Champlain's Journey of 1613

Champlain's War Party, 1615

Samuel de Champlain (died in 1635)

and

Champlain's Astrolabe

There are four plaques about this gentleman.
All can be seen on this page.
The first is in the County of Renfrew.
The second is in the County of Hastings.
The third is in the City of Ottawa.
The fourth is also in the County of Renfrew.

Photo by Alan L Brown - Posted July, 2005

Photo Source - Wikipedia

Plaque Location

The County of Renfrew
The Township of Whitewater Region
In Cobden, behind the Visitor Centre
in a park with a tall flagpole
on the north side of Highway 17

Coordinates: N 45 37.740 W 76 52.745

Plaque Text

The Father of New France, Samuel de Champlain, made the first of two voyages into what is now Ontario in 1613. He travelled up the Ottawa River seeking the northern sea (Hudson Bay) which one of his five companions, Nicolas de Vignau, claimed to have seen. The expedition struck inland above Lac des Chats and followed a chain of small lakes towards present-day Cobden. Here, on June 7th, Champlain visited with the Algonkin chief Nibachis. Later the party met with the Algonkin elder Tessouat at Allumette Lake. Not wanting the French to travel into Nipissing territory, Tessouat convinced Champlain that Vignau had lied about having seen the northern sea. Champlain, his plans thwarted, returned downriver.

Photo by Alan L Brown - Posted December, 2010

Plaque Location

The County of Hastings
The City of Quinte West
In Trenton, on the southwest corner of
Quinte Street and Albert Street, near some flagpoles

Coordinates: N 44 05.993 W 77 34.486

Plaque Text

In September, 1615, a small party of Frenchmen, commanded by Samuel de Champlain, and some five hundred Huron Indians passed down the Trent River on their way to attack the Iroquois who lived in what is now northern New York State. Joined by a band of Algonkians they skirted the eastern end of Lake Ontario and journeyed southward to a palisaded Onondaga village near the present site of Syracuse, N.Y. Champlain was wounded, the attack repulsed, and the discomfited allies returned to Huronia. This expedition increased the hostility of the Five Nations towards the French and their Indian supporters, which culminated in the defeat and dispersal of the Hurons, 1649-50.

Photos by contributor Colin Old - Posted October, 2009

Plaque Location

The City of Ottawa
At the statue of Champlain in Major's Hill Park
on the north side of Alexandra Bridge

Coordinates: N 45 25.763 W 75 42.088

Plaque Text

The "Father of New France", Champlain was at the heart of the French venture in North America from 1603 to 1635. Under the leadership of Pierre Dugua de Mons, he helped colonize Acadia and, in 1608, founded a settlement at Québec that became the centre of the colony. He formed important alliances with Aboriginal peoples and expanded the French sphere of influence, travelling up the Ottawa River and as far west as the Great Lakes. Champlain explored and mapped large areas of the continent, and in his travel journals left an invaluable record of his era for future generations.

Photos by contributor Albert Joseph - Posted August, 2011

Plaque Location

The County of Renfrew
The Township of Whitewater Region
On Highway 17 at a pull off on the east side of the highway
4.2 km south of the intersection of
Highway 17 and Main Street (Road 8) in Cobden

Coordinates: N 45 35.933 W 76 50.666

Plaque Text

Nearby was found in 1867 by Edward George Lee an astrolabe bearing the date 1603. This instrument, used for determining latitude, is believed to have been lost by Champlain about 7th June, 1613, on his exploratory expedition up the Ottawa River.

Related Ontario plaque
Gateway to Huronia

Related Toronto plaque
Samuel de Champlain's Journeys Through Ontario

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