 In 1677, Lamberville was appointed superior of the missions among the Five Nations.He maintained distant but cordial relations with the Dutch and English traders to the south, even on returning a stolen gun and powder box to Jeremiah Van Rensselaer, although he declined to return a runaway slave to Albany.Governor Daniel de Rémy de Courcelle instructed René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle to identify a location for the construction of a fort, which would also serve as a location for trade with the Iroquois.