Following Champlain’s Great War Path
1 Oct
We’re fond of the notion of paddling in the wake of history. Hop in a canoe, push out into the water, allow your imagination to drift, and it doesn’t take much to envision the people who traveled across the water before you — natives, explorers, traders, or settlers.
The New York Times’ Christopher Shaw recently retraced Samuel de Champlain’s 1609 route up the lake that now bears his name to make war with the Mohawks. His flotilla of 24 canoes, manned by some 60 Native Americans from various St. Lawrence Valley tribes, spent ten days paddling 85 miles on the lake. In doing so, Champlain became the first European to see the area.
Shaw’s story, HERE, wonderfully recounts Champlain’s expedition as it describes the current look and feel of Lake Champlain. For imaginative and adventurous paddlers who wish to paddle the same route, Shaw offers helpful logistical information and interpretive information.
The early days of New France, it turns out, are just paddle-strokes away.
