36. First attempts at settlement - St. Croix Island near the Bay of Fundy
De Mons, Champlain and a small crew explore the Bay of Fundy in search of copper and a settlement location.
The issue that came ashore with the French and the English and the Spanish, the issue that was the raison d’être for each of the colonies, this issue that made its way from coast to coast to coast and is with us today, the issue that has never changed, never varied, never faltered in its resolve is the issue of land.
…
Land. If you understand nothing else about the history of Indians in North America, you need to understand that the question that really matters is the question of land.
Thomas King “The Inconvenient Indian”
During Champlain’s 1603 voyage to the St. Lawrence River, the ships used to explore Canada included a small vessel commanded by Jean Sarcel de Prévert of Saint Malo. Captain Prévert was a French trader from St. Malo and was invited to take back to France a shipload of beaver pelts and stockfish (cod) to pay for this expedition. However, while Champlain was off exploring the St. Lawrence looking for settlement locations, Prévert went exploring down the coast of the Gulf of St. Lawrence looking to trade for pelts.
The lure of copper: what drew de Mons to Acadia
At some point during this side excursion, Prévert claimed to have found a copper mine somewhere within the Baie Française (Bay of Fundy). When he returned to Tadoussac, the captain presented to Champlain two small chunks of copper as proof of the claim. However, Champlain was to learn Prévert never entered the Bay of Fundy. His story - and the chunks of copper - was based on an account told to him by an Etchemin1 Chief by the name of Secondon. He was the leader of a local tribe that lived on the west side of what is now Saint John, New Brunswick. The chieftain told Prévert where the Etchemin mined copper and gave the Frenchman some samples most likely as a gift. The copper mine, Secondon told him, was at the upper reaches of the Baie Française near what is now known as the Minas Basin.
Champlain was pleased with this and on his return to France told the story to de Mons. It had implications on the choice of settlement location. Champlain wanted to settle the location known by its indigenous name Kebec but de Mons insisted they establish the settlement in an area called Acadia. de Mons argued that the settlement could pay for itself with proceeds from copper from the mine and if found, iron from iron mines.
On April 7, 1605 the expedition left France and landed in Acadia in early May. The La Bonne-Renommée landed in the agreed destination Cansco while the Don de Dieu landed in Cap de la Hève after being pushed south by ice packs off Newfoundland. Details of Champlain’s exploration of Acadia up to the Bay of St. Mary are described in 35. Champlain “officially” discovers Acadia after it has been “unofficially” discovered by others. We now pick up the story with Champlain and De Mons in the Bay of St. Mary where the Don de Dieu and a small skiff had dropped anchor.
Baie Française (Bay of Fundy)
They had explored the Bay of St. Mary as far as their vessel could proceed. Not finding any suitable location for a settlement and eager to find the copper mine, they anchored the Don de Dieu in a protected cove and set out to explore the Baie Française. The 8-ton barque Champlain had used previously was now to be used to explore the Bay of Fundy so, de Mons, Champlain, a miner, a few noblemen and a few sailors boarded the boat and headed out.
Sailing through a small but hazardous opening along the outer side of the Bay of St. Mary, they learned it had very strong tides which caused them some concern. After navigating this short opening, they entered the Baie Française and headed north-east along the coastline.
