Samuel de Champlain vs Vitus Bering

Champlain established a permanent settlement at Quebec on the St. Lawrence River. This became the capital of New France and the first enduring French colony in Canada, serving as a base for fur trade and exploration.

Champlain joined a Huron war party against the Iroquois near Lake Champlain. He used firearms to defeat the Iroquois, establishing a lasting French alliance with the Huron and enmity with the Iroquois Confederacy.

Champlain was appointed as the lieutenant of the viceroy of New France, giving him official authority over French colonial affairs in Canada. He used this position to promote settlement and exploration.

Champlain traveled to Lake Huron and Lake Ontario, becoming the first European to map these lakes. He established alliances with the Huron and Algonquin peoples, which shaped French colonial policy.

Bering led an overland expedition across Siberia to Kamchatka, then sailed north to map the coast. The expedition confirmed the separation of Asia and America, though Bering did not sight the American coast.

Bering sailed through the strait between Asia and North America, proving that the two continents are separate. The strait was later named the Bering Strait in his honor.

Bering commanded a large expedition to explore the North Pacific. He reached the coast of Alaska, mapping parts of the Aleutian Islands and the Alaskan mainland, but died on the return voyage.

Bering died of scurvy on Bering Island in the Commander Islands after his ship was wrecked during the return voyage. His crew survived the winter and returned to Russia with valuable geographic data.