JACQUES CARTER was a French explorer who lead three expeditions to Canada, in 1534, 1535, and 1541. He was looking for a route to the pacific through North America (which is a Northwest Passage) but didn't find one. Cartier paved the way for French Exploration of North America. He was given directions to Kanata, which was a village near to what is now Quebec, but he later named the entire region Canada. He named Canada after Kanata, which means village or settlement in the Huron-Iroquois language. (1491-1557).
SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN was a French explorer and navigator who mapped much of Northeastern America and started a settlement in Quebec. He even discovered a lake which he named Lake Champlain. He was very important in establishing and administering the French colonies in the New World. In 1603, he decided to search for a Northwest Passage and to settle the Gaspe Peninsula. He returned to Canada in 1604 on Pierre de Mont's expedition. In 1608, he led 32 colonists to settle in Quebec in order to establish it as a fur trading center. Only nine colonists survived the winter, but more colonists came the next year. In 1613, he again sailed up the St. Lawrence, and explored the Ottawa river. Two years later, he ventured into what is now the Northern New York State and the eastern Great Lakes. He headed the Quebec settlement for years, until the English attacked and took the Fort in 1629. He returned as Quebec's governor in 1633. (1567-1635)
ANTONIE DE CADILLAC was a French explorer, soldier, and leader. He founded the city of Detroit in 1701 and he was the governor of the Louisiana Territory from 1710 to 1716. He sailed from France to Canada in 1683. He fought the Iroquois Indians there. He then lived in Maine. King Louis XIV of France allowed him to establish a fur trading post and fort in Fort-Pontchartrain du Detroit. He was in charge of the outpost till 1710, when he was sent to the remote colony of Louisiana (which included at that time the Mississippi, Missouri, and Ohio Rivers and the nearby regions) to be its governor. He was unpopular and wasn't a good governor there, so he was sent to the Bastille prison. After prison, he never returned to America. (1658-1730).