Pierre La Motte

Pierre de St. Paul, Sieur de La Motte (Pierre La Motte) was Captain of a company of the Carignan-Salieres Regiment [http://www.fillesduroi.org/Regiment/regiment.html] that was dispatched to New France (Canada) in 1665 by King Louis XIV to protect French colonists from the Iroquois. He and his company sailed on a decrepit royal ship, the "Aigle d’Or " (Golden Eagle) [http://www.geocities.com/~carignan/09_Nav_Carignan/E9nav_car.html] from La Rochelle, France on May 13th of that year accompanying the Marquis de Salières, Colonel of the Regiment. They landed at Québec during the third week of August, 1665 after about 95 days at sea.

La Motte’s company was almost immediately dispatched to fortify the southern flank of New France. In 1666 the company built a fort on a small island overlooking the northern end of the "Iroquois Lake," today’s Lake Champlain. The fort was garrisoned by about 300 French soldiers over the next four years, after which time the troops were pulled back to Québec. Before retreating, the fort was destroyed by the French soldiers. La Motte was made commander at Montreal and later (1669) interim Governor. Fort Sainte Anne was the first European settlement in Vermont.

Captain de La Motte chose not to remain in New France as a colonist and he returned to France in the summer 1670, along with some members of his regiment.

Isle La Motte, Vermont, a small island in Lake Champlain, was named for Pierre La Motte.