Samuel de Champlain
Samuel de Champlain (13 August 1567 - 25 December 1635) was a French colonist, navigator, cartographer, draftsman, soldier, explorer, geographer, ethnologist, diplomat, and chronicler. He made between 21 and 29 trips across the Atlantic Ocean, and on July 3, 1608, he founded Quebec and New France. During his explorations, Champlain created the first accurate coastal map and established several colonial settlements in Canada. Now he is regarded as one of the most important historical figures in Canada.
Champlain began exploring North America in 1603, guided by his uncle, François Gravé Du Pont. After 1603, Champlain's life and career consolidated into the path he would follow for the rest of his life. From 1604 to 1607, he was involved in the exploration and establishment of Port Royal, Acadia, the first permanent European settlement north of Florida (1605). In 1608, he founded the French settlement that is now known as Quebec City.
Champlain was the first European to describe the Great Lakes, and he published maps of his journeys as well as accounts of what he learned from natives and the French who lived among them. He established long-term relationships with local Montagnais and Innu, as well as tribes from the Ottawa River, Lake Nipissing, and Georgian Bay, as well as Algonquin and Wendat; he also agreed to assist in the Beaver Wars against the Iroquois. He also studied and mastered their respective languages.
Champlain returned to the Wendat late in 1615 and spent the winter with them, allowing 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 Nouvelle France, depuis l'année 1615, published in 1619. In 1620, Louis XIII of France ordered Champlain to stop exploring, return to Quebec, and devote himself to country administration.
Samuel de Champlain served as Governor of New France in every way except formal title, a title that may have been formally unavailable to him due to his non-noble status. Champlain established trading companies that sent goods, primarily fur, to France, and oversaw the growth of New France in the St. Lawrence River valley until his death in 1635. Many places, streets, and structures in northeastern North America, most notably Lake Champlain, bear his name today.
