Search
Website Design and Content © by Eric Krause,
Krause House Info-Research Solutions (© 1996)
All Images © Parks Canada Except
Where Noted Otherwise
Report/Rapport © Parks Canada / Parcs Canada
---
Report Assembly/Rapport de l'assemblée © Krause
House
Info-Research Solutions
Researching the
Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Site of Canada
Recherche sur la Forteresse-de-Louisbourg Lieu historique national du Canada
THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE OF 18TH CENTURY LOUISBOURG
Microfiche Report Series 83
By
Margaret Fortier
1983
Fortress of Louisbourg
Part Two - The Outports
Miré
Region - Rouillé and German Villages
When Governor Raymond arrived in Ile Royale he was determined to succeed
where his predecessors had failed in making the colony agriculturally
self-sufficient. His assessment of the colony's potential was optimistic and
his scheme ambitious. He proposed that 1,000 soldiers be set to work on the
Miré clearing land. In addition to being paid 40 livres for every arpent
cleared and seeded, the soldiers would receive the going rate for firewood cut
in the process. Those soldiers willing to settle on the land would be given
seed, tools, equipment and livestock with which to start farming. By this plan
Raymond foresaw the clearing in just one summer of 4,000 arpents of land, of
which 3,000 would be cultivated and 1,000 cleared for prairie. The yield in
produce, the governor was certain, would exceed the colony's needs. [1] The Minister of the Marine,
Rouillé, was not entirely convinced by
Raymond's arguments. The plan, he noted, would be very expensive to implement,
while shortages of grain in both France and Canada would make it difficult to
supply sufficient seed. However, the biggest obstacle to the minister's
concurrence was his inability to accept such a positive appraisal of Ile
Royale's agricultural potential. All previous testimony had indicated that
there was not enough land of sufficient quality to support such an ambitious
undertaking. Raymond was instructed to grant land to anyone who would put it
"en valeur", and to assign soldiers to clear some land on both Ile
Royale and Ile St. Jean. [2] In September 1752 Raymond reported that he and an expert in argiculture had
toured the Miré region. After seeing the harvest reaped by some settlers that
year they were convinced of the excellence of the land and of its ability to
meet the colony's needs. [3] He permitted 22 soldiers to marry and establish
themselves near the Grand Lac de Miré. They were given rations from their
former companies, as well as tools, utensils and nails with which to build a new community. Commissaire-ordonnateur
Prévost
believed this endeavour would amount to nothing. The soldiers, he said, were
essentiallv freeloading. [4] In a rather blatant move to win ministerial
approval, Raymond called the new settlement "Village Rouille" in the
minister's honour. The new settlers were apparently not sufficiently established to be
mentioned by La Roque in his 1752 census. In 1753, however, the census taker reported that the former soldiers seemed well disposed to fulfill
their promise to His Majesty. They had cleared the land and planted several species of grain and
légumes. These had done very well for the first year. Included among the residents of the village were: In addition to the Village
Rouillé, Raymond authorized a second settlement
along the road to Miré. Composed of German-speaking people from the Palatine
and Ruhr regions of Europe, this settlement was known as the Village des
Allemands. It was located a short distance east of the Village Rouillé, from
which it was separated by yet another Montagne Du Diable. [6] The commissaire-ordonnateur,
Prévost, felt that the choice of the location
had been a mistake. The village's potential for success, he wrote, would have
been far better on the opposite shore of the "lac". The land at the
chosen site was unfruitful, capable of producing only hay. Wheat stood no
chance of success, in Prévost's opinion, and "menus grains" might
succeed the first year but would suffer for the next two or three
seasons. Even at the Miré, he pointed out, the climate was a problem since
there were only two recognizable seasons on the island -winter and spring. [7] Raymond had charged that
Prévost failed to provide seed for the
settlements. This, Prévost declared, was a malicious lie. He had tried to find
the needed grain, but none was available. There had been 18 barriques of grain
in the magasin at Louisbourg which the governor sent to Baie Verte. Had this
been retained in Louisbourg, Prévost was certain there would have been
sufficient seed for the cleared areas. Lack of seed was not holding the
villages back, Prévost charged. The problems were due to the direction given
by the military officers placed in charge of farming operations. These
officers organized the residents into corvées which performed their work as a
service to the king. Prévost found that he had no voice at all in what was
decided because the people listened only to the officers who "judge the
inhabitants, punish them, rule on their interests and, in a word, have
established themselves there as the Lords in each village ..." [8] The census taker offered no assessment of the quality of land in the
German village in 1753. He did, however, list the following residents: By 1756 the outlook for the two villages was not bright. Governor Drucour
wrote that the Village Rouillé had all but disappeared. Most of the soldiers
who had accepted his predecessor's offer were either aged or bad specimens
drawn by the promise of three years free rations. These men had married the
"catins et les ivrognes" of the colony, settled near the Miré and
did little work. [10] His view was supported by a report of the chief engineer a
year later which listed only five families remaining in this village. The soil
there was not as good as at the German village, Franquet declared, but they
could have raised gardens. Used to the lazy life of troops, he said, they
preferred hunting to working the land. Soon the village would be deserted, but
for the moment it was occupied by: Though Franquet noted that all five had been residing in the village for
five years, only two, Framboise and St. Brieux, appear on the 1753 census.
[11] The population of the German village had also dropped by 1756, though
not as drastically. Although Franquet said that the soil there would produce grain and vegetables, little was actually produced. Even the
yield from the gardens was disappointing, due mostly to the climate. There was, however, a "moliere" in the
middle of the community
which was "un grand avantage par le qualité de foin qu'elle produit". A
sawmill, built by Le Roy on the stream which flowed from Lac Majeur, was abandoned
sometime before 1756 because wood suitable for boards and planks had been exhausted in the vicinity of the mill. Erected hastily, the sawmill,
moreover, had been in need of extensive repairs. The residents of the village included: In May 1757 Charles Violet, who resided at Louisbourg, took Benedict
Mayhein to court when his cow, which had wintered at Mayhein's property, died
while giving birth. The calf could not be saved. Mayhein and several witnesses
on his behalf were said to be inhabitants of the Village Rouillé, yet most
spoke only German. Mayhein's name does not appear on the 1753 census or on
Franquet's list four years later. The names of the witnesses, however, are
included on these lists as residents of the Village Des Allemands, not the
Village Rouillé. [13]