Pierre de Saurel

When the regiment returned to France in 1668, Saurel remained behind and was granted a seigneury at the mouth of the Richelieu River, now the site of the city of Sorel-Tracy in Quebec, Canada.

The regiment marched from northeastern France to the Atlantic coast and arrived at the port city of La Rochelle at the beginning of April.

Saurel wintered at the fort, and foreseeing future settlement, had his men clear a large amount of the surrounding forest.

Two days away from the nearest Mohawk village, Saurel encountered a delegation who were returning the four unharmed prisoners to New France.

[1] Inside Fort Richelieu he built a square timber manor house, a windmill of field stone, a stable, two barns and a sheepfold.

Many of them were reluctant to received an alloment of land for which they would pay an annual rent to Saurel, preferring instead to work for wages.

The inhabitants included farmers, shoemakers, carpenters, a ropemaker, tanner, miller, edge-tool maker, cooper, and a surgeon.

He received a contract from Talon to supply oak and pine planks for ships being built at Quebec, however, this did not continue after the intendant returned to France in 1672.

He accompanied Pierre-Esprit Radisson and Médard Chouart des Groseilliers on an expedition to Hudson’s Bay in the summer of 1682 that captured Fort Nelson and seized a ship carrying furs bound for Boston.

His widow, Catherine, successfully avoided foreclosure and eviction until February 1713 when the seigneury was awarded to the Governor of Montreal, Claude de Ramezay.