La SalleRobert de la Salle was born on November 22nd 1643 in France. La Salle as an

infant was very fond of science and nature really enjoyed this subject. First of all he entered the Jesuit novitiate and left the religious life later on. Even though he left the order and later became hostile to it, he is occasionally described as a priest or a cleric. He was required to reject his father’s legacy upon joining the Jesuit order and so he was destitute when he travelled to North America.

Shortly after his release from the Jesuit order, La Salle left France and headed for Canada. He arrived there in 1667 and settled in New France where his brother had moved the year before. Upon his arrival, La Salle was given a piece of land on the Island of Montreal. He named his land Lachine. It is believed that he chose this name for the land because the English translation means China and during much of his life, La Salle was interested in finding a route to China.

Throughout his early years in Canada, La Salle issued land grants on Lachine, set up a village, and tried to learn the languages of the native peoples living in that area. He learned to speak to the Iroquois who told him of the Ohio River which flowed into the Mississippi. La Salle assumed that the Mississippi would flow into the Gulf of California and from there he would be able to find a western route to China. After receiving permission from the Governor of New France, La Salle sold his interests in Lachine and began planning his first expedition.

La Salle had two main routes that he travelled in his life, one was through the Mississippi and the other was for the making of another Fort in Peoria. La Salle's first expedition began in 1669. During this project, he met Louis Joliet and Jacques Marquette, the first white men to explore and map of Mississippi River. The expedition continued from there and he eventually reached the Ohio River, which was followed by as far as Louisville, Kentucky.

Upon his return to Canada, La Salle oversaw the building of Fort Frontenac, which is now in Kingston, Ontario. Which was intended to be a station for the growing fur trade in that area. The fort was completed in 1673 and named after Louis de Baude Frontenac, who was the Governor General of New France. In 1674, La Salle travelled back to France to gain royal support for his land claims at Fort Frontenac. He achieved this support and also got a fur trade share, permission to establish additional forts in the frontier, and a title of nobility. With his freshly found success, La Salle returned to Canada and rebuilt Fort Frontenac in stone.

For his second expedition, La Salle and an Italian explorer Henri de Tonti sailed on Le Griffon. This was the first full sized sailing ship to travel into the Great Lakes. The expedition began at Fort Conti at the mouth of the Niagara River and Lake Ontario. Prior to the start of the voyage however, La Salle's crew had to bring in supplies from Fort Frontenac. In order to avoid Niagara Falls, La Salle's crew used a portage route in the area to carry their supplies around the falls and into Fort Conti.

La Salle and Tonti then sailed on Le Griffon up Lake Erie and into Lake Huron to Michilimackinac, which is now Mackinac in Michigan, before reaching Green Bay, Wisconsin. La Salle then continued down the shore of Lake Michigan. In January 1680, La Salle built Fort Miami at the mouth of the Miami River. La Salle and his crew then spent much of 1680 at Fort Miami. In December, they followed the Miami

River to South Bend, Indiana, which leads to the Kankakee River. They then followed this river to the Illinois River and established Fort Crevecoeur near what is today Peoria, Illinois. La Salle then left Tonti in charge of the fort and returned to Fort Frontenac for supplies. While he was gone, many soldiers destroyed the fort.

La Salle was also the founder of Louisiana, which he claimed as part of France. He and his crew were building another fort there called, Fort Saint Louis. After this fort was set up, La Salle spent a significant amount of time on looking for the Mississippi River. During this time, (March 19th 1687) Pierre Duhaut shot him on the head. After his death, this fort only lasted about 1 year and local Native Americans killed the remaining adults and took the children captive.

Bibliography

Briney, Amanda. "Robert Cavelier de la Salle - A Biography of Explorer Robert Cavelier de la Salle." Geography Home Page - Geography at About.com. Web. 31 Oct. 2009. http://geography.about.com/od/historyofgeography/a/delasalle.htm.

"Robert Cavelier sieur de La Salle Facts, information, pictures | Encyclopedia.com articles about Robert Cavelier sieur de La Salle." Encyclopedia - Online Dictionary | Encyclopedia.com: Get facts, articles, pictures, video. Web. 31 Oct. 2009. http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Robert_Cavelier_sieur_de_La_Salle.aspx.