35. Champlain “officially” discovers Acadia after it has been “unofficially” discovered by others

Samuel de Champlain, François Gravé Du Pont (Pont Gravé) and their sponsor Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Mons search for a settlement location in Acadia.

Shoreline of Acadia (Nova Scotia) Source: Unsplash

The two barques, La Bonne-Renommée and a smaller ship, returned to the port of Le Havre-de-Grâce in Normandy, France (today called Le Havre) after a journey lasting six months and six days. On board was Samuel de Champlain and François Gravé Du Pontsieur Pont-Gravé. They had arrived back in France to a hero’s welcome. Well, you could be forgiven for believing that but in reality this monumental voyage to the St. Lawrence River in 1603 hardly registered a comment in the local news. Very few people knew about this voyage and even less knew how significant it would become for the future of France.

Stepping on shore, they meet with port officials hoping to see their patron and friend the Commander Amyar de Chaste who had so enthusiastically supported this journey. However, to their regret they learned de Chaste had died unexpectedly while they were in Canada.

Instead, Champlain’s return to France had become a period of mourning. And as another journey back to Canada was necessary to establish a settlement, the entire Canada project was now in jeopardy. Pont-Gravé and Champlain no longer had their patron to back another voyage to Canada.

Not to be outdone by this major setback, Champlain and Pont-Gravé set about searching for a new patron. And this meant going to Paris to meet the King.

As required, Champlain travelled by carriage or horseback to Paris to report to King Henri IV on their recent expedition. They presented to King Henri IV a detailed map of New France Champlain had drawn while on the journey as well as a narrative of the voyage. He hoped these documents¹ would ensure the King would back at least one more voyage.

The report provided the following information.

This “petit discours,” as Champlain calls it, is a clear, compact, well-drawn paper, containing an account of the character and products of the country, its trees, plants, fruits, and vines, with a description of the native inhabitants, their mode of living, their clothing, food and its preparation, their banquets, religion, and method of burying their dead, with many other interesting particulars relating to their habits and customs.²

It also included an announcement of an alliance Pont-Gravé and Champlain had made with the Montagnais (Innu) tribes at Tadoussac. Most importantly, they reported on the shipload of beaver pelts that they could sell which resulted in the journey making a profit.

The King was impressed by their unexpected success, but the King would need more persuasion. He needed to see progress on settlements and so far, all he had seen was a potential site and a source of income to support the settlement. But he was not convinced the settlement could be self-sustaining.

This meant making another voyage to find a suitable location where the settlers could support themselves without a constant supply of resources from France.

The King set the terms. This entire enterprise needed to be financed privately, and they needed to show progress on establishing a settlement. To achieve the first goal, they needed to find someone who had was a trustworthy nobleman who had a standing before the King as well as the major French financiers.

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