Samuel+De+Champlain

 Samuel de Champlain 1567-1635 by Fares Samuel De Champlain born in Brouage, France. He was a French navigator and explorer. His father was a ship captain. Samuel De Champlain had a very good education especially in navigation. At an early age, he entered the French army that faced spain.  After the war, Champlain traveled to Spain. With his uncle’s help he was able to go with a Spanish ship to Cuba, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Panama. He liked this trip so much that he wanted to travel more!  In 1603, Champlain got his chance when he was asked to go on a fur trading expedition to Canada. His job on this trip was to be the Royal Geographer. He was to make maps which would help the crew find a route to China and the Far East. During this trip they explored the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the Sagueny River and as far as the Lachine Rapids near Montreal.  He made several expeditions to North America before founding Quebec in 1608 with 32 colonists, most of whom did not survive the first winter or got very ill. He joined with the northern Indian tribes to defeat Iroquois but during the war with the Iroquois he got hurt several times.  He discovered Lake Champlain in 1609 and made other explorations of what are now northern New York, the Ottawa River, and the eastern Great Lakes. English privateers besieged Quebec in 1628, when England and France were at war, and he was taken prisoner. In 1632 the colony was restored to France, and in 1633 Champlain made his last voyage to Quebec, where he lived until his death and died on Christmas Day.