Canadian Historic Sites: Occasional Papers in Archaeology and History No. 3

The French in Gaspé, 1534 to 1760

by David Lee

Part II: The Communities

Gaspé Bay

The Bay of Gaspé is the best natural harbour on the Gaspé Peninsula. Large numbers of even the biggest of 18th century ships could anchor within gunshot of the rocky shoreline and the high hills which rim the bay protected them from winds which might dash them upon the rocks. An inner harbour, Baie Penouille, beyond a large sandbar, could provide even more secure shelter. For centuries after Cartier and Champlain, Gaspé Bay attracted ships coming from Europe seeking shelter after long and rough Atlantic crossings. Here they could anchor, rest and repair damage and get fresh water and fuel. So came Brother Sagard and Bishop Laval on their way to Quebec, David Kirke, Hovenden Walker and countless others.

For them it was a stopover en route elsewhere but for many others the voyage was over; now they got to work and fished. Most of the fishing was done outside the bay but the cod was brought back to dry on the excellent beaches. After Percé was wiped out in 1690, Gaspé Bay became the centre of the Gaspé fisheries. The principal attraction of Gaspé Bay was that it was believed to be more denfensible than Ile Percé or other spots along the coast. But English corsairs often merely followed the French fishermen into the bay and seized them there with impunity, for nothing was ever done to fortify the entrance. As early as 1697, Bayonnais fishing ships were captured there.¹ The French fishery at Placentia had fortifications, a small garrison and a warning system, but after Newfoundland was ceded to England, nothing similar was done at Gaspé — but then, the Gaspé fisheries did not expand after the loss of Newfoundland.

Still the French persisted and during the 30 years' peace (1713-44), the fisheries of Gaspé Bay flourished. Louis Gosselin saw 11 ships in the bay in May, 1724. In the 1740s, 40 to 50 fishing vessels were reported at Gaspé Bay and vicinity.² This is an exaggeration but it still indicates the importance of this fishery.

It was not until the War of the Austrian Succession (1744-48) that the first winterings appear to have been attempted in the bay. Sentinels were posted at nearby Cap-des-Rosiers to report on all shipping passing by. At the same time a Canadian named Arbour was reported to be cultivating wheat, buckwheat, hay and various vegetables with some success. He is noted as a permanent resident of the bay and was probably the first.³

4 Sketch of Gaspé Bay, June, 1746. This sketch shows the Gaspé Bay area just before settlement began. The best beaches for drying fish were at Grand-Grève on the north shore of the bay. Beyond the Penouille sandbar was the inner harbour of the bay. (Original in the Bibliothéque Nationale, Paris.)

During the war, Governor Beauharnois and Intendant Hocquart mentioned the possibility of beginning a settlement at the bay, but they knew little about the area. It is significant that, although Gaspé Bay was within the government of Quebec, they had to refer the Minister of Marine to "the Basque and St. Malo captains who visit that quarter every year, [they] will be able to furnish you with more precise information of the advantages to be derived from the settlement in question."⁴

Even without government encouragement, assistance or military works, a substantial settlement grew up around the bay in a short time and by 1754, war was certainly a serious threat again. This time there would not only be fishing ships to attract the English to Gaspé Bay, but there would also be the attractive plunder of a permanent settlement. As well, both English and French were now coming to feel the strategic importance of the Gaspé Penisula. As Montcalm said after the English had taken Gaspé Bay, "It is the gateway to Canada, its location is infinitely preferable to that of Louisbourg as the key to the colony, as an entrepît and as an important commercial centre."⁵

On 31 October 1754, Governor Duquesne wrote an interesting letter to the Minister of Marine. In it he suspects that the English have designs on "Bay Gaspé which is the best and most important harbour in the colony, since it is situated at the entrance to the St. Lawrence River on the south side by which all shipping passes." He feels that the English want to seize the bay and establish a post there, and "for this sort of thing they are most talented." He has warned the at least 300 permanent residents of the bay to be on the alert. He hesitates to recommend that the government establish fortifications and a garrison there since they would only end up costing three times their worth due to malversation. He reports that some of the residents are willing to fortify and defend the place themselves — with government assistance. He recommends that this plan be followed, for the strengthening of Gaspé Bay will make it easier to attract Acadians back to French territory.⁶

Throughout the 1750s, Gaspé Bay attracted much attention. After years of inattention, suggestions were made for a naval station there to patrol the gulf and control its shipping. The bay itself would be fortified to protect the present fisheries and settlement. An army post could serve as a base for invasions southward into English territory. The security of fortifications and a garrison would allow the bay to be developed as the great entrepôt of all New France: sea-going vessels would transfer their cargoes to smaller vessels which could more safely and more quickly navigate the treacherous channels of the St. Lawrence.⁷

A few cannons installed on the Penouille sandbar could have provided a measure of protection to the harbour at little expense or effort. But nothing was done. The settlement itself was not even protected. When war resumed in 1755, it was obvious that fishing in Gaspé Bay was risky and by 1757, no visiting fishermen dared go there.⁸ The settlers were unable to offer any resistance when Wolfe arrived the next year. They had made plans to frighten invaders away by fabricating a large Indian village at the entrance to the bay; the settlers would dress up as Indians but they could not fight the English for they had few arms and little ammunition.⁹ They made no plans to seek assistance from the Micmacs. But even these plans fell through when the community leader, Pierre Revol, died three days previous to the arrival of Wolfe and his men.

Pierre Revol was the son of the Procurator of the Parlement of Grenoble. He came to Canada in the chains of a smuggler in salt, exiled to the colonies. A fortunate marriage in 1744 to the daughter of a rich seigneur returned him to the standard of life to which he had been accustomed. Marriage brought him important business connections which helped him through several difficulties. In 1748, he was arrested in Martinique for leaving New France without the permission required for a former criminal. In 1756, he invested in a risky fishing venture to Labrador which bankrupted him in six months. Again his friends rescued him financially and the next year arranged that Governor Vaudreull appoint him as his agent at Gaspé Bay. He was to report on ship movements in the gulf and on means of defending the bay.¹⁰

Revol had had business in Gaspé Bay before: it was he, along with one André Arnoux, who had spoken for many of the inhabitants when, in 1754, they had offered to do much of the fortification work there for the government.¹¹ Thus Revol was sufficiently familiar with local conditions to act as the governor's agent and it was he who set up the Indian ruse. His connections were not sufficient, however, to coax supplies of food or arms from the governor, so the settlers could not hope to repulse an invasion. Vaudreull just did not have the resources to defend Gaspé Bay. He said that he could only hope that the English would not take it without a fight,¹² but even this hope proved to be in vain. Although there might have been a spirit of independence and initiative among the inhabitants it is obvious that for matters like defense, on their own they could not survive. Just as obviously, they could not be dependent on the governor of Quebec.

When the English finally attacked Gaspé Bay in September, 1758, they did so not for strategic purposes. Rather they hoped to divert some French attention from the Lake Champlain frontier, and that it would provide some information on St. Lawrence navigation for an attack on Quebec the following year. When the great English fleet of at least 15 ships entered the bay (4 September 1758), the inhabitants fled into the woods. The first captured was that long-time resident, Pierre Arbour; he was sent to bring in the others with a promise of personal safety. The English regiments (the 15th, 28th and 58th) camped on the north shore of the bay, on the Grand-Grève. In the next week most or all of the inhabitants submitted or were taken and their buildings and boats burned. On the twenty-seventh of September. the English returned to their ships and sailed back to Louisbourg with their prisoners. The French had expected the English to occupy and fortify the bay, but apparently the strategic location of Gaspé Bay impressed the French more than the English. However, it is noteworthy that the English came to Gaspé Bay first, and from there sent out expeditions to attack other Gaspé settlements. The settlement at Gaspé Bay had developed quite quickly and rather quietly after the War of the Austrian Succession. The new settlement is scarcely mentioned in the official French correspondence of the times even though it was growing at such a rapid pace. Governor Duquesne estimated in 1754 that there were "at least 300 inhabitants including wintering fishermen;" and Captain Bell, aide-de-camp to Wolfe, four years later estimated "about 300 inhabitants."¹³ Although they must have expected attack, they apparently made no effort to leave the settlement or send away the women or children.

5 A view of Gaspé Bay drawn on the spot of Captain Hervey Smyth, 1758. The house on the beach was occupied by Wolfe during his destruction of the Gaspé settlements in 1758. (According to tradition it was the residence of Pierre Revol.) The three piles on the beach to the left of the house represent 1,500 quintals of fish. (Sigmund Samuel Canadiana Collection No. 39, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto.)

The roll of the refugees arriving in France¹⁴ provides us with the names and origin of 19 male residents of Gaspé, some of them obviously heads of families. We know the origin of 14 of these; the majority were from the St. Malo area and all were from France. There were probably a few Canadians, however, like Pierre Arbour. There is no indication that any Acadians ever reached Gaspé; in 1756, it was reported that a boat carrying 150 Acadians was taken by the English near Gaspé.¹⁵

Certainly the principal occupation of the inhabitants was fishing. There was some agriculture but it could not have been much for, by 1757, the community had been reduced almost exclusively to a diet of fish.¹⁶ There was also a community of seven houses on what is now the York River centred around a lumber mill.¹⁷ The mill presumably only served the local market. The English also reported a small forge on what is now the Dartmouth River.¹⁸

The amount of goods, buildings and boats reported destroyed indicates a thriving settlement at Gaspé Bay. Besides the forge and mill (and its lumber), the English also burned a warehouse and many dwellings, including Revol's which apparently was finer than the others. They also seized or destroyed 4 schooners, 200 chaloupes, fishing equipment, food supplies, gunpowder, cattle, sheep, ducks and fowl.

Most importantly, they destroyed 6,000 quintals of fish. At Quebec this fish would have been worth perhaps 240,000 livres. The fish were no doubt caught by the inhabitants themselves for no fishermen from France had dared go near Gaspé for at least two years. The fish not consumed in the community must have been sold in Quebec, at least in 1758. In other years, some was also probably sold to fishermen visiting from France though the price would have been lower. The amount of fish destroyed by the English is probably considerably less than the total catch for that year; they did not arrive until September, and certainly by then some of the fish must have already been shipped to Quebec. The property destroyed indicates a flourishing settlement, larger than Mont-Louis.

The French origin of most of the inhabitants suggests that the settlement of Gaspé Bay was tied as much to France as it was to Canada, The governor at Quebec had jurisdiction over the settlement but had little to do with it in practice. He had long wanted to assist settlement on the bay but had been unable to do so. It is significant that a community of at least 300 souls could develop and thrive on its own initiative in Gaspé. This sort of development was rare in New France, for normally the government extended its paternal hand into all aspects of life in the colony. This must surely have resulted in a certain spirit of independence among the inhabitants.