 The lake is an important eastern gateway to Iroquois Confederacy lands.The lake was named after the French explorer Samuel de Champlain, who encountered it in July 1609.While the ports of Burlington, Vermont, Port Henry, New York, and Plattsburgh, New York today are primarily used by small craft, ferries, and lake cruise ships, they were of substantial commercial and military importance in the 18th and 19th centuries.