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rhe Story of the Hurons 
 
 By 
 
 £• J. HatKaM^ay 
 
Gift 
 
 Carnegie Institution 
 0f Washinj^or 
 
 JAN xU 191? 
 
The Story of the Hurons 
 
The 
 
 Story of the Hurons 
 
 BY 
 E. J. Hathaway 
 
 Printed for the Ontario Historical Society, 
 August, 1915 
 

 Reprinted from 
 
 Maclean's Magazine 
 
 August. 1915 
 
The Story of the Hurons 
 
 THE beginnings of Canadian history 
 are interwoven in the most intimate 
 way with the efforts of the mon- 
 archy and nobility of France and the 
 Church of Rome to graft upon the new 
 world a system which in the old had 
 brought corruption, strife, warfare and 
 suffering. They formed a brilliant at- 
 tempt to grasp half a continent, saddle it 
 with the exactions of a feudal Govern- 
 ment and stifle it with the burden of a 
 grasping hierarchy. 
 
 Primarily the discovery of America by 
 Columbus, the venturesome voyages of 
 Cartier, the energetic exploits of Cham- 
 plain, the hazardous journeyings to the 
 far West of Joliet, LaSalle and others 
 were due to the lure of the distant East — 
 the desire to find a short way to the King- 
 dom of Cathay and secure access to its 
 fabulous wealth. Secondary only to this 
 5 
 
THE STORY OF THE HURONS. 
 
 were the claims of colonization, the found- 
 ing of a new empire, the desire for trade 
 with the Indians. 
 
 For many years following the explora- 
 tions of Cartier in the new world, France 
 had little chance to take advantage of the 
 opportunities opened up, and it was not 
 until the beginning of the seventeenth cen- 
 tury that the spirit of commercial enter- 
 prise and the zeal for discovery awoke and 
 any real effort was made to develop trade 
 or encourage settlement. 
 
 An unsuccessful attempt was made in 
 1600 to establish a settlement at Tadous- 
 sac at the mouth of the Saguenay River, in 
 order to secure control of the fur trade. 
 A few years later another was founded by 
 DeMonts and Champlain at Port Royal in 
 Nova Scotia. The existence of Port Royal 
 was for some years of the most precarious 
 character. The severity of the climate, 
 the jealousy of rival merchants, the con- 
 stant disputes between French and Eng- 
 lish as to sovereignty — these were all dis- 
 couraging elements. 
 
 Meanwhile Champlain in 1608 founded 
 Quebec at one of the places visited by 
 Cartier seventy years before. Champlain, 
 6 
 
SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN, 
 
 Founded Quebec, 1608. Visited Algonquin 
 
 Indian Village on Ottawa River, 1613, 
 
 and arrived at Huron Country', 
 
 in present County of Simcoe, 
 
 August 1st, 1615. 
 
THE STORY OF THE HURONS. 
 
 however, had ambitions beyond that of 
 trading furs. From the Algonquins who 
 came to Quebec to trade he learned of 
 lakes and rivers beyond the rapids and he 
 cherished the hope that by tracing back 
 the interior waters to their source a west- 
 ern route to China, Japan and India might 
 be discovered. His other great desires 
 were to establish the power of France and 
 to plant the Catholic faith in the wilder- 
 ness of the new world. 
 
 The first winter in Quebec was severe 
 enough to test the endurance of the most 
 courageous. The little band of twenty- 
 eight that remained with Champlain was 
 reduced to eight by the following May. 
 With the return of the supply boat from 
 France in the spring, the way was open 
 for exploration and discovery. An agree- 
 ment entered into between Champlain and 
 the chief of the Algonquins to assist them 
 against their enemies, the Iroquois — a 
 federation of five powerful nations living 
 in fortified villages within the present 
 State of New York — resulted in the dis- 
 covery of the Richelieu River and the lake 
 that bears the name of the great French 
 leader. By thus joining forces with the 
 7 
 
THE STORY OF THE HURONS. 
 
 Hurons and Algonquins Champlain hoped 
 to open the way to the discovery of terri- 
 tory otherwise inaccessible; and while he 
 gained the antagonism of the Iroquois, he 
 at the same time became indispensable to 
 his allies, and at the close of the first ex- 
 pedition readily accepted their invitation 
 to visit their towns and to aid them fur- 
 ther in their wars. 
 
 In 1610 Henry Hudson, in an effort to 
 find a north-west passage to the Far East, 
 had discovered Hudson Bay. Shortly 
 afterward one of Champlain's young men, 
 Nicolas de Vignau, was sent to spend a 
 season with the Algonquins in their 
 country up the Ottawa. On his return 
 he told a marvelous tale of finding a 
 great lake at the source of the Ottawa, 
 from which another river flowed north- 
 ward leading to the sea. Upon the shores 
 of the sea he claimed to have seen the 
 wreck of an English ship, evidently that 
 of Hudson, whose crew had mutinied. 
 This sea was said to be but seventeen 
 days distant by canoe from Montreal. 
 
 This direct confirmation of his theory 
 of a shortcut to the Pacific was so 
 8 
 
THE STORY OF THE HURONS. 
 
 important that early in the summer of 
 16-13 Champlain set out to follow up the 
 discovery, taking Vignau with him. They 
 left St. Helen's Island, opposite Montreal, 
 on May 27th. Never before had a party 
 of white men penetrated this virgin coun- 
 try. The Ottawa, though navigable for 
 much of the way, has many swift currents, 
 tortuous passages and treacherous rapids. 
 Day after day they toiled on, paddling in 
 the clear currents, and pushing, dragging 
 or lifting their canoes across the difficult 
 places. They shouldered their boats 
 through the dense woods around the more 
 dangerous rapids, launching them again 
 in the more quiet waters, and at night 
 they made their camp on the edge of the 
 woody banks. Not only had they the 
 hardships of travel, but they suffered 
 much from pests of mosquitoes by day and 
 dangers from wild animals by night. 
 
 When they reached the Algonquin coun- 
 try the Indians told Champlain that the 
 rapids in the river above were impassable, 
 and Champlain was forced to accompany 
 them to the headquarters of the tribe on 
 Allumette Island. 
 
THE STORY OF THE HURONS. 
 
 Champlain begged the chiefs to furnish 
 him with canoes and men to take him to 
 the country of the Nipissings on Lake 
 Nipissing, some distance further north. 
 The request, at first granted, was after- 
 wards denied. The rapids and rocks in 
 the river were dangerous, and the wicked- 
 ness of the Nipissings was inexpressible. 
 
 Champlain urged his claims with all his 
 skill. The young man Vignau had been 
 there; here was his story and a map show- 
 ing the route he had taken. 
 
 The Indians were indignant. Vignau 
 had spent the winter in their lodges. He 
 had not been a mile farther north than 
 they were at that moment. His story was 
 a fabrication, his map an imposture. This 
 proved to be the case. His desire for 
 notoriety had been his undoing; and he 
 had hoped that the difficulties of the jour- 
 ney and the dangers of the trip would 
 have discouraged Champlain, and caused 
 him to return without discovering his 
 falsehood. There was now no good reason 
 for continuing the expedition, and Cham- 
 plain retraced his steps to Montreal. 
 
 Two years later, having spent the in- 
 tervening period in France, Champlain re- 
 10 
 
FATHER BREBEUF, 
 
 Jesuit Missionary. Arrived in Canada, 1626. 
 
 Killed by Iroquois in Massacre of Village of 
 
 St. Louis, present County of Simcoe, 
 
 March 16th, 1649. 
 
THE STORY OF THE HURONS. 
 
 turned again to Canada. He was accom- 
 panied this time by four Recollet priests, 
 members of the Franciscan Order, for 
 the purpose of ministering to the spiritual 
 needs of the Indian population as well as 
 to those of the French traders and set- 
 tlers. They arrived at Quebec at the end 
 of May, 1615, where, after choosing a site 
 for their convent near the fortifications 
 erected by Champlain, they built an altar, 
 and on June 24th Father Dolbeau cele- 
 brated the first mass ever said in Canada. 
 The congregation knelt on the bare earth, 
 while the guns from the fort and from 
 the ship in the river marked the occasion 
 as one of special importance. 
 
 Father Jamay and Du Plesis were as- 
 signed to work at Quebec, Father Le 
 Caron to establish a mission to the Hurons 
 at their headquarters on Lake Huron, and 
 Father Dolbeau to work among the Mon- 
 tagnais Indians on the St. Lawrence. Le 
 Caron immediately set off to Montreal, 
 then thronged with Indians on their an- 
 nual visit for the trading of furs. The 
 assembled Hurons and Algonquins also 
 were eager for Champlain's assistance 
 against the Iroquois. "With French 
 11 
 
THE STORY OF THE HURONS. 
 
 soldiers to fight their battles," says Park- 
 man, "French priests to baptize them, and 
 French traders to supply their increasing 
 wants, their dependence would be com- 
 plete." This was the policy of Champlain. 
 The Hurons and Algonquins agreed to 
 supply twenty-five hundred warriors; he 
 would join them with all the men at his 
 command; and a vigorous warfare would 
 be opened against the powerful Iroquois. 
 He returned to Quebec to make prepara- 
 tions for the expedition, and on his return 
 he found that Le Caron, with twelve 
 Frenchmen, had left with the Indians on 
 July the first for the Huron country. 
 Champlain, with two others and a party 
 of Hurons, set out eight days later. 
 
 Their way as far as the Algonquin vil- 
 lage was by the course taken two years 
 before. From this point he advanced until 
 he reached the tributary waters at Matta- 
 wa, leading to Lake Nipissing. An outlet 
 at the western end of the lake led into the 
 French River, which carried them to the 
 great fresh-water sea of the Hurons, now 
 known as Georgian Bay. Their course for 
 more than a hundred miles continued 
 south along the eastern shore of Georgian 
 12 
 
THE STORY OF THE HURONS. 
 
 Bay, through the thirty thousand islands, 
 to Thunder Bay at the entrance to 
 Matchedash Bay near the harbor of 
 Penetanguishene. 
 
 Champlain arrived in the Huron coun- 
 try on August 1st. On August 3rd he 
 visited Carhagouha, a town surrounded 
 by a triple palisade thirty-five feet high, 
 where he found Le Caron engaged with 
 the Indians in the erection of an altar. 
 
 Parkman thus describes the first re- 
 ligious ceremony ever held in the province 
 of Ontario : 
 
 "The twelfth of August, 1615, was a 
 day evermore marked with white in the 
 friar's calendar. Arrayed in priestly vest- 
 ments, he stood before his simple altar, 
 behind him his little band of Christians — 
 the twelve Frenchmen who had attended 
 him and the two who had followed Cham- 
 plain. Here stood their devout and valiant 
 chief, and at his side that pioneer of 
 pioneers, Etienne Brule, the interpreter. 
 The Host was raised aloft; the worship- 
 pers kneeled. Then their rough voices 
 joined in the hymn of praise, Te Deum 
 Laudamus; and then a volley of their 
 guns proclaimed the triumph of the okies, 
 13 
 
THE STORY OF THE HURONS. 
 
 the manitous, and all the brood of ano- 
 malous devils who reigned with undis- 
 puted sway in these wild realms of dark- 
 ness. The brave friar, a true soldier of 
 the Church, had led his forlorn hope into 
 the fastnesses of hell ; and now, with con- 
 tented heart, he might depart in peace, 
 for he had said the first mass in the coun- 
 try of the Hurons." 
 
 The Hurons at the time of Champlain's 
 visit occupied the district on the south- 
 eastern shore of Georgian Bay, lying be- 
 tween Matchedash Bay, Nottawasaga 
 Bay, Lake Simcoe and Lake Couchiching. 
 They were a numerous and powerful peo- 
 ple, second only to the Iroquois in 
 strength, in numbers and in methods 
 of organization and government. They 
 lived in villages and towns, many of 
 them strongly fortified, and as early 
 French writers estimate the popula- 
 tion variously, it is inferred that mi- 
 grations took place from time to time. 
 Champlain estimates the number of vil- 
 lages as seventeen or eighteen, with the 
 population at about ten thousand; but 
 Brebeuf, twenty years later, found twenty 
 villages and about 30,000 souls. In 1639 
 14 
 
THE STORY OF THE HURONS. 
 
 the Jesuit estimate is thirty-two inhabited 
 villages and thirty-two thousand of a 
 population. From this it will be seen that 
 the number of people in the district at 
 that time was as large as at the present 
 time, including the large towns of Orillia, 
 Midland and Penetanguishene. 
 
 Unlike most of the other Indian tribes, 
 the Hurons were farmers, fishermen and 
 traders, cultivating the land and raising 
 corn, beans and other crops for food, and 
 hemp for fishing lines and nets. From 
 other nations they obtained, by barter, 
 supplies of furs, tobacco and other mer- 
 chantable goods, which they traded in the 
 East for such other articles as they re- 
 quired. 
 
 The country of the Hurons is one of 
 the most interesting archaeological fields 
 in Canada, and traces have been found of 
 upwards of four hundred places, which 
 beyond doubt, were the sites of Huron vil- 
 lages. The large number of places identi- 
 fied as village sites by reason of the ashes, 
 debris, implements, fragments of pottery 
 and other evidences of occupation, is ac- 
 counted for in several ways. The domes- 
 tic conditions under which they lived made 
 15 
 
THE STORY OF THE HURONS. 
 
 it impossible to remain long in any one 
 place; the land under cultivation, owing 
 to the fact that repeated crops were taken 
 from the same soil, soon became barren; 
 the fuel supply gave out; the encroach- 
 ments and harassments of the hostile 
 Iroquois rendered a location untenable; 
 any or all of these might at one time or 
 another make it necessary to move from 
 one place to another. 
 
 Most of the villages were situated in 
 elevated places, because of their greater 
 strategic value, and those on the southern 
 and eastern fronts were strongly fortified 
 by palisades as protection against in- 
 vasion. 
 
 To the west of the Huron country was 
 the country of the Petuns, called the To- 
 bacco Nation, because they made a special 
 feature of tobacco growing. In Southern 
 Ontario from the Niagara to the Detroit 
 River were the Neuters or Neutrals, so 
 called because in the long conflicts between 
 the Iroquois and the Hurons they re- 
 mained aloof and took no part with one 
 side or the other. 
 
 Champlain remained in the Huron 
 country until September 1st, when the 
 16 
 
THE STORY OF THE HURONS. 
 
 war party, now completed, set out on the 
 expedition against the Iroquois. Their 
 way lay along Lake Simcoe, across the 
 portage to Balsam Lake, and down the 
 chain of waterways known as the Trent 
 River route until they reached Lake 
 Ontario. 
 
 They boldly set out across the lake, 
 landing near the eastern end, where, after 
 hiding their canoes, they struck inland in 
 search of the Iroquois headquarters, which 
 they reached on October tenth. The 
 enemy occupied a strongly fortified town 
 south of Lake Oneida, which they de- 
 fended with much skill. After nearly a 
 week of futile fighting, during which 
 Champlain himself received an arrow in 
 the knee and another in the leg, the in- 
 vaders began their retreat, carrying the 
 wounded with them. The Hurons had 
 promised to furnish Champlain with 
 guides to take him to Quebec, but as he 
 had not brought them victory they one 
 and all began to make excuses. Nothing 
 therefore remained but that he must re- 
 turn and spend the winter with them. 
 
 They reached Cahiague, near the pres- 
 ent town of Orillia, two days before 
 17 
 
THE STORY OF THE HURONS. 
 
 Christmas, and here, with the exception of 
 visits to neighboring tribes in what are 
 now the counties of Simcoe, Grey, Bruce 
 and Dufferin, and to the Nipissings in the 
 north, he remained until the following 
 May. 
 
 The Huron mission languished between 
 1617 and 1622, although Father Poullain 
 visited the Nipissing country during the 
 summer of 1619. Work was resumed in 
 1623, when Le Caron returned, accom- 
 panied by Brother Sagard, the historian, 
 and Father Viel. The first two returned 
 to Quebec the following year, after hav- 
 ing compiled a dictionary of the Huron 
 language, and Father Viel was drowned 
 on his way east a season later. 
 
 The Recollet mission in Canada was 
 supplemented in 1626 by the arrival of a 
 company of Jesuit priests, among whom 
 were Lalemant and Brebeuf. Eighteen 
 years had elapsed since the founding of 
 Quebec, and its population was but one 
 hundred and five, including men, women 
 and children. Brebeuf, with two others, 
 set out in company with the returning 
 Indians soon after his arrival, and 
 reached the Huron country in August, 
 18 
 
FATHER LALEMANT, 
 
 Jesuit Missionary. Arrived in Canada, 1626. 
 
 Killed by Iroquois in Massacre of Village of 
 
 St. Louis, present County of Simcoe 
 
 March 16th, 1649. 
 
THE STORY OF THE HURONS. 
 
 where he continued the work of the mis- 
 sion for three years. 
 
 After the taking of Quebec by Admiral 
 Kirke in 1629 Canada remained in posses- 
 sion of the English until it was ceded back 
 to France in 1632. During this time there 
 were no missionaries in Ontario. The next 
 missionary period began in 1634. 
 
 The history of the Jesuit mission to the 
 Hurons during the next fifteen years is 
 one of the most thrilling chapters in Can- 
 adian history. During these years up- 
 wards of twenty-five missionaries were 
 engaged in the work, and at least five 
 of them suffered martyrdom. From vil- 
 lage to village they went, teaching, 
 preaching and baptising in the name 
 of Him whom they served. After a 
 few years they established a head- 
 quarters of their own a little to the east 
 of Penetanguishene, where they erected a 
 chapel, mission house and hospital, sur- 
 rounding them with a stone wall and a 
 wooden barricade. From this centre, 
 which they called Ste. Marie, they con- 
 ducted missionary operations not only 
 among the Hurons but also among the 
 Petuns and the Neutrals. 
 19 
 
THE STORY OF THE HURONS. 
 
 But during all the years of the Huron 
 mission there was the constant Iroquois 
 menace. The French traded with the 
 Hurons and Algonquins, and the Iro- 
 quois with the Dutch, by whom they had 
 been supplied with brandy and firearms. 
 Champlain's alliance with the Hurons and 
 his expedition to the Iroquois country had 
 but intensified the enmity. Communica- 
 tion with Quebec could only be made by 
 the circuitous course of the French River 
 and the Ottawa, because of the dangers 
 of ambush and attack. When the Huron 
 trading parties were strong, the Iroquois 
 harassed their trail and raided their 
 camps ; when the latter were the stronger, 
 the Hurons were massacred on the spot 
 or captured and reserved for torture. 
 
 The finest hunting grounds for beaver 
 lay to the north and west of the Great 
 Lakes, and were largely in the hands of 
 the Hurons, who carried their peltries 
 only to the French at Montreal and Three 
 Rivers. The Iroquois, jealous of their 
 rivals in the north, determined to secure 
 this trade for themselves. In order to ac- 
 complish it, the tribes which stood in their 
 way must be destroyed, the Ottawa route 
 20 
 
THE STORY OF THE HURONS. 
 
 closed, and the trade diverted from the 
 French settlements to those of the Dutch 
 and the English on the Hudson. 
 
 The first blow in this desperate cam- 
 paign, which seems to have been planned 
 with cunning, skill and daring, was struck 
 in 1642, when Contarea, a fortified fron- 
 tier village in the Huron country, five 
 miles south-west of the present town of 
 Orillia, was captured and its entire popu- 
 lation either killed or taken captive. In 
 1648 the Iroquois returned and took the 
 village of St. Joseph II., destroying it by 
 fire and taking as prisoners some seven 
 hundred of its people who were unable 
 to escape. Father Daniel, the first of the 
 missionaries to suffer death at their 
 hands, was shot as he stood at mass, robed 
 in surplice and stole, and every savage 
 had a hand in mutilating his body. 
 
 These successes inspired the invaders to 
 further conquests. They established a 
 strategic base to the east of Lake Simcoe, 
 crossing into the Huron country at the 
 Narrows. On March 16th, 1649, the vil- 
 lage of St. Ignace was attacked and de- 
 stroyed, only two of the villagers escap- 
 ing either death or capture. A few hours 
 21 
 
THE STORY OF THE HURONS. 
 
 later the village of St. Louis was entered, 
 and after setting it on fire the Iroquois re- 
 turned to St. Ignace taking with them 
 Father Brebeuf and Father Lalemant to 
 be tortured. The terrible treatment of 
 these two missionaries at the hands of the 
 barbarous Iroquois is one of the most 
 dreadful tales in the pages of our history. 
 Brebeuf, though of stronger constitution, 
 succumbed after four hours of torture, 
 while Lalemant, of less rugged build, sur- 
 vived until the following day. Their 
 charred and mangled bodies were found 
 after the retreat of the Iroquois. 
 
 When news of the massacre reached the 
 Christian Hurons in the village of Ossos- 
 sane on the following day, a party of 
 warriors engaged the Iroquois, and an 
 obstinate struggle took place near and 
 within the palisades of St. Louis, which 
 had remained intact when the village was 
 burned. By sheer weight of numbers the 
 Hurons were overcome and destroyed, 
 although the invaders lost heavily in the 
 battle. 
 
 A day or two later the Iroquois set out 
 hurriedly for home, laden with spoils and 
 with prisoners, leaving the Huron rem- 
 22 
 
THE STORY OF THE HURONS. 
 
 nants in a panic of despair. The country 
 soon became a vast expanse of smoulder- 
 ing ruins; village after village was de- 
 stroyed and then abandoned, lest some- 
 thing of value should fall into the hands 
 of the dreaded Iroquois. The panic spread 
 from lodge to lodge, the people scattering 
 whither they could. Some found their way 
 across the ice on Nottawasaga Bay to the:, 
 country of the Petuns, others sought shel- 
 ter in the Blue Mountains, while others in 
 the hope of finding safety removed to 
 what is now known as Christian Island, 
 a short distance from the mainland. Here 
 also the Jesuit missionaries decided to es- 
 tablish their mission and make their head- 
 quarters. 
 
 In December of the same year the Iro- 
 quois, flushed with their success of the 
 previous spring, returned to complete 
 their work of conquest. Their attention 
 this time was directed to the Petuns, and 
 once again desolation and despair followed 
 their visitation. It was not warfare, but 
 butchery, and two more brave mission- 
 aries, Father Garnier and Father 
 Chabanel, are sent to join the noble army 
 of martyrs. 
 
 23 
 
THE STORY OF THE HURONS. 
 
 Having destroyed the villages and 
 lodges and practically all the warriors of 
 the Hurons and Petuns, the Iroquois next 
 turned to the Neutrals, their own neigh- 
 bors to the west of the Niagara River. 
 The events of the fall and winter of 1650 
 and 1651 were, if anything, more dread- 
 ful than those of the previous year. The 
 slaughter was terrible, especially among 
 the aged and very young. The men were 
 not a fighting race, nor were they expert 
 canoemen, and they proved no match for 
 the huge invading bands from New York 
 State. The number of prisoners was un- 
 usually large, and consisted mainly of 
 young men and women, who were taken 
 back to the Iroquois camp, where they be- 
 came merged with the Seneca nation. 
 
 Within ten short years one of the great- 
 est national tragedies in the human race 
 had been enacted — three native races had 
 been practically exterminated, and the 
 whole country between Lake Erie and the 
 Georgian Bay depopulated. A few only 
 had escaped, and of their descendants but 
 a few small bands now remain. At 
 Lorette, near the city of Quebec, is a small 
 reserve consisting of about five hundred 
 24 
 
THE STORY OF THE HURONS. 
 
 persons, the descendants of those who es- 
 caped to Christian Island. Owing to their 
 isolation and to the harassments of the 
 ubiquitous Iroquois, they had been com- 
 pelled to leave their refuge, and, accom- 
 panied by the French missionaries, they 
 made their way as best they could to the 
 shelter of Quebec. Another band, after 
 much wandering in the West, returned, 
 towards the end of the seventeenth cen- 
 tury, to the Detroit River, and formed 
 three settlements, one on the east bank at 
 the present town of Sandwich, another on 
 the western bank of the river, and a third 
 on the south shore of Lake Erie near 
 Sandusky. Another band occupies a small 
 tract of land in a corner of the Indian 
 Territory in the United States. 
 
 The story of the visit of Champlain in 
 1615 followed by the Jesuit mission to the 
 Huron country from 1626 to 1650 is the 
 complete first chapter in the history of 
 Ontario. No effort was made at the time 
 towards development or settlement, and 
 it is probable that there were never more 
 than sixty Europeans in the Huron coun- 
 try at any one time connected with the 
 Indian missions, although the traders and 
 25 
 
THE STORY OF THE HURONS. 
 
 trappers throughout Ontario associated 
 with the French settlements and trading 
 posts in the province of Quebec may have 
 been numerous. 
 
 For many years following the disper- 
 sion of the Hurons the known history of 
 the province of Ontario is singularly slen- 
 der. The old trade route up the Ottawa 
 and across the French River to the 
 Georgian Bay was doubtless used to some 
 extent in defiance of the Iroquois menace, 
 although at a later date it gave way to 
 the less arduous trip across from Lake 
 Ontario to Georgian Bay. A mission was 
 established at Quinte on Lake Ontario in 
 1666, and about the same time Marquette 
 founded another at the Sault. Joliet had 
 penetrated Western Ontario and had made 
 an expedition under direction of Talon to 
 explore the copper mines of Lake Su- 
 perior. Father Hennepin visited the 
 Humber River and Niagara Falls in 1678, 
 and LaSalle two years later crossed from 
 Lake Ontario to Georgian Bay by way of 
 the Humber and Lake Simcoe. But apart 
 from such expeditions and the visits of 
 traders, the province of Ontario had no 
 well defined history until well on in the 
 26 
 
THE STORY OF THE HURONS. 
 
 eighteenth century. The story, however, 
 of its discovery in the search for the 
 North-West passage, of the visit of the 
 great Champlain, of the founding of a 
 mission among the native races then in 
 occupation, and the tragic ending not only 
 to the mission but also to the Indian 
 nation itself, are among the notable events 
 in our history. 
 
 27 
 
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