Samuel de Champlain was born in 1567, in the town of Brouage, Saintonge, on the Bay of Biscay in France. Very little is known of his family, other than his father was a ship-captain. Fairly early in his life, he joined the army and became quartermaster for the cavalry. Then, in 1599, Samuel's uncle took Samuel to Spain for Samuel's first voyage. There, Samuel took command of the "St. Julien" ("The Virtual Museum of New France"). He took his ship, and chartered to the West Indies. He landed at Vera Cruz, and even made it inland as far as Mexico City, and returned home after passing Panama, where he conceived a plan to make a canal across the isthmus ("Samuel de Champlain"). He reached Spain in March 1601. His journey was recorded in an account named "Bref Discours" ("Historical Bopgraphies").
             He soon returned to France, whereupon French King Henry IV gave Samuel de Champlain a pension to explore land in North America. He sailed for the New Land on March 15, 1603, in the Pontgrave, with his eye set on founding a new colony. They reached Tadoussac on May 24 of that year. Tadoussac was a trading location where the Saguenay joins the St. Lawrence River ("Samuel de Champlain"). They set anchor here and rested.
             Soon after their arrival in Tadoussac, Samuel and a few of his men took a small riverboat up the St. Lawrence River. They continued until they hit the rapids of St. Louis, above current-day Montreal. They turned around and went back to Tadoussac, where they sailed back to France in August, 1603 ("The Virtual Museum of New France").
             Before long, the brave explorer was back at sea. Sieur de Monts, a French Prince, had recently received new land in Acadia, and had it arranged that Samuel would sail to the New World and found a new colony ("Champlain"). Sieur de Monts sailed with Samuel to Acadia, where they landed at Sable I...