The Sieur de Laviolette was the first commander of

Trois-Rivières Trois-Rivières (, ; ) is a city in the Mauricie administrative region of Quebec, Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Saint-Maurice River, Saint-Maurice and Saint Lawrence River, Saint Lawrence rivers, on the north shore of the Sain ...

, a Canadian city in Central

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

Background

The area of

(Three Rivers), located on the

St Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (, ) is a large international river in the middle latitudes of North America connecting the Great Lakes to the North Atlantic Ocean. Its waters flow in a northeasterly direction from Lake Ontario to the Gulf of St. Lawren ...

at the mouth of the St. Maurice River, was first explored by

Jacques Cartier Jacques Cartier (; 31 December 14911 September 1557) was a French maritime explorer from Brittany. Jacques Cartier was the first Europeans, European to describe and map the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the shores of the Saint Lawrence River, wh ...

on 7 October 1535, on his return from Hochelaga. Around 1600,

François Gravé Du Pont François Gravé (Saint-Malo, November 1560 – 1629 or soon after), said ''Du Pont'' (or ''Le Pont'', ''Pontgravé''...), was a Breton navigator (captain on the sea and on the "Big River of Canada"), an early fur trader and explorer in the N ...

, of

Tadoussac Tadoussac () is a village municipality in La Haute-Côte-Nord RCM (Regional County Municipality), on the north shore of the maritime section of the estuary of St. Lawrence river, in Côte-Nord region, Quebec, Canada. Geography Tadoussac is ...

, went there to trade with the Indians.

Samuel de Champlain Samuel de Champlain (; 13 August 1574#Fichier]For a detailed analysis of his baptismal record, see #Ritch, RitchThe baptism act does not contain information about the age of Samuel, neither his birth date nor his place of birth. – 25 December ...

first visited the area, accompanied by Gravé Du Pont, in 1603.

History

Champlain recognized the economic and strategic benefits of the location. In 1632, Trois-Rivières was designated for the annual meeting of Indians and fur traders. In 1634, he sent Laviolette to strengthen the fur trade network and establish a trading post. Laviolette and a few soldiers built a fence, inside which some houses were erected to serve as housing and shops. The same year, the Jesuits Paul Le Jeune and Jacques Buteux established a permanent mission. Laviolette was commander at Trois-Rivières until April 17, 1636. Laviolette Bridge is named in his honor.

References

People of New France {{quebec-bio-stub