He was to foster agriculture, the raising of stock, to increase the fishing operations, and the trade abroad; and he was instructed to take measures to construct a highway between Canada and Acadia, a plan which is only now about to be accomplished in the Intercolonial Railroad. Frontenac, likewise received very explicit instructions as to his procedure towards the Jesuits and Recollects; and he was charged “to administer justice with the strictest impartiality.” The Colony being at peace, Frontenac’s principal difficulty was in dealing with the Church, and he found it necessary to take high-handed steps to bring the Clergy into subjection to the State. There had been for years a struggle with respect to the liquor traffic among the Indians; the Bishops being opposed to it, while the Governor favored it for the purpose of furthering the trade in furs. The dissentions between parties became so great, and representations to the home authorities became so frequent and vexatious that Frontenac and the Intendant were both recalled in 1682. But during the incumbency of Frontenac, explorations had continued in the west, and the fort at Cataraqui had been fully established; and the Mississippi had been discovered by Pére Marquette and M. Joliet, in 1673. That same year Frontenac set out 29th of June, from Montreal, with an expedition for Cataraqui, arriving there 12th July. There was at this time one Robert Cavalier de la Salle, a native of Rouen, who had come to Canada when a young man, full of a project for securing a road by a northwestern passage to China. He was a man of ability and energy, but without means. But he managed to obtain the favorable notice of Governor Frontenac, who regarded him as a man after his own heart.
In the time of de Courcelles he opened a trading post near Montreal, now Lachine, so called from La Salle’s belief that a pathway to China would be found thence across the Continent by the waters of the Ottawa or Upper Lakes. The discovery of the Mississippi caused no little sensation in Canada; and La Salle lost no time in asking permission and assistance to continue the western explorations, declaring his belief that the upper waters of the Mississippi would, if followed to their source, lead to the Pacific Ocean. He consequently submitted a petition for a certain grant of land at Cataraqui to the king, Louis X. (See under history of Kingston.)