Trusted Writing on History, Travel, and American Culture Since 1949
Samuel de Champlain
As much as nine-tenths of the indigenous population of the Americas died in less than a generation from European pathogens.
In the summer of 1605, the French explorer Samuel de Champlain sailed along the coast of New England, looking for a likely spot to place a colony — a place more hospitable than the upper St. Lawrence River, which he had previously explored.
A soldier-humanist fights a war for peace in North America.
A few generations ago, American colonial history centered on a single narrative that flowed from Jamestown in 1607 to the Declaration of Independence in 1776. Today, early American history has blossomed into a braided narrative with many story lines.
New York Indians discover Henry Hudson and his crew in 1765.
The journeys 400 years ago of a French and Dutch explorer would forever alter the history of North America.
Four hundred years ago, at almost exactly the same historical moment, two intrepid European explorers came near to meeting in the wilderness of today’s New York State. Each left his name on the waters he visited, but the impact of their journeys left a far larger shadow on America’s history. This year, from New York City up the Hudson and along the shores of Lake Champlain, dozens of towns, cities, and museums will celebrate the quadricentennial of the arrival of Henry Hudson and Samuel de Champlain.
Etienne Brulé was one of the great explorers—the first white man to see Lakes Ontario, Erie, and Superior, and the first to set foot in Michigan. Why have you never heard of him?
Growing up in the Great Lakes region of North America, I developed an early appreciation for the European explorers who had long ago traveled the waterways of my home.
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