Cliff Site National Historic Site of Canada

Cliff Site was designated a national historic site of Canada in 1920 because:

• On March 23, 1670, two Sulpician priests, François Dollier de Casson and René de Brehant de Galinée, laid claim in the name of France to the north shore of Lake Erie, an important episode in the development of the Canadian nation.

On 6 July 1669, French missionaries François Dollier de Casson and René Bréhent de Galinée departed from Montréal as part of an expedition into the interior led by Robert Cavalier de La Salle. Part of an original party of twenty-two Europeans and Algonkian interpreters, Dollier and Galinée split from the party shortly after travelling through present-day Hamilton. Dollier and Galinée were accompanied by seven men and three canoes and, in late October 1669, they set up a winter camp at the present day community of Port Dover. Having chosen the site for its aesthetic appeal and abundant food sources, Dollier and Galinée declared this area territory of France in the name of King Louis XIV. On 23 March 1670, three days prior to the group’s departure, a large cross was erected with the arms of France, thereby marking an important episode in the development of the Canadian nation.