LaSalle :: essays research papers

La SalleLa Salle, Ren-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de (1643-1687), French explorer in northernmost America, who navigated the continuance of the Mississippi River and claimed the Louisiana country for France.La Salle was born on November 22, 1643, in Rouen, France, and educatedby the Jesuits. In 1666 he immigrated to Canada, was granted land on theSt. Lawrence River, and became a trader. From 1669 to 1670 he exploredthe region south of Lakes Ontario and Erie, and he later claimed to shake updiscovered the Ohio River in 1671. In the course of his explorations in thewilderness, La Salle became acquainted(predicate) with indigenous languages andtraditions. Because of his capabilities, French colonial governor Louis deBuade, comte de Palluau et de Frontenac, appointed him commander of stronghold Frontenac, then being built as a trading station. In 1674 La Salle wassent to France as Frontenacs representative to justify the building of thefort. His commissioning was successful, and he rece ived a patent of nobility.La Salle subsequently conceived a plan for exploring and trading fartherwest, and in 1677 he again visited France to prepare royal approval of hisscheme. He returned with Italian explorer Henri de Tonty, who became hisassociate. In 1679 he set out on a preliminary journey, and afterestablishing forts at the mouth of the Saint Joseph River and along theIllinois River, in February 1680, he sent a group to explore the upperMississippi River. La Salle then returned to fastness Frontenac to procure newsupplies and funds. By spring he was able to exit west again, and he andTonty proceeded with their party of French and indigenous peoples to theMississippi, which they descended to the Gulf of Mexico in 1682, claiming allthe land drained by the river for Louis XIV, king of France, and naming theregion Louisiana. La Salle subsequently commenced construction of forts inthe new territory. When Frontenac was recalled to France later in 1682,however, La Salles rival s succeeded in turning the new governor againsthim.Journeying to France in 1683, La Salle made a successful appeal to theking, who commended him for his discoveries and named him viceroy ofNorth America. In 1684 he sailed from France with a fleet of four ships onan expedition to establish a colony at the mouth of the Mississippi River.When he reached the Gulf of Mexico he was unable to find the Mississippi,