[2] In 1642, Ville-Marie was founded on the southern shore of the Island of Montreal, where a chapel and a small settlement were built.

Maisonneuve prayed to the Virgin Mary to stop the inundation and when it abated, he erected a cross atop Mount Royal.

The Mohawk were based in present-day New York State, south of Montreal, and severely threatened the new colony.

Nevertheless, they were often at war with the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois), who discovered the existence of the new French settlement of Montreal, whose defence Maisonneuve commanded using his military training, only in 1643.

Warned by their guard dogs as to the nearby presence of their enemies, a band of 30 settlers went into the forest to face their foes.

Retreating in the face of such uneven odds, Maisonneuve remained last so that the others could make it safely back to the fort, resulting in him being set upon by a Haudenosaunee chief.

In this decisive moment, Maisonneuve fired twice on the chief, thus "killing him with his bare hands," as is sometimes quoted about the event, before returning to the safety of the fort amid much fanfare.

As New France had been proclaimed a royal province in 1663, governance of Montreal was assumed by the Governor General and the Sovereign Council.

With his encouragement she had established the Congregation of Notre Dame of Montreal in 1653, an order of teaching nuns that educated French and Indigenous children.

[1] Maisonneuve died in Paris on 9 September 1676; at his bedside were his young friend, Philippe de Turmenys, and his devoted servant, Louis Fin.

On September 10, his funeral and burial took place at the Church of the Fathers of the Christian Doctrine, near the abbey of Saint-Étienne-du-Mont.