WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.700 Canada, it's a word we all know. You hear it 00:00:02.700 --> 00:00:05.099 and you picture this vast country, right? Second 00:00:05.099 --> 00:00:07.339 largest in the world. Maple leaves, the whole 00:00:07.339 --> 00:00:11.160 thing. A G7 nation, multicultural cities, immense 00:00:11.160 --> 00:00:15.119 forests. It's a word with a huge modern meaning. 00:00:15.279 --> 00:00:18.079 Exactly. But if you peel back all of that history, 00:00:18.179 --> 00:00:21.519 all that modern context, the word itself comes 00:00:21.519 --> 00:00:25.339 from, well, a mistake. It's a misunderstanding 00:00:25.339 --> 00:00:28.399 of a Huron -Iroquois word. It means village. 00:00:28.719 --> 00:00:30.820 Just village. It's incredible. It might just 00:00:30.820 --> 00:00:33.539 be the most successful typo in history. Think 00:00:33.539 --> 00:00:36.140 about it. A word for a small group of houses 00:00:36.140 --> 00:00:39.439 ends up on a map covering almost 10 million square 00:00:39.439 --> 00:00:41.579 kilometers. And the man who made that mistake, 00:00:41.740 --> 00:00:43.719 Jacques Cartier, he didn't even want a village. 00:00:43.740 --> 00:00:45.240 He was looking for something much, much bigger. 00:00:45.399 --> 00:00:47.439 He was looking for China. For the Spice Islands, 00:00:47.539 --> 00:00:49.759 he was part of that great European push west, 00:00:50.000 --> 00:00:52.579 trying to find a shortcut to the riches of Asia. 00:00:52.979 --> 00:00:55.609 Canada was, to him, just an obstacle. And that's 00:00:55.609 --> 00:00:56.869 what we're getting into today. We're doing a 00:00:56.869 --> 00:00:58.990 deep dive into the source material around Jacques 00:00:58.990 --> 00:01:01.649 Cartier, his own ship logs, contemporary accounts, 00:01:01.909 --> 00:01:04.950 and the historical context of 16th century France. 00:01:05.150 --> 00:01:07.629 Our mission here is to really unpack the story 00:01:07.629 --> 00:01:11.189 of his three big voyages. This is a man who promised 00:01:11.189 --> 00:01:13.950 his king gold, diamonds, and a route to Asia. 00:01:14.290 --> 00:01:18.650 And what he delivered was... a really big river 00:01:18.650 --> 00:01:21.450 some shiny rocks and one of the worst winters 00:01:21.450 --> 00:01:23.670 imaginable it is a perfect story of expectation 00:01:23.670 --> 00:01:26.609 just colliding head -on with reality but when 00:01:26.609 --> 00:01:28.469 you look at the logs what really comes through 00:01:28.469 --> 00:01:30.879 is the psychology of it all What do you mean? 00:01:31.019 --> 00:01:33.480 The psychology of the explorer. You see how desperate 00:01:33.480 --> 00:01:35.379 they were to find what they were sent to find? 00:01:35.500 --> 00:01:37.819 They would look at a frozen Canadian river, completely 00:01:37.819 --> 00:01:40.299 impassable, and convince themselves it was the 00:01:40.299 --> 00:01:42.560 highway to Shanghai. And it's not just a story 00:01:42.560 --> 00:01:44.420 about getting lost. It's about the human element. 00:01:44.579 --> 00:01:46.219 We're going to get into the kidnappings, the 00:01:46.219 --> 00:01:50.640 fool's gold, and the... incredibly complex and 00:01:50.640 --> 00:01:52.700 often tragic relationship with the indigenous 00:01:52.700 --> 00:01:56.640 peoples he met. It is a messy, messy story. Cartier 00:01:56.640 --> 00:01:59.340 gets held up as this great discoverer. But the 00:01:59.340 --> 00:02:01.840 sources show us a man who is often in way over 00:02:01.840 --> 00:02:04.799 his head, frequently improvising and making some 00:02:04.799 --> 00:02:07.359 really questionable moral choices. So let's start 00:02:07.359 --> 00:02:10.379 at the beginning. Before he's got a bridge, the 00:02:10.379 --> 00:02:13.219 name on a bridge or a park who was Jacques Cartier, 00:02:13.400 --> 00:02:16.400 the notes put him in Saint -Malo, which I understand 00:02:16.400 --> 00:02:19.520 was a bit of a... A rough and tumble place. Oh, 00:02:19.539 --> 00:02:22.099 absolutely. Understanding Saint -Malo is key 00:02:22.099 --> 00:02:24.719 to understanding Cartier. It's this granite fortress 00:02:24.719 --> 00:02:28.259 of a city on the coast of Brittany. And in the 00:02:28.259 --> 00:02:30.259 16th century, it wasn't just a fishing town. 00:02:30.340 --> 00:02:33.120 It was a nest of corsairs. So pirates. State 00:02:33.120 --> 00:02:35.139 -sanctioned pirates, which is an important distinction. 00:02:36.159 --> 00:02:38.840 Privateers. These were sailors who were legally 00:02:38.840 --> 00:02:42.490 allowed by the king to raid enemy shipping. So 00:02:42.490 --> 00:02:44.050 if you grew up in St. Paul, you grew up in a 00:02:44.050 --> 00:02:46.330 culture of very aggressive, very skilled seamanship. 00:02:46.569 --> 00:02:49.090 You had to be tough. But Cartier himself wasn't 00:02:49.090 --> 00:02:51.129 a corsair, was he? The records make him sound 00:02:51.129 --> 00:02:54.310 a bit more respectable. He was. He was born in 00:02:54.310 --> 00:02:57.069 1491, not into nobility, but he was a striver. 00:02:57.110 --> 00:02:59.490 He was ambitious. The real turning point for 00:02:59.490 --> 00:03:02.289 his social status was his marriage in 1520 to 00:03:02.289 --> 00:03:04.289 a woman named Mary Catherine de Grange. And her 00:03:04.289 --> 00:03:07.050 family was a step up. A big step up. They were 00:03:07.050 --> 00:03:11.159 aristocratic. It was the classic move of marrying 00:03:11.159 --> 00:03:13.620 into a higher social class, and it worked for 00:03:13.620 --> 00:03:15.699 him. If you look at the local records from Sam 00:03:15.699 --> 00:03:17.979 Lowe after that, his name starts popping up all 00:03:17.979 --> 00:03:21.039 over the place as a godfather, as a witness at 00:03:21.039 --> 00:03:23.199 important events. He's becoming a man of influence. 00:03:23.620 --> 00:03:26.400 Exactly. He's building a reputation as a respectable, 00:03:26.500 --> 00:03:29.659 trustworthy mariner. And in that world, that 00:03:29.659 --> 00:03:31.900 trust was the currency you needed to get command 00:03:31.900 --> 00:03:35.240 of a ship, let alone a royal expedition. So how 00:03:35.240 --> 00:03:38.039 does he make that jump? From trusted local guy 00:03:38.039 --> 00:03:41.020 in Saint -Malo to standing in front of the king 00:03:41.020 --> 00:03:43.340 of France, Francis I, asking for ships, that's 00:03:43.340 --> 00:03:46.340 a huge leap. He had a patron, a man named Jean 00:03:46.340 --> 00:03:48.900 Levenor, who was the bishop of Saint -Malo and 00:03:48.900 --> 00:03:51.900 an abbot at Mont Saint -Michel. A very powerful 00:03:51.900 --> 00:03:53.939 man. He basically arranged the introduction. 00:03:54.259 --> 00:03:56.300 He went to the king and vouched for Cartier. 00:03:56.419 --> 00:03:58.979 And what was his pitch? Levenor told the king 00:03:58.979 --> 00:04:01.259 that Cartier was an experienced navigator who 00:04:01.259 --> 00:04:03.000 had already been to the New World, probably on 00:04:03.000 --> 00:04:04.939 fishing trips to Newfoundland or even as far 00:04:04.939 --> 00:04:07.580 as Brazil. And he said Cartier was the man who 00:04:07.580 --> 00:04:10.060 could find the fabled Western Passage to Asia. 00:04:10.180 --> 00:04:12.639 You have to remember the context here. It's 1534. 00:04:12.860 --> 00:04:16.019 Spain is just drowning in wealth from the Americas. 00:04:16.160 --> 00:04:18.579 They're literally hauling silver and gold out 00:04:18.579 --> 00:04:21.420 of Mexico and Peru by the shipload. Fleets of 00:04:21.420 --> 00:04:24.259 it. And France is just watching this, feeling 00:04:24.259 --> 00:04:26.639 completely left out. A massive case of national 00:04:26.639 --> 00:04:29.180 FOMO. That's the perfect way to put it. Francis 00:04:29.180 --> 00:04:31.620 I famously complained that he wanted to see the 00:04:31.620 --> 00:04:34.079 clause in Adam's will that divided the world 00:04:34.079 --> 00:04:36.899 between Spain and Portugal and left France out. 00:04:37.019 --> 00:04:39.339 He wanted his share. So the commission he gives 00:04:39.339 --> 00:04:42.279 Cartier is very specific. Very. It wasn't go 00:04:42.279 --> 00:04:44.759 and map some new lands for science. The orders 00:04:44.759 --> 00:04:47.750 were crystal clear. Find a western route to the 00:04:47.750 --> 00:04:50.430 wealthy markets of the east. End quote. Discover 00:04:50.430 --> 00:04:53.110 certain islands and lands where it is said that 00:04:53.110 --> 00:04:55.250 a great quantity of gold and other precious things 00:04:55.250 --> 00:04:57.230 are to be found. Gold and spices. That's the 00:04:57.230 --> 00:04:59.550 engine of the whole enterprise. That's it. So 00:04:59.550 --> 00:05:02.889 Cartier sets off on his first voyage, April 20th, 00:05:02.889 --> 00:05:06.290 1534. And when you look at the log, he just flies 00:05:06.290 --> 00:05:08.250 across the Atlantic. How fast are we talking? 00:05:08.430 --> 00:05:11.819 20 days. Yeah. Which is astonishingly fast for 00:05:11.819 --> 00:05:14.680 a 16th century wooden ship. It really shows you 00:05:14.680 --> 00:05:16.519 he was a master of the North Atlantic winds and 00:05:16.519 --> 00:05:18.560 currents. This is not his first time out there. 00:05:18.639 --> 00:05:20.920 So he arrives off Newfoundland, sails through 00:05:20.920 --> 00:05:23.220 the Strait of Belle Isle, and enters the Gulf 00:05:23.220 --> 00:05:25.639 of St. Lawrence. And this is where we get one 00:05:25.639 --> 00:05:27.879 of those details from the logs that just makes 00:05:27.879 --> 00:05:30.279 you stop and shudder a bit. The Islands of the 00:05:30.279 --> 00:05:33.480 Birds. Yeah, yes. What are now called the Roche 00:05:33.480 --> 00:05:35.879 -aux -Oiseaux. The crew is low on fresh meat. 00:05:36.220 --> 00:05:38.379 They see these islands just covered in birds. 00:05:38.420 --> 00:05:41.519 Great ox, we now know. Flightless, defenseless 00:05:41.519 --> 00:05:44.899 birds. And the crew goes ashore. And they just 00:05:44.899 --> 00:05:47.680 unleash a slaughter. The log is very matter -of 00:05:47.680 --> 00:05:49.639 -fact about it. It says they killed about a thousand 00:05:49.639 --> 00:05:52.060 of them. A thousand. They filled two long boats 00:05:52.060 --> 00:05:54.779 with bird carcasses in under half an hour. Then 00:05:54.779 --> 00:05:57.019 they salted barrels and barrels of them for the 00:05:57.019 --> 00:05:59.360 rest of the voyage. To them, this wasn't an act 00:05:59.360 --> 00:06:01.720 of cruelty. It was just... stocking the pantry. 00:06:01.860 --> 00:06:04.459 It's just such a stark image of how they saw 00:06:04.459 --> 00:06:07.459 this new world, not as an ecosystem, but as a 00:06:07.459 --> 00:06:09.660 warehouse of resources there for the taking. 00:06:09.920 --> 00:06:12.800 The concept of conservation or ecological limits 00:06:12.800 --> 00:06:16.399 was completely alien to them. They saw an abundance 00:06:16.399 --> 00:06:19.120 that they assumed was infinite. Of course, we 00:06:19.120 --> 00:06:21.540 know the Great Auk is now extinct. So they stock 00:06:21.540 --> 00:06:23.879 up on birds and continue on, looking for people 00:06:23.879 --> 00:06:26.259 who can point the way to China. And they have 00:06:26.259 --> 00:06:28.379 a few encounters. On the north side of Shalura 00:06:28.379 --> 00:06:31.180 Bay, They meet a group, probably Micmac. There's 00:06:31.180 --> 00:06:33.800 some cautious trading. But the whole mood of 00:06:33.800 --> 00:06:36.199 the voyage changes when they sail into Gaspé 00:06:36.199 --> 00:06:37.939 Bay. This is where they meet the St. Lawrence 00:06:37.939 --> 00:06:41.560 Iroquoians. Yes. A large group of about 200 people 00:06:41.560 --> 00:06:43.579 who had come down from their main settlements 00:06:43.579 --> 00:06:46.519 upriver to fish for mackerel for the summer. 00:06:46.779 --> 00:06:49.980 Their leader is a chief named Donna Kona. And 00:06:49.980 --> 00:06:52.560 at first, things are okay, right? They are. The 00:06:52.560 --> 00:06:54.839 log describes some singing and dancing, gifts 00:06:54.839 --> 00:06:57.759 being exchanged. It's wary, but it's not hostile. 00:06:58.120 --> 00:07:00.959 But then, on July 24th, Cartier does something 00:07:00.959 --> 00:07:03.199 that completely changes the dynamic. He plants 00:07:03.199 --> 00:07:06.139 the cross. A massive one, 10 meters high that's 00:07:06.139 --> 00:07:08.839 over 30 feet. And he attaches a shield to it 00:07:08.839 --> 00:07:10.699 with the French fleur -de -lis and carves the 00:07:10.699 --> 00:07:14.180 words, Vive le roi de France. Long live the king 00:07:14.180 --> 00:07:16.569 of France. Now, did he think they wouldn't understand 00:07:16.569 --> 00:07:19.529 what that meant? Was it naive or was it a provocation? 00:07:19.769 --> 00:07:21.689 Oh, he knew what he was doing. And what's really 00:07:21.689 --> 00:07:24.810 fascinating is that Don Acona knew exactly what 00:07:24.810 --> 00:07:26.529 he was doing, too. He didn't need a translator 00:07:26.529 --> 00:07:29.910 for that symbol. Not at all. He saw this giant 00:07:29.910 --> 00:07:32.649 foreign totem being planted on his people's land. 00:07:33.230 --> 00:07:36.009 The sources say he got in his canoe, came out 00:07:36.009 --> 00:07:38.189 to Cartier's ship dressed in an old bearskin, 00:07:38.230 --> 00:07:41.439 and just let him have it. He made this long speech, 00:07:41.639 --> 00:07:44.279 pointing at the cross and then at the land around 00:07:44.279 --> 00:07:46.980 them, making it clear, this is ours. You can't 00:07:46.980 --> 00:07:49.459 just put up a big stick and claim it. And Cartier's 00:07:49.459 --> 00:07:53.139 response is, less than honest? It's pure deception. 00:07:53.459 --> 00:07:55.860 He invites them aboard, gives them food and drink, 00:07:56.000 --> 00:07:58.180 and tells them the cross is no big deal. It's 00:07:58.180 --> 00:08:00.240 just a landmark, a navigational beacon to help 00:08:00.240 --> 00:08:02.279 them find the harbor when they come back. Which 00:08:02.279 --> 00:08:05.689 is a complete lie. A total lie. But it calms 00:08:05.689 --> 00:08:07.730 the situation down enough for him to get close 00:08:07.730 --> 00:08:11.170 to Donacona's two sons, Domogaya and Tagadny. 00:08:11.370 --> 00:08:13.449 And this is where the first kidnapping takes 00:08:13.449 --> 00:08:15.750 place. He just grabs them. It's a bit more complex. 00:08:15.990 --> 00:08:18.449 He dresses them in French clothes, gives them 00:08:18.449 --> 00:08:21.269 gifts, and then essentially coerces their father 00:08:21.269 --> 00:08:24.529 into letting him take them to France. The deal, 00:08:24.589 --> 00:08:27.050 as Donacona understood it, was that they would 00:08:27.050 --> 00:08:29.750 be brought back the following year with a shipload 00:08:29.750 --> 00:08:32.539 of European goods. But just imagine being one 00:08:32.539 --> 00:08:34.960 of those sons. You've lived your whole life in 00:08:34.960 --> 00:08:37.059 a village on the St. Lawrence River, and now 00:08:37.059 --> 00:08:39.919 you're on this creaking wooden ship, sailing 00:08:39.919 --> 00:08:42.759 into a world you can't even conceive of. It had 00:08:42.759 --> 00:08:45.460 to be utterly terrifying. But for Cartier, they 00:08:45.460 --> 00:08:48.059 were his proof of concept. He could go back to 00:08:48.059 --> 00:08:50.480 the king, show him these two men, have them learn 00:08:50.480 --> 00:08:52.559 French, and get them to tell the king about the 00:08:52.559 --> 00:08:55.279 great river that led west. They were his ticket 00:08:55.279 --> 00:08:57.600 to a second voyage. And it worked like a charm. 00:08:58.000 --> 00:09:01.320 Because in May of 1535, he's back. And this time, 00:09:01.340 --> 00:09:03.799 he's not just exploring. He means business. This 00:09:03.799 --> 00:09:06.559 is voyage number two, a much bigger expedition. 00:09:07.159 --> 00:09:09.419 Three ships this time, the Grand Armine, the 00:09:09.419 --> 00:09:12.600 Petit Armine, and the smaller Amérien. He has 00:09:12.600 --> 00:09:16.039 a crew of 110 men. And crucially, he has his 00:09:16.039 --> 00:09:19.620 two guides. And this is the voyage where he actually 00:09:19.620 --> 00:09:22.179 sails up the river. This is it. This is the first 00:09:22.179 --> 00:09:24.700 documented European navigation of the St. Lawrence 00:09:24.700 --> 00:09:27.799 River. Guided by the two sons, he sails past 00:09:27.799 --> 00:09:31.240 Anticosti Island and realizes this isn't just 00:09:31.240 --> 00:09:35.100 a bay. This is a massive waterway leading deep 00:09:35.100 --> 00:09:36.840 into the continent. And this brings us to the 00:09:36.840 --> 00:09:40.350 name, the Canada. Mistake. I just love this part 00:09:40.350 --> 00:09:42.929 of the story. It's a perfect example of two cultures 00:09:42.929 --> 00:09:45.370 completely talking past each other. As they're 00:09:45.370 --> 00:09:47.750 sailing upriver, they're heading for the Iroquoian 00:09:47.750 --> 00:09:50.529 capital, a place called Statacona. Which is near 00:09:50.529 --> 00:09:53.110 modern -day Quebec City. Exactly. And the two 00:09:53.110 --> 00:09:55.169 guides are pointing ahead, and they use their 00:09:55.169 --> 00:09:57.509 word, Kanata. Meaning, village. Right. They're 00:09:57.509 --> 00:09:59.870 just saying, the village is just ahead. But Cartier 00:09:59.870 --> 00:10:03.070 hears Kanata, and on his charts, he writes it 00:10:03.070 --> 00:10:05.429 down as the name for the entire region. He thinks 00:10:05.429 --> 00:10:07.230 that's what the whole country is called. He does, 00:10:07.389 --> 00:10:09.419 and the name just sticks. First it reflected 00:10:09.419 --> 00:10:11.899 that small area, then it expanded to the whole 00:10:11.899 --> 00:10:14.220 north shore of the river, and eventually, centuries 00:10:14.220 --> 00:10:16.960 later, it becomes the name for the second largest 00:10:16.960 --> 00:10:19.700 country on Earth. All from one little misunderstanding. 00:10:20.340 --> 00:10:22.820 So they get to Staticona, they meet Donacona 00:10:22.820 --> 00:10:26.320 again. The reunion must have been tense. I imagine 00:10:26.320 --> 00:10:29.860 so. But also, a relief for Donacona, seeing his 00:10:29.860 --> 00:10:33.159 sons returned. But Cartier isn't satisfied with 00:10:33.159 --> 00:10:35.899 Staticona. He has gold fever. He's hearing stories 00:10:35.899 --> 00:10:38.179 from the locals about another, bigger settlement. 00:10:38.639 --> 00:10:41.200 further upriver, a place called Hochelaga. And 00:10:41.200 --> 00:10:43.720 Donacona doesn't want him to go. No, Donacona 00:10:43.720 --> 00:10:46.320 tries everything to stop him. He probably wanted 00:10:46.320 --> 00:10:48.740 to control the French and monopolize any trade. 00:10:49.200 --> 00:10:51.360 He tells Cartier the river is too dangerous, 00:10:51.539 --> 00:10:54.240 that there are monsters. He even has three men 00:10:54.240 --> 00:10:56.440 dress up as devils with long horns and blackened 00:10:56.440 --> 00:10:58.460 faces to try and scare the French away. That's 00:10:58.460 --> 00:11:01.360 a theatrical. It is, but Cartier isn't buying 00:11:01.360 --> 00:11:04.120 it. He accuses them of trickery and says his 00:11:04.120 --> 00:11:07.379 god will protect him. He leaves his two main 00:11:07.379 --> 00:11:10.220 ships and most of his men at Staticona and pushes 00:11:10.220 --> 00:11:12.639 upriver in the smallest vessel, the Emerion. 00:11:13.000 --> 00:11:15.320 To Hochelaga, which is basically in Montreal. 00:11:15.600 --> 00:11:17.659 It's on the island of Montreal, yes. And when 00:11:17.659 --> 00:11:19.320 he gets there, the place is much more impressive 00:11:19.320 --> 00:11:22.340 than Staticona. It's a large, fortified village 00:11:22.340 --> 00:11:25.559 with a triple palisade, surrounded by vast fields 00:11:25.559 --> 00:11:28.820 of corn. The log says a crowd of over a thousand 00:11:28.820 --> 00:11:30.860 people came out to greet them. He's a celebrity! 00:11:31.480 --> 00:11:33.519 He is. They carry him on their shoulders. They 00:11:33.519 --> 00:11:35.720 bring their sick for him to touch, as if he's 00:11:35.720 --> 00:11:38.720 a healer. He reads in the Gospel of John. It's 00:11:38.720 --> 00:11:41.200 this moment of incredible cultural collision. 00:11:41.679 --> 00:11:44.100 But Cartier has one thing on his mind. China. 00:11:44.259 --> 00:11:47.039 China. He is led to the top of the mountain that 00:11:47.039 --> 00:11:49.440 dominates the island. He names it Mount Royal, 00:11:50.200 --> 00:11:51.820 which is where we get the name Montreal. And 00:11:51.820 --> 00:11:53.879 he looks out to the west over the Ottawa River, 00:11:53.940 --> 00:11:57.279 and he's expecting the Pacific Ocean. He's expecting 00:11:57.279 --> 00:11:59.860 to see a clear path, a waterway that will take 00:11:59.860 --> 00:12:02.730 him to Asia. He is so close he can taste it. 00:12:02.750 --> 00:12:06.269 And instead, what he sees is just water, but 00:12:06.269 --> 00:12:09.590 it's white. It's frothing. Rapids. Vicious, impassable 00:12:09.590 --> 00:12:12.110 rapids. And you have to understand, for a 16th 00:12:12.110 --> 00:12:15.149 century sailing ship, rapids are not an inconvenience. 00:12:15.149 --> 00:12:18.610 They are a brick wall, a dead end. Hitting a 00:12:18.610 --> 00:12:20.690 rock in that current would be the end of the 00:12:20.690 --> 00:12:23.610 ship and everyone on it. Instantly. So he's standing 00:12:23.610 --> 00:12:26.700 there. on Mont Royal, and his entire dream of 00:12:26.700 --> 00:12:28.740 a Northwest Passage just dies right in front 00:12:28.740 --> 00:12:30.799 of his eyes. The disappointment must have been 00:12:30.799 --> 00:12:33.360 absolutely crushing. But the irony, and I love 00:12:33.360 --> 00:12:35.460 this part, the irony is that he was so convinced 00:12:35.460 --> 00:12:37.740 that China was just on the other side of that 00:12:37.740 --> 00:12:40.279 white water that the area eventually got a nickname. 00:12:40.500 --> 00:12:43.639 It did. The Rapids and the town that grew up 00:12:43.639 --> 00:12:46.879 near them became known as Lachine. The China 00:12:46.879 --> 00:12:49.720 Rapids. It's a joke that's literally carved into 00:12:49.720 --> 00:12:52.429 the map of Canada. It's a permanent monument 00:12:52.429 --> 00:12:55.389 to his stubborn delusion. He couldn't accept 00:12:55.389 --> 00:12:57.490 that this was a new continent with its own geography. 00:12:57.730 --> 00:13:00.210 He had to force it into his pre -existing mental 00:13:00.210 --> 00:13:02.870 map. So he hits this wall. He has to turn back. 00:13:02.909 --> 00:13:06.470 He sails back downriver to Staticona. But there's 00:13:06.470 --> 00:13:08.549 a problem. He's been upriver too long. He has. 00:13:08.669 --> 00:13:10.610 By the time he gets back, it's mid -October. 00:13:10.789 --> 00:13:12.789 And as anyone who's spent time in Quebec can 00:13:12.789 --> 00:13:14.830 tell you, winter doesn't ask for permission. 00:13:15.070 --> 00:13:17.350 It just arrives. And Carquier, a man from the 00:13:17.350 --> 00:13:19.789 relatively mild maritime climate of Brittany, 00:13:19.970 --> 00:13:22.269 has absolutely no idea what he's in for. He is 00:13:22.269 --> 00:13:25.190 about to face a full -blown Canadian continental 00:13:25.190 --> 00:13:27.830 winter. And it's going to destroy his expedition. 00:13:28.409 --> 00:13:30.190 This part of the log, it reads like a horror 00:13:30.190 --> 00:13:32.830 story. They haul their ships into a small tributary, 00:13:33.070 --> 00:13:35.190 build a makeshift fort, and then the world just 00:13:35.190 --> 00:13:37.570 freezes around them. The river freezes solid. 00:13:38.029 --> 00:13:40.490 The log says the ice was more than two fathoms 00:13:40.490 --> 00:13:42.970 thick. That's over three and a half meters. The 00:13:42.970 --> 00:13:45.450 ships were locked in place. The snow on the shore 00:13:45.450 --> 00:13:48.370 was over a meter deep. They are trapped. Completely 00:13:48.370 --> 00:13:50.590 trapped. And they're living in the hulls of these 00:13:50.590 --> 00:13:52.830 ships, which are basically frozen wooden caves. 00:13:53.330 --> 00:13:55.690 He writes that the inside walls were covered 00:13:55.690 --> 00:13:59.580 in ice four fingers thick. It's dark. It's cramped. 00:13:59.659 --> 00:14:02.440 The food is spoiling. And then the disease starts. 00:14:02.740 --> 00:14:05.919 Scurvy. We know today it's just a simple vitamin 00:14:05.919 --> 00:14:08.960 C deficiency. But to them, it was a terrifying, 00:14:09.139 --> 00:14:11.860 mysterious plague. They had no idea what caused 00:14:11.860 --> 00:14:14.340 it or how to stop it. The descriptions are just 00:14:14.340 --> 00:14:16.980 gruesome. They are. Cartier writes about how 00:14:16.980 --> 00:14:19.340 his men's legs would swell up and turn black 00:14:19.340 --> 00:14:22.259 and purple like they were brewed. Their gums 00:14:22.259 --> 00:14:24.720 would rot away, becoming so putrid that their 00:14:24.720 --> 00:14:26.620 teeth would just loosen and fall out. Just fall 00:14:26.620 --> 00:14:29.259 out of their heads. Yes. And strangest of all, 00:14:29.620 --> 00:14:33.259 old wounds, scars from years before, would suddenly 00:14:33.259 --> 00:14:36.139 reopen and start to fester. It was like their 00:14:36.139 --> 00:14:37.899 bodies were just falling apart from the inside 00:14:37.899 --> 00:14:40.200 out. It's a nightmare how many men were affected. 00:14:40.639 --> 00:14:43.950 Pretty much everyone. By mid -February, Cartier 00:14:43.950 --> 00:14:47.149 writes that out of his 110 men, there weren't 00:14:47.149 --> 00:14:48.970 even 10 who were healthy enough to care for the 00:14:48.970 --> 00:14:52.110 others. Men were dying every day. They stopped 00:14:52.110 --> 00:14:54.190 trying to bury them because the ground was frozen 00:14:54.190 --> 00:14:57.029 solid. They just hid the bodies in snowdrifts 00:14:57.029 --> 00:14:59.190 around the fort. It's so grim. There's a note 00:14:59.190 --> 00:15:01.730 on an old Spanish map from around that time. 00:15:01.750 --> 00:15:04.009 It points to that very spot and says simply, 00:15:04.190 --> 00:15:07.549 here many French died of hunger. They were facing 00:15:07.549 --> 00:15:09.809 total annihilation. They were all going to die 00:15:09.809 --> 00:15:12.289 there, frozen in the ice. And the only reason 00:15:12.289 --> 00:15:15.450 they didn't is the Iroquois. The very people 00:15:15.450 --> 00:15:17.830 he had been, you know, manipulating and lying 00:15:17.830 --> 00:15:21.149 to. Exactly. Cartier noticed that Domagaya, one 00:15:21.149 --> 00:15:23.190 of the sons he'd kidnapped, had been sick with 00:15:23.190 --> 00:15:25.230 the same symptoms, but had suddenly made a full 00:15:25.230 --> 00:15:28.309 recovery. He was walking around healthy. So Cartier, 00:15:28.470 --> 00:15:30.750 in complete desperation, goes and asks him for 00:15:30.750 --> 00:15:33.929 the secret. He does. And Domagaya tells him about 00:15:33.929 --> 00:15:37.419 a specific tree, which he calls a netta. We think 00:15:37.419 --> 00:15:39.559 it was probably eastern white cedar, maybe a 00:15:39.559 --> 00:15:41.320 type of spruce. And what did they do with it? 00:15:41.679 --> 00:15:44.700 Domagaya teaches them to boil the bark and the 00:15:44.700 --> 00:15:48.519 needles to make a tea, a decoction. It would 00:15:48.519 --> 00:15:51.080 have been incredibly rich in vitamin C and also 00:15:51.080 --> 00:15:54.179 ascorbic acid. It's the miracle cure. It was. 00:15:54.879 --> 00:15:57.200 Carty writes that at first his men were suspicious. 00:15:57.320 --> 00:15:59.139 They didn't want to drink this strange tree bark 00:15:59.139 --> 00:16:02.200 tea. But two or three of them tried it, and within 00:16:02.200 --> 00:16:04.259 a day or two, they started to feel better. And 00:16:04.259 --> 00:16:07.360 then it was a frenzy. A complete frenzy. He says 00:16:07.360 --> 00:16:09.759 they stripped a tree as large as any I ever saw, 00:16:09.899 --> 00:16:12.840 completely bare in less than a week. And it worked. 00:16:13.019 --> 00:16:16.620 It just worked. The scurvy was cured. The irony 00:16:16.620 --> 00:16:19.399 is just staggering. The man he kidnapped is the 00:16:19.399 --> 00:16:22.019 only reason his expedition survived. It's a powerful 00:16:22.019 --> 00:16:25.159 lesson in interdependence. But Cartier, being 00:16:25.159 --> 00:16:28.080 Cartier, repays this incredible act of humanity 00:16:28.080 --> 00:16:31.570 in a very characteristic way. Let me guess. It 00:16:31.570 --> 00:16:33.610 involves another kidnapping. You guessed it. 00:16:33.870 --> 00:16:36.330 Spring finally arrives. The ice breaks up. It's 00:16:36.330 --> 00:16:38.330 time to go home. But what does he have to show 00:16:38.330 --> 00:16:41.590 for it? He lost 25 men. He didn't find a passage 00:16:41.590 --> 00:16:44.529 to China. He didn't find any gold. A story about 00:16:44.529 --> 00:16:46.690 a miracle tree isn't going to impress the king. 00:16:46.970 --> 00:16:49.750 Not enough to fund a third voyage. He needs something 00:16:49.750 --> 00:16:52.509 more spectacular. He needs a story about gold. 00:16:53.269 --> 00:16:55.870 And he decides the best person to tell that story 00:16:55.870 --> 00:16:59.429 is the chief himself, Donna Kona. So this is 00:16:59.429 --> 00:17:01.230 where the mythical kingdom of Saguenay comes 00:17:01.230 --> 00:17:03.690 into play. What was that exactly? That's the 00:17:03.690 --> 00:17:07.170 million -franc question. The Iroquoians, Donna 00:17:07.170 --> 00:17:09.369 Coney included, have been telling Cartier stories 00:17:09.369 --> 00:17:12.609 about a wealthy kingdom to the north, up the 00:17:12.609 --> 00:17:15.269 Saguenay River. a place where people were as 00:17:15.269 --> 00:17:18.509 white as in France, wore woolen clothes, and 00:17:18.509 --> 00:17:21.450 had vast amounts of gold, rubies, and other precious 00:17:21.450 --> 00:17:23.730 metals. Was any of it true? It's hard to say. 00:17:23.809 --> 00:17:26.410 One theory is that it was a garbled description 00:17:26.410 --> 00:17:29.730 of a real indigenous trade network. Maybe they 00:17:29.730 --> 00:17:31.650 were describing copper from the Great Lakes, 00:17:31.730 --> 00:17:35.029 and Carquier, in his gold -obsessed mind, just 00:17:35.029 --> 00:17:37.930 heard gold. Or they were just telling him what 00:17:37.930 --> 00:17:39.950 he wanted to hear. That's the other more cynical 00:17:39.950 --> 00:17:42.450 theory, that the Iroquois were smart. They figured 00:17:42.450 --> 00:17:44.829 out what these strange bearded men wanted more 00:17:44.829 --> 00:17:46.950 than anything. It was this yellow metal. So they 00:17:46.950 --> 00:17:48.970 said, oh, the gold. Yeah, lots of it. But it's 00:17:48.970 --> 00:17:50.329 not here. It's way over there. You should go 00:17:50.329 --> 00:17:52.309 look for it. Who bothered the people in Saguenay? 00:17:52.869 --> 00:17:55.049 Precisely. It was a clever way to try and get 00:17:55.049 --> 00:17:58.650 rid of them. But Cartier bought it. Hook, line, 00:17:58.930 --> 00:18:02.390 and sinker. He needed it to be real. So he decides 00:18:02.390 --> 00:18:04.970 to take Donnacona back to France to tell this 00:18:04.970 --> 00:18:07.650 story to the king himself. He hashes a plot. 00:18:07.970 --> 00:18:10.670 He pretends to be having a celebration, lures 00:18:10.670 --> 00:18:13.390 Donnacona, the two sons, and several other headmen 00:18:13.390 --> 00:18:16.390 into his fort, and then he seizes them. He captures 00:18:16.390 --> 00:18:19.049 the entire leadership of Statacona. And sails 00:18:19.049 --> 00:18:21.349 for France. He promised the people he'd bring 00:18:21.349 --> 00:18:23.769 them back in a year. A promise he had no intention 00:18:23.769 --> 00:18:25.789 of keeping. None of them ever saw their home 00:18:25.789 --> 00:18:28.309 again. They all died in France within a few years. 00:18:28.549 --> 00:18:31.640 But Donnacona did his job first. He did. Before 00:18:31.640 --> 00:18:34.460 he died, he was presented at court. And he told 00:18:34.460 --> 00:18:37.119 King Francis the first incredible tales of the 00:18:37.119 --> 00:18:40.099 kingdom of Saguenay. Fantastical stories of one 00:18:40.099 --> 00:18:42.920 -legged men, people who could fly, and a kingdom 00:18:42.920 --> 00:18:45.039 overflowing with gold. And the king believed 00:18:45.039 --> 00:18:47.420 it. The king was hooked. This was exactly what 00:18:47.420 --> 00:18:49.339 he wanted to hear. He immediately began planning 00:18:49.339 --> 00:18:52.240 a third voyage. But this time, the entire objective 00:18:52.240 --> 00:18:55.900 had changed. It's now 1541. Five years have passed. 00:18:56.349 --> 00:18:58.809 The goal is no longer just exploration or finding 00:18:58.809 --> 00:19:01.170 a passage. The king's orders are for colonization. 00:19:01.710 --> 00:19:03.690 He wants to build a permanent French settlement, 00:19:03.910 --> 00:19:06.690 claim the territory, and find and exploit the 00:19:06.690 --> 00:19:09.109 riches of Saguenay. But there's a catch for Cartier. 00:19:09.230 --> 00:19:12.690 A big one. A very big one. He's the expert. He's 00:19:12.690 --> 00:19:14.130 the only one who really knows the St. Lawrence. 00:19:14.349 --> 00:19:16.230 But the king doesn't put him in charge of the 00:19:16.230 --> 00:19:18.529 whole enterprise. Who gets the job? A nobleman, 00:19:18.569 --> 00:19:21.369 a courtier, and a soldier named Jean -Francois 00:19:21.369 --> 00:19:23.769 de la Roque de Roberval. He's named lieutenant 00:19:23.769 --> 00:19:27.000 general of Canada. Cartier is demoted to chief 00:19:27.000 --> 00:19:29.940 navigator. Ouch. That must have stung. It was 00:19:29.940 --> 00:19:33.220 a class thing. Colonization was seen as a military 00:19:33.220 --> 00:19:36.240 and aristocratic venture. Cartier was a commoner, 00:19:36.259 --> 00:19:38.900 a sailor from Saint -Malo. He wasn't considered 00:19:38.900 --> 00:19:41.859 high status enough to lead it. But this decision 00:19:41.859 --> 00:19:43.680 effectively doomed the mission from the start 00:19:43.680 --> 00:19:46.259 because Cartier and Roberval did not get along. 00:19:46.500 --> 00:19:48.859 And their coordination was a mess from day one. 00:19:48.960 --> 00:19:52.619 A total mess. Roberval was delayed, waiting for 00:19:52.619 --> 00:19:55.190 artillery and more supplies. He told Cartier 00:19:55.190 --> 00:19:57.269 to sail on ahead with five ships and about 1 00:19:57.269 --> 00:20:01.849 ,500 people. Cartier left in May 1541. 1 ,500 00:20:01.849 --> 00:20:04.329 people? That's not an expedition. That's an invasion 00:20:04.329 --> 00:20:07.569 force. It is. It includes settlers, soldiers, 00:20:07.829 --> 00:20:10.470 even livestock. This is meant to be permanent. 00:20:10.809 --> 00:20:13.569 So Cartier arrives back at Statacona. He has 00:20:13.569 --> 00:20:16.190 to face the Iroquoians, now led by a new chief, 00:20:16.329 --> 00:20:18.970 Agona. And he has to explain what happened to 00:20:18.970 --> 00:20:21.650 Donacona and the others. And again. He lies. 00:20:21.950 --> 00:20:24.809 He tells them Donnacona died in France, which 00:20:24.809 --> 00:20:27.349 was true. But he claims the other chiefs had 00:20:27.349 --> 00:20:30.390 become great lords, married French women, and 00:20:30.390 --> 00:20:32.450 had chosen to stay in France and live in luxury. 00:20:32.690 --> 00:20:35.660 Did anyone believe him? Not for a second. The 00:20:35.660 --> 00:20:37.900 log says Agona pretended to be happy about it, 00:20:37.920 --> 00:20:40.259 probably because Donacona was his political rival. 00:20:40.420 --> 00:20:43.200 But the trust was completely shattered. The French 00:20:43.200 --> 00:20:46.420 were now seen as kidnappers and liars. So Staticona 00:20:46.420 --> 00:20:49.779 is no longer a safe place for them. No. Cartier 00:20:49.779 --> 00:20:52.779 recognizes the danger. The Iroquois are openly 00:20:52.779 --> 00:20:55.740 hostile. So he abandons Staticona and sails a 00:20:55.740 --> 00:20:57.839 few miles upriver to a high cliff at the mouth 00:20:57.839 --> 00:21:00.519 of the Cap Rouge River. And there... He builds 00:21:00.519 --> 00:21:02.779 the first fortified European settlement in what 00:21:02.779 --> 00:21:05.160 is now Canada. He calls it Charlesburg Royal. 00:21:05.359 --> 00:21:07.000 And they actually try to make a go of it. They 00:21:07.000 --> 00:21:10.339 plant crops. They do. The log says they planted 00:21:10.339 --> 00:21:13.119 cabbage, turnip, and lettuce, which grew well. 00:21:13.640 --> 00:21:15.579 They built two forts, one at the base of the 00:21:15.579 --> 00:21:17.599 cliff and one at the top. They were settling 00:21:17.599 --> 00:21:20.819 in for the long haul. And then the men started 00:21:20.819 --> 00:21:23.200 finding something in the rocks. Here we go. The 00:21:23.200 --> 00:21:25.900 gold fever returns. With a vengeance. They find 00:21:25.900 --> 00:21:28.019 these shiny yellow specks in the slate cliffs. 00:21:28.440 --> 00:21:30.599 And down by the river, they find loads of these 00:21:30.599 --> 00:21:32.920 hard, clear stones that glitter in the sun like, 00:21:33.000 --> 00:21:36.140 well... Diamonds? Diamonds. Karkarchi is beyond 00:21:36.140 --> 00:21:39.039 excited. He is convinced he's finally found it. 00:21:39.079 --> 00:21:41.400 The wealth of Saguenay. He packs barrels and 00:21:41.400 --> 00:21:43.420 barrels of the stuff. He believes he's about 00:21:43.420 --> 00:21:45.859 to become the richest man in France. But while 00:21:45.859 --> 00:21:48.180 they're digging for diamonds, the situation outside 00:21:48.180 --> 00:21:50.880 the fort is getting worse. Much worse. They are 00:21:50.880 --> 00:21:53.680 essentially living under siege. The Iroquoians, 00:21:53.819 --> 00:21:56.660 who now vastly outnumber them, refuse to trade. 00:21:56.880 --> 00:22:00.119 They begin a campaign of guerrilla warfare, attacking 00:22:00.119 --> 00:22:02.619 any small group of French who wander too far 00:22:02.619 --> 00:22:04.619 from the fort. We don't have Cartier's full log 00:22:04.619 --> 00:22:07.099 for that winter, do we? No, it's lost to history. 00:22:07.400 --> 00:22:09.819 But later accounts from sailors on the voyage 00:22:09.819 --> 00:22:12.220 tell us that at least 35 of the settlers were 00:22:12.220 --> 00:22:14.799 killed in these skirmishes. It was a brutal... 00:22:15.099 --> 00:22:17.359 Terrifying winter. And Cartier is stuck there. 00:22:17.460 --> 00:22:19.480 He's got his barrels of treasure, but he's surrounded 00:22:19.480 --> 00:22:22.599 by enemies. Winter is setting in, and his boss, 00:22:22.819 --> 00:22:25.759 Roberval, is nowhere to be seen. So he makes 00:22:25.759 --> 00:22:27.859 a decision. He decides to cut his losses and 00:22:27.859 --> 00:22:31.460 run. In early June of 1542... He makes the call 00:22:31.460 --> 00:22:34.000 to abandon Charlesburg Royal. He packs up all 00:22:34.000 --> 00:22:36.619 his gold and diamonds, loads everyone onto the 00:22:36.619 --> 00:22:39.519 ships, and flees for France. And this leads to 00:22:39.519 --> 00:22:41.799 maybe the most dramatic scene in the entire story. 00:22:41.900 --> 00:22:43.980 He's sailing home. He pulls into the harbor at 00:22:43.980 --> 00:22:46.480 St. John's, Newfoundland to get supplies. And 00:22:46.480 --> 00:22:49.440 who should be sailing in? His boss, Jean -Francois 00:22:49.440 --> 00:22:52.259 de Roberville, finally arriving from France with 00:22:52.259 --> 00:22:55.019 his three ships and 200 more settlers. That has 00:22:55.019 --> 00:22:56.740 to be the most awkward meeting in the history 00:22:56.740 --> 00:22:59.119 of exploration. Oh, hello, boss. Funny seeing 00:22:59.119 --> 00:23:01.589 you here. I was just... quitting. Roberval is 00:23:01.589 --> 00:23:04.369 absolutely furious. He's just crossed the Atlantic 00:23:04.369 --> 00:23:07.250 and his chief navigator is running away. He holds 00:23:07.250 --> 00:23:09.589 a council and formally orders Cartier to turn 00:23:09.589 --> 00:23:11.809 his ships around and sail back to the colony 00:23:11.809 --> 00:23:13.809 with him. A direct order from his commanding 00:23:13.809 --> 00:23:16.869 officer? Yes. But Cartier thinks he has an ace 00:23:16.869 --> 00:23:19.490 up his sleeve. He has the diamonds. He has the 00:23:19.490 --> 00:23:22.529 gold. He believes he is carrying a fortune that 00:23:22.529 --> 00:23:25.069 will make the king forgive any act of insubordination. 00:23:25.430 --> 00:23:28.150 So he disobeys the order? In the most flagrant 00:23:28.150 --> 00:23:31.019 way possible. During the night, he has his sailors 00:23:31.019 --> 00:23:33.900 quietly weigh anchor, and under the cover of 00:23:33.900 --> 00:23:36.359 darkness, he slips his ships out of the harbor. 00:23:36.619 --> 00:23:39.339 He deserts his commander and his mission. He 00:23:39.339 --> 00:23:41.500 ghosts him. That's unbelievable. That's a court 00:23:41.500 --> 00:23:44.400 martial offense. Treason, even. It is. But he's 00:23:44.400 --> 00:23:46.700 betting everything on that cargo. He sails back 00:23:46.700 --> 00:23:48.559 to France, he gets his audience with the king, 00:23:48.720 --> 00:23:51.039 he presents his barrels of treasure, and the 00:23:51.039 --> 00:23:53.240 royal assayers get to work. And the verdict comes 00:23:53.240 --> 00:23:57.390 in. The gold is iron pyrite. Fool's gold. The 00:23:57.390 --> 00:23:59.809 diamonds are quartz crystals. They're all completely, 00:23:59.930 --> 00:24:03.869 utterly worthless. Oh, the humiliation. You abandon 00:24:03.869 --> 00:24:07.450 a colony. You defy your commander. You risk everything 00:24:07.450 --> 00:24:10.490 for a boatload of gravel. The failure was so 00:24:10.490 --> 00:24:13.490 total. So spectacular that it actually became 00:24:13.490 --> 00:24:15.589 a part of the French language. For centuries 00:24:15.589 --> 00:24:19.029 after, there was a common proverb, faux comme 00:24:19.029 --> 00:24:21.210 les diamants du Canada. As false as Canadian 00:24:21.210 --> 00:24:23.390 diamonds. Exactly. If you wanted to say something 00:24:23.390 --> 00:24:26.789 was a complete fraud, a total sham, you compared 00:24:26.789 --> 00:24:29.119 it to Cartier's great discovery. And what happened 00:24:29.119 --> 00:24:31.640 to Rob Reval, the guy he abandoned in Newfoundland? 00:24:31.839 --> 00:24:34.859 Rob Reval, to his credit, carried on. He sailed 00:24:34.859 --> 00:24:38.299 to the abandoned fort at Charlesburg Royal, reestablished 00:24:38.299 --> 00:24:40.220 the colony, and tried to stick it out for the 00:24:40.220 --> 00:24:42.420 winter. How did that go for him? It was a catastrophe. 00:24:42.740 --> 00:24:45.420 The winter was just as brutal. Scurvy came back 00:24:45.420 --> 00:24:47.980 with a vengeance. Fifty settlers died from it, 00:24:48.019 --> 00:24:49.980 and the attacks on the Iroquois were relentless. 00:24:50.519 --> 00:24:53.380 By the spring of 1543, he gave up, backed up 00:24:53.380 --> 00:24:55.680 the survivors, and sailed home. So the whole 00:24:55.680 --> 00:24:58.299 colonization effort was a complete failure. An 00:24:58.299 --> 00:25:01.240 expensive and deadly failure. And because of 00:25:01.240 --> 00:25:03.819 it, France completely lost interest in Canada. 00:25:04.039 --> 00:25:06.660 They basically wrote it off as a frozen, worthless 00:25:06.660 --> 00:25:09.559 wasteland full of hostile people and fake diamonds. 00:25:09.859 --> 00:25:12.000 They wouldn't make another serious attempt at 00:25:12.000 --> 00:25:15.519 colonization for more than 60 years until Samuel 00:25:15.519 --> 00:25:18.940 de Champlain arrived in the early 1600s. And 00:25:18.940 --> 00:25:21.119 Cartier, what becomes of him after all this? 00:25:21.420 --> 00:25:24.079 He retires in disgrace to his estate near Saint 00:25:24.079 --> 00:25:27.049 -Malo. He lives out his days quietly, occasionally 00:25:27.049 --> 00:25:29.250 working as a Portuguese interpreter for the local 00:25:29.250 --> 00:25:33.250 courts. He dies in 1557 during an outbreak of 00:25:33.250 --> 00:25:35.930 typhus, a pretty anticlimactic end for the man 00:25:35.930 --> 00:25:37.710 who named Canada. But the story doesn't quite 00:25:37.710 --> 00:25:40.650 end there, because for centuries, the exact location 00:25:40.650 --> 00:25:43.990 of that failed colony, Charlesburg Royal, was 00:25:43.990 --> 00:25:46.450 lost. That's right. People knew it was near Cap 00:25:46.450 --> 00:25:49.289 Rouge, but the precise spot was a mystery until... 00:25:49.559 --> 00:25:52.619 Very recently. 2006, I think. Yes, in 2006, a 00:25:52.619 --> 00:25:54.539 team of Canadian archaeologists finally found 00:25:54.539 --> 00:25:56.500 it. They uncovered the remains of the timber 00:25:56.500 --> 00:25:59.220 forts, blacksmith forges, and most tellingly, 00:25:59.220 --> 00:26:01.960 a very specific piece of pottery. A fragment 00:26:01.960 --> 00:26:05.259 of a beautiful, ornate Italian ceramic plate. 00:26:05.599 --> 00:26:09.259 It's called Fononza Istoriata Ware, made between 00:26:09.259 --> 00:26:12.740 1540 and 1550. This wasn't the kind of thing 00:26:12.740 --> 00:26:15.720 a common sailor or a farmer would own. This was 00:26:15.720 --> 00:26:18.789 high -end... Luxury dinnerware. It had to belong 00:26:18.789 --> 00:26:21.049 to an aristocrat. It almost certainly belonged 00:26:21.049 --> 00:26:23.990 to Robert Ravel himself. It's this tiny, tangible 00:26:23.990 --> 00:26:26.930 piece of the French Renaissance court found shattered 00:26:26.930 --> 00:26:29.450 and buried in the Canadian soil. It's the proof. 00:26:29.549 --> 00:26:31.690 It's the whole story real. It's amazing. It connects 00:26:31.690 --> 00:26:34.549 that whole grand, doomed enterprise right back 00:26:34.549 --> 00:26:37.009 to a single person eating his dinner while a 00:26:37.009 --> 00:26:38.950 Canadian winter howled outside. And dreaming 00:26:38.950 --> 00:26:41.799 of Saguenay. So when we zoom out and look at 00:26:41.799 --> 00:26:44.180 the whole picture, how do we assess Jacques Cartier? 00:26:44.220 --> 00:26:46.839 He was looking for Asia. He found a river. He 00:26:46.839 --> 00:26:49.779 wanted gold. He found quartz. He heard the word 00:26:49.779 --> 00:26:51.980 for village and thought it was a country. It's 00:26:51.980 --> 00:26:54.420 a legacy of failure that somehow became a success. 00:26:54.640 --> 00:26:57.519 He failed at every single one of his stated objectives. 00:26:57.859 --> 00:26:59.839 He didn't find the passage. He didn't find any 00:26:59.839 --> 00:27:04.299 wealth. His colony was a disaster. But in failing, 00:27:04.319 --> 00:27:07.049 he was the first European to penetrate. map, 00:27:07.190 --> 00:27:09.670 and describe the gateway to the North American 00:27:09.670 --> 00:27:12.930 continent. Uh -huh. The St. Lawrence River. He 00:27:12.930 --> 00:27:14.869 put it on the map. He gave the place its name. 00:27:15.690 --> 00:27:18.609 Without Cartier's voyages and charts, Champlain 00:27:18.609 --> 00:27:20.849 would have had nowhere to start. Cartier opened 00:27:20.849 --> 00:27:22.309 the door, even if he couldn't see what was on 00:27:22.309 --> 00:27:24.490 the other side. And his treatment of the Iroquois. 00:27:25.609 --> 00:27:27.990 The kidnappings. That set a tone, didn't it? 00:27:28.069 --> 00:27:31.269 It did. It set a precedent for deceit and mistrust 00:27:31.269 --> 00:27:33.990 that poisoned relations for a long time. He was 00:27:33.990 --> 00:27:36.250 a brilliant navigator. He never lost a ship at 00:27:36.250 --> 00:27:39.170 sea, which is remarkable. But his diplomacy was 00:27:39.170 --> 00:27:42.089 dishonorable, even by the standards of his own 00:27:42.089 --> 00:27:44.609 time. So he's not the discoverer of Canada? We 00:27:44.609 --> 00:27:46.710 know Vikings and Basque fishermen were there 00:27:46.710 --> 00:27:49.269 long before him. No, but he is the first to systematically 00:27:49.269 --> 00:27:52.200 explore and map the interior waterway. That's 00:27:52.200 --> 00:27:54.640 his real lasting contribution. It all comes back 00:27:54.640 --> 00:27:56.759 to mistakes, doesn't it? A story of mistaken 00:27:56.759 --> 00:27:59.759 geography with China, mistaken geology with the 00:27:59.759 --> 00:28:02.220 diamonds, and a mistaken translation with the 00:28:02.220 --> 00:28:04.660 name Canada. Which brings us to a final thought 00:28:04.660 --> 00:28:08.019 to leave you with. Cartier kidnapped a chief 00:28:08.019 --> 00:28:10.519 to have him tell the king a story about a mythical 00:28:10.519 --> 00:28:14.220 kingdom of gold called Saguenay. Was Saguenay 00:28:14.220 --> 00:28:16.779 just a tall tale the Iroquoians told to get the 00:28:16.779 --> 00:28:19.609 French to leave them alone? Or was it a genuine 00:28:19.609 --> 00:28:22.630 misunderstanding of a real trade network? And 00:28:22.630 --> 00:28:25.190 think about this. The false diamonds of Canada 00:28:25.190 --> 00:28:27.650 became a proverb for a sham. They were forgotten. 00:28:28.150 --> 00:28:30.950 But the false name for the country, Canada, the 00:28:30.950 --> 00:28:34.190 village, that mistake became a nation. What does 00:28:34.190 --> 00:28:36.569 it say about how history works? That sometimes 00:28:36.569 --> 00:28:38.809 the errors are the things that last the longest? 00:28:38.829 --> 00:28:41.500 A question worth thinking about. On that note, 00:28:41.539 --> 00:28:43.579 thank you for joining us for this deep dive into 00:28:43.579 --> 00:28:45.920 the river to nowhere. It's been a fascinating 00:28:45.920 --> 00:28:47.740 and very complicated journey.