René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle
Encyclopedia
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
explorer. He explored the Great Lakes
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...
region of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
, and the Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...
. La Salle claimed the entire Mississippi River basin for France.
Youth
René-Robert Cavelier was born on November 21, 1643, in RouenRouen
Rouen , in northern France on the River Seine, is the capital of the Haute-Normandie region and the historic capital city of Normandy. Once one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe , it was the seat of the Exchequer of Normandy in the Middle Ages...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. When Cavelier was younger he enjoyed science and nature. As a man, he studied with the Jesuit
Society of Jesus
The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...
religious order and became a member after taking initial vows in 1660. At his request on March 27, 1667, after he was in Canada, he was released from the Society of Jesus after citing "moral weaknesses." Although he left the order, never took final vows in it, and later became hostile to it, historians sometimes described him incorrectly as a priest or a cleric.
Marriage and family
La Salle never married. He had an older brother named "Jean" who was a Sulpician priest.Required to reject his father's legacy when he joined the Jesuits, La Salle was nearly destitute when he traveled as a prospective colonist to North America. He sailed for New France
New France
New France was the area colonized by France in North America during a period beginning with the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Spain and Great Britain in 1763...
in the spring of 1666. His brother Jean, a Sulpician priest, had moved there the year before. La Salle was granted a seigneurie
Seigneurial system of New France
The seigneurial system of New France was the semi-feudal system of land distribution used in the North American colonies of New France.-Introduction to New France:...
on land at the western end of the Island of Montreal
Island of Montreal
The Island of Montreal , in extreme southwestern Quebec, Canada, is located at the confluence of the Saint Lawrence and Ottawa Rivers. It is separated from Île Jésus by the Rivière des Prairies....
, which became known as Lachine
Lachine, Quebec
Lachine was a city on the Island of Montreal in southwestern Quebec, Canada. It is now a borough within the city of Montreal.-History:...
. (This was apparently from the French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
la Chine, meaning China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. Some sources say the name referred to La Salle's desire to find a route to China, though the evidence for this claim is unclear and has been disputed).
La Salle immediately began to issue land grants, set up a village and learn the languages of the native peoples, mostly Mohawk in this area. The Mohawk told him of a great river, called the Ohio
Ohio River
The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...
, which flowed into the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
. Thinking the river flowed into the Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...
, La Salle began to plan for expeditions to find a western passage to China. He sought and received permission from Governor Daniel Courcelle
Daniel de Rémy de Courcelle
Daniel de Rémy de Courcelle, Sieur de Montigny, de La Fresnaye et de Courcelle was the governor general of New France from 1665 to 1672....
and Intendant
Intendant
The title of intendant has been used in several countries through history. Traditionally, it refers to the holder of a public administrative office...
Jean Talon
Jean Talon
Jean Talon, Comte d'Orsainville was a French colonial administrator who was the first and most highly regarded Intendant of New France under King Louis XIV...
to embark on the enterprise. He sold his interests in Lachine to finance the venture.
First expedition
La Salle led an expedition in 1669 in which he is alleged (by others, he never made this claim himself) to have reached the Ohio River and followed it downstream to as far as what is now Louisville, KentuckyLouisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
. The falls there prevented his continuing further.
The Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online states that when the La Salle party met with a group of Seneca Indians south of present-day Rochester, New York
Rochester, New York
Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...
, they were discouraged by the Senecas from continuing into their territory. Consequently the party continued along Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south by the American state of New York. Ontario, Canada's most populous province, was named for the lake. In the Wyandot language, ontarío means...
to Burlington Bay
Burlington Bay
Burlington Bay, known more commonly as Hamilton Harbour, lies on the western tip of Lake Ontario, bounded on the northwest by the City of Burlington, on the south by the City of Hamilton, and on the east by Hamilton Beach and Burlington Beach...
, where they met Adrien, the brother of Louis Jolliet
Louis Jolliet
Louis Jolliet , also known as Louis Joliet, was a French Canadian explorer known for his discoveries in North America...
, returning from a fur trading expedition on the Great Lakes. He advised them to traverse to Lake Erie
Lake Erie
Lake Erie is the fourth largest lake of the five Great Lakes in North America, and the tenth largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has the shortest average water residence time. It is bounded on the north by the...
thus bypassing the Seneca tribe. La Salle, however, became ill and abandoned the mission, leaving the two missionaries, Dollier de Casson and Bréhant de Galinée, to continue without him.
Another source states: "His group had 12 men in five canoes. Père Francois Dollier de Casson
François Dollier de Casson
François Dollier de Casson was born in France into a wealthy bourgeois and military family. He began his adult life in the army which he left after three years to continue his studies and become a priest....
traveled with La Salle as far as Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...
, with seven men in another three canoes. There the party met Joliet's brother, who was returning to Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
. On his advice, they went on to what is now known as Sault Ste. Marie
Sault Ste. Marie
Sault Ste. Marie may refer to:* Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario , a Canadian city** Sault Ste. Marie , a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada...
to establish a mission to the Potawatomi
Potawatomi
The Potawatomi are a Native American people of the upper Mississippi River region. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, a member of the Algonquian family. In the Potawatomi language, they generally call themselves Bodéwadmi, a name that means "keepers of the fire" and that was applied...
. They were unsuccessful."
It was not until 1673 that Louis Jolliet
Louis Jolliet
Louis Jolliet , also known as Louis Joliet, was a French Canadian explorer known for his discoveries in North America...
and Père (Father) Jacques Marquette
Jacques Marquette
Father Jacques Marquette S.J. , sometimes known as Père Marquette, was a French Jesuit missionary who founded Michigan's first European settlement, Sault Ste. Marie, and later founded St. Ignace, Michigan...
explored the upper Mississippi Valley, including the area where it was joined by the Ohio River. La Salle later participated in an expedition to follow the northern shore of Lake Erie to Michilimackinac
Michilimackinac
Michilimackinac is a name for the region around the Straits of Mackinac between Lake Huron and Lake Michigan. Early settlers of North America applied the term to the entire region along Lakes Huron, Michigan, and Superior. Today it is mostly within the boundaries of Michigan, in the United States...
.
Fort Frontenac
On July 12, 1673, the Governor of New France, Louis de Buade de FrontenacLouis de Buade de Frontenac
Louis de Buade, Comte de Frontenac et de Palluau was a French soldier, courtier, and Governor General of New France from 1672 to 1682 and from 1689 to his death in 1698...
, arrived at the mouth of the Cataraqui River
Cataraqui River
The Cataraqui River forms the lower portion of the Rideau Canal and drains into Lake Ontario at Kingston, Ontario. It is also known as the Great Cataraqui River or the Greater Cataraqui River to distinguish it from the smaller Little Cataraqui Creek, 4.5 km to the west...
to meet with leaders of the Five Nations of the Iroquois to encourage them to trade with the French. While the groups met and exchanged gifts, Frontenac's men, led by René-Robert Cavelier de La Salle, hastily constructed a rough wooden palisade on a point of land by a shallow, sheltered bay. Originally the fort was named Fort Cataraqui
Fort Cataraqui
The Fort Cataraqui was a North Sands class merchant vessel. North Sands, along with similar Park and Fort and Canadian Liberty classes were essentially British and Canadian variants of the American Liberty and Victory classes...
but was later renamed Fort Frontenac by de La Salle in honor of La Salle's patron. The intent of Fort Frontenac was to control the lucrative fur trade in the Great Lakes Basin to the west. The fort was also meant to be a bulwark against the English and Dutch, who were competing with the French for control of the fur trade. La Salle was left in command of the fort in 1673.
Thanks to his powerful protector, the discoverer managed, during a voyage to France in 1674–75, to secure for himself the grant of Fort Cataracoui and acquired letters of nobility for himself and his descendants. With Frontenac's support, he received not only a fur trade
Fur trade
The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of world market for in the early modern period furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the most valued...
concession, with permission to establish frontier forts, but also a title of nobility. He returned and rebuilt Frontenac in stone. An Ontario Heritage Trust
Ontario Heritage Trust
The Ontario Heritage Trust is a non-profit agency of the Ontario Ministry of Tourism and Culture, responsible for protecting, preserving and promoting the built, natural and cultural heritage of Canada's most populous province. It was initially known as the Archaeological and Historic Sites Board...
plaque describes René-Robert Cavelier de La Salle at Cataracoui as "[a] major figure in the expansion of the French fur trade into the Lake Ontario region, Using the fort as a base, he undertook expeditions to the west and southwest in the interest of developing a vast fur-trading empire." Henri de Tonti
Henri de Tonti
Henri de Tonti was an Italian-born soldier, explorer, and fur trader in the service of France.-Early life:Henri de Tonti, a Sicilian, was mostly likely born near Gaeta, Italy in either 1649 or 1650. He was the son of Lorenzo de Tonti, a financier and former governor of Gaeta...
joined his explorations as his lieutenant.
Le Griffon and Fort Wayne
On August 7, 1679, La Salle set sail on the ship Le GriffonLe Griffon
Le Griffon was a 17th century sailing ship built by René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle in his quest to find the Northwest Passage to China and Japan....
, which he and Tonti had constructed on the upper Niagara River
Niagara River
The Niagara River flows north from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. It forms part of the border between the Province of Ontario in Canada and New York State in the United States. There are differing theories as to the origin of the name of the river...
. At Fort Conti
Fort Conti
Fort Conti was built in early 1679 at the mouth of the Niagara River and Lake Ontario as a post for the French explorer René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle. Because of the fort's location, the French hoped to control the fur trade in the upper Great Lakes...
, which they had built at the mouth of the Niagara River on ake Ontario]. A few months earlier, they shifted supplies and materials brought from Fort Frontenac
Fort Frontenac
Fort Frontenac was a French trading post and military fort built in 1673 in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. It was positioned at the mouth of the Cataraqui River where the St. Lawrence River leaves Lake Ontario , in a location traditionally known as Cataraqui...
into smaller boats, canoe
Canoe
A canoe or Canadian canoe is a small narrow boat, typically human-powered, though it may also be powered by sails or small electric or gas motors. Canoes are usually pointed at both bow and stern and are normally open on top, but can be decked over A canoe (North American English) or Canadian...
s or bateaux. They wanted to be able to travel up the lower part of the shallow Niagara River, to what is now the location of Lewiston, New York
Lewiston, New York
Lewiston is a village in Niagara County, New York, United States. The population was 2,781 at the 2000 census. The village is named after Morgan Lewis, an early 19th-century governor of New York. It is part of the Buffalo–Niagara Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area.The Village of Lewiston,...
. The Iroquois had a well-established portage
Portage
Portage or portaging refers to the practice of carrying watercraft or cargo over land to avoid river obstacles, or between two bodies of water. A place where this carrying occurs is also called a portage; a person doing the carrying is called a porter.The English word portage is derived from the...
route in the area which they used to avoid the rapids and the cataract later known as Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls
The Niagara Falls, located on the Niagara River draining Lake Erie into Lake Ontario, is the collective name for the Horseshoe Falls and the adjacent American Falls along with the comparatively small Bridal Veil Falls, which combined form the highest flow rate of any waterfalls in the world and has...
.
La Salle used Le Griffon to sail up Lake Erie
Lake Erie
Lake Erie is the fourth largest lake of the five Great Lakes in North America, and the tenth largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has the shortest average water residence time. It is bounded on the north by the...
to Lake Huron
Lake Huron
Lake Huron is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. Hydrologically, it comprises the larger portion of Lake Michigan-Huron. It is bounded on the east by the Canadian province of Ontario and on the west by the state of Michigan in the United States...
, then up Huron to Michilimackinac
Michilimackinac
Michilimackinac is a name for the region around the Straits of Mackinac between Lake Huron and Lake Michigan. Early settlers of North America applied the term to the entire region along Lakes Huron, Michigan, and Superior. Today it is mostly within the boundaries of Michigan, in the United States...
and on to present-day Green Bay, Wisconsin
Green Bay, Wisconsin
Green Bay is a city in and the county seat of Brown County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, located at the head of Green Bay, a sub-basin of Lake Michigan, at the mouth of the Fox River. It has an elevation of above sea level and is located north of Milwaukee. As of the 2010 United States Census,...
. La Salle then departed with his men in canoes down the western shore of Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America and the only one located entirely within the United States. It is the second largest of the Great Lakes by volume and the third largest by surface area, after Lake Superior and Lake Huron...
. In January 1680, La Salle's men built a stockade at the mouth of the Miami River (now St. Joseph River
St. Joseph River (Lake Michigan)
The St. Joseph River is a river, approximately long, in southern Michigan and northern Indiana in the United States. It drains a primarily rural farming area in the watershed of Lake Michigan...
. They called it Fort Miami
Fort Miami (Michigan)
Fort Miami was a fort on the bank of the St. Joseph River at the site of the present-day city of St. Joseph, Michigan, in the United States.It was established in November 1679 by a band of French explorers led by René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle on the banks of what was then called the River...
(now known as St. Joseph, Michigan
St. Joseph, Michigan
St. Joseph is a city in the US state of Michigan. It was incorporated as a village in 1834 and as a city in 1891. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 8,789. It lies on the shore of Lake Michigan, at the mouth of the St. Joseph River, about east-northeast of Chicago. It is the county...
). There they waited for Tonti and his party, who had crossed the peninsula
Peninsula
A peninsula is a piece of land that is bordered by water on three sides but connected to mainland. In many Germanic and Celtic languages and also in Baltic, Slavic and Hungarian, peninsulas are called "half-islands"....
on foot.
Tonti arrived on November 20; on December 3, the entire party set off up the St. Joseph, which they followed until they had to take a portage
Portage
Portage or portaging refers to the practice of carrying watercraft or cargo over land to avoid river obstacles, or between two bodies of water. A place where this carrying occurs is also called a portage; a person doing the carrying is called a porter.The English word portage is derived from the...
at present-day South Bend, Indiana
South Bend, Indiana
The city of South Bend is the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States, on the St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2010 Census, the city had a total of 101,168 residents; its Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 316,663...
. They crossed to the Kankakee River
Kankakee River
The Kankakee River is a tributary of the Illinois River, approximately long, in northwestern Indiana and northeastern Illinois in the United States. At one time the river drained one of the largest wetlands in North America and furnished a significant portage between the Great Lakes and the...
and followed it to the Illinois River
Illinois River
The Illinois River is a principal tributary of the Mississippi River, approximately long, in the State of Illinois. The river drains a large section of central Illinois, with a drainage basin of . This river was important among Native Americans and early French traders as the principal water route...
. There they built Fort Crèvecoeur
Fort Crevecoeur
Fort Crevecoeur was founded near the present site of Creve Coeur, a suburb of Peoria, Illinois, in January 1680.-Founding:...
, which later led to the development of present-day Peoria, Illinois
Peoria, Illinois
Peoria is the largest city on the Illinois River and the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, in the United States. It is named after the Peoria tribe. As of the 2010 census, the city was the seventh-most populated in Illinois, with a population of 115,007, and is the third-most populated...
. La Salle set off on foot for Fort Frontenac for supplies. While he was gone, Louis Hennepin
Louis Hennepin
Father Louis Hennepin, O.F.M. baptized Antoine, was a Catholic priest and missionary of the Franciscan Recollect order and an explorer of the interior of North America....
followed the Illinois River to its junction with the Mississippi. La Salle was captured by a Sioux
Sioux
The Sioux are Native American and First Nations people in North America. The term can refer to any ethnic group within the Great Sioux Nation or any of the nation's many language dialects...
war party and carried off to Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
. The soldiers at Ft. Crevecoeur mutinied
Mutiny
Mutiny is a conspiracy among members of a group of similarly situated individuals to openly oppose, change or overthrow an authority to which they are subject...
, destroyed the fort, and exiled Tonti, whom La Salle had left in charge. Later La Salle captured the mutineers on Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south by the American state of New York. Ontario, Canada's most populous province, was named for the lake. In the Wyandot language, ontarío means...
. He eventually rendezvoused with Tonti at St. Ignace, Michigan
St. Ignace, Michigan
Saint Ignace, usually written as St. Ignace, is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 2,678. It is the county seat of Mackinac County. From the Lower Peninsula, St. Ignace is the gateway to the Upper Peninsula.St...
.
Final expeditions
La Salle reassembled a party for another major expedition. In 1682 he departed from present-day Fort WayneFort Wayne, Indiana
Fort Wayne is a city in the US state of Indiana and the county seat of Allen County. The population was 253,691 at the 2010 Census making it the 74th largest city in the United States and the second largest in Indiana...
with 18 Indians and canoed down the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
. He named the Mississippi basin La Louisiane
Louisiana (New France)
Louisiana or French Louisiana was an administrative district of New France. Under French control from 1682–1763 and 1800–03, the area was named in honor of Louis XIV, by French explorer René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle...
in honor of Louis XIV
Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...
and claimed it for France. At what later became the site of Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
, La Salle built the small Fort Prudhomme
Fort Prudhomme
Fort Prudhomme, or Prud'homme, was a simple stockade fortification, constructed on one of the Chickasaw Bluffs of the Mississippi River in West Tennessee by Cavelier de La Salle's French canoe expedition of the Mississippi River Basin in 1682...
. On April 9, 1682, at the mouth of the Mississippi River near modern Venice, Louisiana
Venice, Louisiana
Venice is an unincorporated community in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is 130 km south of New Orleans on the west bank of the Mississippi River at . It is the last community down the Mississippi accessible by automobile, and is the southern terminus of the Great River Road...
, La Salle buried an engraved plate and a cross, claiming the territory for France.
In 1683, on his return voyage, La Salle established Fort Saint Louis of Illinois, at Starved Rock
Starved Rock State Park
Starved Rock State Park is a state park in Illinois, characterized by the many canyons within its 2360 acres. Located just southwest of the village of North Utica, in Deer Park Township, LaSalle County, Illinois, along the south bank of the Illinois River, the park hosts over two million visitors...
on the Illinois River, to replace Fort Crevecoeur. He appointed Tonti to command the fort while La Salle traveled to France for supplies. On July 24, 1684, La Salle departed France and returned to America with a large expedition designed to establish a French colony on the Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...
, at the mouth of the Mississippi River. They had four ships and 300 colonists. The expedition was plagued by pirates, hostile Indians, and poor navigation. One ship was lost to pirates in the West Indies, a second sank in the inlets of Matagorda Bay
Matagorda Bay
Matagorda Bay is a large estuary bay on the Texas coast, lying in Calhoun and Matagorda counties and located approximately northeast of Corpus Christi, southeast of San Antonio, southwest of Houston, and southeast of Austin. It is separated from the Gulf of Mexico by Matagorda Peninsula and...
, and a third ran aground there. They founded Fort Saint Louis, on Garcitas Creek
Garcitas Creek
Garcitas Creek is a river in Texas that La Salle and his men populated. They started a fort around it because it was their only source of fresh water. the fort was Fort Saint Louis, named after the current king of France...
in Victoria County, Texas
Victoria, Texas
Victoria is a city in and the seat of Victoria County, Texas, United States. The population was 60,603 at the 2000 census. The three counties of the Victoria Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 111,163 at the 2000 census,...
. La Salle led a group eastward on foot on three occasions to try to locate the mouth of the Mississippi.
Navasota, Texas
Navasota is a city in Grimes County, Texas, United States. The population was 6,789 at the 2000 census. In 2005, the Texas Legislature named the city "The Blues Capital of Texas," in honor of the late Mance Lipscomb, a Navasota native and blues musician....
. On March 19, 1687, La Salle was slain by Pierre Duhaut during an ambush while talking to Duhaut's decoy, Jean L'Archevêque
Jean L'Archevêque
Jean L'Archevêque was a French explorer, soldier and merchant-trader. One of the few survivors of the ill-fated French colony Fort Saint Louis , L'Archevêque, the son of a merchant-trader from Bayonne, France, indentured himself to merchant-trader Sieur Pierre Duhaut in order to participate in...
. They were "six leagues" from the westernmost village of the Hasinai
Hasinai
The Hasinai Confederacy was a large confederation of Caddo-speaking Native Americans located between the Sabine and Trinity rivers in eastern Texas...
(Tejas) Indians. Duhaut was killed to avenge La Salle, while Jean L'Archevêque
Jean L'Archevêque
Jean L'Archevêque was a French explorer, soldier and merchant-trader. One of the few survivors of the ill-fated French colony Fort Saint Louis , L'Archevêque, the son of a merchant-trader from Bayonne, France, indentured himself to merchant-trader Sieur Pierre Duhaut in order to participate in...
was killed in 1720 by Indians during the Villasur expedition
Villasur expedition
The Villasur expedition of 1720 was a Spanish military expedition intended to check the growing French presence on the Great Plains of central North America...
—ironically, in an ambush beside a river.
The colony lasted only until 1688, when Karankawa
Karankawa
Karankawa were a group of Native American peoples, now extinct as a tribal group, who played a pivotal part in early Texas history....
-speaking Native Americans killed the 20 remaining adults and took five children as captives. Tonti sent out search missions in 1689 when he learned of the settlers' fate, but failed to find survivors.
There is some disagreement about accepting Navasota as the site of La Salle's death. The historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
Robert Weddle, for example, believes that La Salle's travel distances have been miscalculated. Weddle thinks that La Salle was murdered just east of the Trinity River
Trinity River (Texas)
The Trinity River is a long river that flows entirely within the U.S. state of Texas. It rises in extreme north Texas, a few miles south of the Red River. The headwaters are separated by the high bluffs on the south side of the Red River....
, which would put the site somewhere about 20 miles (32.2 km) east or east-northeast of today's Huntsville, Texas
Huntsville, Texas
Huntsville is a city in and the county seat of Walker County, Texas, United States. The population was 35,508 at the 2010 census. It is the center of the Huntsville micropolitan area....
.
Legacy
La Belle (ship)
La Belle was one of Robert de La Salle's four ships when he explored the Gulf of Mexico with the ill-fated mission of starting a French colony at the mouth of the Mississippi River in 1685. La Belle was wrecked in present-day Matagorda Bay the following year, dooming La Salle's Texas colony to...
was discovered in the muck of Matagorda Bay
Matagorda Bay
Matagorda Bay is a large estuary bay on the Texas coast, lying in Calhoun and Matagorda counties and located approximately northeast of Corpus Christi, southeast of San Antonio, southwest of Houston, and southeast of Austin. It is separated from the Gulf of Mexico by Matagorda Peninsula and...
. It has been the subject of archeological research. Through an international treaty, the artifacts excavated from La Belle are owned by France and held in trust by the Texas Historical Commission. The collection is held by the Corpus Christi
Corpus Christi, Texas
Corpus Christi is a coastal city in the South Texas region of the U.S. state of Texas. The county seat of Nueces County, it also extends into Aransas, Kleberg, and San Patricio counties. The MSA population in 2008 was 416,376. The population was 305,215 at the 2010 census making it the...
Museum of Science and History. Artifacts from La Belle are shown at nine museums across Texas. The wreckage of La Salle's ship L'Aimable has yet to be located. The possible shipwreck of Le Griffon in Lake Michigan is the subject of a lawsuit concerning ownership of the artifacts.
- Many places were named in La Salle's honor, as was the LaSalle automobileAutomobileAn automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
brand. (see La SalleLa Salle- People :* Antoine Charles Louis de Lasalle , French cavalry general during the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars* Denise LaSalle , singer* Eriq La Salle , actor...
for a list of places, most of which were named after him). - Fort LaSalle at the Royal Military College of CanadaRoyal Military College of CanadaThe Royal Military College of Canada, RMC, or RMCC , is the military academy of the Canadian Forces, and is a degree-granting university. RMC was established in 1876. RMC is the only federal institution in Canada with degree granting powers...
in Kingston, OntarioKingston, OntarioKingston, Ontario is a Canadian city located in Eastern Ontario where the St. Lawrence River flows out of Lake Ontario. Originally a First Nations settlement called "Katarowki," , growing European exploration in the 17th Century made it an important trading post... - LaSalleLaSalle, OntarioLaSalle is a town in Essex County, Ontario, Canada, on the Detroit River. It is a bedroom community of the City of Windsor and part of the Windsor Census Metropolitan Area, and is located south of that city. LaSalle, along with Windsor, is the oldest French settlement area in Southwestern Ontario,...
, in Essex County, OntarioEssex County, OntarioEssex County is a county and census division located in Southwestern Ontario and covers an area at the southernmost tip of Canada. The administrative seat is Essex...
, south of WindsorWindsor, OntarioWindsor is the southernmost city in Canada and is located in Southwestern Ontario at the western end of the heavily populated Quebec City – Windsor Corridor. It is within Essex County, Ontario, although administratively separated from the county government. Separated by the Detroit River, Windsor...
on the Detroit RiverDetroit RiverThe Detroit River is a strait in the Great Lakes system. The name comes from the French Rivière du Détroit, which translates literally as "River of the Strait". The Detroit River has served an important role in the history of Detroit and is one of the busiest waterways in the world. The river... - Ville Lasalle is a borough of the city of MontrealMontrealMontreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, QuebecQuebecQuebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, CanadaCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. - Avenue La Salle, located in Shawinigan, QuebecQuebecQuebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, CanadaCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. - Lasalle Road, a prominent east-west road to the south of SarniaSarnia, OntarioSarnia is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada . It is the largest city on Lake Huron and is located where the upper Great Lakes empty into the St. Clair River....
, OntarioOntarioOntario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, CanadaCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. - LaSalle County, Illinois, the town of LaSalle and the La Salle Speedway within it.
- LaSalle-Peru Township High School in LaSalle, Illinois has the mascot of the Cavaliers (Cavs) and Lady Cavaliers (Lady Cavs).
- La Salle Street in Navasota, TexasNavasota, TexasNavasota is a city in Grimes County, Texas, United States. The population was 6,789 at the 2000 census. In 2005, the Texas Legislature named the city "The Blues Capital of Texas," in honor of the late Mance Lipscomb, a Navasota native and blues musician....
. It also contains a statue given by the French Government in honor of the explorer. - La Salle Avenue, a prominent downtown street in Minneapolis, MinnesotaMinneapolis, MinnesotaMinneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...
. - The La Salle Neighborhood in Niagara Falls, New YorkNiagara Falls, New YorkNiagara Falls is a city in Niagara County, New York, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 50,193, down from the 55,593 recorded in the 2000 census. It is across the Niagara River from Niagara Falls, Ontario , both named after the famed Niagara Falls which they...
, the place where La Salle's ship, Le Griffon, was built in 1679. - The La Salle Expressway, a prominent roadway through Niagara Falls, New YorkNiagara Falls, New YorkNiagara Falls is a city in Niagara County, New York, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 50,193, down from the 55,593 recorded in the 2000 census. It is across the Niagara River from Niagara Falls, Ontario , both named after the famed Niagara Falls which they...
and its outer suburbs. - LaSalle StreetLaSalle StreetLaSalle Street is a major north-south street in Chicago named for Sieur de La Salle, an early explorer of Illinois. The portion that runs through the Loop is considered to be Chicago's financial district...
, a major north-south thoroughfare in ChicagoChicagoChicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, leads directly to the Board of Trade, and is the center of Chicago's financial district. - LaSalle Park - Burlington, OntarioBurlington, OntarioBurlington , is a city located in Halton Region at the western end of Lake Ontario. Burlington is part of the Greater Toronto Area, and is also included in the Hamilton Census Metropolitan Area. Physically, Burlington lies between the north shore of Lake Ontario and the Niagara Escarpment...
- Jardin Cavelier de La Salle in the 6ème arrondissementArrondissements of ParisThe city of Paris is divided into twenty arrondissements municipaux administrative districts, more simply referred to as arrondissements . These are not to be confused with departmental arrondissements, which subdivide the 101 French départements...
in ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region... - La Salle Hotel in downtown Bryan, TX
- The La Salle CausewayLa Salle CausewayThe La Salle Causeway is a causeway that allows Highway 2 to cross the Cataraqui River at Kingston, Ontario. The causeway separates Kingston's inner and outer harbours...
, connecting Kingston, Ontario to neighbouring Barriefield, Ontario. - La Salle HotelLa Salle HotelThe La Salle Hotel was a historic hotel that was located on the northwest corner of La Salle Street and Madison Avenue in the Chicago Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois, United States. It was situated to the southwest of Chicago City Hall and in very close proximity to St. Peter's Church...
, Chicago
His lover's name remains a mystery, though the legend of Krakana Belle, his assumed daughter, lives on in the Matagorda Bay area.
External links
- Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
- The Cataraqui Archaeological Research Foundation
- René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle: North American Explorer
- The journeys of Rene Robert Cavelier, sieur de La Salle. Volume 1, (hosted by the Portal to Texas History)
- The journeys of Rene Robert Cavelier, sieur de La Salle. Volume 2, hosted by the Portal to Texas History
- Cabeza de Vaca ; La Salle. published 1901, hosted by the Portal to Texas History.
- The Handbook of Texas Online: Renê Robert Cavelier Sieur de La Salle
- Detailed Account of La Salle in Texas
- La Salle's Map of Texas from A pictorial history of Texas, from the earliest visits of European adventurers, to A.D. 1879, hosted by the Portal to Texas History.
- Sieur de La Salle - The All-Star River Explorers (University of Illinois Extension)
- La Salle's mark in Fort Wayne
- Texas Beyond History
- Le Griffon construction site in Niagara Falls New York