Adam Dollard des Ormeaux

Adam Dollard des Ormeaux is an iconic figure in the history of New France. Arriving in the colony in 1658, Dollard was appointed the position of garrison commander of Fort Ville-Marie. In the spring of 1660, Dollard led an expedition up the Ottawa River to wage war on the Iroquois. Accompanied by seventeen other Frenchmen, Dollard arrived at the foot of Long Sault on May 1 and settled his troops at an abandoned Algonquin fort. He was then joined by forty Huron and four Algonquin allies. Vastly outnumbered by the Iroquois, Dollard and his companions died at the Battle of Long Sault somewhere between May 9 and May 12. The exact nature or purpose of Dollard's 1660 expedition is uncertain; however, most historians agree that Dollard set out to conduct a "petite guerre" (ambush) against the Iroquois, in order to delay their imminent attack on Ville-Marie. For these reasons, Dollard is regarded as one of the saviours of New France.