explored large portions of the interior. In 1609 he went
with the Indians to a beautiful lake. Far away to the east were
mountains covered with snow. To the south were other mountains, but with
no snow on their tops. To the lake the explorer gave his own name, and
we still call it in his honor, Lake Champlain. While there, he drove
away with his firearms a body of Iroquois Indians. A few years later he
went with another war party to western New York and again attacked
the Iroquois.

[Sidenote: French missionaries and traders.]

[Sidenote: They visit Lake Superior and Lake Michigan.]

28. The French on the Great Lakes.--Champlain was the first of many
French discoverers. Some of these were missionaries who left home and
friends to bring the blessings of Christianity to the Red Men of the
western world. Others were fur-traders, while still others were men who
came to the wilderness in search of excitement. These French discoverers
found Lake Superior and Lake Michigan; they even reached the headwaters
of the Wisconsin River--a branch of the Mississippi.

[Sidenote: The Jesuits and their work.]

29. The French Missionaries.--The most active of the French
missionaries were the Jesuits. built stations on the shores of the Great
Lakes. They made long expeditions to unknown regions. Some of them were
killed by those whom they tried to convert to Christianity. Others were
robbed and left to starve. Others still were tortured and cruelly
abused. But the prospect of starvation, torture, and death only made
them more eager to carry on their great work.

[Illustration: CHAMPLAIN'S ATTACK ON AN IROQUOIS FORT.]

[Sidenote: The League of the Iroquois.]

[Sidenote: Their hatred of the French. Its importance.]

[Sidenote: The missionaries and the Iroquois.]

30. The Iroquois.--The strongest of all the Indian tribes were the
nations who formed the League of the Iroquois. Ever since Champlain
fired upon them they hated the sight of a Frenchman. On the other hand,
they looked upon the Dutch and the English as their friends. French
missionaries tried to convert them to Christianity as they had converted
the St. Lawrence Indians. But the Iroquois saw in this only another
attempt at French conquest. So they hung red-hot stones about the
missionaries' necks, or they burned them to death, or they cut them to
pieces while yet living. For a century and a half the Iroquois stood
between the Dutch and English settlers and their common en