The Sieur de Laviolette was the first commander of

Trois-Rivières Trois-Rivières (, – 'Three Rivers') is a city in the Mauricie administrative region of Quebec, Canada, at the confluence of the Saint-Maurice and Saint Lawrence rivers, on the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River across from the city of ...

, a Canadian city in Central

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

Background

The area of

(Three Rivers), located on the

St Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connecting ...

at the mouth of the St. Maurice River, was first explored by Jacques Cartier 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 in Quebec, Canada, at the confluence of the Saguenay and Saint Lawrence rivers. The indigenous Innu call the place ''Totouskak'' (plural for ''totouswk'' or ''totochak'') meaning "bosom", probably in reference to the tw ...

, went there to trade with the Indians. Samuel de Champlain first visited the area, accompanied by Gravé Du Pont, in 1603.Vachon, André, "Laviolette M."
''Dictionary of Canadian Biography'', vol. 1, Laval University / University of Toronto, 2003, accessed 7 June 2015

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. In 2011, historian Yannick Gendron identified Théodore Bochart Du Plessis as Sieur de Laviolette, chief clerk of the Company of New France, although this does not appear to be universally accepted. Laviolette Bridge is named in his honor.

References

People of New France {{quebec-bio-stub