Robert Cavelier sieur de La Salle

La Salle, René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de

La Salle, René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de (1643–87),French explorer and trader, whose expeditions in Canada were aided by Frontenac. He made exploring trips south of the Great Lakes during the 1670s, and returned to France to secure a trade monopoly in the valley of the Mississippi. In 1682 he descended the Mississippi and took possession of the region for France, naming it Louisiana. Given four ships and 200 colonists, he was made viceroy of North America to rule from Illinois to the Spanish borders. His fleet landed (1684) in Texas instead of at the mouth of the Mississippi, and, while La Salle was trying to find the river, his men mutinied and killed him. Narratives of his enterprise appear in I.J. Cox, The Journeys of …La Salle (2 vols., 1905). He is the subject of both colorful history by Parkman and popular fiction, including Mary Hartwell Catherwood's The Story of Tonty.

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James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "La Salle, René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "La Salle, René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O123-LaSalleRenRobertCavelrSrd.html

James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "La Salle, René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O123-LaSalleRenRobertCavelrSrd.html

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La Salle, René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de

La Salle, René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de (1643–87) French explorer of North America. In 1668, he sailed for Canada to make his fortune in the fur trade. He explored the Great Lakes area and was governor of Fort Frontenac on Lake Ontario (1675). On his greatest journey, he followed the Mississippi to its mouth (1682), naming the land Louisiana and claiming it for France.

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"La Salle, René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"La Salle, René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-LaSalleRenRobertCavelrSrd.html

"La Salle, René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-LaSalleRenRobertCavelrSrd.html

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Free newspaper and magazine articles

La Salle: A Perilous Odyssey from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico.(Book Review)
Magazine article from: The Historian; 9/22/2004
From a Watery Grave: The Discovery and Excavation of La Salle's Shipwreck
Magazine article from: The Journal of Southern History; 8/1/2008
U.S. and France sign agreement regarding the sunken vessel "La Belle.".
Newspaper article from: International Law Update; 4/1/2003
La Salle, Robert Cavelier, sieur de images
Robert Cavelier sieur de La Salle. Wikimedia Commons (Public Domain)