Étienne Brûlé

Étienne Brûlé (; – c. June 1633) In 1629, during the Anglo-French War, he escaped after being captured by the Seneca tribe. A source claims that Brûlé was killed and eaten by the Wendat Bear tribe, who believed he had betrayed them to the Seneca. In 1615, they met again at Huronia. There, Brûlé informed Champlain of his adventures and explorations through North America. Brûlé explained that he was joined by another French interpreter by the name of Grenolle. He reported that they had traveled along the north shore of what they called la mer douce (the freshwater sea), now known as Lake Huron, and went as far as the great rapids of Sault Ste. Marie where Lake Superior enters Lake Huron.

In 1615, Brûlé asked permission from Champlain to join 12 Wendat warriors on their mission to see a nation referred to as Carantouan (who may or may not have been the Andaste Susquehannock people), allies of the Wendat, to ask them for their support during an expedition Champlain was planning. Champlain ordered the party to travel west of the Seneca country because they needed to arrive there quickly and the only way to do so was by crossing over enemy territory.

Brûlé probably visited four of the five Great Lakes — Lake Huron, Lake Superior, Lake Erie, Lake Ontario—and may have also seen Lake Michigan. Brûlé was more than likely the first European to complete these expeditions across North America. In these expeditions he visited places such as the Ottawa River, Mattawa River, Lake Nipissing, and the French River to Georgian Bay. From Georgian Bay, Brûlé was able to cut into Lake Huron. He paddled up the St. Marys River and portaged into Lake Superior. He journeyed through Lake Simcoe and portaged through what is now Toronto to Lake Ontario. From Lake Ontario Brûlé was able to travel in Upstate New York and explore Pennsylvania and cross down the Susquehanna River to Chesapeake Bay. It is also said that it is very probable that Brûlé was one of the first Europeans to stand along the shores of Lake Erie and Lake Michigan. In his last accounts, Samuel Champlain "accused Brûlé of treason because the latter agreed to do business with the Kirke brothers when they took Quebec for England in 1629."

One theory is that he was captured by the Seneca Iroquois in battle. Though he managed to escape, when he returned to his home among the Wendat, they did not believe his story. Suspecting him of trading with the Senecas, they stabbed Brûlé to death—his body dismembered and eaten by the villagers. Additionally, Jean de Brébeuf, who arrived in the region shortly after Brûlé's death, described his murder as treacherous, but made no mention of cannibalism.

To further complicate the matter, Father Le Jeune wrote in his 1633 journal in Jesuit Relations that on the last day of June, 1633 he met a French Interpreter among an envoy of Wendat who had lived with them for many years. It is unknown whom else Le Jeune could be referring to other than Brûlé, despite reports that Brûlé was already dead.