French Presence

The French explorer Samuel de Champlain published this map of New France in 1632. His travels through what would become Eastern Ontario took him up the Ottawa River, across to Georgian Bay and down to the Huronia area of northern Simcoe County where he stayed for some time (1615-1616). In 1615 he and his men accompanied a band of Hurons intent on attacking the Iroquois, who were encroaching on their hunting grounds north of Lake Ontario (Lac Louis). The Iroquois lived in what is now northern New York State, then claimed by England. Champlain was the first European to see Rice Lake and follow the Trent River system to Lake Ontario.

The French Presence in Quinte

The first recorded French presence in the Bay of Quinte area was the exploration party of Étienne Brûlé, sent around 1610 by New France governor Samuel de Champlain to determine what lay beyond the western reaches of Quebec.

Champlain himself visited the area in 1615. He seemed impressed with the natural beauty of the area, for in his journal he wrote: "This river ( Trent ) is very fine, passing through a number of beautiful lakes and bordering rivers. It has quantities of islands of diverse lengths and breadths, abundant hunting of deer and other animals, and very fine fishing for excellent fish. It has plenty of good cleared lands which have been abandoned by the Indians on account of their wars. This river empties into Lake St. Louis ( Ontario ), and numerous tribes come to this region to do their hunting in preparation for the winter."

Champlain was on his way with a Huron war party to battle the Iroquois south of Lake Ontario. From his journals, Champlain's route through Quinte appears to have been down the Trent River to Lake Ontario, across the lake by way of False and Main Duck islands, Great and Little Gallou, Calf and Great Stoney islands.

In a battle with the Iroquois, Champlain was wounded in the leg and in the knee. He and his native allies retreated north across Lake Ontario to either the Salmon or Napanee river. Jane Goddard in her book, Hans Waltimeyer, says it was the Moira. Then they went inland, perhaps to Loughborough Lake, or either Moira or Stoco lake. After recuperating, they headed northwest by land to return to Huronia. This route would have taken them somewhere across the interior of Hastings County.

During the winter of 1615-1616, a Christian mission was established at Kenté somewhere at the western end of the Bay of Quinte. Since this Indian village moved around over the years, its precise location has never been determined.

By 1639 members of the Order of Jesuits were constructing Fort Ste. Marie in Huronia ( Midland ). Priests on their way to this mission field would visit the Kenté Mission before proceeding up the Trent River. An Iroquois attack in 1649 destroyed Fort Ste. Marie. For two decades the Iroquois attacked New France and the Huron nation, forcing the French in the Bay of Quinte to retreat to Montreal.

After peace was made in 1667, French missionaries returned to Kenté. A Récollect priest named Louis Hennepin toured the Bay of Quinte and visited Indian villages in the 1670s. He would become the first European to see Niagara Falls.

The construction of Fort Frontenac at Cataraqui ( Kingston ) undermined the importance of Kenté. By 1680 the mission post was abandoned. Iroquois occupied the Kenté area for a time until they were removed through a villainous trick by the French. A large number, about 150, were lured to Fort Frontenac, where they were taken prisoner, tortured and shipped to France as slaves. Bands of Ottawas, mostly Mississaugas, moved into the area around 1700. The Mississaugas eventually ceded the land to the British in the Gunshot Treaty of 1787.