Drawing by Cathy Merritt

Introduction | What Is The Charity Site | The Final Years In Huronia | Prisoners On Christian Highland | The Final Retreat | Charity Site: The Excavation | Future Work & Acknowledgments

The Final Retreat

In the spring of 1650 small parties attempted to leave the island to collect food. However, the Iroquois were lying in wait and these groups were either captured or killed. It was believed that less than a thousand people survived their first winter on the island. Realizing the futility of staying any longer, the Jesuits and about 300 Christian Hurons left the island for Québec City on June 10 1650. The remaining Hurons fled the following year, some for Manitoulin Island. Thus the domination of south central Ontario by the Hurons was over. In a matter of a few years the Huron Nation was completely dissolved.

Excerpt from father Rageneau's 1648 - 49 Relations, page 225.