Intro, Not part of diary: Samuel De Champlain was born in Brouage, France, 1567. He worked in the army of Henry IV during the French wars of religion. Champlain sails to the West Indies where he learns cartography and drafting skills on these early adventures. In 1602 Champlain was appointed “hydrographer royal” by King Henry IV

1602

Samuel De Champlain made his first rip to North America, as an observer, on Bonne-Renommée a ship commanded by Aymar De Chaste. He later made a map of St. Lawrence River.

1603

Samuel De Champlain travels up the Saguenay River, where he suspects the existence of Hudson Bay. He voyaged up the St. Lawrence as far the Lachine Rapids, located just south of Montreal and North of the Algonquin tribe

1604

St. Croix Island

Champlain settles on St. Croix Island (near Bay of Fundy) with his soldiers. With no fresh water or firewood, the island is a poor choice. Only half of the 77 men survive the winter.Champlain explores and maps the coastline of Acadia, looking for potential colony sites and the fabled Northwest Passage. He travels along the Atlantic seaboard south to Cape Cod. 1605

Champlain assists in founding Port Royal in the Bay of Fundy—the first enduring European settlement in northern North America.

July 3, 1608

Quebec

On this day Champlain established a trading post that later became Quebec City. Hus goal was to gain military allies in order to bolster the French economy through fur trading.

June18, 1608

Champlain has allied with my tribe, Wyandot, (or as the French call us Hurons) against our enemies the Iroquois. This is a great advantage because we have weapons that Iroquois have never heard of before.

June29, 1609

Ticonderoga

Champlain and 9 of his soldiers set out with 300 of my people. I was one of them. Champlain explored the Iroquois lands to the south and travelled south along the Richelieu River and Samuel De Champlain having discovered it, named it Lake Champlain. To this point there has been no counter between us and the Iroquois, so some of the company left, leaving Champlain with 2 Frenchmen and 60 Natives (me included). We then traveled to the south of Lake Champlain and stayed for the night. Through out the night we heard the war cry of the Iroquois people, unfortunately, we had slept beside an Iroquois encampment and there we discovered more than 200 fearless, strong and fast Iroquois warriors. Soon, a battle began! As planned the night before, a native

guide showed Champlain their three chiefs, Champlain carried out an Arquebeus (early 16th century gun) and a shot rang out. That shot had killed two of their chiefs, scared of the noise but even more scared of the sight of two of their chiefs on the ground dead, the Iroquois ran away but that incident sparked a 200 year war between Iroquois and French people

July 3, 1609

Bitawkagok Champlain arrives to the lake called “Bitawkagok” (the waters between) by its Abanaki residents. He describes the northern part of the lake in his journal: “There are many pretty islands here, low, and containing very fine woods and meadows, with abundance of fowl and such animals of the chase as stags, fallow-deer, fawns, roe-bucks,

bears, and others, which go from the main land to these islands. We captured a large number of these animals. There are also many beavers, not only in this river, but also in numerous other little ones that flow into it.”

July 4, 1609Champlain travels down into the Broad Lake, noting Isle La Motte, North Hero, South Hero, and Valcour islands in his journal.

Summer of 1611

Montreal

Champlain travelled to Montreal, where he cleared the land and built a wall “to see how it would last during winter.

1613

Samuel De Champlain Organized missions to bolster the French fur trade. Champlain travelled and mapped the Ottawa River in search of the North-west Passage. The Ottawa River served as a French trading route for the next 200 years

1615

After following the Ottawa River to the Mattawa River, crossing Lake Nipissing and traveling along the French River in present day northern Ontario, Champlain arrives to Lake Huron. From there, he and my village guides go south. They cross Lake Ontario and find an Iroquois village. They attack, but their assault fails and Champlain is wounded.

1616

Champlain heals from his wounds in my village where he sketches and records the customs of the inhabitants. He later returns to France.

1616

We see no more of Champlain but my village’s alliance with the French people still remains.

Champlain returns to Quebec in 1620, where he takes up an administrative role as governor of New France. He continues working in this capacity for the rest of his life. Champlain dies in Quebec 15 years later (1635) at the ripe age of 68.