Good thing that La Salle gave her an I.O.U.

Fearless, courageous, determined. The words barely touch on the qualities of Madeleine de Roybon D’Allonne. Arriving at Fort Frontenac with French explorer René-Robert Cavalier de La Salle in the mid-1600s, the single young adventuress was the first European woman to own property in Ontario. However, her time here was tinged with sadness, dangers, and frustrations. Article content

A member of a minor nobleman’s family. D’Allonne was born in 1646 at Montargis, about 125 kms south of Paris, to soldier Jacques de Roybon D’Allonne. Her father later became a carver in King Louis XIV’s court. At about age 33, D’Allonne boarded a ship in 1679 with La Salle for adventures in North America. History hints that D’Allonne sailed for the new world in search of a husband or was the explorer’s sweethea