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| 1612–15 |
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| Etienne Brule (c. 1592–1633) lived among the Hurons near Georgian Bay, learned their language and customs, and played a critical role in pushing the fur trade deep into the Canadian interior. Brule figured prominently among a group of Frenchmen called “coureur de bois,” that is, “runner of the woods” or “bushloper.” | 1 |
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| 1613 |
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| Champlain explored the Ottawa River to about 100 miles above the present city of Ottawa. In 1615 he went up the river to Lake Nipissing and thence to Georgian Bay, being the first white man to blaze the fur trader's route into the interior. | 2 |
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| 1615 |
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| Four Recollet friars arrived at Quebec, marking the beginning of French missionary activity. In 1625 five Jesuits arrived, beginning the work of that order. | 3 |
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| 1627 |
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| Richelieu organized the Company of the Hundred Associates to colonize New France. The company was given all lands between Florida and the Arctic Circle, with a monopoly of trade except in cod and whale fisheries. | 4 |
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| 1628 |
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| Acadia and Quebec captured by the English but restored in 1632. | 5 |
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| 1634 |
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| Champlain, hearing of a great waterway in the west and believing it might be a passage to China, sent Jean Nicolet on an exploring expedition. Nicolet reached Sault Ste. Marie, explored the south shore of the upper peninsula of Michigan, and reached the southern extremity of Green Bay. | 6 |
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| 1642 |
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| Paul de Maisonneuve founded Montreal. | 7 |
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| 1658–59 |
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| Radisson and Groseillers traded and explored in the country at the western end of Lake Superior. | 8 |
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| 1665 |
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| Father Allouez established the La Pointe Mission near the west end of Lake Superior. | 9 |
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| 1673 |
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| Father JACQUES MARQUETTE and LOUIS JOLIET, a trader, followed the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers to the Mississippi, which they descended to the confluence of the Arkansas. | 10 |
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| 1679–83 |
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| Explorations of Robert de La Salle, along the shores of Lake Michigan and in the Illinois country. He erected Fort Crèvecoeur near present Peoria (1679) and sent Hennepin to explore the upper Mississippi while he himself returned to Fort Frontenac. In 1682 La Salle reached the mouth of the Mississippi and took possession of the whole valley in the name of the king of France. | 11 |
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| 1683–89 |
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| Attempts of La Salle to establish a French colony at the mouth of the Mississippi in order to control the fur trade and provide a base for attack upon Spain in America. La Salle conducted four expeditions to the northeast in the hope of finding the Mississippi. On the fourth of these (1687), he was murdered by his companions. His colony was completely wiped out by an Indian attack (1689). | 12 |
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