Verchères, << vehr SHAIR, >> Marie Madeleine Jarret de (1678-1747), was a French Canadian heroine who led the defense of her family’s fort against an attack by Iroquois warriors. Madeleine de Verchères, as she is usually called, was only 14 years old at the time. The fort stood on her father’s land at Verchères, her birthplace, in what is now the province of Quebec. She was born there on March 3, 1678.
On Oct. 22, 1692, a group of Iroquois attacked the fort. The main account of the event is a letter that Madeleine wrote in 1699. She claimed that she had barely outrun an Iroquois warrior, entered the fort, and disguised herself as a soldier. She then fired the cannon, frightening away the Iroquois and warning nearby settlements of their presence. Some 30 years later, Madeleine wrote a more dramatic version of her story. In it, she stated that she had stopped a frightened soldier from exploding the fort’s military supplies; bravely ventured out of the fort alone during the siege; and managed the fort’s defense for eight days, until a French lieutenant arrived. In recognition of her heroism, Madeleine received a pension from the French king. Madeleine de Verchères died on Aug. 8, 1747.
