Saint
Croix Island International Historic Site
National Park Service, U.S. Department of the
Interior
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Saint
Croix Island International Historic Site
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Text of Saint Croix Island International Historic Site brochure from National Park Service/US Department of the Interior, 2000 |
The Story of Saint Croix Island
The Mission
Some aim
at profit, others at glory, and others at the public welfare. The greater
number take to commerce. ---Samuel Champlain
In April of 1604 Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Mons, sailed from Havre de Grace, France, aboard the flagship Bonne Renomée, bound for North America. King Henry IV granted Dugua a trading monopoly and the title lieutenant-general of New France. In exchange, Dugua was directed "to establish the name, power, and authority of the King of France; to summon the natives to a knowledge of the Christian religion; to people, cultivate, and settle the said lands; to make explorations and especially to seek out mines of precious metals."
Dugua and his investors were interested in the lucrative fur trade, for beaver felt hats were popular in Europe. Samuel Champlain, map maker and chronicler of the expedition, hoped to discover a Northwest Passage that would serve as a shortcut for commerce with the Orient.
Upon arrival to North America in May, Dugua explored along
the Canadian coast, sailing into a natural harbor Champlain named Port Royal
(Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia). Champlain said, "it was one of the finest
harbors I had seen on all these coasts..."
Settling Saint Croix Island
In June, Dugua and his company sailed into Passamaquoddy Bay, exploring upriver and the tributaries that fed it. He chose a small island in the middle of the river for the settlement. This, Champlain said, they considered "the best we had seen both on account of its situation, the fine country, and the intercourse we were expecting with the Indians of these coasts and the interior, since we should be in their midst." They found the surrounding countryside pleasant, the soil fertile and good for brick-making, and fresh water obtainable on the mainland.
Dugua named it Saint Croix Island for the intersection of tributaries above the island, which appeared to form a cross.
Champlain drew the plan for the settlement. The men set to work immediately, much as the mercy of black flies, building first a fortification, then a storehouse and dwellings. An oven and a hand-mill for grinding wheat were also built. Gardens, both on the island and mainland, were sown with vegetable seeds and grain. Two years after the settlement's abandonment, Marc Lescarbot reported gathering rye there that had "reproduced wonderfully."
Champlain described the waters surrounding the island to
be so full of herring (alewives) and bass that vessels could be loaded with
them. He observed that the native people came to the area for five to six
weeks during the fishing season to take advantage of the bounty. At low
tide settlers harvested shellfish from the island's shore, which proved,
Champlain said, "of great benefit to everybody."
The Meeting of Two Worlds
Nearby native people came to see the newcomers and camped at the foot of the island. Lescarbot recorded they "...placed themselves voluntarily near [the French]; even in certain disputes making Sieur de Monts judge of their discussions." A small chapel was built at the foot of the island in the "Indian fashion," indicating a wigwam, which may have been created for the use of the native people.
The native people served as guides during Champlain's coastal explorations. they supplied the furs the French sought in exchange for hatchets, knives, glass beads, rosaries, caps, and tobacco.
Though European explorers and fishermen sailed along the
northeast coast throughout the 1500s, few apparently entered Passamaquoddy Bay.
For many of the native people, the Dugua expedition may have been their first
direct encounter with Europeans.
The Winter
Snow first fell on the sixth
of October. On the third of December we saw ice passing which came from
some frozen river.
---Samuel Champlain
Acadie shared the same latitude as temperate France, so it was assumed the climate would be similar. However, the settlers knew nothing of the arctic air flow from the north. As the hours of daylight swindled and the air sharpened, the settlers discovered they were not prepared for the severity of a North American winter.
The river froze, tides up-heaving cakes of ice and cutting the settlers off from fresh water, game, and wood on the mainland. In the storehouse, cider froze in barrels and had to be issued by the pound. Some resorted to drinking melted snow, and their diet consisted of only salt meat and vegetables that Champlain said, "produced poor blood."
By February, men began to die.
During the winter a certain malady attacked many of our people. It is called landsickness, otherwise scurvy...of seventy-nine of us, thirty-five died, and more than twenty were very near it. --- Samuel Champlain
Those who perished were buried on the east end of the
island. In keeping with Christian burial practices of the times, their
feet were positioned toward the east. In March, the native people brought
the survivors game in exchange for bread and other goods.
Leaving Saint Croix Island
The severe winter of deprivation and death left the settlers anxiously awaiting the return of their ships from France. they expected the vessels at the end of April, but as April passed and mid-May arrived, there was still no sigh of the ships. Anxiety grew among the settlers who feared the ships had been lost, severing their lifeline with home and supplies. Dugua decided to fit out their small barque to go in search of vessels that might return them to France. However, on June 15th, the expected vessels arrived bearing more men and supplies, which were met with much rejoicing.
Dugua resolved to move his settlement. After such a
devastating winter, he desired a warmer climate. Accompanied by Champlain
and some of the men, they sailed down the coast as far south as Cape Cod, but
found nothing that pleased Dugua. In the end, he chose to return to Port
Royal. Some of the structures on the island were dismantled, and anything
of value was moved to Port Royal.
Legacy of the Saint Croix Island Settlement
Not only was Saint Croix Island the location of one of the earliest European settlements on the North Atlantic coast, but its harsh lessons led to a more successful settlement at Port Royal, leading to a French presence in North American that endures today.
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For a time line of Saint Croix Island
history, see:
http://www.stecroix2004.org/en/history.htm