Samuel de Champlain returns to New France in 1615, and leads an alliance of Huron and Algonquin tribes into western New York State to attack Onondaga, the heavily fortified heart of Iroquois territory on the site of today’s Syracuse. Along the way Champlain goes fishing on Lake Huron and Lake Ontario, and we learn that he was not the first European to do. The battle itself is dramatic. The French and their allies build a huge siege tower that requires two hundred men to move in position. But not all ends well. Champlain is injured, and endures unbelievable pain in the retreat to Huronia. The outcome is a matter of some historical controversy.

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Selected references for this episode

David Hackett Fischer, Champlain’s Dream

Étienne Brûlé (Wikipedia)

Étienne Brûlé (Dictionary of Canadian Biography)

Susquehannock (Wikipedia)

Casablanca (“There are certain sections of New York…”)

The Fifth Column Podcast

Map of Champlain’s route through Huronia and into Iroquoia: