Hitherto there had been on the Great Lakes nothing looking to family life or permanent residence, but in the spring of 1702, Madame Cadillac and Madame Tonty, wife of the captain of the garrison, started in open canoes, manned by Indians and Canadians, on the seven-hundred-mile journey from Montreal to Detroit. At a season when storms were likely to be frequent these two women braved the hardships of the trip, going up the rapids of the St. Lawrence, across Lake Ontario and around Niagara, and up Lake Erie to the strait. With her Madame Cadillac brought her little boy, Jacques, six years of age; her oldest son was already with his father. These were the first white women to come to the Great Lakes. They were soon followed by the wives and families of other settlers. By 1708 the settlement had grown so fast that houses were built outside the stockade, as the twenty-nine huts within the enclosure were not sufficient to accommodate the people. The little colony suffered the usual troubles of frontier life, but managed to survive them. In 1703 several of the buildings were destroyed by a fire set by the Indians. For the first few years the colony was managed by a company, but in 1705 Cadillac succeeded in getting full control and ruled there with as absolute sway as had any feudal chief in his turreted castle. He owned the public buildings and defences and he alone could grant lots for settlement. From him alone could the people obtain their liquor, and to prevent excessive drinking by the Indians and traders he restricted the amount sold to each person at one time and charged a high price for it. To him also all must come for permits to carry on their different trades and occupations. For every privilege the people must pay, and right bitterly did they complain of their commandant to his enemies, though when he walked along the narrow street, firm and erect, in soldierly costume and with clanking sword, every hat was doffed. Doubtless some of his charges were exorbitant, but the money was turned back into the improvement of the colony, as, for instance, to build a public windmill where the people could pay to have their corn ground. The blacksmith complained that he had to pay six hundred francs a year and two casks of ale for the privilege of blacksmithing, besides having to keep all Cadillac’s horses shod. The latter task could not have been very arduous, for until 1706 there were no horses in the settlement, and of the three that Cadillac bought in that year only one, named Colin, was alive in 1711.