Celebrating Champlain

At 7pm tonight, October 24th, at the Vergennes Opera House, is the film premiere of “Champlain - the Lake Between” by filmmaker Caro Thompson. Samuel de Champlain seems to be quite a celebrity these days here in Vermont but also in Quebec and in New York State. 400 years ago, when he traveled these regions, he probably did not imagine he would be so popular centuries later… As Quebec celebrates the 400th anniversary of the founding of Quebec city by Samuel de Champlain and as New York and Vermont prepare to celebrate the anniversary of the discovery of Lake Champlain by the French explorer next year, a lot is being written and discussed on this subject: conferences, movies and documentaries, books…
Tonight, Caro Thompson explores Samuel de Champlain’s legacy, the relationships between Natives and Europeans (the fur trade was essential to both the French and the Natives) and the history of the military forts (Lake Champlain was indeed a very strategic region at the time of New France). “The lake between” is the name native Americans had given to the lake… There will be a discussion with the filmmaker and reception. The documentary will also be broadcasted on Vermont Public Television, with a broadcast premiere on December 3, 2008, at 8pm.
More information at: Vergennes Opera House – Film premiere of “Champlain – The Lake Between”

In the past few weeks, there have been other events of interests, a recent conference in Vergennes on first contacts between Europeans and Natives, a presentation at Champlain College by the historian Willard Sterne Randall, TV programs on Quebec television, articles in Quebec newspapers and the New York Times… but if you missed them, you still have a chance to be part of this discovery experience.

Here are a few events to watch for:
- October 30 in Albany, Pulitzer prize winner David Hackett Fischer is presenting his new book: “Champlain’s Dream”. A superb book!
Details at: “Champlain’s Dream” – Book presentation
- July 2-5, 2009: Champlain College is organizing an international symposium called: “When the French were here”.
Details at: Champlain College – “When the French were here” – Conference
- And right here at Travel-Vermont.net, we are organizing a summer 2009 historic tour “When this land was called New France…” … 6 days of historic exploration of this beautiful region (Quebec, Vermont and New York State)… Samuel de Champlain’s explorations, the way French settlers lived here, the forts and military actions… in English or in French… In partnership with Ipswich Tours and History Traveler, the official travel organization of the History Channel, and one of the events of the Quadricentennial of Lake Champlain.
More details at: “When this land was called New France“.

Related articles:
- Middlebury College’s professor Christopher Shaw has canoed the path taken by Samuel de Champlain this summer.
Read his September 26 article in the New York Times: Champlain’s Shores
- In the Boston Globe, March 9, 2008: “Champlain was here” … on the exploration of the coast of New England, all the way down to Cape Cod
- In the Times Argus, March 16, 2008: “A bold arrival, an obscure end for French in Vermont”
- “Champlain names his lake”, a presentation by historian Willard Sterne Randall, from the Champlain College will air soon on Channel17 TownMeeting in streaming video. Check: Town Meeting Digital Television Conversion
- You can already see a presentation he did on Jacques Cartier and French explorers at: “Jacques Cartier and fool’s gold”
- The documentary “Facing Champlain, A Work in 3 Dimensions” by award-winning Quebec filmmaker Jean-François Pouliot can be seen at the Centre d’interprétation de Place-Royale in Quebec city
Details at: Centre d’interprétation de Place-Royale
- Map of Samuel de Champlain’s voyages
- Lake Champlain… New France

Samuel de Champlain’s Voyages

On these years of celebrating Samuel de Champlain’s exploration of New France, many want to see a map of where he actually traveled. And because we could not find a good one on the internet, we have chosen to create one - a really nice and complete one! Why? you may ask. After all, we have the mission of bringing interesting news to travelers, and a map of Samuel de Champlain’s voyages looks more like history than travel! Well, the answer is that we will be talking a lot about Samuel de Champlain’s discovery of Lake Champlain next year, as Vermont will celebrate the 400th anniversary of the event. And we simply thought this was nice background information to launch the celebrations - here at Travel-Vermont.net!
It is actually amazing to realize how extensively Samuel de Champlain traveled in these regions from 1603 to 1636, 12 voyages all together… from Nova Scotia to Cape Cod and all the way west to Lake Ontario and Lake Huron! And in Vermont, may you ask? Well, Samuel de Champlain traveled down the Richelieu River to Lake Champlain in July 1609. He first landed on Isle La Motte, at the North of the lake and then traveled down all the way to either Crown Point or Ticonderoga (historians are not sure), where he fought against the Iroquois, at the end of July 1609. Later, the surroundings of the lake would see French settlements… but that’s another story!
To see the full size map, click here.
And if you are interested in the history of this region and period, see our Summer 2009 Historic Tour, “When this land was called New France” - a 6-day historic tour to Quebec City, the Richelieu River and Lake Champlain (Vermont/NY) and discover 150 years of little-known history!
You can also learn more about the first contacts between native Americans and Europeans, by attending the September 25th 2008 conference on this subject, at the Vergennes Opera House.

Related posts:
Celebrating Champlain
Lake Champlain… New France