The second Quebec
settlement, circa 1628
Illustration by Vianney Guindon
Photo: Ministère de la Culture et des Communications du Québec
Before Fort Saint-Louis was built at Cap Diamant, the settlement was
the only refuge of defence for the sixty French citizens living at Quebec.
. . . As to forts, great or small, they [the company agents] do not want
them until some necessity arises, and then it is too late. When I talked to
them about fortifying, they were annoyed; in vain I pointed out to them the
disadvantages that might arise from the lack of them, they were deaf . . .
And while . . . they were leaving the country and us a prey to any pirate or
enemy who, counting on gathering plunder from people who were in a
defenceless condition, might pillage everything. I wrote often enough to the
members of the Council . . .
Champlain, The Voyages, 1632
The settlement’s fortifications - a stockade, a moat and salients
with cannons - were a meagre defence against an attack by Natives or pirate
ships. The alliance Champlain developed with the Algonquins, the Montagnais
and the Hurons was a better guarantee of safety for his compatriots.
