Samuel de Champlain was one of the most prolific European explorers of the land eventually named Canada and the Great Lakes region. Born in a booming seaport in France, Champlain made between twenty-one and twenty-nine trips across the Atlantic honing his sailing and navigating skills before turning to the exploration and charting of the great northern expanses of North America. Champlain participated in the establishment of the first permanent European settlements north of Florida between 1604 and 1608, founding towns now known as Saint John, Port Royal, and Quebec City. Between 1608 and 1616, Champlain secured a series of royal charters for exploration, establishment of centers of trade, commencement of war, and formal establishment of relations with the Native peoples. Champlain built strong relationships living with the Native peoples of the Great Lakes and Canadian interior. At the head of a small contingent of French soldiers, he participated in a Native Wendat military expedition against an Oneida village in northern New York.