Cartier arrives in Hochelaga, at the foot…

Cartier arrives in Hochelaga, at the foot of the mountain he sees nearby and names Mount Royal, on October 2, 1535.

Hochelaga is far more impressive than the small and squalid village of Stadacona, and a crowd of over a thousand comes to the river edge to greet the Frenchmen.

The site of their arrival has been confidently identified as the beginning of the Sainte-Marie Sault—where the bridge named after him now stands.

St. Lawrence Iroquoians live in villages that are usually located a few kilometers inland from the Saint-Lawrence River and are often enclosed by a wooden palisade.

Up to two thousand persons live in the larger villages.

(Archeologists have unearthed other similar villages further west, near the eastern end of Lake Ontario.)

Although Cartier mentions longhouses in Hochelaga, he leaves no description of Stadacona or the other villages nearby.