Located on the foothills of Mount Pelee, 450 meters above sea level, the town of Morne Rouge is the coolest and wettest in Martinique. In the 18th century, it was the “stories” district of the city of Saint-Pierre, the economic and commercial capital of Martinique, established on the North Caribbean coast of the island. Saint-Pierre took advantage of its deep-water harbour, well suited to anchoring ships, to develop its sugar industry and, consequently, slavery and triangular trade. It is on the heights of the city, favorable to agriculture and livestock, that the large plantations (dwellings) of sugar cane or coffee had appeared. After the signing of the Treaty of Paris (February 1763), the French government encouraged the migration of white settlers to tropical America (see historical introduction). Thus in Martinique, in 1765, the colonial authorities did settle Acadians, but also Alsatians and Germans, on the heights of Saint-Pierre, at a place called Champflore, on the present-day territory of Morne Rouge. But the colony of Champflore was a failure. Far from being a dream destination for all these exiles, it turned out on the contrary to be a real Way of the Cross…

This article is based on the well-documented reference work Une petite Cadie en Martinique by André-Carl Vachon, prefaced by Vincent Huyghues-Belrose, a West Indian university scholar.

Against all odds

The colonists of Champflore settled on land belonging to Mathieu Le Comte, a merchant in Saint-Pierre. Sieur Le Comte counted on the settlers not only to clear his land and develop it through agriculture and livestock, but also to open roads that would facilitate communications between Saint-Pierre and La Trinité on the Atlantic Coast of the island. In 1765, the colony of Champflore had roughly 400 settlers, including about a hundred Acadians, from the New York colony, approximately 100 Alsatians and some 200 Germans, initially intended to colonize French Guiana. Grouped into three separate districts (Little Cadie, Little Alsace, and the Germans’ borough), they all benefited for their subsistence from the king’s subsidy of six cents a day. If this might seem modest, although reassuring, the project seemed rather enticing. The notarial deed of the new establishment stipulated that each head of family would receive a concession by way of a portion of land to be cleared for three years before becoming the owner. However, was this perspective realistic? In other words, why did the colony of Champflore fail?

The reality must be faced. How could the Acadians, accustomed to North America’s cold climate, have easily adapted to the hot and humid climate of Martinique, to tropical diseases and bad weather? Specifically, on the night of August 13 to 14, 1766, a devastating hurricane sacked all of Martinique, destroying plantations, houses and buildings, killing or injuring many people and breaking ships on the coasts. The establishment of Champflore was completely razed, causing the death of several colonists. Moreover, the register of the colony missionary priest, kept since 1764, was lost. Despite this terrible ordeal, the June 1, 1767 count still listed 78 Acadians in Champflore, taking into account the new comers, who testified to their extraordinary resilience.

Against all odds, had the settlers of the three districts of Champflore, engaged by choice or necessity in the colony, succeeded, at least in part, in producing food crops and raising livestock? What is known is that in November 1767, the colonial authorities stopped paying them the king’s subsidy, causing a lot of disorder and confusion. Can a cause-and-effect relationship be seen in this? In April 1768, only 177 Acadians, Alsatians and Germans remained in the colony, whereas three years earlier there were approximately 400. In September 1768, helped by the sieur Le Comte, the Acadians and the other Catholic colonists succeeded in obtaining the official creation of a parish in Champflore, supported by the Capuchin Fathers. Were all these devout Catholics, who were permanently confronted with climatic risks, thus encouraged to stay in the colony?

In 1774, the parish of Champflore was finally abandoned and its last register also disappeared. It is most likely that the parish church was no longer able to attain to the few faithful still present. The inevitable abandonment of the Champflore colony marked the end of the Little Cadie’s experience. Tested by heat and humidity, bruised by disease and bad weather, the Acadians who remained in Martinique, who in 1767 represented only 1% of the European population, must have felt alone. By the end of the 18th century, most of them had left the island for other destinations, such as Louisiana or Quebec.