New France - Military Conflicts

Military Conflicts

Since Henry Hudson had claimed Hudson Bay, and the surrounding lands for England, English colonists had begun expanding their boundaries across what is now the Canadian north beyond the French-held territory of New France. In 1670, with the help of French coureurs des bois, Pierre-Esprit Radisson and Médard des Groseilliers, the Hudson's Bay Company was established to control the fur trade in all the land that drained into Hudson Bay (known as Rupert's Land). This ended the French monopoly on the Canadian fur trade.

To compensate, the French extended their territory to the south, and to the west of the American colonies. In 1682, René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle explored the Ohio and Mississippi valleys, and claimed the entire territory for France as far south as the Gulf of Mexico. He named this territory Louisiana. La Salle attempted to establish the first colony in the new territory in 1685, but inaccurate maps and navigational issues led him to instead establish his colony, Fort Saint Louis, in what is now Texas. The colony was exterminated by disease and Indian attack in 1688.

Although little colonization took place in this part of New France, many strategic forts were built there, under the orders of Governor Louis de Buade de Frontenac. Forts were also built in the older portions of New France that had not yet been settled. Many of these forts were garrisoned by the Troupes de la Marine, the only regular soldiers in New France between 1682 and 1755.