<P> Leif Erikson or Leif Ericson ( c. 970 -- c. 1020 ) was a Norse explorer from Iceland . He was the first known European to have set foot on continental North America ( excluding Greenland ) , before Christopher Columbus . According to the Sagas of Icelanders , he established a Norse settlement at Vinland , tentatively identified with the Norse L'Anse aux Meadows on the northern tip of Newfoundland in modern - day Canada . Later archaeological evidence suggests that Vinland may have been the areas around the Gulf of St. Lawrence and that the L'Anse aux Meadows site was a ship repair station . </P>
who was the first european to set foot on north america
Leif Erikson or Leif Ericson