It is believed that the first European to set foot on the shores of Lake Ontario in the vicinity of what is now Toronto was French explorer Étienne Brûlé, taking the Toronto Passage from Huronia in 1615; although the claim is disputed by a number of scholars, who suggest that Brûlé took a more westerly route and reached Lake Erie, as opposed to Lake Ontario. However, Europeans were active in the Toronto area by the 1660s, with missionaries visiting First Nations settlements in the area.