THE SITES OF THE SOUTH SHORE INDIAN SETTLEMENT, SAULT ST. LOUIS VILLAGE, IN ITS VARIOUS REMOVALS FROM LA PRAIRIE TO THE PRESENT CAUGHNAWAGA
CHAPTER XXIII
1666-1672
GARRISON LIFE—SLACKENING MORALS
SIEUR DE LA FREDIERE—LIQUOR TRAFFIC WITH THE INDIANS—SOLDIERS MURDER INDIANS—THE CARION-DE LORMEAU DUEL—THE FIRST BALL IN CANADA—LARCENIES, ETC.—A CORNER IN WHEAT—THE "VOLUNTAIRES," OR DAY LABOURERS—THE TAVERNS—A POLICE RAID—"HOTEL" LIFE—BLASPHEMY PUNISHED—THE LORDS' VINEYARDS RUINED.
The history of garrison towns, sad to relate, seems always to be besmirched with scandals having their origin among the soldiers. So it was with Montreal after the settlement of the officers and men of the Carignan and other regiments, in marked contrast with the times of de Maisonneuve and his brave "milice," who had been especially trained under religious influences and had not been reared in the atmosphere of camp or barrack life.
Among the officers sent to Montreal, after the war of 1666, to command the garrison, was the Sieur de la Fredière, a nephew of M. de Sallières and a major in the Sallières-Carignan Regiment. This man, disfigured by the loss of an eye, has left a name as one who was repulsive alike in mind, in conscience, and in honour. He was banished to France after the visit of Talon in 1667, who heard from the inhabitants such a catalogue of acts of tyranny, injustice, and immorality against this officer of the king that, having referred the charges to de Tracy, the latter ordered the expulsion of the offender.
On de Sallières' remonstrance at the severity of the sentence, Talon ordered on September 1, 1667, a judicial investigation into the charges so that they might be presented in legal form.