Information project, became René-Robert de La Salle - the famous French explorer of America.
Men of steel.
Part 1. La Salle is a friend of the Indians.
It was a time when ships were built from wood,
and the people who controlled them were forged from steel.
René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle
21.11.1643 — 19.03.1687
René-Robert Cavelier de La Salle was born in Rouen, Normandy, in 1643. His father, Jean Cavelier, who made a fortune in the fur trade, invests heavily in the education of his own children, and Rene ends up in a Jesuit college at an early age. Here he studies languages and sciences, and geography, astronomy, navigation and history become his favorite subjects. Reading the stories of the campaigns of Jacques Cartier and, La Salle dreams of America and longs for travel and discovery. In 1667, he breaks all ties with the Jesuits (being at that time already a famous young scientist and teacher), refuses the offer to continue his father’s trading business, loses his land plot in Normandy and, unencumbered, goes to Canada - a mysterious country discovered idols of his childhood.
The first two years in America were spent setting up a household, building his own fur trading enterprise (here the knowledge and skills acquired from his father came in handy), acquiring a house and land, and enlisting the friendship and support of representatives of the colonial authorities. In 1669, La Salle sold almost all of his property, again left with nothing. He left himself only a small house, books with Cartier’s travel notes and maps compiled by them, as well as a good supply of money for organizing his own travels. From this moment begins the story of La Salle, the discoverer.
Over the next 13 years, Rene de La Salle would do more to explore America than anyone before or after him. The story of his travels, if told in detail, would occupy an entire shelf in the library. In his expeditions, La Salle explored and described in detail lands several times larger than the territory of his native France, and was the first to map the outlines of the Great Lakes, on the water of which, under his leadership, the first large sailing ships were launched (it was thanks to the appearance of these ships that France secured its dominance on the European fur market for many years to come). Continuing Cartier's search for a northern passage to the Pacific Ocean and Asia, La Salle explored the St. Joseph, Ohio and Illinois rivers. During his travels, he founded more than 30 French forts, trading posts and settlements, spreading French influence over vast territories (now 15 states within the United States). In 1675, La Salle received the title of nobility personally from the “Sun King” Louis XIV, and with him a monopoly on the fur trade in almost all the lands he discovered. For the discoverer himself, the trip to France to meet the king was, it seems, nothing more than a forced break in his travels - already in 1676 he continued his research.
La Salle claims the mouth of the Mississippi as French territory
The most impressive of all La Salle's voyages took place in the years 1680-1683. Having explored the southern shore of Lake Michigan, passing the St. Joseph and Illinois rivers, a small detachment under his leadership entered the Mississippi and descended along it to the Gulf of Mexico, charting the mouth of the great river for the first time. La Salle declared all the lands he had traversed as territories of France, calling them Louisiana in honor of Louis XIV.
During the 13 years of Rene de La Salle's expeditions, French possessions in the New World increased almost 20 times. He himself traveled thousands of miles through wild lands where no European had ever set foot before—it was La Salle’s maps that first gave Europeans an idea of the size of the American continent. What was his secret? How is it that one person could do more than dozens of researchers before and after him? Contemporaries considered La Salle phenomenally successful, but that’s not all. He was the first European to learn from the Indians, build friendly relations with them, and respect their customs. La Salle devoted the first two years spent in Canada to studying Indian languages and culture. By the end of his life, he spoke fluently six local languages and dozens of their dialects. Rene always traveled light - he did not take carts, soldiers, artillery or horses with him. His troops rarely numbered more than 20 people, and the majority of his companions were always Indians. La Salle was not shy about learning from the locals: he wore their clothes, used their healing methods, built pirogues and canoes himself, and preferred hunting and fishing during expeditions to preparing serious food supplies in advance.
Rene de La Salle always knew how to find a common language with the Indians - in the entire history of his campaigns it is difficult to find one more or less significant conflict with the local population. In 1673, he mediated negotiations between the Iroquois leaders and the governor of New France, putting an end to many years of armed confrontation (for the next 100 years, the Iroquois would become a reliable ally of the French in colonial wars against the British). La Salle became perhaps the first European in America who did not feel like a stranger or a conqueror, and the New World opened up to him as never before. The local population accepted him, and stories about the French traveler spread among the Indians from Canada to Texas: each tribe received him as a guest, and La Salle addressed each in his native language.
Rene Robert Cavelier de La Salle died on March 19, 1687 in what is now Texas. He was killed by mutinous sailors from the crew of his own ship - Europeans. La Salle's killer, Pierre Duho, briefly outlived his captain - the Indians who inhabited the surrounding territories tracked down the traitor and avenged the death of their friend. The great French discoverer passed away at the age of 43. And who knows - if he had lived longer - perhaps the history of the Europeans' exploration of America would have turned out differently.
P.S. In 1803, Napoleon, needing money for his European campaigns, sold almost all of the lands discovered by La Salle to the United States of America. For 15 million US dollars, France ceded the territory of modern Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Minnesota, North and South Dakota, New Mexico, Montana, Wyoming, Texas, Colorado and Louisiana - a total of more than 2100 square kilometers, almost a quarter of the current US territory, or more than a third - if you do not include Alaska ..
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What is La Salle? How to spell this word correctly. Concept and interpretation.
La Salle La Salle, Ren? Robert Cavelier (1643–1687), French explorer of North America. Born in Rouen on November 22, 1643. Studied at a Jesuit college. Obsessed with the desire to discover new lands, in 1666, following his brother, who was a member of the congregation of St. Sulpicia in Montreal, went to New France (Canada). Upon arrival, he received the status of a landowner and a land plot in Lachine (in the vicinity of Montreal). Having learned from the Indians of a large river in the southwest that was believed to flow into the Gulf of California, La Salle decided to explore it. Having developed a plan for the expedition, he presented it to Governor Courcelles, who persuaded him to team up with two Sulpicians - Dolier de Casson and Galina. In 1668 they went up the St. Lawrence River and along the southern shore of Lake Ontario to Burlington Bay. Next, La Salle decided to follow his own path to Ohio, but Dollier de Casson and Galina had other plans. During this journey, La Salle probably only reached the Ohio River, turning back in 1671. In 1672, Count Frontenac, governor of New France, approached La Salle with a proposal to discuss plans for expanding the colony. The first step was to build Fort Frontenac on Lake Ontario - a base for future expeditions. In 1677, La Salle went to France, where he received broad powers from King Louis XIV to further develop lands in the New World. Returning to New France, La Salle, together with Lieutenant Henri de Tonti, went west in 1679. Having built a fort at the mouth of the Niagara River, he went to a place located near modern Buffalo, where he built the Griffin, the first merchant sailing ship to sail on the Great Lakes. La Salle's detachment headed for Lake Michigan, crossed it and reached an island at the entrance to Green Bay, where a tribe of friendly Potawatomi Indians lived. From here La Salle decided to send the Griffin to Niagara with a load of furs, and he himself followed by canoe to the southern tip of Lake Michigan and further to the mouth of the St. Joseph River, where he built another fort. Subsequently, La Salle decided to continue his exploration further south. He received additional funds, and in 1681–1682 he went down the Mississippi River to its confluence with the Gulf of Mexico. Reached the mouth of the Mississippi on April 9, 1682, declared the entire area the possession of Louis XIV and named it Louisiana. Upon his return to New France, La Salle found himself out of favor with the governor. To restore the situation, La Salle again went to France and, after appealing to the king, returned the property taken from him. In 1684 he set out on four ships to create a colony at the mouth of the Mississippi, but from the very beginning this expedition was plagued by failures. The ships passed the mouth of the Mississippi and mistakenly landed in Matagorda Bay. The forces of the detachment were undermined by a shipwreck and the departure of the last ship to France. Then La Salle tried to reach Mississippi by land and, having failed here too, in January 1687 decided to return to New France. Along the way, the detachment rebelled, and La Salle was killed in the area of the Brazos River (now in the state of Texas) on March 19, 1687. LITERATURE Varshavsky A.S. The Road Leads to the South (life, travels and adventures of La Salle). M., 1960
“Our expedition ended without loss, not a single Frenchman or Indian or anyone else was even wounded, for which we owe to the protection of the Almighty and the great abilities of M. de La Salle” (Father Zenobius Membre's account of La Salle's journey down the Mississippi) .
Russian Cossacks and industrialists covered the entire vast Siberia over several decades and by the middle of the 17th century. reached the shores of the Pacific Ocean. The exploration of North America by Europeans proceeded much more slowly. There are a number of reasons for this. The Urals are still not such a serious obstacle as the Atlantic. As for the Arctic seas, there is a paradox: they turned out to be insurmountable for dozens of travelers looking for a northern route to India and China, but they became the main road for Russian explorers who conquered Siberia. In general, the number of Russian pioneers beyond the Urals was much greater than the number of European colonists in North America. And if the Russians, in their advance to the east, encountered resistance only from individual Siberian tribes, then the British, Dutch and French, who experienced opposition from numerous Indians, also competed with each other. First of all, they had to worry not about expanding their own possessions, but about limiting the sphere of influence of competitors.
During the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648), the British abandoned attempts to find the Northwest Passage and concentrated their efforts on strengthening their positions on the Atlantic coast of the mainland. New England in the 1620s actively expanded and was populated, mainly by Puritans. The Dutch chose lands a little to the north, around the mouth of the Hudson. In 1625 they founded a settlement on the island of Manhattan and called it New Amsterdam.
The French, thanks to Jacques Cartier, occupied even more northern territories near the St. Lawrence River, both lost and won from this. Every winter, the river estuary was covered with ice, so maritime trade ceased. But French trappers and “forest tramps” were able to move further and further into unexplored areas of the continent in search of fur. The colonists abandoned their settlements and went into the forests; agriculture did not develop. Back at the beginning of the 16th century. “Father of New France” Samuel Champlain, having concluded an alliance with the Algonquins and Hurons, thereby doomed the French colonists to war with the Iroquois, which was a big mistake. After Champlain, French colonization was led by... monks: first the Recollets (Augustinians), and then the Jesuits. Founding more and more missions, the Jesuits extended their influence to Lake Huron.
Meanwhile, the British and Dutch did not sleep. They were also involved in the fur trade and sought to prevent the French from dominating this lucrative market. The conflict flared up and developed into the so-called beaver wars, which lasted from 1630 almost until the beginning of the 18th century. The Indians also took an active part in them. The Iroquois, pressing against the Hurons, attacked Jesuit missions, tortured and killed priests, and then began raiding Montreal, the main center of the fur trade.
In 1672, Count Louis de Frontenac, a talented organizer who managed to regain control over previously lost territories and temporarily pacify the Iroquois, many of whom even accepted baptism, became the governor of New France. In 1673, Fort Frontenac (now the city of Kingston) was founded on the shores of Ontario, where the St. Lawrence River flows from the lake. Cavelier de La Salle was appointed to command the fort. Meanwhile, French trappers moved further into the continent, and the fur trade gradually spread to the headwaters of the Mississippi. No one knew where this giant river flowed. What if to the Pacific Ocean? This is what La Salle believed, who dreamed of opening the way to Asia.
René Robert Cavelier arrived in Canada in the late 1660s. (at that time he did not yet have a noble title). The son of a rich merchant from Rouen, he was raised in a Jesuit school for several years, but did not want to become a monk and went to New France. There he received a grant of land, traded furs and heard from the Indians about the great rivers west of the Great Lakes. In 1669, having sold the land, Cavelier set off on a journey to the southwest of Ontario, discovered a tributary of the Mississippi Ohio and walked along the river more than 1.5 thousand km. In the fall of 1671, together with trappers, he followed the Erie and Huron to the western shore of Michigan. Having reached the southern edge of the lake, Cavelier and his companions went out to the Illinois River and reached the Mississippi by boat. He did not dare to go down it, especially since the river, contrary to his expectations, flowed not to the southwest, but to the southeast.
However, Cavelier was not one to give up easily: although the Mississippi does not flow into the Pacific Ocean, it certainly flows into the Gulf of Mexico. Finding a new route from Canada to the Antilles was worth a lot! Cavelier shared his plans with Frontenac and found an ally in him. But his idea was met with hostility by merchants from Montreal and the Jesuits (the latter even tried to poison him). Then Cavelier went to France, where he enlisted the support of Louis XIV himself. At the same time, he received a noble title and began to be called Señor de La Salle (perhaps this happened during his second visit to his homeland). However, La Salle had to raise money for the trip himself.
Having mortgaged his property in Quebec, he founded a fort at the mouth of the Niagara flowing into Ontario and began building the ship “Griffin” for sailing the lakes and rivers of America. While construction was underway, La Salle and his companions began exploring the surrounding area and buying furs. When the Griffin was completed, they went from Lake Erie to Huron, and from there to Michigan. After this, for some reason the ship turned back - either La Salle heard rumors that creditors were selling his property, and he decided to pay them with furs that were stored in the Niagara Fort, or he urgently needed provisions.
La Salle himself, without waiting for the ship to return, went to the Illinois River and built Fort Crevecoeur, i.e. “Deep Chagrin,” on the shores of Lake Peoria. The title says it all: obviously, La Salle’s plans were thwarted (although other explanations are possible).
Leaving a small garrison at the fort, La Salle, according to some sources, went to Montreal and Quebec to settle matters with creditors, and according to others, he took a trip to the upper reaches of the Mississippi. New troubles awaited him. It turned out that the Griffin, loaded with furs, was missing - either sank during a storm, or was captured by the Indians or La Salle's enemies. In addition, a ship sailing from France to Canada with cargo for him sank. And finally, the garrison of Crevecoeur rebelled. I had to negotiate with the Indians to recapture the fort from the rebels.
At the end of 1681, La Salle led a detachment of several dozen people to the Mississippi. On a sleigh they reached the mouth of the Illinois and began to wait for the ice drift to pass. After the river was cleared of ice, the detachment set off on a long journey in pirogues. La Salle passed the mouth of the Missouri, Ohio, at the confluence of which he founded a fort, and on April 9, 1682, reached the Gulf of Mexico. Claiming the lands around the Mississippi and its tributaries to be the property of the French crown, La Salle named it Louisiana in honor of the king.
Returning along the Mississippi and the Great Lakes to Canada, the traveler discovered that Frontenac had been replaced by another governor who harbored open enmity towards La Salle. Moreover, in his report to Louis XIV, the new governor painted the Mississippi expedition in black terms, accusing La Salle of abuse of power, abuse, etc. He had to go to France and seek an audience with the king.
He achieved his goal and, having presented the king with a rich gift - Louisiana, which was several times larger than France, managed to interest Louis and the ministers in plans for a naval expedition to the mouth of the Mississippi and the founding of a colony on the Gulf of Mexico. The king appointed La Salle governor of Louisiana and ordered the equipping of several expeditionary ships. But here’s the problem: the Jesuits intervened in the matter, ensuring that the command of the flotilla was entrusted to their nominee, Captain Bozho. And La Salle could not do anything about this.
In June 1684, four ships left La Rochelle. La Salle and Bojo did not hide their mutual hostility, although matters had not yet come to an open clash. In November, the ships found themselves in the Gulf of Mexico. Following along the coast, La Salle and Bojo passed by the Mississippi delta without noticing it, which, in general, is not surprising, for the coastal strip here is extremely rugged, with many bays and straits, and the river itself enters the bay not in a continuous stream, but in dozens sleeves hiding in the thickets. Finally, the travelers landed on the island of Matagorda, located much west of the mouth of the Mississippi, and in the spring they built a fort at the mouth of the Lavaca River. But one of the ships sank, the other was captured by the Spaniards, and the remaining two were taken to France by Bojo, abandoning La Salle with a small detachment. The latter persistently searched for the Mississippi, sending scouts to the west and east. Unsuccessfully…
The colonists plowed and sowed the area, but rainfall and floods washed away all the crops. And then illnesses came, and after a year only about 30 people remained in La Salle’s detachment. He decided to head east and, with luck, reach the Mississippi and follow it up to the Great Lakes. Of course, there was a high probability of being captured by the Spaniards, but it was better than dying of hunger. In February 1687, La Salle set out on the road with several exhausted and angry people. And on March 19, in the area of the Brazos River (now in Texas), his companions killed him.
In the middle of the 18th century. As a result of the Seven Years' War, France ceded the west of Louisiana to the Spaniards and the east to the British. After the formation of the United States, the western part of Louisiana again passed to France. And in 1803, Napoleon sold this huge territory to the Americans for $15 million. He was too busy preparing to conquer Europe.
FIGURES AND FACTS
Main character
René Robert Cavelier de La Salle, French trader and explorer
Other characters
Louis XIV, King of France; Louis de Frontenac and Lefebvre de la Barre, governors of New France; God, captain
Time of action
Route
Down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico; from France to the Gulf of Mexico
Target
Expansion of French possessions in the New World, establishment of a colony on the Gulf of Mexico
Meaning
First passage of the Mississippi by Europeans; declaring the vast territory around the river and its tributaries the property of France
Eric La Salle's complete filmography includes a little more than forty roles. His career continues, so this figure is not final. He is better known to viewers in Russia and neighboring countries for his role as a doctor in the medical series “Emergency”. His co-star was the famous George Clooney.
short biography
Eric La Salle was born on July 23, 1962. It happened in Hartford (Connecticut). He spent his childhood there until he entered the Juilliard School. At a New York educational institution, the young man studied art for two years. At twenty-two, he transferred to New York University (School of the Arts). He did not wait to receive his diploma, throwing himself headlong into work.
Eric took part in performances of the Shakespeare in the Park theater group. After that, he began to get roles on Broadway and Off-Broadway.
Beginning of acting
Eric La Salle first appeared on television screens in the soap opera Underworld, which ran for thirty-five seasons starting in 1964. At the same time, he began starring in another soap opera called One Life to Live. Forty-five seasons have been filmed since 1968.
Films with Eric La Salle:
- Coming to America is a 1988 comedy film. It tells about the trip of the African prince Akim to the USA. The main role went to For living, he chooses the Queens area, which (despite the beautiful name) is not famous for its safety and fashionability. The prince awaits many adventures and a meeting with his beloved girl. The actor played Daryl Jenks, a young man who (like Prince Akeem) had strong feelings for the main character.
- “Jacob's Ladder” is a mystical thriller released in 1990. The film barely managed to cover its production costs. The story is about a former Vietnamese soldier who sees demons. The actor played the role of Frank.
- "Color of Night" is a crime drama that appeared in 1994. The main role of the psychologist went to Bruce Willis. The character is investigating the murder of his colleague, which is full of mysteries. The main intrigue is the girl with whom all the patients of the murdered doctor are in love. What is she hiding? Willis' character will have to find out this together with the police. La Salle played the role of Detective Anderson.
- “One Hour Photo” is a psychological thriller, released in 2002. The main role of an elderly photo salon operator who lives the lives of other people by looking at their photographs went to Robin Williams. The actor played Detective Zee.
- “A Gifted Man” - the television series was released in 2011-2012. Only one season was filmed. It tells the story of a talented surgeon who is obsessed with himself. His worldview changes when the spirit of his late wife comes to him. The actor played Edward Morris.
- "Eclipse" - a thriller was released in 2012. It tells the story of a global conspiracy that causes a power outage in one of America's megacities. We're talking about Los Angeles. National security agents take over the case.
Despite his many roles, Eric La Salle is most remembered for his role in the TV series ER. More about this.
Dr. Peter Benton
Eric La Salle began acting in medical drama series in 1994. He played the role of Dr. Benton for all eight seasons. His character was not in all episodes, as producers removed him from the show due to low ratings. However, the actor was sometimes asked to return to the set.
So, in 2009, he took part in the filming of the last two episodes of the fifteenth season. Along with him, George Clooney, who played Dr. Doug Ross for the first five seasons, returned for the fifteenth season. The trio of experienced doctors was completed by Noah Wyle, who played the student and later Doctor John Carter.
According to the contract, Eric received four million dollars a year for playing the role of Peter Benton.
As a filmmaker
In addition to her acting career, La Salle acts as a screenwriter, producer and director. Maybe that's why he can be seen less and less on screens.
Directed by Eric La Salle (films):
- Devilishly Mad is a 2002 thriller about a psychiatrist and his work.
- “Notes from Dad” is a family film released in 2013.
- "Capture" - released in 2014.
- “The Messenger” - filmed in 2015.
In addition, the actor took part in the creation of some episodes of the series in which he starred. We are talking about “ER”, the TV series “Law and Order”, “Without a Trace” and others. His career continues, so we can expect new works.
He came to Canada in the late sixties of the 17th century. La Salle dreamed of opening a short and convenient route from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean and made a number of trips for this purpose. He was the first to descend the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico (1681-1682). Declared the entire Mississippi River basin the possession of the French king Louis (Louis) XIV and named it Louisiana. Explored Ohio and the Great Lakes.
In 1669, moving southwest from Lake Ontario, La Salle discovered the Ohio River, a left tributary of the Mississippi. Then he still thought that the Mississippi flows either directly into the “Western” (Pacific) Ocean, or into a vast bay, which, according to cartographers of the 17th - first half of the 18th centuries (mainly French), jutted deep into the continent of North America in temperate latitudes or even to the “Crimson Sea” (Gulf of California).
La Salle decided to explore the Mississippi and expand French possessions to the Gulf of Mexico. He went to France to obtain a royal patent for discoveries in the New World. He was presented to the king, who granted him nobility, brought him into possession of lands in the New World and appointed him governor of those countries that he would discover in the future.
On July 14, 1678, La Salle left La Rochelle for Canada. About thirty soldiers, the knight Henri de Tonti, and the Franciscan monk Louis Annepen, who then accompanied La Salle on all his travels, went with him. Anchors, sails and gear were captured from France to build a river vessel on Lake Erie.
While the ship was being built, La Salle continued to explore the surrounding areas, studied the life of the Indians and bought furs from them, setting up a large warehouse in the fortress he founded on the banks of Niagara. At the same time, Henri de Tonti was also engaged in buying furs in other areas, and Father Annepen preached the Christian faith among the Indians and compiled the first known description of Niagara Falls.
In mid-August 1679, La Salle sailed on the ship "Griffin" from Lake Erie to Lake Huron, and from there to Lake Michigan. On the way, the Griffin withstood a terrible storm, which forced the trip along the Mississippi to be postponed. At this time, creditors sold off La Salle's property in Quebec, and now all his hope was in the furs stored in the Niagara Fortress. However, the "Griffin", sent there for furs, disappeared without a trace on the way back; Whether it sank or was plundered by the Indians has never been established. Despite all these troubles, La Salle still decided to proceed with his plan.
La Salle built Fort Crevecoeur (Chagrin) on the shores of Lake Peoria, naming it so in memory of the hardships he endured. Fort Crevecoeur was to serve as a base for further research.
After spending the winter on the shores of the Illinois, La Salle and five companions returned to Cataroqua on foot during the muddy season.
Best of the day
Sad news awaited him in Cataroqua: the ship carrying La Salle from France many valuable goods was wrecked. Meanwhile, his enemies spread a rumor that he had been dead for a long time. The only thing La Salle was able to do was to refute the rumor about his imaginary death. With great difficulty he made his way back to Fort Crevecoeur, where, to his surprise, there was not a single Frenchman. It turned out that the people left in Crevecoeur rebelled against Tonti, stole food and fled.
La Salle reoccupied the dilapidated fort of Crevecoeur and, entrusting it with a small garrison, went in search of Tonti. La Salle was looking for him on the eastern shore of Michigan, while Tonti was on the western shore at that time. It was not until May 1681 that they met at Mackinac, in the place where Chicago now stands.
Having lost his main assets, La Salle could no longer build a new ship and acquired several ordinary pirogues. In December 1681, at the head of a detachment of fifty-four men, he passed through the Great Lakes, descended on a sleigh with pirogues tied to them along the Illinois and reached the Mississippi in February of the following year. Having reached the Mississippi, he sent two men north to explore the upper section of the river. When the ice drift ended, he himself swam down the great river, stopping to inspect the banks and tributaries. La Salle explored the mouth of the Missouri, the mouth of the Ohio, where he built a small fort, penetrated Arkansas and declared it the possession of France, went deep into the country inhabited by Indians, and concluded an alliance with them; finally, on April 9, having traveled three hundred and fifty leagues by pirogue, he reached the Gulf of Mexico. So La Salle achieved his goal.
La Salle declared all the lands he discovered, irrigated by the Mississippi and its tributaries, to be the possession of the French king Louis (Louis) XIV, giving them the name Louisiana.
He then traveled up the Mississippi and returned through the Great Lakes to the St. Lawrence River. Returning to Canada took La Salle more than a year.
Meanwhile, in Quebec, instead of the recalled Frontenac, the post of governor was taken by Lefebvre de la Barre, who was prejudiced towards La Salle and in his report to Louis XIV assessed his discovery as follows: “This traveler with two dozen French and native tramps actually reached the Gulf of Mexico, where he pretended to be a monarch and committed all sorts of outrages, covering up violence against peoples with the right granted to him by your Majesty to conduct monopoly trade in those countries that he managed to open.”
To justify himself to the king and restore his reputation, La Salle went to France. He brought his king the news of the addition to his possessions of a gigantic country, many times larger than France (however, he himself did not know the exact size of Louisiana). Louis XIV graciously accepted this news. The king approved the proposal to explore the mouth of the Mississippi from the sea, build a fortress there and found a colony. He appointed La Salle as governor of Louisiana: a huge territory from Lake Michigan to the Gulf of Mexico was to come under his authority.
On June 24, 1684, La Salle sailed from the port of La Rochelle with four ships with a crew of four hundred people. A naval officer, Captain Bozho, was appointed commander of the flotilla. The hastily selected soldiers and artisans turned out to be ignorant of their craft. From the very beginning, disagreements arose between both commanders, which soon turned into irreconcilable hostility.
Five months later, La Salle's flotilla reached the Florida Peninsula and entered the Gulf of Mexico. Following west along the coast, La Salle and Bojo passed without noticing the Mississippi Delta and began to argue where to sail next - west or east.
La Salle landed on the deserted island of Matagorda (off the coast of Texas), set up a camp and sent detachments in both directions in search of the Mississippi. But the great river “disappeared”. La Salle could not recognize the places familiar to him, since he landed west of the Mississippi, on the Texas coast, in Galveston Bay.
The situation was desperate. One ship sank, the second was captured by the Spaniards, and with the last two Bozho went back to France, leaving La Salle and his detachment to the mercy of fate. In the fall of 1686, La Salle decided to return by land to the Great Lakes - in other words, cross the mainland from southwest to northeast. He intended to reach the Mississippi and then go upstream to the Indians with whom he had once made an alliance.
On January 12, 1687, La Salle with a handful of exhausted, hungry people went out to sea in boats. When the French were already close to the target, the companions killed Rene Robert Cavelier de La Salle with a musket shot.
At the end of the 17th century, a French colony was founded at the mouth of the Mississippi. But this village served as a storage point for fur traders and eventually fell into disrepair. In 1718, the city of New Orleans arose in the Mississippi Delta, which in the mid-18th century had only a few hundred inhabitants. In 1803, New Orleans, together with all of Louisiana, was sold to the United States government, and thus France finally parted with its possessions, which had been acquired through the energy of La Salle.
