How Canada Was Won: A Tale of Wolfe and Quebec

by F. S. Brereton

Those were the men who knew that Indians still existed, who hunted the bison and the bear, and fought the bloodthirsty native of the forests in his own manner and with bitter determination. It was these hardy fellows, men of Tom Mainwaring's stamp, trappers such as Jim and Mac and Pete, who carried old England's banner into new lands, and who were the very first to come in contact with the French and their Indians. Their occupation of this valley of the Ohio won claims for England which France could not deny and which we could not repudiate, and though up to this date the various States had for the most part stood aside, apathetically watching while these honest and brave pioneers were driven back, their huts fired and their people massacred, yet the time was now come when they and the Government in England were to recall the fact that this valley of the Ohio was ours by right of conquest, that it had been won by the toil and blood of the trappers.

There remains but one other point to explain with regard to the colonies. It may be asked why these million and a half souls looked on so calmly while the unfortunate pioneers and trappers were hunted and massacred, why they sat at home while the Indians swarmed to the western slopes of the Alleghanies and over the crest, slaughtering and destroying the settlements? It must be a matter for marvel that they remained for the most part inert and unshaken, even while the third line of defences was ravaged, and the bloody war brought to their very farms and mansions.

There were many reasons for this state of affairs, and it may be said of the Southern States that it was so long now since their fathers and their grandfathers had driven the redskins over the Alleghany Mountains that they had forgotten that the Indians existed. There were no longer raids in their direction, and no fear of massacre. Then again, those who managed the affairs of the scattered population of these various States were more than inclined to sink patriotism and all thought of their fellow-States in acrimonious discussions amongst themselves, in petty squabbles over some matter which was of the smallest actual importance, and in for ever harassing their governor. They fought amongst themselves, squabbled with their neighbours as to boundary lines, and wrangled while their countrymen were being massacred, and even their own security threatened.

In the north it was entirely different. The States of New York and New England had French and French Indians on their borders, and they had never forgotten the bitterness of former wars, nor did the ever-present fear of an incursion help to dull their memories. We shall see that it was to these Northern States in particular that we are indebted for men and money, and for the initiative which first roused the States to a sense of their duty, and the home Government to the need for a leader and active opposition to the aims of France.

Having given some idea of the thirteen States and their condition in and about the year 1756, let us turn to France and her possessions in North America. And perhaps it will be of interest to go as fully into this part as into that concerning our own colony. Let the reader run his finger from the northernmost tip of the island of Newfoundland along the northern shore of the St. Lawrence, and he will pass over the route which the gallant Jacques Cartier, of St. Malo, followed in the years 1535-36, when on a voyage commissioned by Francis I. This bold sailor was the first known European to ascend the mighty St. Lawrence river, a river which is of huge proportions, and which is fed by the most gigantic reservoirs. Look at the five huge lakes, Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, which cover a space larger than that covered by the whole of Great Britain, and consider that these five drain steadily into this St. Lawrence river, and you will perhaps have some idea of the vastness of this gigantic waterway.

This Jacques Cartier cast anchor off the Isle of Orleans, which he named the Isle of Bacchus, for it was well covered with vines, and lay near the river St. Croix, within sight of the position where the city of Quebec now stands. He met with a friendly reception from the natives, and afterwards sailed up the river to Montreal, where an Indian town was then situated. Having done more than any other white man was known to have done, he erected a cross at St. Croix, claimed the land for his master and for France, and duly returned home, having completed his second voyage to these parts, a voyage commissioned, as has been said, by Francis I., with the object of discovering a short route to the Indies and new countries not yet discovered and appropriated by the Spanish or the Portuguese.

Monsieur Roberval was the first lieutenant to take up his residence in the newly-found country. It is quite unnecessary to follow his unimportant doings there, or the fate of the immigrants who went to join him. But it may be stated that progress was exceptionally slow, that colonists were few and far between, and that for many years the French population of New France was extremely small. Sometimes the new possessions met with favour from the French court, and for a while a new impetus was given to colonising. And gradually the interior of the country was opened up, or rather, some superficial knowledge of it was gained from the reports of discoverers and hunters. For here, as in the Ohio valley, the chief inducement to the hardy pioneers to push on was the desire to obtain furs, for which there was always a ready sale.

But it must not be thought that their journeys took them so far that nothing more was left to discover. Other men of the same venturesome turn of mind were to appear upon the scene, Champlain amongst the most noteworthy. Then, too, we must direct our attention to Nova Scotia, the French Acadie, which attracted the eyes of the colonists in 1604. We find that expeditions landed here and founded settlements, and later we hear of gentlemen adventurers coming to this fertile Acadie, there to seek their fortunes. In course of time, too, to be precise, in the year 1625, Jesuit missionaries sailed for New France, and we find them hereafter dominating the affairs of the colony, ever pushing forward and boldly entering the country of the Indians. Indeed, the history of Canada is filled with accounts of these gallant missionaries, who struggled often alone into the forests, who were murdered and tortured by the redskins, and who yet pressed on, endeavouring always to bring the heathen Indian under the influence of their religion.

Cardinal Richelieu also appears upon the scene, the great Richelieu who dominated France, and we find him forming a trading company and arranging to send out artisans.