[1] The community was first populated by French fishermen in 1718 after they arrived from Canso, Nova Scotia having survived a raid by New Englanders.
[2] On August 8, 1720, a group of 60 Mi'kmaq joined the French from Petit de Grat and attacked Canso.
[2] In 1745, the village was destroyed by New Englanders, led by Captain Jeremiah Moulton under the Command of Colonel William Pepperell, during the aftermath of the Siege of Port Toulouse.
The privateer sailed on the USS Providence and destroyed fifteen vessels, and damaged much property on shore.
There he recruited men to fill the vacancies created by manning his prizes, burned a British fishing schooner, sank a second, and captured a third besides a shallop which he used as a tender.