If your ancestors were among the first settlers of Montreal, you may be interested to know that the original village has been found. Archaeologists believe they have found the first permanent buildings of the settlement that later became Montreal. These are the remains of Fort Ville-Marie, the lost, original French settlement in Montreal.
The fort was built in 1642 and housed as many as 50 early colonists, including Montreal's founder, Paul de Chomedey de Maisonneuve, and nurse Jeanne Mance. It would have been a key meeting place for aboriginal allies as well as the colony's administrative heart.
The exact location of the fort, which was eventually abandoned, has baffled historians since the 19th century. The most recent record of the fort dates from 1683.
Archaeologists got a break in the case when, in 1989, they discovered the city's first French Catholic cemetery underneath what is now Pointe-à-Callière - Montreal's archeology museum.
You can read more at http://www.thestar.com/printArticle/247925.
