Arrival of Count Frontenac At Kingston in 1673 Story of the Founding of the Limestone City--Iinter~ esting Early History of the Settlement Hereabouts. ; Towards the point of land now oc- cupied by the City of Kingston, on the 12th of July, 1673, there steered its way, up through the mazes of the Thousands Islands, a flotilla of a splen- dor never seen before in these remote waters. First, came four lines of can- oes, then two large and gayly-painted flat-boats or batteaux, adorned with quaint and mysterious devices, follow- ed by a train of canoes, a hundred and twenty in all. In the first canoe of the - train was a cluster of French officers; conspicuous among them was the stately figure of the Count de Fronte- nae, Governor of New France. The bright sun shone on golden-laced uni- forms and thé measured beat of the paddies kept time to the strains of martial music; but it was no holiday cruise that had been experienced dur- ing the fortnight that had intervened between the embarkation at Lachine and the arrival at Cataraqui. The as- cent of such a river as the St. Law- rence involved long and toilsome por- tages, and hard labor--now of drag- ging the flag-boats along the shore, and now of stemming the fierce cur- ren{ in water more than waist deep. Frontenac, in person, spurred on his men to their task, sharing their priva- tion, losing a night's sleep from anx- ety, lest the water should have got in and spoiled the biscuit, but never leav- ing his post even while,~amid drench- ing rain--~the crews struggled with the wild rapids of the Long Sault. When the last rapid had been safely passed, the flotila glided in amengst the placid labyrinths of the Lake of the Islands, past 1 ugged masses of lichen ed pine-crested granite, through grassy inlets mirroring the varied green of birch and beech and maple; edged with soft velvety moss and waving ferns, fringed with reeds, and starred here and there with the snowy flowers of the water lily. Beyond this enchanted land the islands grew fewer and larg- er, and now the blue expanse of On- tario loomed wide in the distance. Welcomed to Cataraqui. As the miniature fleet approached the point where the Cataraqui joins the St. Lawrence, it was met by a canoe containing some Iroquois chiefs, mag- nificent in feathers and wampum, ac- companied by the Abbe &' Urfe. In the language of the journal of the ex- pedition, "they saluted the Admiral, and paid their respects to him with evidence of much joy and confidence, testifying to him the obligations they were under to him for sparing them the trouble of going farther, and of re- ceiving their submission at the River Katarakoui, which i a very suitable place to camp, as they were about signifying to him." Then they con- ducted to "one of the most beauti- ful and agreeable harbors in the world, capable of holding a hundred of the largest ships, with sufficient, water at the mouth and in the harbor, with a ottom, and so sheltered from ev- oe also was sent back in detachments; Frontenac with his guard outstaying the rest, in order to receive a deputa- tion from the villages to the north of Lake Ontario. In repogting to the min- ister, Colbert, the successful accom- plishment of his object, he intimated that while this fort at Cataraqui, with a vessel then in progress, would give the French control of Ontario, a sec- ond fort at the mouth of the Niagara would command the whole chain of the upper lakes. 1 The First Commander. . This, indeed, formed pal of the com- prehensive scheme of the man to whom the command of 'Fort Fronte- nac was assigned, Robert Cavalier de Salle. The son of a 'wealthy burger family of Rouen, De la Salle had come to Canada at the aze of twenty-two. Brave, enterprising and enthusiastic, endowed with indomitable firmness and inexhaustible perseverance, his naturally strong constitution, hardened almost to iron by a ten year's course of discipline among the Jesuits, and with an imagination fired by the dream of discovery, he was eager to distinguish himself by taking possession, in the name of France, of the unexplored territories to the south of the Great Lakes. His early dream was of a north- west passage to China by the waters of the Ottawa. But his mind, fired by Joliet's report of the Mississippi, was now concentrated oh a more practic- able scheme. Fort Frontenac was to be but a step towards industrial colon- ies in the rich' southwestern wilderness and a commercial route down the Mis- sissippi to the Gulf of Mexico. A spec- fal journey to France, in 1674, secured to. him a grant of the fort, a large tract of surrounding territory and 'the is- lands adjacent, along with this patent of untitled nobility. Within two years he had replaced the original wooden fort by a much larger one, "enclosed on the landward side by ramparts-and bastions of stone, and, on the water side, by palisades. It contained a range of barracks of squared timber, a guard- house, a lodging for officers, a forge, a well, a mill and a bakery." The walls were armed with nine small guns, and the garrison consisted of a dozen sol- diers, two officers and a surgeon, while an additional contingent of some fifty laborers, arfisans, and voyageurs ad- ded to its strength. In the shadow of the fort, where now stands the oldest portion of the city of Kingston, a small French village of colonists grew up. A little further on was a cluster of Iro- quois wigwams and near them the chapel and Presbytery of the Recol- lect Frigrs, Louis Hennepin, the well- known explorer, and Luie Buisset. Here La Salle reigned supreme over his little kingdom and here he might have remained, amassing a colossal fortune, and, perhaps, making Fort Frontenac as important a settlement as Montreal. But his ambition still point- ed southward and westward, and 'des- pite the persistent opposition of Jes- nits and Canadian merchants, he sec- ured, on a second visit to France, per- mission to undertake the exploration of the country with a view to a route to Mexico, and te build as many forts as he required, provided they were 'built within five years, His cherished design was eventually to build a ves- sel at some point on the Mississippi, with which he might follow it.to its mouth, thus ning a new 'commer- cial route to the Gulf of Mexico. How, in pursuit of his ignis fatnus, he built his brigantine at Fort Frontenac, in which he sailed to Niagara to erect his ps | fort of "palisaded storehouses," and build and launch tle ill-fated Griffin, -- lost with her irs Jareo of furs in the stormy and treachdrous waves of Lake Erie,~how, after reaching at last the Gulf of Mexico, and taking possessio of Louisiana, he fell in the wi Texas, by the bullet of a false follower, is known to all who have read the his- tory of New France. Denonville's Treachery. Under M. de Denonville, Fort Fron- tenac was the scene of an act of trea- chery which stamped his name with an indelible brand of infamy. By the iaflu- ence of two devoted missionaries to the Oneidas and Onondagas, he invei- gled a number of their chiefs into the fort, under the pretext of a pacific eon fércnce; and, as soon as they were within the precincts, had them put in irons and carried in chains.to Quebec, thence to be transported to France, to wear out their lives in the dismal con- finement of the galleys. Strange to say, the outrage was not avenged on the missionaries. The elders of the tribe might be less lorbearing. "and we, agcd and. feeble as we are, shall not be able to snatch thee from their vengeful | grasp." A terrible retribution followed ere| long, in which the innocent suffered | with the guilty. The Iroquois swept the country around Cataraqui, burn-| ing sthe cabins and destroying the} crops of the settlers, covering the fakes | with their canoes, and blockading the garrison. The hostilities culminated in the midnight massacre of Lachine and the capture of Fort Frontenac, which, like Fort Niagara, was demo- lished by the Indiams. De Frontenac, recalled to supersede the weak and] treacherous Dr. Denonville, found the colony laid waste, its villages heaps | of smoking ruins, and his fayorite Si in ashes, while an ominous war-cloud was rising between New England and | New France, Another expedition under his command was soon marshalled at Cataraqui, embracing, besides Indians, Colonial troops, a number of staunch veterans who had followed the stand- ards of Conde and Turenne. Fronte- nac, disregarding the opposition of his Intendant, M. de Champigny, under- took and completed the reconstruction of the fort before contrary orders could arrive from France, It cost about £600,--a large sum for those] days, --and is said, in an old record, to | tains, 100 feet each, defended by four THE DAILY BRITISH square bastions being mounted on wooden piles, and the curtains pierced by loopholes." C A Quiet Half Century. 'During the tranquil half century | which followed Frontenac's death, we almost lost sight of the fort and Settle- ment at Cataraqui. Father Picquet's { complaint, in 1758, of the quality of the provisions he got there, shows how far the settlers lagged behind in agricul- ture. But the conflict was impending which was to wrest from France her possession in the New World, and Fort Frontenac soon felt the shock. It had been repaired and strengthened to meet the storm. But Abercrombie seized the opportunity when its garri- son was drawn off to protect another point, and sent Colonel Bradstreet to take it, with 3,000 men and eleven guns He landed near Cataraqui, on the 25th | WHIG of August, 1758, and quickly erecting a battery 'on the site of the present market place, besieged the little gar- rison of 'seventy -meén, commandad by the aged and chivalrous M. de Noyau. The garrison held out as long as pos- sible, but ere the coming reinforce- ments could arrive, M. de Noyau was forced to capitulate, stipulating, how: ever, for the safety and transport of his troops and of the "sacred' vessels of the chapel" to Montreal. Besides the fort, Colonel Bradstreet's prize includ- ed the entire French navy in Canada, including twenty-two ships, with sup- plies for other outposts, 80 pieces of cannon,' and a quantity of smaller arms. Trace of the old fort, and also ef the breastwork thrown .up by Colonel Bradstreet, were visible many years af- ter the Conquest. The remains of the inner tower were not removed till | | a a a a a et lA a MAIN GATE, TETE DE PONT BARRACKS have "consisted of four square cur-| Which is on the Site Formerly Occupied by Old Fort Frontenac, Originally Established in 1673. A KINGSTON RESIDENCE The Magnificent Home of Mr. Cornelius Bermingham at the Corner of King and Barrie Streets. AAA iN, § L SATURDAY, DECEMBER 18th, 1085 a ee ee 1827, and vestiges of the fort were still visible when the Grand Trunk Railway line was opened into the city. A few French and Indian families clung to the site; but the place was scarcely heard of again until its permanent settlement by the U. E. Loyalists at the close of the American War of In- dependence. A party of these loyalist refugees, undecided where to go when driven from their old homes, were guided by a leader who had formerly been a prisoner in Foit Frontenac, and A who considered it an eligible site for settlement. Coming from New York by the circuitous seute of the St. Law- rence the men of the party, only, at first, penetrated to the banks of the Cataraqui, where no habitation was to be seen save "the bark-thatched wig- wam of the savage, or the newly creat-/ ed tent of the hardy loyalist." They re- turned for the winter te Sorel, where they had left their families, and, when {Continued on Next Page) AMEY'S MACHINE MADE DOUGHNUTS --We. invite the public of Kingston and surrounding... district to visit our "Sanitary Bake Parlor" We bake doughnuts without being touched by hand-- "Perfectly Sanitary... Our shop is equipped with the latest sanitary methods for this purpose. Doughnuts Fresh Made Every Day Amey's Machine Made Doughnuts 290 Princess St. "ONCE TRIED ALWAYS USED" oe Make merry with "FLOWERS this Christmas time We submit for your selection a complete assortment of Cut Flowers Potted Plants, Etc. 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