Samuel De Champlain
Samuel De Champlain
b. 1567 Brouage, France
d. 1635 Quebec, Canada
Champlain was schooled in navigation and mapmaking by his father, a captain in
the French Navy. His first voyage to the New World took in all of the
West Indies,
Mexico,
and
Panama,
and his record of life in the ports of
Central America
was so impressive
his king,
Henry IV,
immediately appointed him to the post of royal geographer.
In 1603,
on a trading expedition, he traveled up the
St. Lawrence
as far as
the treacherous
Lachine Rapids.
He returned to
France,
but almost at once, he struck out again for the New World, this time with a
group of colonists. Arriving on shore, they built shelters and a storehouse at
the mouth of the St. Croix River but later moved to a site better fit for
living at Port Royal in
Acadia
(now
Nova Scotia).
While his followers occupied themselves trying to establish more than a
toehold there, Champlain navigated the Atlantic coastline as far south as
Martha's Vineyard
and made the
first accurate maps of that region. The Port Royal colony failed in 1607, and
Champlain went home to
France.
His
career was brought back to life the next year with his appointment as
lieutenant governor. In short order he founded
Quebec,
made alliances
(Friendships)
with the
Hurons,
and discovered
Lake Champlain
while on a
journey with them to make war against the
Iroquois.
Champlain himself supplied the guns for that battle, thereby firing in the
Iroquois a deadly animosity
(dislike) toward
the French.
During
his expedition of 1613-15, Champlain became the first European to explore
rivers in the hope of reaching the Pacific. After traveling as far as Georgian
Bay and
Lake Huron,
he chose to be based in
Quebec,
where he was leader of the colony. Whenever he sailed back to
France,
it was to gain new support and secure additional supplies.
The
British
seized
Quebec
in 1629 and ordered that Champlain be transported to
England.
By 1632, however, he had succeeded in having the colony restored to
France
and himself returned to
Quebec.
It was there that he died, holding the official title of governor.
"In Champlain alone was the life of New
France," wrote historian Francis Parkman. In his will - from beyond the grave,
as it were - Champlain urged those who would follow him to keep advancing west
and to plant the French flag on the Pacific coast.
Click on the maps to enlarge them
Below are links and sites for more information about Samuel de
Champlain
This site was last updated
08/04/2004 08:08 PM -0400
