North America's First Permanent European Colony

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North America's First Permanent European Colony

Overview

Although Samuel de Champlain (1567-1635) was not the first European to explore the coastline of Canada, he was arguably the most influential. Noted as the geographer who generated a set of the most complete maps of the coast, Champlain charted the seaboard from Nova Scotia to Rhode Island. He also explored what would become major trade routes along the inland rivers of Canada, was likely the first European to see the Great Lakes, and helped establish colonies at Quebec and Annapolis Royal.

Background

Champlain began his explorations of New France, or Canada, in 1603 as a member of an expedition led by François Grave Du Pont. Du Pont's charge was to sail up the St. Lawrence River system. The expedition made its way to what is now Montreal in the summer of 1603. That voyage lasted less than a year, but Champlain was so taken by the Canadian expanse that he wrote a book about his experiences in the wilderness that same year. The book was titled Des Sauvages, ou, Voyage de Samuel Champlain. In the book, he credited the native people, particularly the Hurons and Montagnais, for assisting his explorations of the countryside, and noted information that they had provided about the existence of expansive inland waters. He mistakenly believed that these waters, now known to be the Great Lakes, might provide a cross-continental passage from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific. Discovery of such a passage was desired for its potential to open up a shorter trade route to and from China.

Champlain's interest in exploring the lands of North America heightened when he returned to Canada less than a year later as geographer aboard an expedition led by Pierre du Gua de Monts. During this expedition, and the subsequent two years that Champlain spent living in the largely unknown continent, he spent a great deal of time touring the area and taking meticulous notes. From these, he created a general map of St. Croix and Annapolis Royal in Nova Scotia. Although not perfect, this map was much more accurate and contained more detail than previous maps of the area.

After a short return trip to France in 1607, Champlain went back to Canada. He took on the monumental task of establishing a fort at Quebec (near the site of an already existing Iroquois village) in 1608, serving as its administrator, and within two years generating enough interest in the site to have it acknowledged as his country's North American fur-trading center. Despite his duties in Quebec, Champlain continued his explorations. In 1615, he traveled up the Ottawa River and, with the help of another Indian guide—a tribal chief this time—he saw Lake Huron for the first time. He ventured along the shoreline of this "Fresh Water Sea," meeting with other small groups of Indians and learning about their cultures.

Although he conducted other explorations afterward, he turned a great deal of attention to his responsibilities in Quebec. There, he hired younger explorers, including such men as Etienne Brûlé (1592?-1633) and Jean Nicollet (1598-1642), to become interpreters between the French and native American populations, and to help expand France's trading circle into Canada's interior.

A war between England and France resulted in Champlain's ouster from not only Quebec, but from Canada as well, for about four years. As soon as the two countries struck a deal and France regained Quebec, Champlain returned to live out his life in his adopted home. He died on December 25, 1635.

Impact

Champlain's explorations of the eastern seaboard of Canada and the northern United States, along with his attention to detail and his skills as a geographer, provided the most accurate maps to that time of the coastline from Nova Scotia well into New England. His voyages along the St. Lawrence and Ottawa rivers also generated the maps necessary to set up primary trading routes through the waterways, and helped to assure France's place as one of the foremost trading nations of the world. His geographical expertise became widely respected through the publication of his 1632 map of the web of waterways connecting the Atlantic Ocean with the Great Lakes.

France's name in trading was further elevated when Champlain established and governed Quebec. Through his insistence about the potential benefits of the fort as a trading center, the explorer founded what was to become one of the largest and most influential cities in all of Canada.

Beyond his geographical contributions, Champlain was one of the first explorers to not only form working relationships with the native people, but to try to understand their cultures. His book, Des Sauvages, ou, Voyage de Samuel Champlain, contains never-before-printed ethnographic detail about the American Indians. Unlike many other explorers of his time who feared—and often slaughtered—the Indians they encountered, Champlain understood the importance of creating alliances. It was through such friendships that he was able to safely travel through the waterways and forests of the North American interior, and how he learned of the Great Lakes.

Champlain's ability to relate well with the Indians also allowed him to locate the native population's long-standing trading routes. Those trading routes became the pathways of the European explorers as they began to trek farther onto the North American continent.

His expeditions into Canada's interior opened the door to the exploration of America's Midwest, as well. His discovery of Lake Huron, and his belief that it might be the cross-continental passageway to the Pacific Ocean and China, combined to fuel the exploration of Michigan and Wisconsin. One of his hired interpreters/explorers, Etienne Brûlé, became the first European to set foot in what is now Michigan. Jean Nicollet pressed on to Lake Michigan and into Green Bay. During his trip, Nicollet learned about the existence of a great river, the Mississippi, and that discovery led to additional exploration of the area in ensuing years.

LESLIE A. MERTZ