For a year after the establishing of the mission of La Conception at Ossossane three fathers—­Pierre Chastelain, Pierre Pijart, and Isaac Jogues—­ministered to the remnant of the Hurons at Ihonatiria.  But the pest was still raging, and by the spring of 1638 Ihonatiria was little more than a village of empty wigwams.  It was useless to remain longer at this spot, and the missionaries looked about for another field for their energies.  The town of Teanaostaiae, the largest town of the clan of the Cord, about fifteen miles north of the present town of Barrie, seemed suitable for a central mission.  Brebeuf visited the place, talked with the inhabitants, met the council of the nation, and won its consent to establish a residence.  In June the mission of St Joseph was moved to Teanaostaiae.  Before the end of the summer Jerome Lalemant, who for the next eight years was to be the superior of the Huron mission, Simon Le Moyne, and Francois du Peron arrived in Huronia.  There was now a new distribution of the mission forces, five priests under Lalemant’s immediate leadership taking up their abode at Ossossane, while three in charge of Brebeuf settled at Teanaostaiae.

So far Brebeuf had been the recognized leader in Huronia.  He had been nobly supported by his brother priests and his hired men.  The residences at both Ihonatiria and Ossossane had been kept well supplied with food, even better than many of the Indian households.  Game was scarce in Huronia, but the fathers had among their engages an expert hunter, Francois Petit-Pre, ever roaming the forest and the shores in search of game to give variety to their table.  Robert Le Coq, a devoted engage, later a donne, [Footnote:  An unpaid, voluntary assistant whose only remuneration was food and clothing, care during illness, and support in old age.] was their ‘negotiator’ or business man.  It was Le Coq who made the yearly trips to Quebec for supplies, and who with infinite labour brought many heavy burdens over the difficult trails.  Brebeuf had proved himself essentially an enthusiast for souls, a mystic, a spirit craving the crown of martyrdom, yet withal a man of great tact, and a powerful exemplar to his fellow-priests.  Lalemant, while lacking Brebeuf’s dominating enthusiasm, was a more practical man, with great organizing ability.  After viewing the wide and dangerous field to be administered, the new superior decided to concentrate the separate missions into one stronghold of the faith.  The site he chose was remote from any of the centres of Indian population.  It was on the eastern bank of the river Wye between Mud Lake and Matchedash Bay.  Here the missionaries built a strong rectangular fort with walls of stone surmounted by palisades and with bastions at each corner.  The interior buildings—­a chapel, a hospital, and dwellings for the missionaries and the engages—­although of wood, were supported on foundations of stone and cement.