Answer:
About the same time John Smith and the Jamestown settlers were setting up camp in Virginia, France was building permanent settlements of their own. SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN led a group of French colonists through the mouth of the ST. LAWRENCE RIVER to found QUEBEC in 1608. The fur trade led fortune seekers deeper and deeper into North America. French JESUIT MISSIONARIES boldly penetrated the wilderness in the hopes of converting Native Americans to Catholicism. By 1700, France had laid claim to an expanse of territory that ranged from NEWFOUNDLAND in the Northeast, down across the GREAT LAKES through the OHIO VALLEY, southward along the MISSISSIPPI RIVER to the GULF OF MEXICO, and as far west as the ROCKY MOUNTAINS.
Explanation:
