Samuel de Champlain's Journeys Through Ontario
This park beside the Humber River commemorates Étienne Brûlé, one of Samuel de Champlain's protégés in the age of exploration. His story is part of the larger one of Champlain and the First Nations people they met in 17th-century North America.
Samuel de Champlain (c.1570-1635) was an important explorer, cartographer, administrator and founder of New France. He arrived in Canada in 1603 and spent most of the rest of his life here, advancing French commercial and colonial interests. Although his work focused on the Saint Lawrence and Atlantic regions, he spent time in what is now Ontario searching for a route to the Orient and strengthening ties with the First Nations. A prolific writer, Champlain also published some of the best early descriptions of Ontario.
Plaque via Alan L. Brown's site Toronto Plaques. Full page here.