The island of Isle La Motte is about three miles wide
and seven miles long.
Rich in history, it was the first place visited by Samuel de Champlain in 1609 with two other French explorers and a number of Indians as they traveled south from what is now Canada and entered Lake Champlain.
“In the extreme N.W. corner of Vermont “guarding the entrance to Lake Champlain” lies Isle La Motte. This is the island where Champlain landed on 2 July 1609 and where he camped that night and the next night and which he describes as “Three leagues long covered with the most beautiful pines that I have ever seen.”
The first settlement by Europeans within what is now Vermont was made by the French at Isle La Motte in 1666, some fifty-seven years after Samuel de Champlain had discovered the lake to which he gave his name.
2009 is the Quadricentennial year in which Champlain first explored Lake Champlain. Isle La Motte will mark the year with celebrations on June 25 thru 27 and on September 19.
About Isle la Motte
