Samuel de champlain explorer
Samuel de Champlain
Explorer
Age of Discovery
Quick Facts:
French explorer and cartographer best known for establishing and governing settlements in Canada, mapping the St. Lawrence River, discovering the Great Lakes, and founding the city of Quebec
Samuel de Champlain
Samuel de Champlain (), most likely styled after a portrait by Moncornet, 19th century.
Source: A Popular History of France from the Earliest Times, Vol. 6, Chapter 53, p. {{PD-Art}
Introduction
Samuel de Champlain was a French explorer famous for his journeys in modern day Canada. During his travels, he mapped the Atlantic coast of Canada, parts of the St. Lawrence River, and parts of the Great Lakes. He is best known for establishing the first French settlement in the Canadian territory, and founding the city of Quebec. Because of this, Champlain became known as the “Father of New France.”
Biography
Early Life
Samuel de Champlain was born in the French village Brouage in the Province of Saintonge. Historians do not know his exact date of birth, but most agree it was between and His father was Antoine Champlain and his mother was Marguerite Le Roy. Brouage was a seaport town where Antoine Champlain was a sea captain in the merchant marine. Samuel de Champlain probably would have had a modest education where he learned to read and write. But his real skill was navigation. He went to sea at a young age, and learned to navigate, draw, and make nautical charts. During this time period, the French were at war against the Spanish. In , Champlain served in the army of Henry of Navarre &#; also known as King Henry IV of France. He served in the army for 5 years, until King Henry’s and France’s victory in When the war ended, Champlain joined his uncle, Captain Provençal, on a mission from the King to return any captured Spanish soldiers to Spain.
Champlain and Provençal, along with their crew and captured Spanish soldiers, left France aboard the St. Julien September 9, The () French explorer Samuel de Champlain began exploring North America in , establishing the city of Quebec in the northern colony of New France, and mapping the Atlantic coast and the Great Lakes, before settling into an administrative role as the de facto governor of New France in Samuel de Champlain was born in (according to his baptismal certificate, which was discovered in ), in Brouage, a small port town in the province of Saintonge, on the western coast of France. Although Champlain wrote extensively of his voyages and later life, little is known of his childhood. He was likely born a Protestant, but converted to Catholicism as a young adult. Champlain's earliest travels were with his uncle, and he ventured as far as Spain and the West Indies. From to , he was a geographer for King Henry IV, and then joined François Gravé Du Pont's expedition to Canada in The group sailed up the St. Lawrence and Saguenay rivers and explored the Gaspé Peninsula, ultimately arriving in Montreal. Although Champlain had no official role or title on the expedition, he proved his mettle by making uncanny predictions about the network of lakes and other geographic features of the region. Given his usefulness on Du Pont's voyage, the following year Champlain was chosen to be geographer on an expedition to Acadia led by Lieutenant-General Pierre Du Gua de Monts. They landed in May on the southeast coast of what is now Nova Scotia and Champlain was asked to choose a location for a temporary settlement. He explored the Bay of Fundy and St. John River area before selecting a small island in the St. Croix River. The team built a fort and spent the winter there. In the summer of , the team sailed down the coast of New England as far south as Cape Cod. Although a few British explorers had navigated the terrain before, Champlain was the first to give a precise and detailed accounting of French explorer of North America (–) "Champlain" redirects here. For other uses, see Champlain (disambiguation). Samuel de Champlain (French:[samɥɛldəʃɑ̃plɛ̃]; 13 August – 25 December ) was a French explorer, navigator, cartographer, draftsman, soldier, geographer, ethnologist, diplomat, and chronicler. He made between 21 and 29 trips across the Atlantic Ocean, and founded Quebec City, and New France, on 3 July An important figure in Canadian history, Champlain created the first accurate coastal map during his explorations and founded various colonial settlements. Born into a family of sailors, Champlain began exploring North America in , under the guidance of his uncle, François Gravé Du Pont. After , Champlain's life and career consolidated into the path he would follow for the rest of his life. From to , he participated in the exploration and creation of the first permanent European settlement north of Florida, Port Royal, Acadia (). In , he established the French settlement that is now Quebec City. Champlain was the first European to describe the Great Lakes, and published maps of his journeys and accounts of what he learned from the natives and the French living among the Natives. He formed long time relationships with local Montagnais and Innu, and, later, with others farther west—tribes of the Ottawa River, Lake Nipissing, and Georgian Bay, and with Algonquin and Wendat. He agreed to provide assistance in the Beaver Wars against the Iroquois. He learned and mastered their languages. Late in the year of , Champlain returned to the Wendat and stayed with them over the winter, which permitted him to make the first ethnographic observations of this important nation, the events of which form the bulk of his book Voyages et Découvertes faites en la Nouvelle France, depuis l'année published in [6 Samuel de Champlain was born in La Rochelle, France to a family of mariners. He gained experience as a navigator through voyages with his uncle, notable fur trader François Gravé Du Pont, who traveled and traded in the New World as early as The knowledge of the New World gained on these journeys proved valuable for Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Mons — the man given the fur trading patent for the Acadia territory by King Henry IV of France. This vast territory ranged from modern day Newfoundland, southward to around present-day Philadelphia. This lucrative monopoly over trade and land in the New World required Dugua to organize an expedition, but he was no sailor. He enlisted the help of royal cartographer and navigator, Samuel de Champlain. Champlain led the group of 79 men to the New World, and in they settled on Saint Croix Islands. After they settled, in September of Champlain continued his exploration south where he first sighted the “deserted mountains." In his journal he wrote, “The same day we passed also near an island about four or five leagues long…it was very high, notched in places, so as to appear from the sea like a range of seven or eight mountains close together. The summits of most of them are bare of trees for they are nothing but rock…I named it the island of the Desert Mountains.” In Champlain's native French, it was called "Île de Monts Déserts." Since they settled here thousands of years before, the Wabanaki called this island "Pesamkuk." Later, Sir Robert Mansel called it Mount Mansel. Yet the name that stuck on most maps of that time until today, was the one coined by “Soldier, Sailor, Explorer” Samuel de Champlain, Mount Desert Island. The mountain formerly known as Newport Mountain now bears his name. A memorial plaque just outside the park to commemorate the th anniversary of Champlain’s arrival reads: “…Samuel de ChamplainSamuel de Champlain
Who Was Samuel de Champlain?
Early Life
First Explorations and Voyages
Samuel de Champlain
Legacy
Born in France
Died at Quebec
A soldier sailor explorer
And administrator
Who gave this island its name.”