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(1643–1687). The father of the great Louisiana Territory was the French
explorer René-Robert Cavelier, sieur de La Salle. He was the first European to
voyage down the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico. As a result of this
exploration France laid claim to the entire Mississippi Valley under the name
of Louisiana.

René-Robert Cavelier was born on Nov. 22, 1643, in Rouen, France. The son of
René-Robert Cavelier,
a rich merchant, he was educated by the Jesuits. When he was 23 years old he
sieur de La Salle.
Encyclopædia sailed for Montreal, Canada, to seek his fortune. He got a grant of land at
Britannica, Inc. Lachine (now part of Montreal) from the Seminary of St. Sulpice, where his
older brother was a priest. He was more interested, however, in Montreal's greatest activity, the
fur trade than he was in farming. Every spring Indians in hundreds of canoes, led by French agents
called coureurs de bois (wood runners), came to trade bales of furs for trinkets, cloth, firearms,
and brandy. For 10 days or two weeks Montreal hummed with business and riotous celebrations.
Then the Indians vanished into the West until the following year.
 A 19th-century engraving of Cavelier de La Salle

November 21, 1643

Born
Rouen, Normandy, France

March 19, 1687 (aged 43)

Died
present day Huntsville, Texas

Nationality French

Occupation Explorer

exploring the Great Lakes,

Known for Mississippi River,
and the Gulf of Mexico

Signature
René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, or Robert de La Salle (November 21, 1643 – March 19, 1687)
was a French explorer. He explored the Great Lakes region of the United States and Canada, the
Mississippi River, and the Gulf of Mexico. La Salle claimed the entire Mississippi River basin for France.

Rene Robert cavalier, sieur de Lasalle

1643–87, French explorer in North America, one of the most celebrated explorers of New
France.

He entered a Jesuit novitiate as a boy but later left the religious life. In 1666 he went to Canada,
where he developed a seigniory at Lachine. In 1673 the governor of New France, Frontenac,
made him commandant of Fort Frontenac (see Kingston, Ont., Canada). After a visit to France,
where he was granted a patent of nobility, La Salle began (1675) to develop the trade at the post.
In 1677 he was in France again and obtained a patent to build forts, explore, and trade. When he
returned, he brought with him Henri de Tonti, who was his lieutenant in later enterprises.

In 1679 a blockhouse was built at the outlet of the Niagara River, and in August they set out
across the Great Lakes in the Griffon, which Tonti had built. That first sailing vessel on the lakes
took the adventuring traders to Green Bay; the party then went by land. The Griffon was lost a
little later, probably in a storm. La Salle went along Lake Michigan, erected Fort Miami on the
site of present St. Joseph, Mich., then continued to the Illinois River. On that stream Fort Creve
Coeur was built.

La Salle sent Michel Aco and Father Hennepin on an expedition to the upper Mississippi, while
he himself went back to Fort Frontenac for supplies. After La Salle's departure Tonti was
attacked by hostile Iroquois and was forced to flee the settlement. La Salle, returning, found the
Illinois posts deserted. He set out to find Tonti and also organized (1681) a Native American
federation of the Illinois, the Miami, and smaller tribes to fight the Iroquois.

He was reunited with Tonti at Mackinac Island, and the two men with Father Zenobe Membré
and a small party descended the Mississippi to its mouth, arriving Apr. 9, 1682. La Salle took
possession of the whole valley, calling the region Louisiana. Tonti went back to the Illinois and
at Starved Rock began construction of a village; La Salle joined him, and Fort St. Louis was
completed (1682–83).

La Salle was deprived of his authority by the new governor in 1683 and went to France, leaving
Tonti in the Illinois country. Given power to colonize and to govern the region between Lake
Michigan and the Gulf of Mexico, La Salle set out (1684) with four ships for the mouth of the
Mississippi. He never reached it. With three of his ships La Salle reached the Gulf of Mexico;
but because of the sandy sameness of the coastline he was unable to find the Mississippi. He and
his men landed on the Texas shore, probably on Lavaca Bay. They made futile attempts to reach
the Mississippi overland, and the men grew mutinous. On the third attempt the explorer was
murdered by his own men.

Bibliography