Simon Francois Daumont St. Lusson

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Military officer of New France and deputy of Jean Talon, Lusson was sent to Sault Ste. Marie by Talon to claim Lakes Huron and Superior and all of the vast region "contiguous and adjacent there-unto, as well as discovered as to be discovered" for Louis XIV at what was called "The Pageant of the Sault". Records indicate that about 2000 Native Americans; princilpal chiefs of the Sauks, Menomonees, Pottawattamies, Winnebagoes and thirteen other tribes were present. He sybolically raised his sword and a handfull of dirt after the Te Deum was chanted while a huge cross with the escutcheon of France was erected followed by prayers, and cried "Vive le roi". French gifts were exchanged for fur pelts. It could be safe to assume that the Indians viewed the official claim of land and that all the people within its bounds now subjects of the king of France as an elaborate fur trade ritual.