Misplaced Pages

USS Merrimack

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.

The Merrimack River (or Merrimac River , an occasional earlier spelling ) is a 117-mile-long (188 km) river in the northeastern United States. It rises at the confluence of the Pemigewasset and Winnipesaukee rivers in Franklin, New Hampshire , flows southward into Massachusetts , and then flows northeast until it empties into the Gulf of Maine at Newburyport . From Pawtucket Falls in Lowell, Massachusetts , onward, the Massachusetts–New Hampshire border is roughly calculated as the line three miles north of the river.

#902097

78-559: USS Merrimack , or variant spelling USS Merrimac , may be any one of several ships commissioned in the United States Navy and named after the Merrimack River . USS  Merrimack  (1798) , a ship placed in service in 1798 and sold into mercantile service in 1801, renamed Monticello as a merchant ship and later sunk off Cape Cod USS  Argus  (1803) ,

156-641: A Cimarron -class fleet oiler in commission from 1981 to 1998 [REDACTED] [REDACTED] List of ships with the same or similar names This article includes a list of ships with the same or similar names. If an internal link for a specific ship led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended ship article, if one exists. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=USS_Merrimack&oldid=1044317191 " Categories : Set index articles on ships United States Navy ship names Hidden categories: Articles with short description Short description

234-437: A 2002 statewide water assessment stated that elevated counts of E. coli and fecal coliform contributed to the river's largest cause of water quality violations. By the 2000s, the largest pollution concern was combined sewer overflow . Wildlife has been impacted through the contamination of shellfishing beds as well as habitat contamination, and aquatic life has been affected due to excess lead , zinc , and other metals in

312-648: A brig laid down as USS Merrimack in 1803 but renamed prior to completion USS  Merrimack  (1855) a screw frigate commissioned in 1856, decommissioned in 1860, and burned in 1861 to prevent capture by the Confederate States of America, best known as the hull upon which the Confederate States Navy ironclad CSS  Virginia was built during the American Civil War USS ; Merrimac  (1864) ,

390-541: A convent. The couple had no children, and Champlain adopted three Montagnais girls named Faith, Hope, and Charity in the winter of 1627–28. On 29 March 1613, arriving back in New France, he first ensured that his new royal commission be proclaimed . Champlain set out on May 27 to continue his exploration of the Huron country and in hopes of finding the "northern sea" he had heard about (probably Hudson Bay ). He travelled

468-697: A double flood of rain and melting snow and ice swelled the Merrimack at Lowell to 68.4 feet (20.8 m), 10 feet (3 m) higher than the 2006 flood. Part of the Jack Kerouac book Doctor Sax is set during this event. In addition to the 1936 flood, the 1852 flood, and the Mother's Day Flood of 2006, the New England Hurricane of 1938 and floods in October 1996 and April 2007 round out

546-489: A foot of rain with some areas receiving as much as 17 inches (43 cm). According to The Boston Globe , around 1,500 people evacuated their homes to escape the flood. This flood also prompted the Massachusetts city of Lowell to install a modern (albeit temporary) flood control gate comprising square steel beams at the site of the historic Francis Gate , a 19th and 20th-century wooden flood gate. When lowered,

624-527: A group of Haudenosaunee. In a battle that began the next day, two hundred and fifty Haudenosaunee advanced on Champlain's position, and one of his guides pointed out the three chiefs. In his account of the battle, Champlain recounts firing his arquebus and killing two of them with a single shot, after which one of his men killed the third. The Haudenosaunee turned and fled. While this cowed the Iroquois for some years, they would later return to successfully fight

702-655: A large Spanish fleet to the West Indies , again offered him a place on the ship. His uncle, who gave command of the ship to Jeronimo de Valaebrera, instructed the young Champlain to watch over the ship. This journey lasted two years and allowed Champlain to see or hear about Spanish holdings from the Caribbean to Mexico City . Along the way, he took detailed notes, wrote an illustrated report on what he learned on this trip, and gave this secret report to King Henry, who rewarded Champlain with an annual pension. This report

780-467: A permanent settlement. Minor skirmishes with the resident Nausets dissuaded him from the idea of establishing one near present-day Chatham, Massachusetts . He named the area Mallebar ("bad bar"). In the spring of 1608, Dugua wanted Champlain to start a new French colony and fur trading centre on the shores of the St. Lawrence. Dugua equipped, at his own expense, a fleet of three ships with workers, that left

858-659: A permit allowing landfill water to be dumped into the Merrimack River. Politicians are also seeking increased federal funding to update water infrastructure for the Merrimack River, as the river's current sewer infrastructure has resulted in the dumping of over 100,000 gallons of untreated water into the river. The Merrimack is listed as one of the Navigable Waters of the United States, subject to Section 10, Rivers and Harbors Act Jurisdiction. While

SECTION 10

#1732787072903

936-443: A result of the pollution from textile mills and other human-related waste. In the 1960s, the Merrimack River was one of the ten most polluted waterways in the United States due to years of unmediated dumping of raw sewage , paper and textile mill discharge, and tannery sludge. Phthalates , a group of chemicals used in the manufacture of plastics and detrimental to human bodily systems, were identified in high concentrations within

1014-414: A second expedition to New France in the spring of 1604. This trip, once again an exploratory journey without women and children, lasted several years, and focused on areas south of the St. Lawrence River, in what later became known as Acadia . It was led by Pierre Dugua de Mons , a noble and Protestant merchant who had been given a fur trading monopoly in New France by the king. Dugua asked Champlain to find

1092-521: A section depicting the fictional Pre-Columbian arrival of 9th century Irish and English travelers at the Merrimack River and their interactions with local Native Americans . Samuel de Champlain Samuel de Champlain ( French: [samɥɛl də ʃɑ̃plɛ̃] ; 13 August 1574 – 25 December 1635) was a French explorer, navigator, cartographer, draftsman, soldier, geographer, ethnologist, diplomat, and chronicler. He made between 21 and 29 trips across

1170-671: A side-wheel steamer purchased in 1864 that foundered in 1865 USS  Merrimac  (1894) , a collier purchased in April 1898 and sunk as a blockship in June 1898 during the Spanish–American War USS ; Merrimack  (AO-37) , a Kennebec -class fleet oiler in commission from 1942 to 1950 and again from 1950 to 1954 which served in both the Atlantic and Pacific during World War II USS  Merrimack  (AO-179) ,

1248-495: A site for winter settlement. After exploring possible sites in the Bay of Fundy , Champlain selected Saint Croix Island in the St. Croix River as the site of the expedition's first winter settlement. After enduring a harsh winter on the island the settlement was relocated across the bay where they established Port Royal . Until 1607, Champlain used that site as his base, while he explored

1326-455: A young man deliver Du Val, along with 3 co-conspirators, two bottles of wine and invite the four worthies to an event on board a boat. Soon after the four conspirators arrived on the boat, Champlain had them arrested. Du Val was strangled and hung in Quebec and his head was displayed in the "most conspicuous place" of Champlain's fort. The other three were sent back to France to be tried. During

1404-590: Is also known for the early American literary classic A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers by Henry David Thoreau . The etymology of the name of the Merrimack River—from which all subsequent uses derive, such as the name of the Civil War ironclad—remains uncertain. There is some evidence that it is Native American. In 1604 the natives of later New England told Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Monts , who

1482-472: Is different from Wikidata All set index articles Merrimack River The Merrimack is an important regional focus in both New Hampshire and Massachusetts. The central-southern part of New Hampshire and most of northeast Massachusetts is known as the Merrimack Valley . Several U.S. naval ships have been named USS  Merrimack and USS Merrimac in honor of this river. The river

1560-598: Is located along the river's banks in New Hampshire. On the Merrimack River's banks are a number of cities built to take advantage of water power in the 19th century, when textile mills dominated the New England economy: Concord , Manchester , and Nashua in New Hampshire, and Lowell , Lawrence , and Haverhill in Massachusetts. At the mouth of the river is the small city of Newburyport . Prior to

1638-558: Is the location of the battle, 10 miles (16 km) south of Canastota, New York . Champlain attacked the stockaded Oneida village. He was accompanied by 10 Frenchmen and 300 Wendat. Pressured by the Huron Wendat to attack prematurely, the assault failed. Champlain was wounded twice in the leg by arrows, one in his knee. The conflict ended on October 16 when the French Wendat were forced to flee. Although he did not want to,

SECTION 20

#1732787072903

1716-688: The Agawam and Naumkeag on the lower reaches, the Pawtucket at Lowell, Massachusetts , the Nashua , Souhegan and Namoskeag around Manchester, New Hampshire , the Pennacook northward from Bow, New Hampshire , and the Winnepisseogee at the source, Lake Winnipesaukee . According to Joseph B. Walker, relying on Chandler Eastman Potter's The History of Manchester (1856), Merremack contains

1794-525: The Ottawa River , later giving the first description of this area. Along the way, he apparently dropped or left behind a cache of silver cups, copper kettles, and a brass astrolabe dated 1603 (Champlain's Astrolabe) , which was later found by a farm boy named Edward Lee near Cobden, Ontario . It was in June that he met with Tessouat , the Algonquin chief of Allumettes Island , and offered to build

1872-691: The Rivière des Iroquois (now known as the Richelieu River ), and became the first European to map Lake Champlain . Having had no encounters with the Haudenosaunee at this point many of the men headed back, leaving Champlain with only 2 Frenchmen and 60 natives. On 29 July, somewhere in the area near Ticonderoga and Crown Point, New York (historians are not sure which of these two places, but Fort Ticonderoga historians claim that it occurred near its site), Champlain and his party encountered

1950-414: The "Big River" in small boats bringing the men and the materials. Upon arriving in Quebec, Champlain later wrote: "I arrived there on the third of July, when I searched for a place suitable for our settlement; but I could find none more convenient or better suited than the point of Quebec, so called by the savages, which was covered with nut-trees." Champlain ordered his men to gather lumber by cutting down

2028-460: The "Compagnie des Marchands de Rouen et de Saint-Malo" and "Compagnie de Champlain", which bound the Rouen and Saint-Malo merchants for eleven years. He returned to New France in the spring of 1615 with four Recollects in order to further religious life in the new colony. The Roman Catholic Church was eventually given en seigneurie large and valuable tracts of land, estimated at nearly 30% of all

2106-411: The "Merrimake" and "Merrymake" of a 1721 land grant at Penacook, New Hampshire . William Wood's New England's Prospect of 1634 calls the river the "Merrimacke" and locates it eight miles beyond Agowamme ( Ipswich, Massachusetts ). It hosts, he says, "Sturgeon, Sammon and Basse, and divers other kinds of fish." Merrimac, Massachusetts , settled in 1638 and originally part of Amesbury, Massachusetts ,

2184-560: The Atlantic Ocean, and founded Quebec City , and New France , on 3 July 1608. An important figure in Canadian history , Champlain created the first accurate coastal map during his explorations and founded various colonial settlements. Born into a family of sailors, Champlain began exploring North America in 1603, under the guidance of his uncle, François Gravé Du Pont . After 1603, Champlain's life and career consolidated into

2262-592: The Atlantic coast. Dugua was forced to leave the settlement for France in September 1605, because he learned that his monopoly was at risk. His monopoly was rescinded by the king in July 1607 under pressure from other merchants and proponents of free trade, leading to the abandonment of the settlement. In 1605 and 1606, Champlain explored the North American coast as far south as Cape Cod , searching for sites for

2340-565: The Caen brothers. After some tense negotiations, it was decided to merge the two companies under the direction of the Caens. Champlain continued to work on relations with the natives and managed to impose on them a chief of his choice. He also negotiated a peace treaty with the Iroquois. Champlain continued to work on the fortifications of what became Quebec City, laying the first stone on 6 May 1624. On 15 August he once again returned to France where he

2418-510: The Francis gate seals the city's canal system off from its source on the Merrimack. The Great Gate, as it is also called, was built in 1850 under the direction of James B. Francis . Considered unnecessary when it was first constructed, "Francis' Folly" first saved the city in 1852 and subsequently in 1936. The most significant flood in the recorded history of the Merrimack was in March 1936, when

USS Merrimack - Misplaced Pages Continue

2496-630: The French and Algonquin for the rest of the century . The Battle of Sorel occurred on 19 June 1610, with Samuel de Champlain supported by the Kingdom of France and his allies, the Wendat people , Algonquin people and Innu people against the Mohawk people in New France at present-day Sorel-Tracy , Quebec . Champlain's forces armed with the arquebus engaged and slaughtered or captured nearly all of

2574-462: The French port of Honfleur . The main ship, called Don-de-Dieu (French for Gift of God ), was commanded by Champlain. Another ship, Lévrier ( Hunt Dog ), was commanded by his friend Du Pont. The small group of male settlers arrived at Tadoussac on the lower St. Lawrence in June. Because of the dangerous strength of the Saguenay River ending there, they left the ships and continued up

2652-468: The Gulf of Maine between the city of Newburyport and the town of Salisbury . In addition to the Merrimack River mainstem, there are dozens of sub-basins in New Hampshire and Massachusetts making up the watershed. The U.S. Geological Survey categorizes them into six fourth-level sub-basins using hydrological codes with the prefix 0107. The following are some of the other significant rivers found within

2730-551: The Iroquois. The party passed Lake Ontario at its eastern tip where they hid their canoes and continued their journey by land. They followed the Oneida River until they arrived at the main Onondaga fort on October 10. The exact location of this place is still a matter of debate. Although the traditional location, Nichols Pond, is regularly disproved by professional and amateur archaeologists, many still claim that Nichols Pond

2808-431: The Merrimack River is prone to minor flooding , on May 15, 2006, rainfall raised the river more than 8 feet (2.4 m) above flood stage, forcing evacuations, damaging property, and breaking the main sewage pipeline in the city of Haverhill, Massachusetts , dumping 35 × 10 US gallons (1.3 × 10  L) of raw sewage waste into the river per day. Reports of total rainfall vary, but most areas appear to have received around

2886-433: The Merrimack River. Currently, there are six sanitary sewer systems from which untreated sewage flows directly into the Merrimack River due to infrastructure issues within the sewage system. Recent research has identified mercury contamination as a significant threat to fish and aquatic life in the Merrimack River. This research analyzes how biological mercury hotspots and watershed transport of mercury might contribute to

2964-494: The Mohawks. The battle ended major hostilities with the Mohawks for 20 years. One route Champlain may have chosen to improve his access to the court of the regent was his decision to enter into marriage with the twelve-year-old Hélène Boullé. She was the daughter of Nicolas Boullé, a man charged with carrying out royal decisions at court. The marriage contract was signed on 27 December 1610 in presence of Dugua, who had dealt with

3042-522: The Savages: or travels of Samuel Champlain of Brouages, made in New France in the year 1603"). Included in his account were meetings with Begourat , chief of the Montagnais at Tadoussac, in which positive relationships were established between the French and the many Montagnais gathered there, with some Algonquin friends. Promising to King Henry to report on further discoveries, Champlain joined

3120-466: The Wendat and stayed with them over the winter, which permitted him to make the first ethnographic observations of this important nation, the events of which form the bulk of his book Voyages et Découvertes faites en la Nouvelle France, depuis l'année 1615 published in 1619. In 1620, Louis XIII of France ordered Champlain to cease exploration, return to Quebec, and devote himself to the administration of

3198-410: The Wendat country and returned to Quebec before heading back to France on 2 July. Champlain returned to New France in 1620 and was to spend the rest of his life focusing on administration of the territory rather than exploration. Champlain spent the winter building Fort Saint-Louis on top of Cape Diamond. By mid-May, he learned that the fur trading monopoly had been handed over to another company led by

USS Merrimack - Misplaced Pages Continue

3276-419: The Wendat insisted that Champlain spend the winter with them. During his stay, he set off with them in their great deer hunt, during which he became lost and was forced to wander for three days living off game and sleeping under trees until he met up with a band of First Nations people by chance. He spent the rest of the winter learning "their country, their manners, customs, modes of life". On 22 May 1616, he left

3354-482: The confluence of the Pemigewasset and Winnipesaukee rivers. From there, the river flows south through Concord, Manchester, and Nashua, entering Massachusetts at the town of Tyngsborough , where it turns northeast and winds past or through Chelmsford , Lowell, Dracut , Tewksbury , Andover , Methuen , Lawrence, North Andover , Haverhill, Groveland , West Newbury , Merrimac , and Amesbury , to its mouth at

3432-549: The construction of the Middlesex Canal , Newburyport was an important shipbuilding city, in a location to receive New Hampshire timber that had been floated downriver. The Merrimack River watershed covers 5,010 square miles (12,980 km ) in southern New Hampshire and northeastern Massachusetts. It is the fourth largest river basin in New England . The river begins in the city of Franklin, New Hampshire , at

3510-500: The country. In every way but formal title, Samuel de Champlain served as Governor of New France , a title that may have been formally unavailable to him owing to his non-noble status. Champlain established trading companies that sent goods, primarily fur, to France, and oversaw the growth of New France in the St. Lawrence River valley until his death in 1635. Many places, streets, and structures in northeastern North America today bear his name, most notably Lake Champlain . Champlain

3588-615: The elements merruh ("strong") and auke ("place"—a recognizable locative ending), and means "the place of strong current,- a term not inappropriate, when we consider ... the river's rapids ...." Potter was an authority on Native American affairs in colonial New England. By contrast, in A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers , Henry David Thoreau implies that "its name signifies the Sturgeon River." Walker goes on to cite spellings of "Merimacke", "Merimack" and "Merrimacke" in "the colonial records of Massachusetts", as well as

3666-503: The end of 1594). By 1597 he was a "capitaine d'une compagnie" serving in a garrison near Quimper . In year 3, his uncle-in-law, a navigator whose ship Saint-Julien was to transport Spanish troops to Cádiz under the Treaty of Vervins , allowed Champlain to accompany him. After a difficult passage, he spent some time in Cádiz before his uncle, whose ship was then chartered to accompany

3744-516: The exposure of aquatic life to chemical pollution within the Merrimack River. Additionally, the use of road salt in the winter has remained a major pollutant since the 1970s, and chloride contamination in the Merrimack River continues to impact aquatic life. United States politicians from New Hampshire and Massachusetts are calling for the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to reassess

3822-555: The father, and the couple was married three days later. Champlain was then 43 years old. The terms of the contract called for the marriage to be consummated two years later. Champlain's marriage was initially quite troubled, as Hélène rallied against joining him in August 1613. Their relationship, while it apparently lacked any physical connection, recovered and was apparently good for many years. Hélène lived in Quebec for several years, but returned to Paris and eventually decided to enter

3900-528: The firearms of his time: he acquired this practical knowledge when serving with the army of King Henry IV during the later stages of France's religious wars in Brittany from 1594 or 1595 to 1598, beginning as a quartermaster responsible for the feeding and care of horses. During this time he claimed to go on a "certain secret voyage" for the king, and saw combat (including maybe the Siege of Fort Crozon , at

3978-501: The great rapids of Sault Ste. Marie , where Lake Superior enters Lake Huron, some of which was recorded by Champlain. Champlain continued to work to improve relations with the natives, promising to help them in their struggles against the Iroquois. With his native guides, he explored further up the Ottawa River and reached Lake Nipissing . He then followed the French River until he reached Lake Huron . In 1615, Champlain

SECTION 50

#1732787072903

4056-452: The king's annual pension, gave the young explorer a great deal of independence, as he did not need to rely on the financial backing of merchants and other investors. From 1601 to 1603 Champlain served as a geographer in the court of King Henry IV. As part of his duties, he traveled to French ports. He learned much about North America from the fishermen that seasonally traveled to coastal areas from Nantucket to Newfoundland to capitalize on

4134-544: The king's assent. Champlain's first trip to North America was as an observer on a fur-trading expedition led by François Gravé Du Pont . Du Pont was a navigator and merchant who had been a ship's captain on Chauvin's expedition, and with whom Champlain established a firm lifelong friendship. He educated Champlain about navigation in North America, including the Saint Lawrence River . In dealing with

4212-478: The lands granted by the French Crown in New France. In 1615, Champlain reunited with Étienne Brûlé , his capable interpreter, following separate four-year explorations. There, Brûlé reported North American explorations, including that he had been joined by another French interpreter named Grenolle with whom he had travelled along the north shore of la mer douce (the calm sea), now known as Lake Huron , to

4290-472: The most endangered rivers in the United States, as named by the American Rivers nonprofit in 2016. Current concerns include stormwater runoff , urban stormwater, high levels of bacteria, combined sewage runoff, phosphorus creating harmful algal blooms , reduced oxygen levels, illicit sewage discharges, and litter . Combined sewer overflows (CSO) are the largest contributors to waste discharge into

4368-651: The natives and the French living among the Natives . He formed long time relationships with local Montagnais and Innu , and, later, with others farther west—tribes of the Ottawa River , Lake Nipissing , and Georgian Bay , and with Algonquin and Wendat . He agreed to provide assistance in the Beaver Wars against the Iroquois . He learned and mastered their languages. Late in the year of 1615, Champlain returned to

4446-710: The natives there (and in Acadia after). The Bonne-Renommée (the Good Fame ) arrived at Tadoussac on March 15, 1603. Champlain was anxious to see all of the places that Jacques Cartier had seen and described sixty years earlier, and wanted to go even further than Cartier, if possible. Champlain created a map of the Saint Lawrence on this trip and, after his return to France on 20 September, published an account as Des Sauvages: ou voyage de Samuel Champlain, de Brouages, faite en la France nouvelle l'an 1603 ("Concerning

4524-484: The nut-trees for use in building habitations. Some days after Champlain's arrival in Quebec, Jean du Val, a member of Champlain's party, plotted to kill Champlain to the end of securing the settlement for the Basques or Spaniards and making a fortune for himself. Du Val's plot was ultimately foiled when an associate of Du Val confessed his involvement in the plot to Champlain's pilot, who informed Champlain. Champlain had

4602-404: The official spelling be "Merrimack". Prior to glaciation, the Merrimack continued its southward course far beyond the present day New Hampshire-Massachusetts border to enter the Gulf of Maine near Boston . Upon the glacier's retreat, debris deposited north of Boston filled the lower Merrimack Valley, redirecting the river into its current northeast bend at Lowell. The Neville archaeological site

4680-477: The path he would follow for the rest of his life. From 1604 to 1607, he participated in the exploration and creation of the first permanent European settlement north of Florida, Port Royal , Acadia (1605). In 1608, he established the French settlement that is now Quebec City. Champlain was the first European to describe the Great Lakes , and published maps of his journeys and accounts of what he learned from

4758-407: The rich fishing grounds there. He also made a study of previous French failures at colonization in the area, including that of Pierre de Chauvin at Tadoussac . When Chauvin forfeited his monopoly on the fur trade in North America in 1602, responsibility for renewing the trade was given to Aymar de Chaste . Champlain approached de Chaste about a position on the first voyage, which he received with

SECTION 60

#1732787072903

4836-472: The river in 1973. A 1976 study of the chemical dynamics of the Merrimack River found that at that time, the biggest pollution source was road salt . Although the river underwent significant restoration efforts from the 1970s onwards, a 1997 study found that the river continued to suffer from the long-term effects of pollution. The study identified that the river had elevated bacteria counts, low dissolved oxygen , and high nutrient levels . A few years later,

4914-438: The river's infrastructure, there was a noticeable change in wildlife and aquatic life. Birds, fish, and other animals returned to inhabit the river, with citizens noting specifically seeing much more American shad , striped bass , trout , and Atlantic salmon . The involvement of local volunteers in monitoring and maintaining the river has provided effective restoration efforts over the years. The Merrimack River remains one of

4992-442: The river's most serious flood events, measured at Lowell. The Francis Gate had been left in place after being dropped in 1936, so it prevented flooding in 1938 as well. In 2007, the steel beam system was again assembled in place. The song "Merrimack River" and its instrumental reprise are featured on the 2009 album Amanda Leigh by Nashua, New Hampshire, native Mandy Moore . Anya Seton 's historical novel Avalon includes

5070-538: The river. In addition, human recreational activities such as swimming and boating have been restricted in certain areas of the river due to high contamination levels. The Federal Clean Water Act of 1972 led to significant improvement for the Merrimack River. The law required sewage to be treated before being discharged into waterways. Federal funding allowed officials to create the river's infrastructure, specifically funding for wastewater treatment plants (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 2006). Following these changes in

5148-511: The six major sub-basins in the watershed, listed moving downstream along the Merrimack: Since 1951, the Merrimack River has seen many alterations and pollutants. It was dammed and canalled , as well as used as a dumping spot for industrial waste . The Merrimack was essential for textile mill complexes, which used the river for discharge from their factories. Citizens recall that the river had unusual colors, smells, and vegetation as

5226-617: The summer of 1609, Champlain attempted to form better relations with the local First Nations tribes . He made alliances with the Wendat (called Huron by the French) and with the Algonquin , the Montagnais and the Etchemin, who lived in the area of the St. Lawrence River . These tribes sought Champlain's help in their war against the Iroquois , who lived farther south. Champlain set off with nine French soldiers and 300 natives to explore

5304-612: The tribe a fort if they were to move from the area they occupied, with its poor soil, to the locality of the Lachine Rapids. However, Champlain's ownership of the astrolabe has been questioned by modern scholars. By 26 August, Champlain was back in Saint-Malo . There, he wrote an account of his life from 1604 to 1612 and his journey up the Ottawa river, his Voyages and published another map of New France. In 1614, he formed

5382-447: The work probably was authored by Champlain. On Champlain's return to Cádiz in August 1600, his uncle Guillermo Elena (Guillaume Allene), who had fallen ill, asked him to look after his business affairs. This Champlain did, and when his uncle died in June 1601, Champlain inherited his substantial estate. It included an estate near La Rochelle , commercial properties in Spain, and a 150-ton merchant ship. This inheritance, combined with

5460-420: Was born about 1580 in Brouage, France." Liebel asserts that some authors, including the Catholic priests Rainguet and Laverdière, preferred years when Brouage was under Catholic control (which include 1567, 1570, and 1575). Champlain claimed to be from Brouage in the title of his 1603 book and to be Saintongeois in the title of his second book (1613). He belonged to a Roman Catholic family in Brouage which

5538-814: Was born to John Pork Champlain (also written "Anthoine Chappelain" in some records) and Marguerite Le Roy, in either Hiers-Brouage , or the port city of La Rochelle , in the French province of Aunis . He was born on or before 13 August 1574, according to a recent baptism record found by Jean-Marie Germe, French genealogist. Although in 1870, the Canadian Catholic priest Laverdière, in the first chapter of his Œuvres de Champlain , accepted Pierre-Damien Rainguet's estimate of Champlain's birth year as 1567 and tried to justify it, his calculations were based on assumptions now believed, or proven, to be incorrect. Although Léopold Delayant (member, secretary, then president of l'Académie des belles-lettres, sciences et arts de La Rochelle ) wrote as early as 1867 that Rainguet's estimate

5616-453: Was called West Amesbury until 1876, at which time it adopted its current name and spelling. Merrimack, New Hampshire , was incorporated in 1746, spelling its name "Marrymac" in the record of its first town meeting. It was referred to as "Merrimac" into the early 19th century: in the 1810 decennial census, it was spelled "Merrimac", but in the 1820 census and afterward, "Merrimack". In 1914, US Congressman John Jacob Rogers (MA) petitioned that

5694-521: Was encouraged to continue his work as well as to continue looking for a passage to China, something widely believed to exist at the time. By July 5 he was back at Quebec and continued expanding the city. In 1627 the Caen brothers' company lost its monopoly on the fur trade, and Cardinal Richelieu (who had joined the Royal Council in 1624 and rose rapidly to a position of dominance in French politics that he would hold until his death in 1642) formed

5772-402: Was escorted through the area that is now Peterborough, Ontario by a group of Wendat. He used the ancient portage between Chemong Lake and Little Lake (now Chemong Road) and stayed for a short period of time near what is now Bridgenorth. On 1 September 1615, at Cahiagué (a Wendat community on what is now called Lake Simcoe ), he and the northern tribes started a military expedition against

5850-425: Was leading a colony of French language speakers to Acadia (later Nova Scotia ), of a beautiful river to the south. The French promptly pronounced its native name as Merremack . In 1605 Samuel de Champlain followed this lead, found the river and renamed it Riviere du Gas . The French and their name did not remain on the Merrimack. The natives dwelling along the river at the time of European exploration included

5928-748: Was most of the time a Catholic city, Brouage was a royal fortress and its governor, from 1627 until his death in 1635, was Cardinal Richelieu . The exact location of his birth is thus also not known with certainty, but at the time of his birth his parents were living in Brouage . Born into a family of mariners (both his father and uncle-in-law were sailors, or navigators), Samuel Champlain learned to navigate, draw, make nautical charts , and write practical reports. His education did not include Ancient Greek or Latin , so he did not read or learn from any ancient literature. As each French fleet had to assure its own defense at sea, Champlain sought to learn to fight with

6006-676: Was published for the first time in 1870, by Laverdière, as Brief Discours des Choses plus remarquables que Samuel Champlain de Brouage a reconneues aux Indes Occidentalles au voiage qu'il en a faict en icettes en l'année 1599 et en l'année 1601, comme ensuite (and in English as Narrative of a Voyage to the West Indies and Mexico 1599–1602 ). The authenticity of this account as a work written by Champlain has frequently been questioned, due to inaccuracies and discrepancies with other sources on some points; however, recent scholarship indicates that

6084-428: Was wrong, the books of Rainguet and Laverdière have had a significant influence. The 1567 date was carved on numerous monuments dedicated to Champlain and is widely regarded as accurate. In the first half of the 20th century, some authors disagreed, choosing 1570 or 1575 instead of 1567. In 1978 Jean Liebel published groundbreaking research about these estimates of Champlain's birth year and concluded, "Samuel Champlain

#902097