History.—Ville Marie, afterward called Montreal, was founded by Maisonneuve, May 18, 1642, during the French regime in Canada. The site had previously been visited in 1535 by Jacques Cartier, who founded there a large Indian town called Hochelaga; and in 1603 by Champlain, when it was found that the Indian town had completely disappeared. The early French settlers had much trouble with the Indians, culminating August, 1689, in the massacre at Lachine, 9 miles from Montreal, of 200 settlers and the capture of 200 more by a band of 1,500 Iroquois Indians. On Sept. 8, 1760, Montreal ca pitulated to General Amherst and the surrender of the city completed the con quest of New France by the English. In 1775 Montreal was captured by the Americans, who sent expeditions under Montgomery and Arnold to capture Que bec and Montreal; and General Carleton in command of the British forces at Montreal had to retreat to Quebec, where the Americans were ultimately defeated. In 1775 the American General Wooster made his headquarters in the Château de Ramergay, which still stands opposite the city hall and which was the official residence of the British governors after the conquest. In this same château, the
Commissioners of Congress, Benjamin Franklin, Samuel Chase, and Charles Carroll, in 1776 met and held council un der Gen. Benedict Arnold. In 1776 the American forces retreated. Montreal obtained its first city charter in 1833, the first mayor being Jacques Viger. In 1844 the city became the capital of the province of Canada formed in 1841, by the union of the provinces of Upper and Lower Canada, but Parliament met for the last time in Montreal in 1849; when a mob of English-speaking citizens, en raged at the passing of the "Rebellion Losses Bill," burned down the Parliament Buildings and pelted the Governor-Gen eral, Lord Elgin. The fire (which de stroyed valuable public records, the par liamentary library, and in fact every thing appertaining to Parliament but the mace and the portrait of Queen Victoria) terminated Montreal's brief career as the seat of government. Pop. about 700,000.