Samuel de champlain
Samuel de Champlain was a French explorer and navigator who mapped much of northeastern North America and founded Quebec. The settlement of Quebec was the first permanent French colony made in the Americas. King Henry IV hired Champlain to find the Northwest Passage. In 1603, Champlain left France and sailed to North America. He landed in Canada and explored the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River. He charted the river and searched for a good spot on the river to establish a
fur trading post. Why did Champlain want to establish a trading post for furs? .... The people of France wanted fur hats! In Champlain's time, hats made from beaver fur were very fashionable! Beavers were almost extinct in Europe. If Champlain could bring beaver fur to France, he and the French king could make a lot of money. |
In 1608, Champlain founded a fur trading post on the St. Lawrence river. He named his settlement QUEBEC. Here, he established a friendly trading relationship with the Indians. Champlain and the other settlers traded their European items, such as iron, wool, glass and guns, for the beaver fur that the Indians had hunted. Today, Quebec is one of Canada’s largest cities and the people still speak French. |
****Much of the above text taken word for word from EnchantedLearning.com, WorldBook online.com