2 



CIVIL HISTORY OF VERMONT. 



Part II. 



QUEBEC SETT! ED BY THE FRENCH. 



LAKE CHAMPLAIN DISCOVERED. 



further attempts were made by the Frencli 

 to establish themselves in this part of the 

 country for more than half a century. In 

 1603, Samuel Champlain, a French noble- 

 man, sailed up the St. Lawrence, visited 

 the several places, which Cartier had de- 

 Bcribed, and, having obtained all the in- 

 formation, which he could derive from the 

 natives, respecting the interior of the 

 country, he returned to France to com- 

 municate his discoveries and to procure 

 assistance in establishing a colony. 



It was not, however, till the year 1608. 

 that the French court could be induced to 

 fit out a fleet for the purpose of founding 

 a colony on the river St. Lawrence. This 

 fleet was placed under the command of 

 Champlain, who, in the beginning of July, 

 arrived at a place called by tlie natives 

 Quebec. The situation of this place being 

 elevated and commanding, and it being 

 mostly surrounded by water, rendering its 

 defence easy, Champlain had in a former 

 voyage designated it as the most eligible 

 epot for beginning a settlement. He 

 therefore, immediately commenced cut- 

 ting down the tim])er, clearing the land, 

 building houses, and preparing the soil 

 for cultivation. Here he spent the fol- 

 lowing winter, in the course of which his 

 little colony suffered extremely froui the 

 scurvy and from the severity of the cli- 

 mate. 



In the spring of 1609, Champlain left 

 Quebec, accompanied by two other 

 Frenchmen and a party of the natives, for 

 the purpose of exploring the interior of the 

 country, particularly the southern lakes, 

 which the Indians informed him opened a 

 communication witli a large and warlike 

 nation called the Iroquois. Champlain 

 proceeded up the St. Lawrence and tlie 

 river now called the Richelieu, till he ar- 

 rived at a large lake. To this lake he gave 

 his own name, which it still retains. Pro- 

 ceeding southward, he reached another 

 lake lying to the southwest of lake Cham- 

 plain, which he named St. Sacrement, 

 but which is now known by the name of 

 Lake George.* 



On the shores of lake George, they fell 

 in with a party of the Iroquois, between 

 whom and the Canada Indians, a war had 

 long subsisted. A skirmish immediately 

 ensued, but the Frenchmen being armed 

 with muskets, it was soon decided in fa- 

 vor of Champlain and liis party. The Ir- 

 oquois were put to flight, leaving 50 of 

 their number dead upon the field, whose 



*lt is said to htive been called Horicon by the 

 natives. Mr. Spafford, in his Gazetteer of New 

 York, page 272, says that the Indians called it 

 Canideri-oit, s'lgnUyia^xUe tail of the lake, in allu- 

 sion probably to its connexion with lake Champlain. 



scalps were taken and carried to Quebec. 

 This was doubtless the first time the In- 

 dians, in these regions, ever witnessed the 

 effect of European arms, and it is proba- 

 ble the panic produced in the astonished 

 natives, contributed, not a little, to a fa- 

 vorable and speedy termination of the 

 combat." 



Thus, so early as the year 1609, wag 

 lake Champlain, and the western borders 

 of the present territory of Vermont, dis- 

 covered and partially explored by the 

 French ; and although, after this event, 

 more than a century elapsed, before this 

 tract of country became the residence of 

 any civilized inhabitants, it was, during 

 this period, and long after, the theatre of 

 war, and a scene of Indian havoc and cru- 

 elty, of the most appalling character. But 

 these wars were wholly carried on by the 

 Canada Indians and the French, whoso 

 settlements were rapidly extending up the 

 St. Lawrence, on one part, and by the 

 confederated nations of the Iroquois on 

 the other, previous to the year 1664. This 

 year the Dutch settlement of New Neth- 

 erlands, was surrendered to the English, 

 and its name changed to New York ; and 

 from this period the country, now called 

 Vermont, and lake Champlain became 

 the great thoroughfare of the French and 

 English colonies and their Indian allies in 

 their almost incessant wars with each 

 other. 



Section II. 



Progress of the English and Dutch settle- 

 ments, from 1607 to 163rf. 



While the French were founding their 

 colony at Quebec, exploring the regions 

 of Canada, and rapidly extending their 

 settlements along the banks of the St. 

 Lawrence, the other nations of Europe 

 were not inactive. The English, after 

 several unsuccessful attempts, succeeded 

 in 1607, in making a permanent settle- 

 ment upon the banks of James river in 

 Virginia, and about the same time planted 

 a small colony in the present State of 

 Maine. In 1614, Capt. John Smith ex- 

 plored the sea coast from Penobscot to 

 cape Cod, drew a map of the same and 



* Champlain was made governor of the colony of 

 Canada which he established ; became a prisoner to 

 the English, when Quebec surrendered to Sir David 

 Kirk in 1629 ; was restored to the government of 

 Canada after the peace of 1633 ; and died at Quebec 

 in December, 1635. He was upright and aniiabla 

 in his deportment — was zealous in propagating the 

 Roman Catholic faith, and was often heard to remark, 

 that " the salvation of one soul was of more value 

 than the eonqueet of an empire." 



