Adam Dollard des Ormeaux Adam Dollard des Ormeaux , ( July 23 , 1635 – May 21 , 1660 ) , also known as Adam Daulaut , Daulac , or simply as Dollard des Ormeaux , was a colonist and soldier of New France . As garrison commander , in 1660 he led his companions and native ( mostly Huron ) allies from the fort at the town of Ville - Marie ( later to be known as Montreal ) , with its population of 600 colonists , to an area up the Ottawa River known as Long Sault ( near present - day Carillon , Quebec ) . The exact nature or purpose of Dollard ' s 1660 expedition is uncertain , but it is believed that they intended to ambush a larger force of Iroquois warriors that were rumoured to be approaching from the west to attack the French colonists . One alternative theory is that Dollard led a group of men into the forest to massacre what he had incorrectly been informed was a group of 16 or 17 Iroquois , with the intention of stealing their furs . According to this story , it turned out the group was considerably larger than he had anticipated . Another version has Dollard hearing the Iroquois are coming down the St . Laurence river so he tries to escape up the Ottawa river and bumps into the Iroquois party . Dollard in New France . Dollard was born in Ormeaux , now in Seine - et - Marne département , France . Nothing is known of his activities prior to his arrival in Canada . Having come to Montreal as a volunteer in 1658 , he continued his military career there . In 1659 and 1660 , he was described as an officer or garrison commander of the fort of Ville - Marie , a title that he shared with Pierre Picoté de Belestre . There is little verifiable evidence regarding Dollard ' s reason for being in Canada , but it is possible he was contemplating life as a settler in the new lands . At the end of 1659 , Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve gave him a piece of land comprising 30 arpents ( 10 hectares ) . In 1661 , the sum that Dollard had devoted " to having work done on the aforementioned grant " was calculated at 79 livres , 10 sols , " for 53 days ’ labour . " Expedition west and the Battle of Long Sault . Against the advice of seasoned Aboriginal fighters , Dollard got the support of the governor of Montreal , Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve , to organize an expedition west . The group comprised about 16 volunteers who had little or no experience of Aboriginal warfare . After a 10 - day canoe trip up the Ottawa River , they set up camp not far from Carillon , Quebec , in a former stockade . They were soon surrounded by about 700 Iroquois and after a siege lasting several days , were all killed or captured and massacred in what became known as the Battle of Long Sault . For reasons unknown , the Iroquois did not continue east to capture Ville - Marie . The events were witnessed by about 40 Huron allies who at times had joined the colonists in the stockade and at other times had harried the Iroquois from outside . The battle so weakened the Iroquois they cancelled their planned attack on Ville Marie ( Montreal ) and returned home . A postage stamp was made to honour his contributions to New France . The deaths of Dollard des Ormeaux and his men were recounted by Catholic nuns and entered into official Church history . For over a century Dollard des Ormeaux became a heroic figure in New France , and then in Quebec , who exemplified selfless personal sacrifice , who had been a martyr for the church , and for the colony . Cultural legacy . There is a suburb of Montreal , Dollard - des - Ormeaux named after him . Likewise , Avenue Dollard in LaSalle and Shawinigan , Quebec , and rue Dollard in Saint Boniface , Manitoba , are also named in his honour . Monument to Dollard des Ormeaux , created by sculptor Alfred Laliberté and the architect Alphonse Venne , was inaugurated in Parc Lafontaine on June 24 , 1920 . A basrelief of the Maisonneuve Monument portraited Dollard des Ormeaux in the Battle of Long Sault . In Quebec , Victoria Day was , since the Quiet Revolution , unofficially known as Fête de Dollard until 2003 , when provincial legislation officially named the same date as Victoria Day the National Patriots ' Day .