Section II, 1891. [ 61 ] Trans. Eoy. Soc. Canada. 



III.— The Site of Fori La Tuur. 

 By wr'F.^éANONG, A.M. 



(Communicated by Dr. George Stewart, F.E.G.S., May 27, 1891.) 



Amidst the mauy brave deeds which enrich Canadian annals, a foremost place must 

 ever be given to the noble defence by Madame de la Tour of her husband's fort by the 

 Eiver St. John. There is no event in the history of Acadia, not even excepting the expul- 

 sion, vphich so powerfully touches the deepest chords of our human sympathies as does 

 this incident, with its picturesque setting of French feudalism romantically colouring the 

 cold rocks and dark forests of the north, with its true womanly devotion opposed to heart- 

 less treachery, with its pathetically futile heroism. 



Happily the story is well authenticated, for it rests upon the authority of two of the 

 most truthful of all the chroniclers of Acadian events ; indeed, it may be added, almost 

 solely upon their authority.' The bearers of this honour are Nicolas Denys, governor under 

 the French King of all the Gulf shore from Rosiers to Cape Breton, and John Winthrop, 

 puritan governor of Massachusetts, both of them contemporary with the event, both too 

 near its harsh realism to see in it the romance with which the softening haze of distance 

 shows it to us, both too practical and too honest to pervert its facts for literary decoration 

 or dramatic effect. 



Denys' narrative cannot be too often repeated.- La Tour's fort, he tells us, was "destroyed 

 by d'Aunay after he had wrongfully taken possession of it, as he had no right whatever 

 to do, and which he would have found great difficulty in accomplishing had he not been 

 advised of the absence of Sieur de la Tour, who had taken with him apart of his garrison, 

 leaving only his wife and the remainder of his people to keep the fort. After having sus- 

 tained for three days and three nights all the assaults of d'Aunay, and having obliged 

 him to withdraw beyond reach of her cannon, she was finally obliged to surrender on the 

 fourth day, which was Easter day, having been betrayed by a Swiss who was on guard 

 whilst she, hoping for some I'espite, was making her followers rest. The Swiss, bribed 

 by d'Aunay's men, allowed them to mount to the assault, which was resisted for some 

 time by the lady commander at the head of her garrison. She only surrendered at the 

 last extremity, and under condition that d'Aunay should spare all, which, indeed, he did 

 not do, for after making himself master of the place, he threw them all into prison along 

 with their lady commander. Then by advice of his council, he hung them, with the 

 exception of a single one whose life was spared on the condition that he would do the 

 hanging ; and the lady commander had to be present at the scaffold with a rope around 

 her neck as though she was the vilest criminal." 



' Sir Thomas Temple's letters in the British State Paper office give an independent but brief and substantially 

 similar account of the event. 

 ^ See appendix. 



