Samuel de Champlain was born at Brouage around 1570. There is no known portrait of the Father of
New France and little is known about his family. His father and uncle were sea captains and he informed
the French court that the art of navigation had attracted him from his “tender youth.” We do not know
where he learned the many skills (navigation; cartography; drawing; geography) that prepared him for
his North American experience. In all likelihood Champlain learned about sailing at Brouage, a port on
the French Atlantic coast, a key stopover for ships of all nations who needed to take on cargoes of salt
before sailing for the fishing grounds off Newfoundland and the coast of New England. Concerning his
military skills, we know that he served as a soldier in the French province of Brittany where Catholic
forces allied with Spain opposed Henry IV as the rightful king of France. From 1595 to 1598, he served
in the army of Henry IV with the title of sergeant quartermaster. His uncle was also involved in this final
chapter of the war of religions and, at the conclusion of hostilities, we find them reunited at the port
of Blavet where the two sailed for Spain in 1598. From Spain Champlain joined a fleet bound for the
Spanish West Indies, a voyage that took him two years and a half. While he never published an account
of this voyage, several manuscript versions exist of the Brief discours des choses plus remarquables
que Samuel Champlain de Brouage a reconnues aux Indes Occidentals [Narrative of a Voyage to the
West Indies and Mexico in the years 1599-1602]. The work includes many illustrations of the flora and
fauna of the sites visited, and several maps of islands and cities such as Porto Rico, the Virgin Islands,
Guadeloupe, Panama, Cartagena, and Havana.
