i
Lasalle Boulevard, entering Lachine near Maison Le Ber-Le Moyne, about 1900
© Archives du Musée de Lachine, H14g-1,2
45. History of Lachine
"There is hope of finding a shortcut to China via the St. Lawrence River." (Samuel de Champlain, 1618)
Lachine traces its roots to a land grant made to the French explorer René-Robert Cavelier de La Salle around 1667 by the Sulpician Fathers, who held the seigneury of Montréal Island.
From 1642 until 1667, safety concerns and scant resources caused the Montréalistes, as they called themselves, to restrict development to the area around the Ville-Marie fort. In the summer of 1667, a peace – albeit fragile – was concluded with the Iroquois, allowing the French to move forward with the projects begun by Champlain and to consolidate their strategic position on Montréal Island.
