Sieur de La Salle By: Sophia
This is Sieur de La Salle he was born on November 21, 1643. He was born in Rouen, France.
As a young child La Salle went to school that was run by Jesuit Priests and studied to be one. He left his training in 1665 for adventure.
In 1666 La Salle sailed to Canada, where France had established a colony.
La Salle gained land near Montreal and became a fur trader. Much of the trading he did was with the indians, who told him of two great rivers, the Ohio and Mississippi.
In 1669 he sold his land and went to search for the rivers, by the end of his voyage La Salle was convinced that the Mississippi River led to the Gulf of Mexico.
La Salle returned to France in 1674. King Louis XIV gave La Salle land that contained Fort Frontenac. La Salle created a fur trading post at the fort and became one of the most powerful persons in Canada.
1677 La Salle again sailed to France where he got permission from King Louis to explore the Mississippi River. In 1679 after returning to Canada La Salle launched an expedition to give France control of the Great Lakes region. 1680 he founded his first european settlement that is present the day Illinois. It was named Fort Crevecoer.
When La Salle returned to Illinois the fort had been destroyed in a rebellion by some of the occupants.
He lead a group of 20 frenchmen and approximately 30 indians in canoes down the Illinois River to the Mississippi River. The expedition started in Feb 13, 1682 and reached the Gulf of Mexico in April 9.
La Salle claimed all the land drained by the Mississippi and its tributaries for France. La Salle named the region he claimed Louisiana in honor of King Louis.
Later in 1682 La Salle built Fort Saint Louis on a bluff along the Illinois River. The bluff is now Starved Stone State Park.
La Salle wanted to estabilish a colony at the mouth of the Mississippi River. He later left for France to pick up supplies. In 1684 La Salle sailed from France to the Gulf of Mexico with a total of 4 ships and over 300 colonists. This expedition never reached the Mississippi because La Salle mistakenly sailed past it.
In 1685 he set up a colony which was also called fort saint louis west of the river, this was near Matagorda Bay aproximately 80 miles east of present day Corpus Christi Texas. Indians threatened the settelment and many died from disease. By 1687 the colony needed help. La Salle and sevaral other men began an overland march to find the Mississippi River , they planned to follow to Canada. Sadly they couldn’t find the river.
Some men rebelled and killed la Salle’s nephew, and on march 19, 1687 murderd La Salle.
Here are some interesting facts about la Salle.
This is the ship he sailed in.
