Four generations came and passed away.
Of treacherous peace and sanguinary fray.
When hostile armies hostile flags unfurled.
To wage the destiny of half the world.
No part of the United States can vie in comparison with Lake Champlain and its environs for historic importance and the ultimate significance of the national and international events occurring in that valley. “Every bay and island of the lake and nearly every foot of its shore have been the scene of some warlike movement—the midnight foray of the predatory savage, the bloody scout of frontier settlers, the rendezvous of armed bands, or the conflict of contending armies.” These stirring events cover a period of centuries—from the traditional history of the Indians to the close of the war of 1812.
From the earliest periods of settlement in Canada, New England, and New York the valley of Lake Champlain, both as watercourse or highway, served as a thoroughfare by which, in hostile times, predatory excursions were directed against both the French and English frontiers, and over which captives were conveyed into unenviable captivity. This was the route traversed by delegations engaged in diplomatic relations between the French and English colonists, and was used by agents employed to arrange an exchange of captives. The valley was a highway of commerce, particularly in the operations of the fur trade. Its Indian name, meaning “door of the country,” was an apt designation, for into it there marched the flower of contending armies of France, England, and the United States, who struggled persistently for its control. The destinies of the United States and Canada and of England’s colonial policy were largely decided by what occurred in the Champlain valley.
An unjust historical perspective is often created by placing too high value upon the significance of figures. Large armies do not always count for as much in their influence upon the course of the world’s history as events more hidden from view and surrounded with less of glamour. The one more easily bewitches the eyes, but the other is more likely to appeal to reason. The history of the Champlain valley exhibits in relief momentous martial and naval engagements and in intaglio the deeds of individuals and collections of men pregnant with far-reaching results in the evolution of the continent of North America.
Samuel Champlain laid the foundations of New France at Quebec in 1608, and in 1609 led an expedition into the Richelieu River, accompanied by a retinue of Algonquian and other Canadian Indians. At the falls of Chambly he abandoned the vessel in which he had sailed, and by portaging and canoeing reached the entrance of a great lake, which he named Lake Champlain. Its confines constituted one of the hunting grounds of the well-organized Iroquoian Confederacy. The Iroquois were then at great enmity with the Algonquians and the Canadian Hurons.