Joseph de La Roche Daillon

Joseph de La Roche Daillon (died 1656, Paris) was a French Catholic missionary to the Huron Indians and a Franciscan Récollet priest. He is best remembered in Canada as an explorer and missionary, and in the United States as the discoverer of oil near the Allegany River.

He was the son of Jacques de La Roche, seigneur of Daillon in Anjou, and of Jeanne Froyer of La Baronnière. La Roche's career as a missionary lasted less than five years in the 1620s.

La Roche arrived at Quebec City from Dieppe on June 19, 1625, to become a missionary to the Hurons.

His superiors having requested him to go and lend his assistance to Father Nicolas Viel, a missionary to the Hurons, he had already gone as far as Trois-Rivières in the company of St. Jean de Brébeuf, when he learned of Father Viel’s death, which had occurred on June 25. Both Hurons and French then persuaded them to turn back.

On July 14, 1626, he set out again, and after a successful trip made in Huron canoes, he at last arrived at the village of Toanché.

La Roche left the Hurons on October 18, 1626, choosing to minister to the Neutrals, so-called because they remained neutral between the Huron and Iroquois. The Neutrals lived near the modern-day sites of both Hamilton and Buffalo and along the Grand and Niagara rivers. At the time, the Neutrals had 28 villages, as reported by de la Roche.

La Roche settled on the east bank of the Niagara, north of the present site of Buffalo. He lived in the area for three months, learning the Neutral language and teaching them on Christian topics. The trip ended poorly, however. The Hurons, unhappy with the French presence, portrayed La Roche as a sorcerer, and the Neutrals nearly put him to death. He escaped west and returned to the Hurons.

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