Samuel de Champlain arrived on the lake that bears his name 400 years ago.
The feat of exploration is celebrated in two states, New York and Vermont, that border that great lake.
New York is also celebrating the 400th anniversary of the voyage of English Captain Henry Hudson, who led (for the Dutch) the first European expedition to sail up the river that now bears his name.
To celebrate these simultaneous quadricentennials, both state offer reasons to explore history where it happened.
For a sample of stories from the lake, visit Vermont Public Radio's tale: www.vpr.net. Anyone interested in business, industrial history, and people would do well to bookmark the series page and listen to the podcast.
An excerpt about why in Vermont, Ethan Allen's Green Mountain Boys settled in the Champlain Islands:
(McHugh)"This is why they're called the Heroes, because Vermont used the lands on the islands as payment to the Revolutionary War soldiers for their fighting in the war."
(Charnoff) According to historian Will Randall, one of Ethan Allen's major contributions was to make Vermont the first place to host free trade; Allen began a trading partnership with Canada that continues to this day.
