History of Montreal
Montreal was originally called Ville-Marie or City of Mary. A handful of historians believe that the city got its name from Mount Royal, the three-headed hill right at the heart of the city. They say that the French Jacques Cartier who arrived at a small village called Hochelaga, climbed the mountain with some natives on October 1535. He named the mountain Mount Royal or MontReal. The French colonized it in 1642. The city was Canada's capital from 1844 to 1849. 
