CHAMPLAIN, SAMUEL DE 11507-1035). A French explorer and colonizer, the founder of Quebec, and the most prominent figure in the early history of New France. Ile was horn at Brnage. in Saintonge. the son of a ship captain: received a careful training in the principles of navi_fathal and cartography: entered the army, and sem ed in Brittany a, quartermaster of cav al•y tinder D'Aumont, Saint Luc, and Itrissae. I595 accompanied his uncle. recently ap pointed pilot-general of Spain. when the latter carried front itlavct the Spanish soldiers who had served in France as allies of the Lea guers, and in January, 1599, he was placed in com of the Suit,/ •/n/On. which, with several other vessels, started at that time for the West Indies. After an absence of more than two years. during which he visited various Spanish settle in America, including Mexico City and New (franada. Champlain returned to France .net made a careful report of his observations to Henry IV. This report. entitled Bre f eliscours des dosses plus remarquableR que plain a reeonnues neer Inele ttel'idet/ bahs, re main- in manuscript at Dieppe, and was not printed in the original until 1870. though an English translation was puldished by the Ilak luyt Society in 1859. In it Champlain suggests the building of a canal .ergo.- Panama. which." he "the voyage to the South Sea would be shortened by more than 1500 In 1003 he accompanied the ex pedition sent out by myar de Chaste, to course a site for a proposed settlement, explored the Saint Lawrence to the La Chine Rapids and the Saguenay for 30 or 40 miles. and soon after his return load's:lied a small work entitled th's saarayc..: of( •oyage de Sa Cho soplain de Brounge jail en In Arourelle, which. to gether With hi,. Other work., has been of the utmost value to historians. and gives an espe cially interesting account of the character and habits of the Indians. In the following year, Champlain came to Allierien with De Alma, I 9.r. who, oll De Chastes's death (1003f . had secured the privilege of colonizing Acadia. and luring the next three years. in the course of four separate voyages. explffred the 1(ay of Fundy and the New England coast from the mouth of the Saint Croix to Vineyard Sound. though lie also spent much of his time during this period at the settlement which was established first at Saint Croix and at fort Royal, near the present. Annapolis. Nova Scotia (q.v.). In 1001 he discouraged colonists to France, but in 1008 came again to America. this time as Lientenant-tfovernor (an office which he held until his death). and on July 3 began to lay the foundation, of Quebec In 11109 he accompanied a band of Monta.Emais, Iluron. and Algonquin on an expedition against the I•quois, di-cov•red the lake which liars his name. and on duly 30, near the present •Iiconderoga. was instrumental in defeating a band of Alohawks—an event of great historical importance, since it definitely committed France to the policy. probably adopted by Champlain, whereby the French endeavored. by antagonizing the Five Nations, to secure the alliance of the diverse tribes of Canada, while the were impelled to unite first with the Dutch and after wards with the English. From 1009 until his death, Champlain stint part of almost year in Frame, zealously looking after the inter •sts of the colony, and while in Paris in 1010 he married Alademoiselle Bonn.% then only 12 years of age, who, however, did not Cottle to Call:la Until 1620. In 1010 he again took an active part in a battle with the who had formed a barricade of trees near the Sorel, and in 1011 he established It temporary trading post On the site of the present Montreal. On the
reorganization of the Covermilent of New France in 1012. he was reappointed Lieutenant-tbovernor under de Soksons. and subsequently held this position under the Prince de Comb'. the Due de Montmorency. the Duc de Ventadour. and Cardi nal Richelieu. In 1013, lured by the tales of one Vignan, who claimed to have found a great lake at the sources of the Ottawa and a salt sea not far distant. Champlain proceeded up the ottawa as far as Allumette Island. Two years later he aecompanied It band of Indians, known as 'The );real War Party,' on an expedition against the Iroquois, and after a circuitous jour ney by way I if the ( /It \Va. Lake Nipissing, (tem.:jail Bay, Trent River, and Lake Erie, un successfully attacked the great fortress, located probably near the easturn end of Lake in New York. This was the last of either for war or for exploration, and he passed the rest of his life fur the most part in Quebec and in Paris. In 1619 lug pub lished a third volume, I oyages it (Veourertes fatter en la .5 onrclle dcpuis Penni( 1615 jdstoes n la fin de Pumice 16l8; and in 1632 he issued his last work. Les nayttars de In Yow Vraner orcidentelo . Canada. fait's par I. de Champlain .Vninetonycois et !woes les de'courtrtes qu'il a fait's en et pais dt peis ran 1603 hfRgilts CH ran I 6 which is in part an abridgment of his three previous works relating to Canada. In July, 1629, he was forced to surrender Quebec to an English fleet under David Kirke, and. after being detained for -faie time as a prisoner in England, he went to France, whence, in 1633, he again came to Quebec (New France having been restored by England in the previous year), and there on Christmas Day, 1635, he died.
Bold and intrepid. far-seeing and resourceful, tactful in his dealings with his white subordi nates and his red allies, born to command. and thoroughly imbued With the spit-it of adventure and discovery, he was the real founder of French power in America, and richly earned his title, .The Father of New Prance.' the pioneers of the North American forests." says Parkman, "his name stands foremost. on the list. It was he who struck the deepest and boldest strokes into the heart of their pristine barbarism. . . .
Ills character belonged partly to the past. partly to the present. The pro's •heralicr, the crusader. the romance-loving explorer. the curious knowledge-seeking traveler, the practical navigator, all found their share in him. . . His books mark the man—all for his theme and purpose, nothing for himself. Crude in style, full of the superficial errors of carelessness and haste, rarely diffuse, often brief to a fault, they hear on every page the palpable impress of truth." In 1870 a complete edition of Cham plain's works was issued under the editorship of Laverditi and Casgrain, as tEurres de Cham plain, publit'cs sous le patronage dr l'('nirersite Laval 16 Quebec, 1570), and an English translation of the Voyages was published by the Prince under the title, Foyayes of .nurnet II, ( 'ha otplain, Translated front the Fri null by Charles P. Otis. trith Historical trations and .11entoir by E. F. Shifter (3 vols.. Boston, 1878-82). For sketches of Cham plain, consult! Parkman, Pioneers of France in the tr World (Boston, 1865): Winsor. Ya•ra tire and Critical Histora of Am( rim, Vol. IV. (8 vols., Boston, Winsor. Cartier to Prop/rime (Boston. 1894l: and an excellent, though brief. biography by Sedgwick in the "Riverside Biographical Series" (Boston. 1902),