Born c. 1592,
Champigny-sur-Marne, France
Died June 1613,
Probably Ontario, Canada

Born 100 years after Christopher Columbus discovered America, Étienne Brulé was one of the French explorers and adventurers sent to the New World to carve out an empire in what is now Canada and the northeastern United States. The English had competing claims in these areas, and there were inevitable clashes between France and England, two old enemies. Brulé spent most of his life living and working with Native Americans, serving either the French or the English as it pleased him. He is credited with discovering four of the five Great Lakes and pioneering the main route west for the lucrative fur trade.

Life among the Hurons and Susquehannas

Brulé was only 16 when he accompanied Samuel de Champlain (see entry), the founder of New France, to the province of Quebec...