A sought-after area

The qualities of the Point of Quebec were already well known to the Indigenous peoples three millennia before the arrival of Europeans in the Americas. Although the space between Cap Diamant and the St. Lawrence River was limited, this small tract of land offered a natural harbour and an ideal resting place. Until the mid-16th century, peoples like the Algonquin, the Wendat and the St. Lawrence Iroquoians made frequent stops there to hunt and fish.

In 1608, Champlain chose to settle there for similar reasons. A few years earlier, during his first trip to Canada, he had already deemed the location ideal for a fur trading post..