Rene La Salle

(Rene Robert La Salle)

1643–1687

Rene Robert La Salle was a French explorer who traveled the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico, claiming all surrounding territory for France. He also traversed the Great Lakes region of the United States and Canada, exploring several rivers and making a name for himself as a prominent voyager of the seventeenth century.

LA SALLE TAKES POSSESSION OF LOUISIANA

La Salle was born in Rouen, France. He became a Jesuit novice at seventeen but dropped from the order in 1667, claiming “moral weakness” to be the reason for his leaving. A year before his departure from the Society, he traveled to Canada, where his brother had moved the year before. He quickly learned the language of the Native peoples, primarily Mohawks, who spoke to him of the Mississippi River. Believing that the river might lead to a Western passage to China—the Holy Grail of European explorers—La Salle sold his property and embarked on the venture. He reached the Ohio River and followed it to modern-day Louisville, Kentucky but was unable to go any further, leaving the upper Mississippi unexplored until Pere Marquette’s expedition three years later. Instead, La Salle traveled to Ontario to oversee the building of Fort Frontenac, named for his patron and the governor of New France. After the settlement’s completion, La Salle sailed to France, where he received a fur trade concession and a title of nobility. He returned to Canada and rebuilt the fort, this time in stone, with the assistance of Henri de Tonti. Tonti remained with La Salle, accompanying him on a second expedition to the Mississippi. They set sail from the St. Joseph River and continued until they reached the Illinois River, at which point La Salle had to return to Frontenac for supplies. While he was away, the men mutinied against Tonti and exiled him.

Finally, in 1682, the two explorers met in St. Ignace, Michigan and canoed down the Mississippi. La Salle reached the Mississippi basin and claimed all surrounding areas for France, naming the territory Louisiana for Louis XIV. After a short trip to France for more supplies, La Salle returned to America to establish a colony near the Gulf of Mexico. Unfortunately, the expedition was beset by pirates, hostile Indians, and navigational problems. During a search for the mouth of the Mississippi, his remaining men mutinied and he was killed during an ambush.

Key events during the life of Rene Robert La Salle:

Year	Event
1643	Born
1660	Took his vows to become a Jesuit
1666	Moved to Canada
1667	Relaesed from the Society of Jesus at his own request
1669	Began an expedition down the Mississippi River
1673	Completion of Fort Frontenac
1679	Set out on a seond expedition to the Mississippi but ultimately failed
1682	Sailed down the Mississippi and claimed surrounding area for France
1684	Went to France and returned with men and supplies
1687	Murdered in an ambush

Other Resources

Story Links	Book Links
La Salle's Adventures  in	Story of the Thirteen Colonies  by  H. A. Guerber
Half-Century of Conflict  in	Canada: Peeps at History  by  Beatrice Home
Friends of the Indians  in	The Men Who Found America  by  Frederick Winthrop Hutchinson
How the Mississippi Was Discovered  in	This Country of Ours  by  H. E. Marshall
Adventures of La Salle  in	Our Empire Story  by  H. E. Marshall
La Salle and the Mississippi  in	Historical Tales: American II  by  Charles Morris

Book Links
Adventures of Chevalier de La Salle  by  John S. C. Abbott

Image Links
Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle  in Indian History for Young Folks	La Salle takes possession of Louisiana  in This Country of Ours	Alone across the trackless snow.  in Our Empire Story
Robert Cavelier de La Salle  in Builders of Our Country: Book I	The Building of the Griffon  in Builders of Our Country: Book I

Contemporary	Short Biography
Louis XIV	French King who expanded the borders of France, and lived in great pomp and splendor.
Pere Marquette	French Missionary who explored the Mississippi River from the Great Lakes.