Three decades of colonial peace and prosperity follow the Treaty of Utrecht. Bastien's three succeeding generations migrate to settle south and west along the Saint Lawrence River, and farther south into the Illinois and Louisiana territories. The abandoned Acadiens manage to retain their neutral status. France constructs the great fortress of Louisbourg to guard its access to the Saint Lawrence River. Britain develops its port in Halifax and increases its military presence in Nova Scotia.

Bastien's adult grandchildren marry and establish their own homes and families. French Canadians continue to explore and extend their fur trade. Growth of the English provincial population greatly outpaces that of the French; their traders and settlers begin to migrate west across the Alleghenies. Conflict flares up along the frontiers over territorial claims. The Acadiens are forcibly scattered throughout the English provinces. British and French armed forces arrive in North America.