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French lived permanently in the interior. The St. Lawrence Valley
was far more attractive to farmers than the posts of the pays
d’en haut because of their isolation and colonial
policies that discouraged settlement west of the Montreal area.
However, some disbanded soldiers or retired voyageurs
settled near the most important forts, such as Fort
Frontenac, Michilimakinac
and Fort
Niagara. Although seigneuries were created, these
communities had no more than a few families. Detroit was the exception. |
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Plan of the Town of Detroit and Fort Lernoult, situated on the
strait between Lakes Erie and
Huron . . . taken from actual survey, 1792
Simcoe family fonds
Plan
Reference Code: F 47-5-1-0-11
Archives of Ontario, I0004756 |
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he
site of Detroit offered many benefits for the French from a strategic
and commercial point of view. The commander of Michilimakinac, Antoine
Laumet de Lamothe Cadillac, convinced the French government
to establish a fort and settlement and, in 1701, he arrived at Detroit
with a small group of settlers and soldiers. They built a small
fort that Cadillac named Pontchartrain after the
French minister responsible for colonies. The following year, the
first French women in the interior joined the settlement. Another
group of settlers arrived in 1706. |
“We chose to situate it [the fort of
Detroit] where the River was as narrow as a shotgun bullet
will fly while everywhere else it is a good half of a quarter
mile wide: and for those who choose to live in the Post,
the land is very beautiful and appropriate to build a city
later on. The various things one finds in this Land make
it very pleasant; the Climate is temperate, like in Touraine
; and Winter (according to the Savages), lasts only six
weeks. It is wonderful to see the banks of this River lined
with an infinite number of apple trees, many plum trees
of various kinds, chestnuts, walnut trees and hazelnut trees;
and vines, which are one of its most beautiful ornaments
…
If we continue this settlement, it
will prevent the English from coming to take it so they
can take from us the trade with the Nations of the north,
harness the Iroquois and prevent our Allies from doing their
duties, whom it will be much easier to Frenchify and introduce
the Gospel to if they are in the proximity of the French.”
Relation du Détroit,
extraite d’une lettre écrite à Monsieur
De Pontchartrain, [1701],
Percy James Robinson fonds
Reference Code: F 1080,
series III-F (Detroit), MU 2414.
Archives of Ontario
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Life in Detroit was hard for the first few years
and few settlers came. First Nations groups were invited to establish
villages near the settlement, but this exacerbated ongoing conflicts
and led to new ones. They were also encouraged to bring their
furs to Detroit instead of using more northerly routes, but this
inadvertently helped the British by making it easier for British
merchants on the upper Ohio River and the Iroquois to trade with
the western nations, which hurt the commerce in Detroit.
In New France authorities were concerned with these problems
and thought the settlement would fail. But Detroit managed to
survive its difficult beginnings and its importance as a trading
and military post grew steadily, largely as a result of the increased
strategic role of the French in the lower Great Lakes area and
a stronger French military presence in the interior. Missions
were established in neighbouring First Nations villages, which
increased Detroit's importance.
Fur merchants and retired soldiers also contributed to the town’s
population growth, and its farms produced enough food to supply
some of the outlying posts. By mid-century, Detroit had become
well established as one of the main fur trading posts in the interior
and as an important base of operations for the French military.
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n
1749, French authorities decided to increase the population of
Detroit for strategic reasons: a large agricultural colony could
supply all the posts of the interior, while a strong military
presence would reinforce the French position in the Lower Great
Lakes and Upper Mississippi. The Crown offered free land, farm
equipment and transportation to families willing to move to Detroit.
Louis Gervais was one of the settlers who came from the Montreal
area to Detroit in 1749. This certificate signed in 1766 by local
notary Robert Navarre, states that Gervais was granted land by
the King and had paid all annuities since. |
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Land certificate, Robert Navarre to Louis Gervais, 1766
Hiram Walker Museum Collection
Reference Code: F 378, 20-95
Archives of Ontario
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Bellin, Charles-Nicholas. La rivière du Détroit
depuis le lac Sainte-Claire jusqu’au lac Érié,
1764
Reference Code: C 78, AO 6699
Archives of Ontario |
The white population increased from less than 500 in 1750
to more than 800 in 1765. Detroit had become the largest town
between Montreal and New Orleans. Some of the new concessions
were located at the “Petite
côte”, on the south shore of the Detroit
River, opposite Fort Pontchartrain. This site would eventually
become part of Windsor, Ontario.
This 1764 map shows the Detroit River, the cultivated lands on
both sides of the river, First Nations villages as well as a detailed
view of the fort, which had in fact become a small town. |
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he
British acquisition of New
France (1763) marked the beginning of three decades
that would profoundly change the Detroit area.
First Nations of the interior opposed British rule and the end
of French trading practices that had favoured them. In 1763, Detroit
successfully resisted a siege by a coalition of First Nations led
by Pontiac,
a leader of the Ottawa nation . Over the following decades, First
Nations which had settled in the missions near Detroit sold some
of their lands and would eventually move to reservations. |
Click
to see a larger image (64K)
Plan of elevation for a building for the reception
of Indians at Detroit
submitted to His Excellency
Lieutenant
Governor Simcoe, [ca. 1790]
Drawing
Creator unknown
Simcoe Family fonds
Reference Code: F 47-1-2-45
Archives of Ontario, I0005434
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Land deed, Pottawatomi
Nation to Jacques Godefroy, 1776
Hiram Walker Museum Collection
Reference Code: F 378, 20-100
Archives of Ontario |
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The Canadiens
had to contend with a foreign administration and system of laws.
As well, British administrators, farmers and traders moved to
Detroit and competed for local dominance. However, the Canadiens
continued to play an important role in trade and in local administration
thanks to their relationship with the First Nations and alliances
with prominent British families.
The American
Revolution (1775-1783) and the Second Treaty
of Paris, which ended it, had tremendous effects
on Detroit. A new border separated Detroit, now an American city
though still occupied by British troops, from the settlement at
Petite côte (renamed Sandwich) which remained British.
Loyalists moved to British possessions, including Sandwich, leading
to the creation of Upper
Canada in 1791.
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By then, the land situation was complex. British land grants
to Loyalists were not always properly documented, and the terms
of some of the land transactions with First Nations were unclear.
Some Canadien farmers could not produce written proof of their
legal entitlement to their land. The Hesse
District Land Board, which was appointed in 1789
to handle land issues in an area including Sandwich and Detroit,
obtained in 1791 a copy of a register of French regime grants,
which it included in its records. This register, reproduced to
the right and below, enabled many farmers to prove ownership. |
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Register, Land Board,
District of Hesse, No. 2 (1790-1792), p. 258-264
Hesse District Land Board Records
Reference Code: RG 1-178, Ms 693, reel 180 |
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These two surveyor plans show land ownership in parts of Sandwich
at the time.
Canadien and British farmers were neighbours, and lots were the
long, narrow, river-fronted strips characteristic of the St. Lawrence
Valley instead of the square British lots found elsewhere in Upper
Canada.
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The Jay's Treaty (1794) formally ended British
occupation of Detroit and other forts of the interior. The Americans
took possession of the town in 1796. Many of the prominent families
of Detroit moved across the river to Sandwich. |
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