Champlain was the first of many French discoverers. Some of these were missionaries who left home and friends to bring the blessings of Christianity to the Red Men of the western world. Others were fur-traders, while still others were men who came to the wilderness in search of excitement. These French discoverers found Lake Superior and Lake Michigan; they even reached the headwaters of the Wisconsin River—a branch of the Mississippi.

The most active of the French missionaries were the Jesuits. They built stations on the shores of the Great Lakes. They made long expeditions to unknown regions. Some of them were killed by those whom they tried to convert to Christianity. Others were robbed and left to starve. Others still were tortured and cruelly abused. But the prospect of starvation, torture, and death only made them more eager to carry on their great work.

The strongest of all the Indian tribes were the nations who formed the League of the Iroquois. Ever since Champlain fired upon them they hated the sight of a Frenchman. On the other hand, they looked upon the Dutch and the English as their friends. French missionaries tried to convert them to Christianity as they had converted the St. Lawrence Indians. But the Iroquois saw in this only another attempt at French conquest. So they hung red-hot stones about the missionaries' necks, or they burned them to death, or they cut them to pieces while yet living. For a century and a half the Iroquois stood between the Dutch and English settlers and their common enemies in Canada. Few events, in American history, therefore, have had such great consequences as Champlain's unprovoked attacks upon the Iroquois.