The buccaneers eventually began to cross to the western side of Hispaniola to hunt for cattle and wild boar, and some have settled here, assuming they would be safe because of the area's relative remoteness from the Spanish capital city of Santo Domingo.

By 1670 the buccaneers had established a permanent settlement at Cap-Francois, now Cap-Haitien.

By  this time, the western third of the island was commonly referred to as Saint-Domingue, the name it bears officially after Spain relinquishes sovereignty over the area to France following the War of the Grand Alliance, or Nine years' War, which officially ends with the Treaty of Ryswick in 1697.