Acadian Letter

Katie Roger

September 1st, 1651

Dearest grand-mere,

I thought I had better write you a letter describing the New World in Acadia. I
know you are worried sick about my sister Anais and my mother and father, and I hope
you know we think of you too. The ship that we came over in was just dreadful. I was in
very close living quarters with eighty other people, most of them male. There were black
rats everywhere, and the stench was something terrible. Dry land had never looked so
beautiful after that voyage.

My father decided to settle outside of the main settlement, Port Royal. We are
further inland in the middle of a forest of tall red spruce trees. Father is halfway done
with the walls of our log cabin. He says he will be done with the roof before winter. The
people of the town say winters in Acadia are terrible, and we will have to work hard for
our very survival. Mother, Anais, and I work everyday on the garden, and I think we
have made great progress. There we plant and tend to peas, beans, wheat, oats, and rye.
We also have one hog and a dog that we purchased when we arrived. Father also hunts
so we will a bit of meat for the winter. I hope it will all be enough.

While I write this letter I am sitting outside with my family. Father has his axe
and is taking his morning break from building the house. Anais is playing with the dog,
and Mother is cooking beans over a fire. I miss France so much, but I know our life can
be better here. We had a bad year for crops that coming to the New World was our only
real hope for survival. I know I will be happy here with time, though I will always have a
place for France in my heart.

On the journey over I was so scared to meet the savages, but they are not nearly a
horrible as people say. The savages in Acadia are very friendly to the settlers of the
town, and all the townsfolk assured my father that they would not be a problem for our
little settlement. I know you miss my family and me, grand-mere, but you need not
worry too much. We are making a good start for ourselves in Acadia.

All my love,
Catherine

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