1909 Three Hundred Years Ago in New Amsterdam
by Ottomar H. Van Norden
de Halve Maen July 1949
Three hundred and forty years ago (July 29, 1609), a battle of far more consequence to the nation than Saratoga or Gettysburg was fought on the shores of Lake Champlain, near Ticonderoga. Only three white men took part in it, and histories scarcely mention it, yet it was one of the decisive battles of the world.
Samuel de Champlain, Governor of French Canada, had made the first settlements at Quebec and Montreal during the summer of 1608. The indigenous people thereabouts, mostly Hurons, welcomed Champlain and his party, initiating a lucrative fur trade with them and with the Ottowa nation, which resided around Lake Simcoe and along the upper reaches of the Ottawa River.
For a generation prior to that time, a bitter war of extermination had been raging between the Iroquois Confederacy in the Mohawk Valley of New York and the Hurons, Ottawas, and other Canadian tribes. Initially, the Canadian Indians had the upper hand, but then the Iroquois gained ascendancy, devastating Indian villages along the Ottawa River and the St. Lawrence. Faced with desperation, the Canadian Indians sought Champlain’s help, knowing the destructive power of the white man’s firearms.
In an unfortunate turn for France, Champlain agreed to join the Canadian Indians in their battle against the Iroquois. In late June 1609, an expedition of Ottawas and Hurons was assembled with the aim of invading Iroquois territory and destroying their castles on the Mohawk River. Although several hundred Indians started out, internal strife led to the Ottawas withdrawing, leaving only sixty Huron warriors accompanied by Champlain and his two white comrades, armed with arquebuses, on twenty-four canoes.
As they proceeded down Lake Champlain, one evening near Ticonderoga, they encountered a large flotilla of Iroquois canoes heading north to attack Canada. The Iroquois quickly went ashore, but the Canadians remained in their canoes throughout the night, exchanging insults just beyond arrow shot.
At dawn, the three white men, clad in shining steel armor and armed with muskets, emerged with the Hurons. The Iroquois, upon seeing the gleaming figure of Champlain, were astonished. Champlain fired his arquebus, striking down the lead chief, followed by his comrades. The Iroquois, terrified by the smoke and thunder of the firearms, fled.
The consequences of this battle were significant. The Iroquois harbored a lasting hatred towards the French, almost destroying the colony of French Canada within fifty years. They later formed a treaty of alliance with the Dutch, impeding French expansion in North America.
Champlain’s decision to engage in battle instead of pursuing diplomacy had far-reaching effects. Had he chosen negotiation over violence, the course of history might have been drastically different. French control over the Hudson River and Manhattan could have been secured, potentially preventing the Revolutionary War and altering the landscape of North America.
In retrospect, it’s noteworthy that Champlain fired his arquebus on that fateful July morning, three hundred and forty years ago.