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y French military conflict. The 1684 expulsion is dealt with in larger detail in the
New York Colonial Documents, volume 9, “The Paris Documents,” which contains a
wealth of information on the governor’s and internal affairs of the then-French colony.
The Jesuit missions are not discussed at length, but they do show up in a few crucial
places where there is also talk of war.
In 1682, Joseph-Antoine Le Febre de La Barre was appointed Governor General of
New France, succeeding General Louis de Buade de Frontenac. Upon meeting with
leaders in Montreal, La Barre was charged with organizing an invasion, as it was
believed “the Iroquois planned to destroy one after another western Indian nations, and
with them the French fur trade and the Jesuit missions in new France” (Richter
1992:149). When it came to marching on Seneca lands, La Barre justified his plans by
pointing out the recent Seneca attack on Fort Saint-Louis in Illinois country, as well as
many alleged assaults on fur traders. Of course, when it came to naming their disputes
with Iroquoia at large, the French simply blamed the English for enticing the Iroquois
to make war; and the reasoning behind any warfare or conflict boiled down to who had
control of not just the land, but the fur trade, and thus which monarch would
ultimately stand to profit.
The summer of 1684, Governor Dongan found out the La Barre and his men were
finally on their way (after two years of bluffing), and he immediately summoned
representatives from all Five Nations – but his summons had already been preempted
by the Seneca, who were waiting in Albany to purchase ammunition and weapons
(Richter 1992: 151). A seasoned statesman by that point in his career, Dongan seized
the opportunity – and so did the Iroquoian representatives present, who believed they
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