“Notwithstanding, being a man, who is astonished with nothing, and of a gentle conversation, knowing wisely how to acquaint, and accommodate himselfe with those people, after having promised them, that when the land of the Iroquois, and other Countries should be discovered, the great French Sagamos (meaning our King) would give them great rewards: he invited them to goe to warre against the said Iroquois, promising (for himselfe) that he would take part with them. They (in whom the desire of revenge dieth not, and who delight in nothing more then in warre) passe their word unto him, and arme themselves about one hundred men, for that effect, with whom the said Champlain, ventures himselfe, accompanied with one man, and one of Monsieur deMonts his footemen.” This alliance of 1609 was to have far reaching effects on the future colonial history of America. It sparked a blaze of red terror along the borders between Dutch and French, and between French and English, wherever the competition for the fur trade was joined, that was not to be extinguished for a hundred and fifty years. News has a way of travelling fast in the wilderness, especially news of a war alliance. The Hurons in the west were Iroquoian, but were bitter enemies of the Five Nations. They wanted to be members of such a promising war party, one with white men carrying the astonishing “fireguns” that the nations of the enemy league had never before seen or heard. Down the Ottawa and the St. Lawrence the Hurons came to Quebec, with furs to barter but with their tomahawks well sharpened. Champlain and his savage allies gave them a resounding welcome. The French captain traded with them and made a war pact. Then they all set off up the St. Lawrence for the mouth of the Richelieu River, beyond which lay the territory of the Five Nations. There, turning south in a flanking movement, they ascended the Richelieu to reach the “Lake of the Iroquois,” later to be called Lake Champlain. The invaders proceeded with extreme caution after reaching the lake, travelling only at night. However, the French captain had an opportunity to observe something of the advanced state of civilization of the Iroquois before the alarm was given. Their farms, sown with corn and beans, were models of orderliness. Their palisaded forts, he noted, contained buildings of three to four stories, similar to those he had previously observed among the highly organized natives of Mexico. Champlain must have had some premonition then that these intelligent but bloodthirsty savages would prove far more troublesome than any other natives the French had encountered in America.