Sieur De Monts

pierre Du Guas de Monts) (1560?-1611. French colonizer in Canada. He belonged to the gens de robe of his day. Having fought in the cause of Henry IV* of France, carrying his Calvinist convictions with great pride, he nonetheless, in the interest of trade, agreed to have Indians in New France instructed in the dogmas of the Church of Rome. To exploit his trading monopoly in furs which extended over 40-46 degrees north latitude, he organized a trading company in 1604. He used the ablest and the worst elements of French society to colonize Acadia. De Monts distinguished himself as trader, explorer, and the first lieutenant-governor in Acadia. He is credited with having been the founder of the first permanent settlement in New France. Some accounts give his dates as 1558- 1628.