The Great Intendant : A Chronicle of Jean Talon in Canada, 1665-1672

nation who had been prisoners of the Outaouais and had succeeded in escaping. These informed their fellow-tribesmen that the Outaouais village was undefended, a

n war threatened, into which the French would unavoidably be drawn. At that moment Garakonthie, the Iroquois chief who had always been friendly to the French, advised the Five Nations to send an embassy to the governor of Canada asking him to compose these differences. The Five Nations agreed, and

Talon set forth that these traders drew from the Iroquois 1,000,000 livres' worth of the best beaver, and he suggested the construction of a small ship of the galley type to cruise on Lake Ontario, and that two posts manned by one hundred picked soldiers should be established, one on the north, the other on the south shore of that lake. These measures would ensure safe communication between the colony and the Outaouais country, keep the Iroquois aloof, and favour the opening

aliant, energetic, and intelligent; but he felt that he was outshone by the latter's promptness, celeri

rents, protected them from invasion in their remote country south of Lake Ontario. Courcelle resolved to shake their confidence. Early in the spring he went to Montreal and ordered the construction of a flat-boat. In this he set out from Lachine (June 3, 1671) with Perrot, governor of Montreal, Captain de Laubia, Varennes, Le Moyne, La Valliere, Normanville, Abbe Dollier de Casson, and about fifty good men. Thirteen canoes accompanied the flat-boat. After conside

ation, agriculture, industry, and trade-in a word, the internal economy of New France. But now, without neglecting any part of his duty, he seemed desirous of widening his sphere of action by the extension of French influence to the north, south, and west. On October 10, 1670, he wrote to the king: 'Since my arrival, I have sent resolute men to explore farther than has ever been

, Sulpicians, had prepared for a remote mission to the Outaouais. It was thought advisable to combine the two expeditions. Thus it happened that La Salle and the Sulpicians left Montreal in 1669 and journeyed together as far as the western end of Lake Ontario. There they parted. The Sulpicians wintered on the shores of Lake Erie, and next spring passed the strait between Lakes Erie and Huron, reached the Sault Sainte-Marie, and then returned to Montreal by French river, Lake Nipissing, and the Ottawa river. Their journey lasted from July 4, 1669, to June 18, 1670. In the meantime La Salle had reached the Ohi

nonthio, which means 'great mountain,' because that was the translation of Montmagny-mons magnus in Latin-the name of Champlain's first successor. From M. de Montmagny the name had passed to the other governors, and the king had become the 'great Ononthio.'] On June 14 representatives of fourteen nations were gathered at the Sault. The Jesuit fathers Dablon, Dreuillettes, Allouez, and Andre were present. A great council was held on a height. Saint-Lusson had a cross erected w

explorer to the Vermilion Sea is a distance of not more than three hundred leagues. The Western Sea [the Pacific ocean] does not seem more distant. According to c

etween Quebec and Pentagouet. His letters and those of Colbert written in 1671 are full of this project. A fund of thirty thousand livres was appropriated for the purpose. The intendant's plan was to erect about twenty houses well provided with stores along the proposed route at intervals of sixty leagues. He also had in mind the establishment of settlements along the rivers Penobscot and Kennebec, to form a barrier between New France and New England. With the object of establishing trade relations between Canada and Acadia, he sent to the French Bay (Bay of Fundy) a barge load

to open to the colony the trade of the wide area extending from Lake St John to Lake Mistassini and thence to Hudson Bay. For an expedition to Hudson Bay he chose Father Albanel, a Jesuit, and M. de Saint-Simon. They left Quebec for Tadoussac in August 1671, and ascended the Saguenay to Lake St John where they

f 1672 and wintered at Michilimackinac, where he joined Father Marquette. Next spring they set out together, and by way of Lake Michigan, Green Bay, Fox river, and the Wisconsin they reached the giant river, the mighty Mississi

settle or remain. Undoubtedly it was wise to advise concentration, and Talon himself would not have differed on that score from the minister. He was too sagacious not to see that Canada with a small population should abstain from remote establishments. His policy of exploration and discovery did not aim at the immediate foundation of new colonies, but was only directed towards increasing the prestige of the French name, developing trade, and thus preparing the way for the future greatness of Canada. It was a far-sighted policy, not seeking impossible achievements for to-day, but gaining a foot-hold for those of to-morrow. That the political fabric of France in America was doomed to fall in no way dims the fame of the great intendant. Under his po

l his ill-humour, and tried to assert his authority. There were several clashes between the two high officials. The governor frequently lost his temper, while Talon complained of Courcelle's jealou