THE ST. MAURICE FORGES. 89 
Maurice (containing the fiefs of St. Etienne and St. Maurice), which the Crown acquired at 
the same time as the forges, under cover of its mortgage of bailleur de fonds, for the 
purpose of protecting the numerous squatters settled there, have since (with the exception 
of some half dozen of poor lots) been sold to the settlers at the price of 40 cents an acre, all 
of which has been received in cash, and the patents issued for the lots. The sale of these 
lots and that of the Forges was conducted by Mr. Judah, the officer in charge of the 
Domain branch of the Department, and not through the instrumentality of an agent, by 
which a saving of the usual commission to the latter, on the proceeds of sale, has been 
effected.” 
M. Heroux kept the farm attached to the forges, and sold to Messrs. John MacDougall 
and Sons, of Three Rivers, on April 27th, 1863, the forges proper, and water-powers, etc. 
for £1,700 currency. At the time of this sale the property was considered to have been 
exhausted, but the Messrs. MacDougall proved it to be the contrary ; fuel and ore were 
procured as required, and the forges were worked by them for many years. The big 
house, built in the time of the French, was burnt down on the night of June 11th, 1863, 
after the MacDougalls’ purchase, and was rebuilt by them on the original site. The old 
walloon hearth is still preserved. 
The property was transferred to Mr. George MacDougall, on December, 18th 1876, and 
the forges were worked to the summer of 1883, when operations ceased; they have not 
been worked since, and are not likely to be put in blast again, because the ore and wood 
in the vicinity have been exhausted. 
Iron ore was first discovered on this continent in 1607, near Jamestown, Virginia, and 
on April 10th, 1608, a ship loaded with it sailed for England. In 1620, skilled workmen 
arrived and works were established on Falling Creek, a tributary of the James River, about 
sixty-six miles above Jamestown; but misfortune seemed to follow the enterprise, for on 
March 22nd, 1622, the Indians made a raid on the settlement, massacred Mr. Berkeley, the 
manager, and all his men, and destroyed the iron works. No further attempt was made 
to make iron in Virginia for many years. Sixty years after iron ore was found in 
Virginia, the mines on the banks of the River St. Maurice were discovered. Furnaces 
and forges were erected in 1733, and from that time for 150 years they have been in 
active operation. This can be said of no other works of the kind on the continent of 
America. Thus the St. Maurice Forges hold an important and prominent position in 
the history of Canada. 
Sec. IL, 1886. 12. 
