Colonial Despatches

The Saint Lawrence River runs across the provinces of Quebec and Ontario, and forms part of the boundary between Ontario and the state of New York. It flows from southwest to northeast, connecting the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean. The river was named by Jacques Cartier in 1535 when he arrived in the estuary during the feast day for Saint Lawrence; as such, he named it the Gulf of St. Lawrence.1

Early explorers originally hoped that the Saint Lawrence River would offer a direct route to China.2 Instead, it became the main route for European exploration of the North American interior, pioneered by French explorer Samuel de Champlain.3

• 1. William Henry Johnson, French Pathfinders in North America (Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1905), 59.
• 2. Ibid., 54.
• 3. Ibid.