Back

Caption: Plan of the French settlement at Isle Sainte-Croix in 1604

In June 1604, the French expedition under the Sieur de Monts and Samuel de Champlain started building a trade post and settlement on an island they named Sainte-Croix, the choice being dictated by security concerns. It turned out to be an unfortunate choice, some 35 out of the 79 men there perishing to scurvy in the winter of 1604-1605. There were also tense relations with Indians further south so that, in the late summer, Sainte-Croix was abandoned and the French went to built a fortified ‘Habitation’ at Port-Royal (now Annapolis-Royal, Nova Scotia).