Trois-Rivieres Founded in New France
The first European child born in Trois-Rivières wouldn't arrive for another decade — the settlement started as twelve men, a Jesuit priest, and a fur trading post where the Saint-Maurice River splits into three channels. Sieur de Laviolette claimed the strategic junction on July 4th, 1634, making it New France's second permanent town after Quebec City. The location controlled access to interior Indigenous nations and their pelts. Within twenty years, it became the colony's iron production center. Sometimes a city's geography writes its entire future before anyone builds a single house.
July 4, 1634
392 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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