Why did Iroquois attacks threaten early Montreal?

Early Montreal, founded as the missionary settlement of Ville-Marie in 1642, faced constant threats from the Iroquois due to deep-seated trade rivalries and shifting colonial alliances.12

The conflict was driven by several key factors:

• Trade Alliances: The French formed a strategic alliance with the Algonquin and Huron peoples to secure control of the inland fur trade. Because the Iroquois were aligned with the Dutch and later the British, they became direct rivals to the French and their indigenous partners.21
• Economic Pressure: By the 17th century, the depletion of beaver populations in Iroquois-controlled territories forced the Iroquois Confederacy to launch military campaigns to expand into new hunting grounds.3
• Demographic Collapse: The introduction of European diseases caused severe population losses among the Iroquois. To replace lost family members, the Confederacy increased raiding activities to capture women and children for adoption into their tribes.3

These hostilities persisted until a peace treaty, known as La Grande Paix, was finally negotiated in 1701.1