Fort La Tour National Historic Site of Canada

Fort La Tour was designated a national historic site of Canada in 1923 because:

• it was erected by Charles de Saint-Étienne de La Tour, Governor of Acadia, in 1631;
• it was one of the earliest centres of the French fur trade with the region’s Aboriginal peoples;
• because of the heroic but unsuccessful defence by Françoise-Marie Jacquelin, Sieur de La Tour’s wife, against an attack by de La Tour’s rival, Charles de Menou d’Aulnay.

In 1631, Charles de Saint-Étienne de La Tour, Governor of Acadia and fur-trading entrepreneur, established a fortified fur trading post named Fort Sainte-Marie, at the mouth of the Saint John River. Located on ground traditionally used by First Nations peoples, the fort became one of the earliest centres of the French fur trade in the region. Aboriginal traders carried furs down the Saint John River to trade at the fort for goods such as beads, iron spear points and arrow heads. It also provided a strategically located, fortified stronghold against La Tour’s rival, Charles de Menou d’Aulnay, whose base was at Port-Royal on the opposite side of the Bay of Fundy. In 1645, d’Aulnay attacked the fort during Sieur de La Tour’s absence. Sieur de La Tour’s wife, Françoise-Marie Jacquelin, led a defence of the garrison for four days, until finally surrendering to d’Aulnay. After taking possession of the fort, d’Aulnay reneged on the conditions of surrender and executed the members of the garrison. Jacquelin’s bravery, and her death while in d’Aulnay’s custody, have made her a Canadian heroine. The fort itself was destroyed at an unknown date in the 17th or early-18th century.