Memorial to Samuel Champlain at Plattsburgh
Copyrighted and by the courtesy of the Powers Engraving Co. of New York
The Plattsburgh memorial has been described by the architects as follows:
DESCRIPTION
The Plattsburgh memorial to Samuel Champlain consists of a statue and pedestal standing on a terrace in a park overlooking Lake Champlain. The Terrace is bordered by a granite coping, and a flight of steps leads down to the lake.
The pedestal is square, slightly tapering toward the top. It is twenty-two feet high, and built of Massachusetts pink granite. It stands on a platform two steps above the terrace. Its base is surrounded by a granite seat and ornamented in front by the figure of a crouching Indian with bow and shield, carved in granite; at each side by a canoe prow with trophies typical of America in Champlain’s time; and at the rear by a bronze tablet bearing the names of the Commissioners.
The canoe prows were chosen because the birch bark canoe is one of the highest achievements, both constructively and artistically, of any primitive race, and is typical of Eastern North America. Strongly and ingeniously made of materials found in the woods, seaworthy, capable of carrying a heavy load, and so light that it could easily be carried from one waterway to another, it provided the quickest and easiest means of travel for the Indians and for the explorers of this part of the country. Without its assistance, journeys such as Champlain’s would have been vastly more difficult, if not impossible.