Champlain
Champlain names 2 different subjects across the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. Each is set out below.
Champlain SAMUEL DE, a born at Brouage
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
SAMUEL DE, a born at Brouage, Saintonge, about 1570. French navigator, colonizer, and soldier, In early life he served in the army of Henri IV., but in January, 1599, as commander of the ship "St. Julien," sailed to the West Indies, Mexico, and Panama. SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN On his return (1601) he prepared a record of this cruise, with charts, etc. In March, 1603, he sailed for North America in the ship of Pontgrave, and explored, by boat, the St. Lawrence river up to the Falls of St. Louis, and down to Gaspé. Returning to France he published his "The Savages." In May, 1604, he sailed with De Monts along the shores of Nova Scotia, wintered on the island of St. Croix, and founded a colony at Port Royal. From 1604 to 1606 he careful surveys and charts of the coast as far as Cape Cod. He revisited France in 1607, but sailed again in 1608, and founded Quebec, which, owing to the development of its fur-trade, rapidly increased in size. In 1609 he accompanied an Algonquin and Huron expedition against the Iroquois, and thereby discovered Lake Champlain, on the borders of which the Iroquois were defeated. From September, 1609, to March, 1610, he was engaged in bringing over French mechanics for his colony. He became lieutenant-governor of New France (Oct. 8, 1612); fortified Quebec (1620); but was compelled (1629) to surrender to an English fleet, and was taken to England. Released in 1632, he sailed again for New France, with three well-equipped , and spent his last years in the vessels government and development of the French colonies. He died in Quebec, Dec. 25, 1635.
Champlain LAKE, a picturesque body of water occupying a basin
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
LAKE, a picturesque body of water occupying a basin between the Green and Adirondack mountains, on the border of the States of Vermont and New York. Its length is about 125 miles, and its maximum depth is 280 feet. The waters find an outlet at the N. end, by the Richelieu or Sorel river, which empties into the St. Lawrence. Since the construction of the Champlain canal (1818-1823), which connects it with the Hudson river, the lake has become an important medium of commerce between Canada and the United States. During the wars between the United and Great Britain, this body of water was the scene of numerous military operations. On Sept. 11, 1814, the American Commodore McDonough gained, under adverse circumstances, a most brilliant and thorough victory over the British fleet, near Plattsburg. This was one of the earliest substantial successes for the United States, in the War of 1812. The tercentenary of Lake Champlain's discovery was celebrated in 1909, French, British, and American representatives participating.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
Collier's 1921 date of birth for Champlain, "about 1570," is now treated as guesswork: no baptismal record has ever surfaced, and historians place his birth anywhere from the mid-1560s to about 1580, while Brouage remains accepted as his birthplace. His tomb is another gap the old account passes over — despite repeated digs in Quebec's Old Town, the burial site of the founder has never been located. Quebec marked its 400th anniversary in 2008 with celebrations far larger than the 1909 tercentenary the entry mentions, and modern accounts dwell much more on the 1609 fight beside the lake, when Champlain's arquebus shot committed New France to a lasting enmity with the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois). The lake itself is no longer the busy commercial artery of 1921: the Champlain Canal now carries recreational boats rather than freight, and the lake's chief public issues are phosphorus runoff, summer blue-green algae blooms, and invasive sea lampreys and zebra mussels.
Written for this edition, 2026.