ERA I

EXPLORERS AND FIRST SETTLERS

(1685-1800)

FRENCH CLAIMS

Introduction.- Some two hundred years ago had one been in Versailles (ver-salz'), he would have found Louis XIV on the throne with all Europe paying homage to the "Grand Monarque." The King's magnificent palace with its beautiful grounds, rare flowers, marble statuary and wonderful fountains, was the center of all life, honor and pleasure to the groups of richly dressed ladies and gentlemen who formed the court circle. One spring morning in 1684 the announcement was made to the royal household that La Salle (lä säl) had returned from America.

America was still a continent of which little was known, but much was told. Men were ready to believe that there they could find the "Fountain of Perpetual Youth," that the wealth of Sindbad the Sailor was nothing compared with what one might gain in that land beyond the seas. It is no cause for wonder, then, that there were many eager to hear La Salle's story of his strange adventures in the New World.

Robert Cavelier,1 Sieur [syér] de la Salle, a younger son of an honorable French family, had been carefully

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educated, as his parents intended him for the priesthood. Wonderful stories of the New World, however, led him while still a youth to Canada; here he resolved to find a new route to China. He thought this could be done

De La Salle

by sailing down the Mississippi River, which the Indians told him emptied into the Pacific Ocean or the Gulf of California, but he soon found that the Gulf of Mexico Iwas the outlet. He gave up the hope of finding a shorter way to China and bent his energies to the task of exploring the great river. After years spent in weary journeys, finally on April 9,

1682, La Salle reached the mouth of the Mississippi.. Lands Claimed for France.- A column was prepared bearing the arms of France and this inscription: "Louis the Great, King of France and of Navarre, reigns; April 9, 1682." Amid the religious chant of priests and soldiers, volleys of musketry and shouts of "Long Live the King," La Salle planted the column and proclaimed to the silent, awe-struck Indians that in the name of the King he took possession of all lands drained by the Mississippi.

He then formed his second great plan; he decided to leave Canada, the frozen North-land, and to establish at the mouth of the Mississippi a colony that would hold for his King and his country all the fair domain he had explored.

La Salle's Return.- This was the man who had returned to France and been honored by a summons to the presence of the Great King.

We may easily believe that
La Salle grew so interested
in his theme as to picture
in glowing words the
grand Mississippi, receiv-
ing tribute from
from river
after river and at last
yielding its burden to the

Gulf; as he told of the rich lands on either side that now belonged to France, the King listened eagerly and questioned closely. La Salle asked that he be sent with a colony to settle at the mouth of the river, prophesying that the city founded there would be the largest in America. He argued that such a step would hold all his discoveries 2 for France, would in time give Louis an opportunity to conquer the Spaniards in Mexico 3

and seize their silver mines, and, lastly, would offer the best means of converting the Indians to the Christian religion. In spite of the plots of numerous enemies, La Salle obtained from the King all he asked.

La Salle's Last Voyage.- On July 24, 1684, La Salle set sail for America. In his four ships 5 he carried nearly three hundred women, soldiers, priests and mechanics. He was well supplied with tools, cannon, provisions and ammunition. After a stormy voyage marked by delay, illness, quarrels and the capture of one of their vessels by the Spaniards near San Domingo," the French came into the Gulf of Mexico. This was to them an untried and mysterious body of water. La Salle on reaching the mouth of the Mississippi in 1682, fixed the latitude but did not determine the longitude, hence it is not surprising that he continued his course too far to the west and reached the Texas coast. Fearing he had made a mistake, La Salle sent out an exploring party under Joutel (zhōō-těl'), who returned with the news. that they had found a great river; in truth, they had found only the entrance to Matagorda Bay. The leader decided that this must be the west mouth of the Mississippi and ordered his men to disembark.

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La Salle and Captain Beaujeu.- When La Salle presented his petition to the King, he asked to be made commander of every part of the expedition; he was given the right to direct the course of the ships and to govern the soldiers and colonists on land, but Captain Beaujeu (bō-zhūh'), an old and tried officer of the French navy, was placed in command of the four vessels. This arrangement displeased both men as neither liked to be subject to the other. Misunderstandings arose constantly. Beaujeu advised against landing at Matagorda Bay, but La Salle would not listen. Orders

were given to bring "The Aimable" (a-mä'-ble) and "The Belle" within the Bay. On February 20 "The Aimable" was wrecked in trying to cross the bar. La Salle felt this was done on purpose by the commander, who was his enemy. The loss of the ship and her cargo- for little was saved- was a real calamity,

as she contained the stores just then most needed by the colonists. Soon the forlorn little company was encamped on the shore; poorly fed, poorly housed and surrounded by hostile Indians, they made a pitiful picture. Captain Beaujeu offered to go to Martinique (mär-tě-neek') and get new supplies, but La Salle declined. Claiming that he must seek wood and water, also that he had carried