North America was a contested battleground, as explorers came to the New World. Here are the major North American explorers and their stories.
An Irish monk named St. Brendan may have been the first European to visit the Americas. Although there is no hard evidence to back the claim, written accounts of his voyages, petroglyphs and Viking history suggest St. Brendan may have beaten Columbus by hundreds of years. See more »
An Irish monk named St. Brendan may have been the first European to visit the Americas. Although there is no hard evidence to back the claim, written accounts of his voyages, petroglyphs and Viking history suggest St. Brendan may have beaten Columbus by hundreds of years.
See more »
Lewis and Clark Expedition (May 14, 1804-September 23, 1806), an expedition sent by President Thomas Jefferson to examine the resources of the far Northwest.
See more »Henry, Alexander (1739–1824), a Canadian fur tradar and explorer. He made many trips through the uncharted region that later became northern Manitoba and Saskatchewan.
See more »Henry, Andrew (1775?–1833), a United States fur trapper and explorer. Henry was born in York County, Pennsylvania, and moved to Missouri in 1800.
See more »Heilprin, Angelo (1853–1907), a United States geologist and explorer. Heilprin made field trips to the Florida Everglades, Mexico, North Africa, Alaska, and the Bermuda Islands.
See more »Columbus, Christopher (1451?–1506), an Italian navigator and explorer. (Christopher Columbus is the Latin form of his name.
See more »Allouez, Claude Jean (1622–1689), a French Jesuit missionary and an early explorer of the Lake Superior region.
See more »Thompson, David (1770–1857), a Canadian geographer and explorer. With remarkable accuracy he surveyed and mapped vast wilderness areas of western North America.
See more »Escalante, Silvestre Velez de (late 18th century), a Spanish missionary and explorer in the Southwest.
See more »Brulé, Étienne (1592?–1633), a French explorer. He is believed to have been the first European to see the Great Lakes and also was the first to live among the Indians.
See more »Coronado, Francisco Vásquez de (1510–1554), a Spanish explorer of the American Southwest.
See more »Portolá Gaspar de (1723?–1784), a Spanish explorer. Portolá, an army officer, was made governor of Upper and Lower California in 1767.
See more »Tonti (or Tonty), Henri de (1650–1704), a French explorer. With the Sieur de La Salle, Tonti founded the first white settlements in the Mississippi Valley.
See more »Hudson, Henry (?–1611), an English navigator and explorer. His exploration of the Hudson River, on a voyage sponsored by the Dutch, led to their colonization of what is now New York City.
See more »Alarcón, Hernando de (1500?-?), a Spanish explorer. He and Coronado were sent out in 1540 to discover the fabled Seven Cities of Cibola.
See more »De Soto, Hernando or Fernando (1496?–1542), a Spanish explorer. Historians credit him with being the first European to sight and cross the Mississippi River.
See more »Cartier, Jacques (1491–1557), a French explorer, the discoverer of the St. Lawrence River.
See more »Marquette Jacques (1637–1675), a French missionary and explorer. In 1673 Père (Father) Marquette and Louis Joliet became probably the first white men to visit the upper Mississippi River.
See more »Biencourt de Poutrincourt, Jean de (1557–1615), a French colonizer who helped found Acadia (Nova Scotia and New Brunswick).
See more »Nicolet Jean (1598–1642), a French explorer of North America. He was the first European known to have reached Lake Michigan and Wisconsin.
See more »
