6. Cartier, Hochelaga and Mont-Royal
Cartier journeys to Hochelaga at the cost of friendship with the Donnacona.
Updated: February 3, 2024
September 15351 in the Indigenous territory of Canada, Jacques Cartier took stock of his situation. In the village of Stadacona, the people of the St. Lawrence Iroquois numbered in the thousands while Cartier and his French sailors numbered only 300. In this situation, Cartier understood that he and his crews were dependent on the goodwill of the people of Stadacona. Yet, he had a mission to fulfill which took priority. And that meant travelling upriver to Hochelaga.
Unfortunately for the people of Canada, they had little idea of how these European visitors would deal with them if they stood in the way of the mission. However, Cartier would learn these people were not fools and for the time being had little to fear from these strangers from across the ocean.
Cartier’s mission: colony for France and a route to Asia
Sailing to an unknown world carried tremendous risks and underwriting such a venture meant taking on the cost of those risks. The costs were born not by…
