 n
the summer of 1604, a group of settlers which included Samuel
de Champlain founded a French settlement in North
America, on Sainte-Croix Island, Sainte-Croix River (Bay of Fundy).
Champlain founded Quebec four years later and, in 1610, the first
French explorers came to what is now Ontario.
Over the following century and a half, the French continued to
explore our province and the lands beyond and many of them chose
to settle here.
After the British conquest, the Canadiens continued to play a role in
the province’s economic and political life.
The Archives of Ontario is pleased to commemorate four centuries
of French presence on the Continent with its newest online exhibit,
“French Ontario in the 17th and 18th Centuries”.
Through maps, photographs, paintings and textual documents, the
exhibit tells the story of the first two centuries that followed
the first French explorations of our province, in 1610.
Follow explorers, missionaries,
coureurs des bois, soldiers and settlers as they take us to the pays d’en haut. |
[Portrait painting of Samuel de Champlain], 1945
Artist unknown, Ministry of Tourism
RG 65-35-1, 30-J-45, AO 4587
Archives of Ontario, I0014666
Note: There is no known true portrait of Champlain. The picture above is based on a painting that has come to represent the popular image of the explorer. |
