Born c. 1598, Cherbourg, France
Died October 27, 1642, Sillery, Quebec

During the seventeenth century, the colony of Quebec was the center of French fur trading in North America. Its first governor was Samuel de Champlain (1567–1635), who spent much of his time trying to establish friendly relations with local Native American tribes, upon whose work the success of the fur-trading business depended. He had in his service a new type of adventurer called a coureur de bois or “forest runner.” These were solitary young men who worked in the forests, and lived like the Indians from whom they gathered furs. Jean Nicollet was one such coureur, whose knowledge of Native American languages and customs helped the French make important alliances with Indian tribes in the Great Lakes area at a time when British and Dutch companies were also trying to take control of the fur trade...