Pilot & a short history lesson

As many of you know, we've got a new dog. She's a 2 or 3 year old lab-pit mix we got from a local shelter just after Thanksgiving. Sarah & the kids were kind enough to let me name her "Pilot," a dog name I've wanted to use ever since reading the following story in a couple of my history books years ago.

My primary historical interest remains the New France era of Canadian history. It's chock full of fascinating characters & almost Tolkien-ish stories & battles. When French settlement began in the 1640s on the island of Montreal (yes, Montreal is an island - in the middle of the St. Lawrence), it was with the purpose of creating a mission colony from which the surrounding Native tribes could be evangelized. At the time, this island settlement, Villemarie, was a strategic outpost in the wilderness far away from the primary French settlement of Quebec. Colonists on the island were always in danger from invading Iroquois from the south.

As my favorite author, 19th century historian Francis Parkman puts it:

20th Century Canadian author Thomas B. Costain puts it this way: