In 2017, Moncton has become one of the largest cities in Atlantic Canada.  It’s location was very strategic in early days since it was located directly at “the bend” of the Petitcodiac river.  Anyone wanting to travel from the mainland to Nova Scotia had to go through Moncton.

After the settlement of Beaubassin was established in the 1670’s, a small settlement “Le Coude” had developped around 1733.  Le Coude was the french word for elbow and was meant to represent the bend in the river.  Some say that’s where the origin of Petitcodiac comes from where you could say “petit coude” which translates”little elbow”.  I know there is also a Mi-kmaq word for this region which is “pet-koot-koy-yek, so it may also have aboriginal influences.

A small chapel was built around 1750 by the acadians at the currently known bore park region of moncton where people gather to watch the tidal bore.  The whole region of tidal grasslands were dyked (also known as aboiteaux) and planted by acadians.

You may wonder what is a dyke or aboiteaux.  This was a very ingenious solution in order to be able to desalinate the soil which was being flooded by the high tidal waters of the bay of Fundy.  These dykes did not allow the tide to flood the shores of the river but allowed the water to drain out into the river.  This over time desalinated the soil and it became very fertile soil.

In 1755, Fort Beausejour was captured by the British forces and was renamed to Fort Cumberland.    Governor Charles Lawrence proclaimed the expulsion of the Acadians from Acadia.  The small settlements north of the Chignecto area alongside the shores of the Peticodiac river became small pockets of resistance against British power. Colonel Robert Monckton sent troops up the Peticodiac river to crush any remaining French resistance and began to burn Acadian settlements.   The british force led by Major Joseph Frye, burnt the first acadian settelment at Shepody which ended up in burning over 180 buildings which seems like a large number (maybe they counted outhouses lol).  They then proceeded to Village-des-Blanchards (now known as Hillsborough) and burnt 253 buildings (again a bit excessive number, there was only 54 families…outhouses/chicken coops?).  When they proceeded to burn the church, the british were surprised to encounter a Acadian force led by Charles Deschamps de BoisHébert who defeated the british forces and forced Frye to retreat back to Fort Cumberland (Beausejour).    Overall, 1100 Acadians from the Beaubassin region was sent to exile, but Acadian settlements above Hillsborough remained largely intact due to some Acadian’s defeat of the British forces at Hillsborough.

The chapel and surrounding area was burnt by the ravages of Scott at the time of the 7 year war between the British and the French.

1763: Treaty of Paris  was signed, ending the Seven Years’ War. France ceded to Britain all North American possessions except Saint-Pierre and Miquelon off Nfld, and Louisiana (sold in 1803). The treaty authorized freedom of religion in the colony

In 1766, Pennsylvania Dutch settlers arrived to re-establish the pre-existing farming community at “Le Coude”.  The settlers consisted of 8 familes: Heinrick Stief (Steeves), Jacob Treitz (Trites), Matthias Sommer (Somers), Jacob Reicker (Ricker), Charles Jones (Schantz), George Wortmann (Wortman), Michael Lutz (Lutes), and George Koppel (Copple).  They renamed the settlement “The Bend” and remained an agricultural settlement for nearly 80 more years.

In 1836, the Westmorland Road became open to year round travel and a regular stage coach and mail service was established between Saint John and Halifax. The Bend became an important transfer and rest station along the route. Over the next decade, lumbering and then shipbuilding would become important industries in the area.

The turning point for the community was when Joseph Salter took over (and expanded) a shipyard at The Bend in 1847. The expanded shipyard ultimately grew to employ about 400 workers. The Bend subsequently developed a service-based economy to support the shipyard and gradually began to acquire all the amenities of a growing town. The prosperity was helped by the wooden shipbuilding industry.  This allowed “The Bend” to incorporate as the town of Moncton in 1855. The town was named after Lt. Col. Robert Monckton.  A clerical error at the time the town was incorporated resulted in the misspelling of the community’s name, which is still present to this day. The first mayor of Moncton was the shipbuilder Joseph Salter.

References:

• a Short History of Moncton by Dan Soucoup
• Wikipedia

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