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Sieur de La Vérendrye 1685-1749
Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, Sieur de La Vérendrye, was born at Trois Rivières and saw military service in North America and Europe before entering the fur trade. While stationed at Lake Nipigon in 1727, he heard stories of the "Western Sea" which, Indians said, lay somewhere beyond Lake of the Woods. During the next twenty years, in attempting to reach this sea, he personally explored much of what is now northwestern Ontario, southern Manitoba and... -
Jesuit Mission to Manitoulin 1648-50, The
In 1648, Father Joseph Poncet, then serving at St. Marie in Huronia, was placed in charge of the Jesuit mission of St. Pierre by his superior Father Paul Ragueneau. This newly created mission was formed to serve the Algonkian-speaking Indians of Manitoulin Island and the north shore of Lake Huron. Poncet, the first known European resident of Manitoulin (called Ile de Ste. Marie by the missionaries and Ekaentoton by the Hurons), served on this island... -
Joseph-Geneviève, Comte de Puisaye
Soldier, politician, diplomatist and colonizer, de Puisaye was born at Mortagne-en-Perche, France, about 1755, and enlisted in the French Army at 18. Elected to the States General in 1789, he supported reform but, alarmed by the course of the Revolution, later organized resistance on behalf of the Royalists. Outlawed, he sought refuge in England and in 1795, as Lieutenant-General, led an ill-fated expedition to Quiberon, Brittany. Three years later, with some forty other émigrés, he... -
Kenté (Quinte) Mission, The
In 1668, Claude Trouvé and François de Fénelon, Sulpician priests from France, established this mission to serve Iroquois Indians on the north shore of Lake Ontario. Kenté, the Cayuga Village which had requested the missionaries, became the mission's centre. Buildings were erected at this village, which was probably located in the Consecon area, and livestock was brought from Ville-Marie (Montreal). Under Abbé Trouvé's direction, various resident Sulpicians served the mission, but from 1675 their activities... -
La Vase Portages
The historic La Vase (Mud) Portages began at the head of the nearby pond. These three portages, connecting Trout Lake and the lower La Vase River, were linked by small navigable streams and ponds. They formed part of the great canoe route via the Ottawa and Mattawa Rivers, Lake Nipissing and the French River, leading to the upper Great Lakes and the West, which was followed by the early explorers, missionaries and fur traders. Among... -
Louis de Buade, Comte de Frontenac et de Palluau 1622-1698
One of the most influential and controversial figures in Canadian history, Frontenac was born at St-Germain-en-Laye, France. As a member of the noblesse d'épée he was able in 1672 to secure the appointment as Governor-General of New France. Devoted largely because of self-interest to promoting the colony's territorial expansion, Frontenac established a series of fortified fur-trading posts extending into the interior of North America, the first of which, Fort Frontenac, was constructed near here in... -
Louis de Buade, Comte de Frontenac et de Palluau 1622-1698
One of the most influential and controversial figures in Canadian history, Frontenac was born at St-Germain-en-Laye, France. As a member of the noblesse d'épée he was able in 1672 to secure the appointment as Governor-General of New France. Devoted largely because of self-interest to promoting the colony's territorial expansion, Frontenac established a series of fortified fur-trading posts extending into the interior of North America, the first of which, Fort Frontenac, was constructed near here in... -
Louis Hennepin 1626 - c. 1705
Born and educated in Belgium, Hennepin was ordained a Recollet (Franciscan) friar in France. He was an adventurer at heart and undertook priestly duties in several European countries before being sent to New France as a missionary in 1675. In 1679-80, he accompanied Cavelier de La Salle on his exploration of the Mississippi River. Back in France, Hennepin published a lively account of his travels, Description de la Louisiane (1683), which enjoyed widespread popularity in... -
René-Robert Cavelier de La Salle at Cataracoui
Early in his celebrated career, the explorer La Salle played a principal role in the expansion of the French fur trade into the Lake Ontario region. In 1673 he arranged a meeting between Governor-General Frontenac, who wanted to shift the centre of the fur trade away from Montreal, and representatives of the Iroquois at Cataracoui, the site of present day Kingston. Placed in command of Fort Frontenac, the post the governor ordered built here, La... -
La Salle at the Head of the Lake
In 1669, René-Robert Cavelier de la Salle, intent on reaching the Ohio River in order "not to leave to another the honour of finding the way to the Southern Sea, and thereby the route to China", set out on the first of his many journeys of exploration. Accompanied by the Sulpician missionaries Dollier and Galinée, he left Montreal in July and reached Burlington Bay at the head of Lake Ontario some two months later. La... -
Mother Marie Thomas d'Aquin (1877-1963)
Jeanne Lydia Branda grew up near Bordeaux, France. From a young age, she felt called to become a nun and teacher. In 1899, she joined the Dominican Sisters of Nancy, where she would teach and take the name Sister Marie Thomas d’Aquin. She left France and settled in Maine where she was deeply influenced by the freedom and openness of America. While visiting Ottawa in 1914, she agreed to head the Jeanne d'Arc Institute, a... -
Saint-Louis-de-Gonzague School
The protection of language and education rights has been an ongoing struggle in Franco-Ontarian history. Regulation 17 (1912-27) forbade teaching in French in Ontario's primary schools beyond Grade 2. Despite this, the Board of Trustees of the Roman Catholic Separate Schools of Sudbury (RCSSS) chose to separate English and French students by building the Central Separate School in 1915, where the English-speaking minority could have its own classes and the French-speaking majority could continue teaching...