On June 28, 1609 a band of Hurons led Samuel De Champlain and his crew into Mohawk country, the Mohawks being completely unaware of this situation. Samuel De Champlain made it clear he wanted to strike the Mohawks down, after their raids on the neighboring nations. On July 29, 1609, hundreds of Hurons, and many of Champlain's French crew fell back from the mission daunted by what laid ahead. Sixty Huron Indians and Samuel De Champlain and two Frenchmen, saw some Mohawks in a lake near Ticonderoga; the Mohawks spotted them too. Samuel De Champlain and his crew fell back for the moment, then advanced to the Mohawk Barricade after landing on a beach. They then met the Mohawks at the barricade, 200 warriors advance from the barricade behind four chiefs. They were equally astonished to see each other, Samuel De Champlain surprised of their stature, confidence, and dress, the Mohawks surprised by Samuel De Champlain's steel cuirass and helmet. One of the chiefs raised his bow at Champlain and the Indians. Champlain let out three shots piercing straight through the Mohawk chiefs and their wooden armor which protected them from stone arrows, killing them instantly. The Mohawks stood in shock for a second, until they started flinging arrows at the crowd, a brawl soon fell out and the Mohawks fell back out of pure shock seeing the damage this new technology has dealt on their chiefs and warriors. This was the first contact the Mohawk ever had with Europeans. This incident also sparked the Beaver Wars.