11 000 years ago, many Native communities lived in the region where Sainte Croix Island is located. Amerindians were the first ones to inhabit the region and they probably visited few times the island where they might have stored food. European fishermen also visited the region known for its water abundant in fish while fur traders inspected the territories, searching for game animals and fur. When fur trade seemed to be a very lucrative business to great powers such as England and France, many expeditions left European seaports to explore the New World. Among those ships was the Bonne Renommée, Pierre Dugua de Mons' ship. Dugua was leading an expedition of 60 men to the Passamaquoddy region. Today, this region is known as the Annapolis Valley and is located between New Brunswick and the United States.

Pierre Dugua de Mons
In 1600, Dugua visited New France and Acadia, exploring the region with Pierre de Chauvin. In 1603, King Henry IV appointed Dugua Lieutenant Governor of Acadia, which is located between latitude 40 and 46 degrees north. Preoccupied by many religious wars, France started later than England to be interested by colonization. To establish settlements in America, French explorers used fur trade as a mean of financing the colonies. That's why King Henry IV gave to Dugua the monopoly of fur trade and fishing in New France but in return Dugua had to establish permanent French colonies in Acadia. In order to succeed in his mission, Dugua asked many men to be part of his expedition. Cartographer Samuel de Champlain, Captain François Gravé Dupont and ship owner Jean de Biencourt de Poutrincourt accepted Dugua's invitation. Champlain also had the assignment to draw a map of the region and report to the king himself what he observed during his exploration.

The French arrived in Acadia
After raising 90 000 pounds with the help of a consortium of powerful merchants and hiring 120 craftsmen and crewmen, Dugua's expedition left Havre-de-Grâce at the beginning of April 1604. Historians believe that the French arrived at the Sainte Croix Island around June 1604. Because of its geographical location – the French could easily defend themselves from invasion - and the beauty of its landscape, this island was chosen by Dugua to become the first permanent European settlement in North America. Its soil was fertile and conducive to agriculture and brick making. On the mainland, the rivers supplied freshwater.

Settlement
The French didn't wait a long time before starting to develop the settlement on the Sainte Croix Island. All the settlers contributed to the construction of fortified city. In order to help him to establish the French settlement, Dugua had hired many tradesmen: carpenters, blacksmiths, joiners, stonemason, locksmiths, and top men. Some dwellings were joined together by palisades to protect them against wildlife or enemies. Two streets crossed the public square and gave access to other buildings: storehouse, Dugua's residence, carpenters and Swiss dwellings, blacksmith shop, well, public building, bake house, cook house (overhanging the cliff), chapel (located outside the palisades). The settlement included 20 buildings made of wood and with foundation of stone and clay. A few gardens were planted in order to make the colony self-sufficient. At the beginning of fall 1604, 79 settlers stayed at the Sainte Croix Island colony; the others returned to France.

Relations between Europeans and Native people
During their stay in the Quoddy region, the French met Native people and developed bounds with them. The survival of the French colony was intimately linked to the relationships developed with Natives. In fact, First Nations people actively participated in the fur trade, the main source of income for the settlement. Sometimes, Natives supplied the French with meat and taught them how to hunt and fish. The Maliseet were excellent hunters, and the French frequently traded with them, providing the Maliseet with glass beads, hatchets, knives, textiles, tobacco, and other goods. The Maliseet never fought against the French; and in fact were their allies during battles with the English. Regarding the attempts to convert them to Catholicism, Native people were persuaded that it was a gesture of friendship.

The tragic winter of 1604-1605
Unprepared to confront the intense cold of the North America winter, the French settlers were astonished to see snow falling in October 1604. They didn't know about the glacial air stream that was sweeping the country. Because both territories were located on the same latitude, the French thought Acadia's climate was very similar to the temperate climate of France. The winter was then horrible for the poor settlers who didn't have enough food or access to the mainland where fresh water was to be found. Half of the colony died from starvation and scurvy, a severe vitamin C deficiency.

A new colony
After this tragic winter, Dugua and Champlain decided to move the colony to the mainland. They chose a place located in the basin of the Dauphin River (today Annapolis River), near by the French Bay, known today as the Bay of Fundy (Nova Scotia). With the help of the settlers, they built the Port-Royal habitation and fortifications and moved some of the Sainte Croix Island dwellings to the new settlement. Everybody hoped that Port-Royal would be a better place to establish the colony and protect them from the terrible American winter.

The Habitation of Port-Royal was totally different from the one found on Sainte Croix Island. All the dwellings were built very close to each other in order to ensure better heat conservation. The colony had a square shape and an inner court was enclosed by the buildings. The storehouse of Port-Royal was three times bigger than the one built on Sainte Croix Island. The French stayed at Port-Royal until 1607: King Henry IV of France revoked Dugua's monopoly on fur trade in North America pretending Dugua failed to permanently establish a French colony. Without this great source of funding, Dugua was unable to finance the colony. With all the settlers, he left Port-Royal in 1607 after asking Chief Membertou to keep an eye on the Habitation.

Sainte Croix Island throughout history
In 1613, Samuel Argall attacked the French colonies, burning and destroying Saint-Sauveur, Port-Royal and Sainte Croix Island.

Under the British domination, the island was known as Dochet Island. This new name came from Theodosia, a little girl who apparently visited the island quite often. In 1797, a British-American commission succeeded in finding Sainte Croix Island: Docea's Island was in fact Sainte Croix Island where the French attempted to establish the first European settlement in America. Sainte Croix Island was then part of the border between the United States and the British colonies. In 1812, the island was called the Neutral Island because it was the only place where Americans and British peacefully met to trade objects.

According to legend, Sainte Croix Island was the first place in North America to celebrate Christmas. In order to commemorate this event and cheer up his distinguished guests such as Winston Churchill, President Roosevelt asked people to cut an 18-foot tree on the Sainte Croix Island days after the Pearl Harbor' attack in December 1941.

This 6.5-acre island is located near Calais (Maine), very close to the U.S-Canadian border. Today, the Sainte Croix River forms 185 km of the border between both countries.