Tomenable
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In 1521 Portuguese explorer Joao Alvarez Fagundes with a group of men from the port city of Viana in Portugal, organzed an expedition in order to found a colony on Cape Breton Island. They had two ships including "a caravel and a large ship". First they sailed to the Azores, where they recruited 10 families of settlers (probably around 50 people?). Then the expedition crossed the Atlantic sailing to the Bahamas, and from there they sailed further along the coast in northern direction until reaching Cape Breton Island.
Cape Breton Island was then inhabited by the Mikmaq Indians.
They Portuguese established a settlement in the northern part of the island - and called it Santo Pedro.
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It is controversial when exactly - and if - this settlement ceased to exist (or if it survived continuously):
In one article I read, that most probably it was abandoned by all settlers already after few years (probably around 1527). According to another source (Jean Alfonse) the settlement was not abandoned, but was destroyed by the Mikmaq Indians, who killed all of the settlers. According to yet another article, the settlement could survive until 1585 when Bernard Drake destroyed Spanish and Portuguese fishing fleets around Newfoundland. Finally, according to Wikipedia, the settlement survived until the early 17th century, when it was captured by the French (in the 1630s). The French changed its name from Santo Pedro to Saint Pierre and populated it with merchants from La Rochelle.
Question is, which version is true? Could Portuguese fishermen & settlers survive there for over 100 years?
If the last version is true it would mean that Santo Pedro / Saint Pierre is the oldest continuously inhabited white settlement in Canada (and perhaps in all of North Amercia).
Cape Breton Island was then inhabited by the Mikmaq Indians.
They Portuguese established a settlement in the northern part of the island - and called it Santo Pedro.
=====
It is controversial when exactly - and if - this settlement ceased to exist (or if it survived continuously):
In one article I read, that most probably it was abandoned by all settlers already after few years (probably around 1527). According to another source (Jean Alfonse) the settlement was not abandoned, but was destroyed by the Mikmaq Indians, who killed all of the settlers. According to yet another article, the settlement could survive until 1585 when Bernard Drake destroyed Spanish and Portuguese fishing fleets around Newfoundland. Finally, according to Wikipedia, the settlement survived until the early 17th century, when it was captured by the French (in the 1630s). The French changed its name from Santo Pedro to Saint Pierre and populated it with merchants from La Rochelle.
Question is, which version is true? Could Portuguese fishermen & settlers survive there for over 100 years?
If the last version is true it would mean that Santo Pedro / Saint Pierre is the oldest continuously inhabited white settlement in Canada (and perhaps in all of North Amercia).