In a bid to reverse the effects of the Iroquois blockade of the fur trade routes to the west, Adam Dollard des Ormeaux led sixteen Canadians and forty-four Amerindian allies in the spring of 1660 "...to wage petty warfare (petite guerre) and lay ambuscades for the Iroquois when returning from the chase...." They settled into a small abandoned stockade at the Long Sault on the Ottawa River and awaited bands of hunters in canoes laden with beaver pelts Instead, the Canadians and their allies were confronted with a party of some 300 armed warriors. This interpretation by L. Geizler of the encounter suggests the intensity of the struggle for survival in the face of overwhelming opposition. The defection of Dollard's Amerindian allies and the inexperience of his Canadian colleagues resulted in the total destruction of his party. Dollard's initiative in carrying the offensive for New France into enemy controlled territory anticipated tactics which were to become a regular feature of the colony's struggle by the mid-1680s.
