French explorers

Chronicles how the French established New France and claimed most of present-day Canada. Highlights Giovanni da Verrazano, the first European to sail into present day New York Bay; and Jacques Cartier who discovered the St. Lawrence River. Covers Samuel de Champlain, who established the first permanent settlement in North America at Quebec; Louis Joliet and Jacques Marquette, who traversed the Mississippi River Valley; as well as Rene-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle who claimed the land at the mouth of the Mississippi for France.