Jacques Cartier had been sent to establish a colony in North America. He found a suitable place to build a fort that he named Charlesbourg-Royal, present day Cap Rouge, just above Stadacona. Gardens were planted and construction started. While waiting for Jean-François de La Roche de Roberval to arrive and take over the colony, Cartier went up the river as far as the Lachine Rapids where he was shown quantities of rocks that he assumed were gold and silver. In a hurry to report back to France, Cartier set out as soon as the ice melted and found Roberval had finally arrived at St. Johns’s. Despite Roberval’s insistence that he stay, Cartier left him to fend for himself while he sailed for France.
Sieur de Roberval
Roberval took his 400 colonists, many of whom were convicts, and sailed to Cartier’s colony which he renamed France-Roy. Before the summer was over Roberval had mounted an expedition to explore the area and went as far as the island of Montreal but after losing one of his boats and eight men he turned back.
Roberval and his people settled into the colony and as fall neared he sent two of his ships back to France for supplies. It was a bitter winter and 50 of the settlers died of scurvy. Roberval ruled the colony with an iron hand, flogging the unruly and hanging one man for theft. The colony did not last long due to weather, scurvy and poor relations with the Iroquois. A relief expedition arrived in 1543 and Roberval and the surviving colonists returned to France.
First Canadian Colony Discovered
The area was re-occupied in the 1600s when the French began a concerted colonization effort and remained an agricultural area until the 1960s when it became a residential suburb of Quebec City. For the past fifty years efforts have been made to locate the site of Cartier’s settlement to no avail. Finally, in 2005, a promising site was accidentally discovered when surveying for a scenic lookout and archeological work begun. The team, under Yves Chretien, located fragments of a decorated Italian style ceramic plate and wood timber sample that were sent to an American lab for dating. Both timber and ceramic fragments were proven to be from the mid 1500’s. As research continued traces were found of timber charred by fire about 30 centimeters below the surface possibly indicating that the fort was destroyed by fire.
Artifacts Abound
Over 150 items have been discovered including pottery, nails, an axe, glass beads, vessels, Iroquois pottery and a shard of as Istoriato plate manufactured between 1540 and 1550. This was conclusive proof that Charlesbourg-Royal has indeed been found as only wealthy people could afford such pottery and the only wealthy people in New France at that time were with Roberval. It is believed that some 85 settlers might be buried in the area and finding their remains could provide important information about early French inhabitants.
Quebec Premier Charest Approved Funding
It is hoped that the excavations will reveal much more about the settlement and the people who lived there including the Iroquois who dwelt nearby and vanished by the end of the century. To that end Quebec’s Premier Jean Charest announced almost $8 million in funding for the project thereby securing the site for research and interpretation.
Bibliography
The Catlinite Tabloid - Volume 21, No. 6 September 2006
Randy Boswell - Winnipeg Free Press - August 22, 2006
Edwin and Mary Guillet – The Pathfinders of North America – 1957
Thomas B. Costain – The White and the Gold - 1954
William Silvester - Most of Bill's writing over the past few years has been for the philatelic press and consists primarily of columns and articles about the ...
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