Father Simon Le Moyne, S.J. (22 October 1604 – 24 November 1665) was a Jesuit priest in Lower Canada who was involved in the mission to the Hurons. His notability in Canadian history comes from his work as an ambassador of peace to the Iroquois.
Le Moyne joined the Society of Jesus in 1623. Le Moyne had 16 years of education and experience in the priesthood in France before arriving in the New World in 1638 and heading out to his mission in Huron country. He was there until the Iroquois destruction of the Huron nation brought him back to Quebec in 1650.
Contents |
Around 1653, Le Moyne set out on an Iroquois Mission, at great risk, that would take him through the St. Lawrence valley and into Lake Ontario, where he would reach a fishing village at the mouth of the Oswego River in present-day New York State. From there, he traveled south to Onondaga Lake, home of the Onondaga, keepers of the council fire of the Iroquois Nation. After converting a large number of the Iroquois, including some chiefs, Le Moyne returned to Canada with a favorable report. He was assigned to several more missions, including work with the Mohawks.
Le Moyne was the first from Europe to discover the Salt Springs of Onondaga, located near what is today Syracuse, New York.
On August 5, 1654, Father LeMoyne arrived in the Onondaga village with the French Jesuits. During his short stay, LeMoyne drank from a spring which the Onondagas believed to be tainted due to an evil spirit.[1] Unlike the Onondagas who considered the salt springs evil, the French instead, saw them as a money making enterprise.[1]
Father Le Moyne noted in his diary that "We tested the water of a spring, which the Indians are afraid to drink, saying that it is inhabited by a demon, who makes it foul. I found the fountain of salt water, from which we evaporated a little salt as natural as that from the sea, some of which we shall carry to Quebec."[2]
His last journey appears to have been in 1662, when he returned to Quebec with a number of French who had been held captive by the Iroquois.