubtless as a mark
of distinction, Champlain was carried separately on the
back of a savage. His wound was so severe that when the
retreat began he could not stand. But the transportation
proved worse than the wound. 'I never found myself in
such a gehenna as during this time, for the pain which
I suffered in consequence of the wound in my knee was
nothing in comparison with that which I endured while I
was carried bound and pinioned on the back of one of our
savages. So that I lost my patience, and as soon as I
could sustain myself got out of this prison, or rather
gehenna.'

The enemy made no pursuit, but forced marches were kept
up for twenty-five or thirty leagues. The weather now
grew cold, as it was past the middle of autumn. The fight
at the fort of the Onondagas had taken place on October
10, and eight days later there was a snowstorm, with hail
and a strong wind. But, apart from extreme discomfort,
the retreat was successfully accomplished, and on the
shore of Lake Ontario they found the canoes intact.

It had been Champlain's purpose to spend the winter at
Quebec, and when the Hurons were about to leave the east
end of Lake Ontario for their own country he asked them
for a canoe and an escort. Four Indians volunteered for
this service, but no canoe could be had, and in consequence
Champlain was forced reluctantly to accompany the Hurons.
With his usual patience he accepted the inevitable, which
in this case was only unpleasant because he was ill
prepared for spending a winter among the Indians. After
a few days he perceived that their plan was to keep him
and his companions, partly as security for themselves
and partly that he might assist at their councils in
planning better safeguards against their enemies.

This enforced residence of Champlain among the Hurons
during the winter of 1615-16 has given us an excellent
description of Indian customs. It was also the means of
composing a dangerous quarrel between the Hurons and the
Algonquins. Once committed to spending the winter among
the Indians, Champlain planned to make Huronia a point
of departure for still further explorations to the
westward. Early in 1616 there seemed to be a favourable
opportunity to push forward in the direction of Lake
Superior. Then came this wretched brawl of Hurons and
Algonquins, which threatened to beget bitter hatred and
war among tribes which hitherto had both been friendly
to the French. Accepting his duty, Champlain gave up his
journey to the far west and threw himself into the task
of restoring peace. But the measure of his disappointment
is found in these words:

If ever there was one greatly disheartened, it was
myself, since I had been waiting to see this year what
during many preceding ones I had been seeking for with
great toil and effort, through so many fatigues and
risks of my life. But realizing that I could not help
the matter, and that everything depended on the will
of God, I comforted myself, resolving to see it in a
short time. I had such sure information that I could
not doubt the report of these people, who go to traffic
with others dwelling in those northern regions, a
great part of whom live in a place very abundant in
the chase and where there are great numbers of large
animals, the skins of several of which I saw, and
which I concluded were buffaloes from their
representation of their form. Fishing is also very
abundant there. This journey requires forty days as
well in returning as in going.

Thus Champlain almost had a chance to see the bison and
the great plains of the West. As it was, he did his
immediate duty and restored the peace of Huron and
Algonquin. In partial compensation for the alluring
journey he relinquished, he had a better opportunity to
study the Hurons in their settlements and to investigate
their relations with their neighbours--the Tobacco Nation,
the Neutral Nation, les Cheveux Releves, and the Race of
Fire. Hence the Voyage of 1615 not only describes the
physical aspects of Huronia, but contains intimate details
regarding the life of its people--their wigwams, their
food, their manner of cooking, their dress, their
decorations, their marriage customs, their medicine-men,
their burials, their assemblies, their agriculture, their
amusements, and their mode of fishing. It is Champlain's
most ambitious piece of description, far less detailed
than the subsequent narratives of the Jesuits, but in
comparison with them gaining impact from being less
diffuse.

It was on May 20, 1616, that Champlain left the Huron
country, never again to journey thither or to explore
the recesses of the forest. Forty days later he reached
the Sault St Louis, and saw once more his old friend
Pontgrave. Thenceforward his life belongs not to the
wilderness, but to Quebec.

CHAPTER V

CHAMPLAIN'S LAST YEARS

When Champlain reached the Sault St Louis on July 1,
1616, his career as an explorer had ended. The nineteen
years of life that still remained he gave to Quebec and
the duties of his lieutenancy.

By this time he had won the central position in his own
domain. Question might arise as to the terms upon which
a monopoly of trade should be granted, or as to the
persons who should be its recipients. But whatever company
might control the trade, Champlain was the king's
representative in New France. When Boyer affronted him,
the council had required that a public apology should be
offered. When Montmorency instituted the investigation
of 1620, it was Champlain's report which determined the
issue. Five years later, when the Duc de Ventadour became
viceroy in place of Montmorency, Champlain still remained
lieutenant-general of New France. Such were his character,
services, and knowledge that his tenure could not be
questioned.

Notwithstanding this source of satisfaction, the post
was difficult in the extreme. The government continued
to leave colonizing in the hands of the traders, and the
traders continued to shirk their obligations. The Company
of the De Caens did a large business, but suffered more
severely than any of its predecessors from the strife of
Catholic and Huguenot. Those of the reformed religion
even held their services in the presence of the Indians,
thus anticipating the scandals of Kikuyu. Though the Duc
de Ventadour gave orders that there should be no
psalm-singing after the outbound ships passed Newfoundland,
this provision seems not to have been effective. It was
a difficult problem for one like Champlain, who, while
a loyal Catholic, had been working all his life with
Huguenot associates.

The period of the De Caens was marked by the presence at
Quebec of Madame Champlain. The romance of Champlain's
life does not, however, revolve about his marriage. In
1610, at the age of forty-three, he espoused Helene
Boulle, whose father was secretary of the King's Chamber
to Henry IV. As the bride was only twelve years old,
the marriage contract provided that she should remain
two years longer with her parents. She brought a dowry
of six thousand livres, and simultaneously Champlain made
his will in her favour. Probably De Monts had some part
in arranging the marriage, for Nicholas Boulle was a
Huguenot and De Monts appears as a witness to the notarial
documents. Subsequently, Madame Champlain became an
enthusiastic Catholic and ended her days as a nun. She
had no children, and was only once in Canada, residing
continuously at Quebec from 1620 to 1624. No mention
whatever is made of her in Champlain's writings, but he
named St Helen's Island after her, and appears to have
been unwilling that she should enter a convent during
his lifetime.

One need feel little surprise that Madame Champlain should
not care to visit Canada a second time, for the buildings
at Quebec had fallen into disrepair, and more than once
the supply of food ran very low. During 1625 Champlain
remained in France with his wife, and therefore did not
witness the coming o the Jesuits to the colony. This
event, which is a landmark in the history of Quebec and
New France, followed upon the inability of the Recollets
to cover the mission field with any degree of completeness.
Conscious that their resources were unequal to the task,
they invoked the aid of the Jesuits, and in this appeal
were strongly supported by Champlain. Once more the
horizon seemed to brighten, for the Jesuits had greater
resources and influence than any other order in the Roman
Catholic Church, and their establishment at Quebec meant
much besides a mere increase in the population. The year
1626 saw Champlain again at his post, working hard to
complete a new factory which he had left unfinished,
while the buildings of the Jesuit establishment made good
progress under the hand of workmen specially brought from
France. What still remained imperfect was the fortification.
The English had destroyed the French settlements at Mount
Desert and Port Royal. What was to hinder them from
bombarding Quebec?

This danger soon clouded the mood of optimism that had
been inspired by the coming of the Jesuits. The De Caens
objected to any outlay on a fort, and would not give
Champlain the men he needed. In reply Champlain sent the
viceroy a report which was unfavourable to the company
and its methods. But even without this representation,
the monopoly of the De Caens was doomed by reason of
events which were taking place in France.

At the court of Louis XIII Richelieu had now gained an
eminence and power such as never before had been possessed
by a minister of the French crown. Gifted with imagination
and covetous of national greatness, he saw the most
desirable portions of other continents in the hands of
the Spaniards, the Portuguese, the English, and the Dutch.
The prospect was not pleasing, and he cast about for a
remedy.

For Hanotaux, [Footnote: Gabriel Hanotaux, member of the
French Academy, is the author of the most authoritative
work on the life and times of Richelieu.] Richelieu is
'the true founder of our colonial empire,' and La Ronciere
adds: 'Madagascar, Senegal, Guiana' the Antilles, Acadia,
and Canada--this, to be exact, was the colonial empire
for which we were indebted to Richelieu.' Regarding his
breadth of outlook there can be no doubt, and in his
Memoirs he left the oft-quoted phrase: 'No realm is so
well situated as France to be mistress of the seas or so
rich in all things needful.' Desiring to strengthen
maritime commerce and to hold distant possessions, he
became convinced that the English and the Dutch had
adopted the right policy. Strong trading companies--not
weak ones--were what France needed.

Henry IV could have given the French a fair start, or
even a lead, in the race for colonies. He missed this
great opportunity; partly because he was preoccupied with
the reorganization of France, and partly because Sully,
his minister, had no enthusiasm for colonial ventures.
Twenty years later the situation had changed. Richelieu,
who was a man of wide outlook, was also compelled by the
activity of England and Holland to give attention to the
problem of a New France. The spirit of colonization was
in the air, and Richelieu, with his genius for ideas,
could not fail to see its importance or what would befall
the laggards. His misfortune was that he lacked certain
definite qualifications which a greater founder of colonies
needed to possess. Marvellous in his grasp of diplomatic
situations and in his handling of men, he had no talent
whatever for the details of commerce. His fiscal regime,
particularly after France engaged in her duel with the
House of Hapsburg, was disorganized and intolerable. Nor
did he recognize that, for the French, the desire to
emigrate required even greater encouragement than the
commercial instinct. He compelled his company to transport
settlers, but the number was not large, and he kindled
no popular enthusiasm for the cause of colonization.
France had once led the crusade eastward. Under proper
guidance she might easily have contributed more than she
did to the exodus westward.

At any rate Richelieu, 'a man in the grand style, if ever
man was,' had decided that New France should no longer
languish, and the Company of One Hundred Associates was
the result. In 1627 he abolished the office of viceroy,
deprived the De Caens of their charter, and prepared to
make Canada a real colony. The basis of the plan was an
association of one hundred members, each subscribing
three thousand livres. Richelieu's own name heads the
list of members, followed by those of the minister of
finance and the minister of marine. Most of the members
resided in Paris, though the seaboard and the eastern
provinces were also represented. Nobles, wealthy merchants,
small traders, all figure in the list, and twelve titles
of nobility were distributed among the shareholders to
help in the enlistment of capital. The company received
a monopoly of trade for fifteen years, and promised to
take out three hundred colonists annually during the
whole period covered by the grant. It also received the
St Lawrence valley in full ownership. One notable provision
of the charter was that only Roman Catholics should be
sent to New France, and the company was placed under
special obligation to maintain three priests in each
settlement until the colony could support its own clergy.

Champlain was now sixty years of age, and he had suffered
much. Suddenly there burst forth this spontaneous enthusiasm
of Richelieu the all-powerful. Was Champlain's dream of
the great city of Ludovica to come true after all?

Alas, like previous visions, it faded before the glare
of harsh, uncompromising facts. The year in which Richelieu
founded his Company of New France was also the year of
a fierce Huguenot revolt. Calling on England for aid, La
Rochelle defied Paris, the king, and the cardinal.
Richelieu laid siege to the place. Guiton, the mayor,
sat at his council-board with a bare dagger before him
to warn the faint-hearted. The old Duchesse de Rohan
starved with the populace. Salbert, the most eloquent
of Huguenot pastors, preached that martyrdom was better
than surrender. Meanwhile, Richelieu built his mole across
the harbour, and Buckingham wasted the English troops to
which the citizens looked for their salvation. Then the
town yielded.

The fall of La Rochelle was a great personal triumph for
Richelieu, but the war with England brought disaster to
the Company of New France. At Dieppe there had lived for
many years an Englishman named Jarvis, or Gervase, Kirke,
who with his five sons--David, Lewis, Thomas, John, and
Jamesknew much at first hand about the French merchant
marine. Early in the spring of 1628 Kirke (who had shortly
before moved to London) secured letters of marque and
sent forth his sons to do what damage they could to the
French in the St Lawrence. Champlain had spent the winter
at Quebec and was, of course, expecting his usual supplies
with the opening of navigation. Instead came Lewis Kirke,
sent from Tadoussac by his brother David, to demand
surrender.

Champlain made a reply which, though courteous, was
sufficiently bold to convince the Kirkes that Quebec
could be best captured by starvation. They therefore
sailed down the St Lawrence to intercept the fleet from
France, confident that their better craft would overcome
these 'sardines of the sea.' The plan proved successful
even beyond expectation, for after a long cannonade they
captured without material loss the whole fleet which had
been sent out by the Company of New France. Ships,
colonists, annual supplies, building materials--all fell
into the hands of the enterprising Kirkes, who then sailed
for England with their booty. Alike to Champlain and to
the Hundred Associates it was a crippling blow.

Thus, but for the war with England, Quebec would have
seen its population trebled in 1628. As it was, the
situation became worse than ever. Lewis Kirke had been
careful to seize the cattle pastured at Cap Tourmente
and to destroy the crops. When winter came, there were
eighty mouths to feed on a scant diet of peas and maize,
imperfectly ground, with a reserve supply of twelve
hundred eels. Towards spring anything was welcome, and
the roots of Solomon's seal were esteemed a feast.
Champlain even gave serious thought to a raid upon the
Mohawks, three hundred miles away, in the hope that food
could be brought back from their granaries. Finally, on
the 19th of July 1629, Lewis Kirke returned with a second
summons to surrender. This time only one answer was
possible, for to the survivors at Quebec the English came
less in the guise of foes than as human beings who could
save them from starvation. Champlain and his people
received honourable treatment, and were promised a passage
to France. The family Hebert, however, decided to remain.

We need not dwell upon the emotions with which Champlain
saw the French flag pulled down at Quebec. Doubtless it
seemed the disastrous end of his life-work, but he was
a good soldier and enjoyed also the comforts of religion.
A further consolation was soon found in the discovery
that Quebec might yet be reclaimed. Ten weeks before
Champlain surrendered, the two countries were again at
peace, and the Treaty of Suza embodied a provision that
captures made after the treaty was signed should be
mutually restored. This intelligence reached Champlain
when he landed in England on the homeward voyage. It is
characteristic of the man, that before going on to France
he posted from Dover to London, and urged the French
ambassador that he should insistently claim Quebec.

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