At the scenic overlook at Frenchman Bay, a wayside exhibit entitled "The French Connection" features an informational panel angled atop a stone pedestal.
The exhibit's title appears above a hand-drawn map from 1613 showing trees and mountains with locations noted in French. Illustrations with labels depict local plants and sea-life. An arrow points to a spot along the coast: "You are here."
Text explains: "Frenchman Bay, in front of you, and other prominent place names commemorate the region's rich French heritage. 'Acadia' stems from 'Arcadia' - a term used to describe the Atlantic coast in 1524." The name "Mount Desert Island" comes from French explorer and cartographer Samuel Champlain during his 1604 visit. "Cadillac Mountain" honors Antoine de la Mothe-Cadillac, a French noble "who received a large land grant, including all of Mount Desert Island, from King Louis in 1688."
An inset shows a likeness of Samuel Champlain, who "mapped the coastline from Cape Cod to Canada and westward to the Great Lakes." His expeditions from 1604 to 1618 "laid the groundwork for French colonization of the New World."
A quote: "The island is high and notched in places so that from the sea it gives the appearance of a range of seven or eight mountains. The summits are all bare and rocky... I named it 'L'lle des Monts-deserts." - Samuel Champlain, 1604.
A painting shows a winter scene from long ago. Near several wigwams, a small group of Native Americans stack firewood and bring to shore a seal caught in the bay. Text elaborates: "For 12,000 years, Native Americans have inhabited the land we now call Maine. Long before Champlain named Mount Desert Island, some Wabanaki called this land 'Pemetic,' meaning 'a range of mountains.' Today, Wabanaki people maintain an enduring connection to this landscape."
Another photo shows a bronze statue of a woodworker. Text invites us to "Visit Saint Croix Island International Historic Site on the Maine-Canada border where Champlain's fellow explorer Pierre Dugua established a French settlement in 1604."
