Contrary to the legend left by schoolbooks, the Hurons and Iroquois were not scattered living nomads; they lived in fortified villages, that is to say houses that could contain between seven and seventy families. Contrary to popular belief, Chief Donnacona, hence the origin of the city's name, did not live on the banks of the Jacques-Cartier River but rather on the banks of the St-Charles River in Quebec where was located in the City of Stadacona.
Following the discovery of an enormous quantity of gold by the Spaniards in South America, the French empire wants at all costs to compete with its rival state and decides to dispatch Jacques-Cartier to discover equivalent wealth.
In order to get his hands on this gold and these diamonds, Jacques-Cartier absolutely had to obtain the confidences of the Indians and be guided by them.
During his second voyage, Jacques-Cartier set a trap by inviting Chief Donnacona, as well as a dozen of the most important Indian notables, to a banquet aboard his ship. The Indians succumbed and went to France where they knew death.
It was in 1672 that the intendant Jean Talon conceded to a scholar Toupin from Sault-à-la puce and to his son Jean, the responsibility of opening up the territory. Founded in 1742, Les Écureuils parish owes its name to the fact that it is covered in oak trees inhabited by squirrels. In 1967, by proclamation of the Governor General, the municipality of Les Écureuils was merged with that of Donnacona, whose foundation dates back to 1915.
Although the industrial presence dates from the year 1700, the arrival of Donnacona Paper Ltd (1912), is at the origin of an extremely rapid urban development. One of the big customers of "Donnacona Paper Ltd" was the New York Times newspaper. In times of great activity, more than 1,500 men worked for a wage of $0.40 an hour in 1940 and 48-hour work weeks. Unfortunately, the paper mill closed its doors for good in 2008.
The first convent was built in 1922. At the time, the religious took charge of education. The sisters for the girls at the Sainte-Agnès convent and the brothers for the boys at the Sacré-Coeur college.
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