A half-century of conflict. France and England in North America. Part ...

1726-1731.] CROWN POINT. 55They then established a trading-post at Toronto, inthe vain hope of stopping the northern tribes on theirway to the more profitable English market, and theybuilt two armed vessels at Fort Frontenac to controlthe navigation of Lake Ontario.Meanwliile, in another quarter the French made anadvance far more threatening to the English coloniesthan Oswego was to their own. They had alreadybuilt a stone fort at Chambly, which covered Montrealfrom any English attack by way ofLake Champlain.As that lake was the great highway between the rivalcolonies, the importance of gaining full mastery of itwas evident. It was rumored in Canada that theEnglish meant to seize and fortify the place calledScalp Point (Pointe a la Chevelurc) by the French,and Crown Point by the English, where the lake suddenlycontracts to the proportions of a river, so thata few cannon would stop the passage.As early as 1726 the French made an attempt toestablish themselves on the east side of the lake oppositeCrown Point, but were deterred by the oppositionof Massachusetts.This eastern shore was, however,claimed not only by Massachusetts, but by her neighbor.New Hampshire, with whom she presentlyfellinto a dispute about the ownership, and, as a writerof the time observes, "while they were quarrellingfor the bone, the French ran away with it."iAt length, in 1731, the French took post on thewestern side of the lake,and began to intrench tliem-1 Mitchell, Contest in America, 22.