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Audio Transcript of Étienne Brûle (French; for France) 1615 to 1623

Audio Transcript: About 1610, Champlain placed a French youth (probably Brûlé) with the natives to learn their language. It is probable that Brûlé was the first European to see the rivers and lakes west of the Lachine Rapids as far as the Huron country. In 1615 Champlain sent him to the Susquehannock, then living on the lower Susquehanna River near Chesapeake Bay, to solicit their aid for the Onondaga raid. On his return, Brûlé was captured by the Seneca. He did not return to Quebec until 1618. In 1621 to 1623 Brûlé went in search of the northern copper deposits that Champlain had been told about on numerous occasions by native traders. On this journey, he got at least as far as Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, which was named Sault de Gaston after Louis XIII's brother. Brûlé was also one of the first French men to set foot in the Neutral country just west of the present-day city of Hamilton, Ontario. The date of this visit was sometime before 1626. Unfortunately almost all of Brule's journeys are conjectural. Although extravagant claims have been made for him as an explorer he left no written record. Throughout his career he was a trader's agent and interpreter. His role as explorer was incidental to these functions.

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Painting of a Meeting between Brûle and Samuel de Champlain

Source: Voiceovers by Kyle Rawn, Christian Wyss and LeeAnn McLellan, Algonquin College, Ottawa. Assistance provided by Don Crockford, Coordinator, Broadcasting Radio and Media Design Sector, Algonquin College.