Verdun had its origins in as an area known as "Côte des Argoulets" at the foot of the Lachine Rapids. It was initially a militarized area ("argoulets" meaning "sharpshooters"), with concessions given to militiamen who agreed to guard the area against an Iroquois assault on the colony of Ville-Marie. In 1671, the Sulpician Order, lords of the Island of Montreal since 1663, granted the area (now the western part of Verdun) as a fief to Major Zacharie Dupuis, chief of the Montreal militia. He is believed to have named the area after his natal village of Saverdun in southwestern France. Côte des Argoulets was renamed Côte de Verdun shortly afterward.