Geographical location of the fort of the missionary outpost of Nouvelle-Lorette and Kanehsatà:ke

« The archaeological site of Fort-Lorette is of heritage interest due to its historical significance. This was the location of the Fort Lorette mission, the second missionary outpost of the Sulpicians on the Island of Montreal. Established initially at the De la Montagne fort, on the southern side of Mount Royal, the mission gradually moved to Sault-au-Récollet starting in 1696. The new location was chosen by François Vachon de Belmont (1645–1732), the Sulpician in charge of the mission, who wished to keep Indigenous populations away from the temptations that Montreal and Lachine represented, in part due to the presence of liquor merchants. There, he commissioned the construction of a wooden bastion fort, a chapel for the mission, a seigneurial residence and a convent for the Sisters of the Notre-Dame congregation. An Indigenous cemetery was also built there. Starting in 1721, the Indigenous population of the Fort Lorette mission was displaced to the Deux Montagnes seigneury in Oka. For a few decades after the Indigenous people left Sault-au-Récollet, the settlers used the chapel as a place of worship, as well as the other buildings of Fort Lorette. The archaeological site of Fort Lorette thus offers key historical insight about the passage of the Sulpician mission in Sault-au-Récollet. »

Répertoire du patrimoine culturel du Québec (Québec’s heritage directory)