Facing the St. Lawrence River stands a statue of Madeleine de Verchères, who was 14 years old when she defended the Fort de Verchères against a raid of Iroquois. The 7.2-meter bronze statue, initiated by Governor General of Canada, Lord Grey, was unveiled on September 20th, 1913, and designated a national historic site of Canada in 1923. In 1927, the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada added a plaque detailing her heroic story. Created by Louis-Phillipe Hébert, the statue depicts 14 years old Madeleine on top of a conical tower, wearing a man’s hat and holding a rifle, defending her home against the attack. Marie-Madeleine Jarret (1678-1747) was born in Fort Verchères, New France, the fourth of 12 children of a French military man who arrived at the new colony during the Iroquois Wars. On October 22nd, 1692, while her parents were away, the Iroquois made a surprise raid on the fort. Since many of the men were working in the fields, they were killed or captured. Madeleine was at the cabbage garden near the fort; she was captured but managed to escape and ran to the fort, shouting “Aux Armes! Aux Armes!” (To arms) to the few people who were there – her two younger brothers, an elderly servant, and two soldiers. She put on a men’s hat to resemble a soldier, reached the bastions, and began to fire cannon and gunfire from different locations to make the impression that the fort was fully occupied and well-guarded. She maintained the facade for eight days until the reinforcements arrived. By then, the Iroquois had left the site and captured on their retrieval. During her life, Madeleine had to advocate for herself to receive recognition for her actions. She wrote two letters describing her involvement in the raid and requesting a pension. Several months later, in 1700, when her father died, his pension got transferred to her on the condition that she would support her widowed mother. It was only in the early 20th century that her story rose to fame, and she became a military heroine. At the statue dedication ceremony, the prime minister Wilfrid Laurier said, “If the kingdom of France was delivered and regenerated by Joan of Arc, this colony, then French in its cradle, was illustrated by Madeleine de Verchères.” Read more...