[1-Samuel de Champlain (c. 1575 - 25 December 1635)
After meeting with King Henri IV during the winter of 1609-10, Champlain had returned for another expedition and another battle, in which he was wounded by the Iroquois. Once again he returned to France over the winter to secure the economic and political backing that would preserve his little colony.
[2-King Louis XIII]Champlain was able to acquire noble and politically powerful sponsors who could help him with the new king, Louis XIII (photo). He returned to France in 1611, and while there he married Helen Boulle, who, after his death, became an Ursuline nun.*
On March 29, 1613, Champlain arrived back in New France and ensured that his new royal commission be proclaimed. Champlain set out on May 27 to continue his exploration of the Huron country and in hopes of finding the "northern sea" he had heard about (this may have been Hudson Bay). He traveled the Ottawa River, later giving the first description of this area (In 1953, a rock was found at a location now known as the Champlain lookout (photo), which bore the inscription Champlain juin 2, 1613).
[3-Champlain Lookout in Gatineau Hills - click to enlarge]
It was in June that he met with Tessouat, the Algonquin chief of Allumettes Island (photo), and offered to build the tribe a fort if they were to move from the area they occupied, with its poor soil, to the locality of the Lachine Rapids.
[4-Isle-aux-Allumettes in Ottawa River]
[5-Saint Malo]By August 26 Champlain was back in Saint Malo (photo). There he wrote an account of his life from 1604 to 1612 and his journey up the Ottawa river, his Voyages and published another map of New France. In 1614 he formed the "Compagnie des Marchands de Rouen et de Saint-Malo" and "Compagnie de Champlain", which bound the Rouen and Saint-Malo merchants for eleven years. He returned to New France in the spring of 1615 with four Recollects (a French branch of the Roman Catholic order, the Franciscans) in order to further religious life in the new colony. The Roman Catholic Church would be given en seigneurie (photo) large and valuable tracts of land estimated at nearly 30% of all the lands granted by the French Crown in New France.
[6-Seigneurial system]
[7-Samuel de Champlain Map of New France in 1612]
CONTINUED
Sources: Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_de_Champlain
Library and Archives Canada here = http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/2/3/h3-1410-e.html
*http://www.samueldechamplain.com
The Penguin History of Canada by Robert Bothwell, pp. 29.
Photo Credits: [1][2][4][5][6][7]-wikipedia [3]-Kasia CC=nd-flickr.
13 comments:
Barbara,
Fantastic.
I was visiting Rouens and St. Malo not that long ago, but before I started blogging. I recall thinking that not enough people were aware of the history in the world around them and the interconnectedness of everything.
And you (a) prove me so very wrong and (b) write such fascinating historical posts on topics that I want to know more about or be reminded of.
I am so looking forward to the next installment of this important saga in Canadian history.
Chris
The four Recollects must have been very brave. I guess they had a lot of faith, but it doesn't always end well!...and how exciting would it have been in 1953 to find the inscripted rock!
Finding a rock inscribed by Champain in 1613 must have made someone's day. :)
Those were men of adventure eh?
Hey Barbara, I know this is totally from left field. But could I convince you to do a MTM post on the Royal Ontario Fair? Is that what it's even called? Or was called? I have this visual of apples upon apples upon apples. I think it was on the Ex grounds? Anyway, it was one of my favourite school field trips and it suddenly popped into my mind yesterday. Just wondering... ;)
Chris, while writing brief posts (I try to) there is much more history to be revealed. Once the Champlain series is over I will be giving a more in-depth look at the aboriginals in North America before the Europeans came. They have an important part in Canada's history which has been sorely neglected in the past.
Pam, the religious orders that came to early Canada were confident in their abilities and connection to the divine.
Bernard, the person must have been in a state of awe upon the realization of what had been discovered.
Charles, men of adventure indeed.
(I don't use 'eh' even though I live in Ontario. You must have forgotten I'm a westerner by birth.)
Barrie, it is called the Royal Winter Fair, and yes it is held on the Exhibition Grounds near Ontario Place. I was thinking on doing a post about it as my grandfather shipped prize hogs from central Alberta to be shown there.
Nice interesting piece of history there.
I have to say 'THANKS' for letting me nourished with some really good historical information of your region.
Thanks a lot and keep continuing :)
I've really enjoyed these posts on "The Father of New France." Keep 'em coming...
I love to look at photos, such as the one of the Lookout, and imagine what it would have been like to have been to see it, knowing that your modern world wasn't waiting, that it was raw beauty, untouched.
Sekhar, there is British history linking with that of the French, then other Europeans.
David, there are a few more episodes.
Junosmom, there would more forest in that view as the early settlers would have cleared the land to grow their crops.
I am hoping that readers of these historical posts, if interested, go on to dig deeper for other gems. Even after a hundred years new information is being revealed.
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