Cadillac: the Man, the Mountain and the Machine

In 1683 or thereabouts, a poverty stricken young man of dubious origin whose name
would- several centuries later- serve as a standard for automotive excellence
landed at the little Acadian settlement of Port Royale near the mouth of the
Riviere Dauphin. That man was Antoine Laumet. In the years to come, Antoine Laumet
would adopt the much more grandiose cognomen Antoine Laumet de Lamothe Cadillac, a
name implying connections to seigneurial holdings in France. (Occasionally
Laumet's name also appears as de Laumet.)

Today Cadillac, as Laumet is better known, is recognized as the founder of

Detroit, Michigan, the capitol of the North American automotive industry. Hardly
anyone, however, knows that for a short period of time, Cadillac held two royal
fiefdoms on La Grande Baie Francoise, the name the Acadians had for the Bay of
Fundy. All that remains of Antoine Laumet's Acadian legacy is the mountain on
Fundy's southern reaches that has the same name as that most sought after piece of
"Detroit Iron," Cadillac.

Cadillac Mountain is considered by many the heart and soul of Acadia National Park
on Fundy's Maine coast. With an almost sheer rise of 1532 feet, it has the highest
elevation of any point on the coast of North America. Every year countless numbers
of tourists come to Acadia National Park to hike Cadillac. Countless numbers more
drive to its summit. These people are drawn to the spectacular views Cadillac
offers of the Bay of Fundy and adjacent waters. From Cadillac's summit "The Cat,"
the ferry that connects Bar Harbor, Maine and Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, is clearly
visible as it makes its Maine port of call. When the QEII, the Queen Elizabeth II,
visits Bar Harbor, it can be seen dwarfing every other vessel near it.

Antoine Laumet de Lamothe Cadillac, the man whose name is a household word today
because of the Cadillac automobile and for whom the mountain that many consider
the most beautiful on the Atlantic coast was named, was in no way himself a
standard of excellence. In fact, he was a thoroughly nasty man, a liar and an
opportunist. Those who knew him or had any lengthy contact with him considered him
to be out and out evil. Therefore, it came as no surprise to them that late in his
life, Cadillac found himself a prisoner in the Bastille.

The sketchy records of Cadillac's or Laumet's early years tell us that he was born
in a little village in Gascony Province in 1658. While he claimed the title of
Sieur (squire) de Cadillac for a good portion of his life, he was not of noble
birth. The claim was just one of his many lies. Antoine's father, Jean de la
Mothe, was a small town magistrate who never aspired to the position of Seigneur
de Cadillac, which his son claimed for him.

Virtually nothing is known of Cadillac's early years, although at some point he

must have had some formal education as his dispatches show he was literate. Also,
he probably had some military experience as he demonstrated an understanding of
tactics, strategy and fortifications, especially when he was commandant at
Michilimackinac, the strait where Detroit is located.

The first time Cadillac appears in the historical record is in 1683 as an

associate of Francoise Guyon dit Despres. ("dit" means also known as.) Francoise
Guyon was a privateer charged with protecting Acadian settlements around the Bay
of Fundy. What this duty amounted to, in reality, was appropriating the cargoes on
merchant vessels sailing out of Boston. Guyon, who was from Quebec and usually
operated under papers issued by Governor Frontenac, taught Cadillac seamanship
and introduced him to the advantages of what can only be viewed as legalized
piracy. Guyon also introduced Cadillac to his niece, Marie-Therese Guyon. The two
married in 1687 and together had nine children.
In July of 1689, Cadillac was granted two fiefs in Acadia. This probably came
about through the influence of Francoise Guyon. One fief was at Port Royale. The
other was on the Riviere Douaque. Today the Douaque is known as the Union River.
It is in Maine and empties into the Atlantic in close proximity to Mount Desert
Island, where Acadia National Park is located. If fact, Cadillac's Douaque grant
included l'Isle Monts Deserts as the French called Mount Desert. Cadillac
established trading posts at both locations. Without doubt he was more interested
in making a fast buck than in maintaining good relations with his neighbors. Also,
he undoubtedly dealt in goods plundered from Boston merchant vessels.

1689 is also the year that people began talking about Cadillac's "evil mind" and
his nasty character. Acadian Governor Mineval called him a "scatterbrain" and one
of the most "uncooperative" individuals he had ever encountered. Also, it was
around this time that it began to be rumoured that Cadillac had been chased out of
France.

Cadillac did not keep his two holdings long. In 1690, the Massachusetts Bay Colony
sent Sir William Phips on a punitive expedition against Acadia for authorizing
privateers to harass Boston traders. Phips took control of Port Royale and in the
process burned out Cadillac, who was probably one of the very few deserving of the
treatment. The self-made nobleman would never return to his seigneurial holdings
on the Bay of Fundy.

After holding down various minor government positions in Quebec for several years,
Cadillac persuaded Governor Frontenac to let him establish a trading post on the
strait connecting Lake Huron and Lake Erie. In reality, his real plan was to
establish a full-fledged colony, one which would control the fur trade of the far
flung region the strait accessed.

Between 1694 and 1697, Cadillac served as commandant of the trading post which was
called Detroit. He was then made governor. His major pursuit, however, was
amassing as much wealth for himself as possible. He did this by illegally selling
brandy to the Indians, exacting fees wherever possible, keeping his soldiers on
short rations and developing a copper mine in what is now Illinois. He kept the
existence of the mine hidden from his superiors. When word of his actions got
back to Paris, Cadillac was demoted to the governorship of Louisiana in 1710.
Louisiana at that time was a backwater province of absolutely no consequence in
the French scheme of empire. However, even in a backwater, Cadillac got himself in
trouble.

The first thing Cadillac did in Louisiana was to
there to leave. He then invited in settlers from
commercial ties with that Spanish colony for his
of his sons were thrown in the Bastille in 1717.
up smelling of roses.
encourage the few French who were
Mexico and attempted to establish
own benefit. For this, he and one
Somehow, however, Cadillac came

In 1718, Cadillac was released from the Bastille and decorated with the Croix de
Saint-Louis. He was then made governor of Castelsarrasen, a city near the village
where he had been born. When Antoine Laumet, the self-styled Sieur de Cadillac who
began his rise to prominence on the Bay of Fundy as a privateer, died in 1730, he
was still serving as the city's governor.