Adam Dollard des Ormeaux (July 23, 1635 – May 21, 1660) is an iconic figure in the history of New France (modern day Quebec).

Accompanied by seventeen Frenchmen, Dollard arrived at the foot of Long Sault (near present-day Carillon, Quebec) on May 1 and settled his troops at an abandoned Algonquin fort.

[2] Against the advice of seasoned Aboriginal fighters, Dollard got the support of the governor of Montreal, Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve, to organize an expedition west.

[1] For over a century Dollard des Ormeaux became a heroic figure in New France, and Quebec, as he exemplified selfless personal sacrifice, as well as martyrdom for the church, and for the colony.

According to André Vachon, some historians claim that Dollard was in debt and thereby sought to steal the furs from the Iroquois who were returning from their winter's hunt.

Therefore, as some historians argue, the forty Huron who went up the Ottawa River to intercept the Iroquois did so to fight them because of issues involving honor.

However, both sides of the debate agree that Dollard and his both French and Indigenous comrades would have taken the route following the Ottawa River since they sought to intercept the Iroquois coming back from their winter hunt.

Archeological excavations of palisades (in which Dollard and his comrades fought in) and considerations of topography coincide with the testimonies of the Huron survivors along with other oral and written traditions.

[5] The first sources written concerning the Battle of Long Sault are a series of letters composed by Marie Guyart, founder of the Ursuline institute of New France, and a collection of compiled documents from various Jesuit missionaries entitled Relations.

These sources, written immediately after Dollard's death in 1660, give descriptive accounts of the battle and emphasize the perceived dualism between Christianity and the barbarism of the Natives.

Although he is singled out as the leader in these earliest recorded stories, Dollard des Ormeaux is not the main focus of the battle.

His book included a chapter dedicated solely to Dollard des Ormeaux and the Battle of Long Sault.

[4] These accounts of Dollard provided a basis that allowed him to develop into and be upheld as a heroic figure in French-Canadian culture, post-British conquest.

With the exception of a brief mention in the work of Charlevoix in the 1700s, Dollard and the Battle of Long Sault does not reappear in French Canadian writing until the 1840s.

The re-emergence of the tale coincides with the union of Upper and Lower Canada and the ensuing fear that French Canadians would lose control over their rights.

The story of Dollard was used by authors in this period, such as François-Xavier Garneau, to secure a space for the French in the national history of Canada.

To provide ideal moral models, the Catholic clergy wrote versions of history with an emphasis on Christian heroes.

[4] In 1865, Étienne-Michel Faillon published L'Histoire de la colonie française au Canada which included an account of the Battle of Long Sault.

[4] Since controversy has come to light surrounding the circumstances of the Battle of Long Sault, modern historians have challenged traditional visions of Dollard as a hero in Quebec culture.