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Rene Robert Cavelier of the Room was born with Rouen (Seine-Maritime) the November 22nd 1643 and died the March 19th 1687 in the south of the French colony of Louisiana, currently the American state of the Texas.

Exploring - traveller, it explored the area of the Big lakes the United States and Canada, then the river the Mississippi and thus discovered the territories located between the Quebec and the delta of the Mississippi.

Jesuit

Initially beginner in the Society of Jesus, within whom he formulates his wishes in 1660, he practices teaching in this institution then request to be raised of his wishes for “infirmities morals”, which he obtains the March 27th 1667.

First voyage

He then undertakes its first voyage in America and unloads in 1667 in News-France, with Montreal where his/her brother Jean, a priest of Saint-Sulpice, had arrived the previous year. He occupies a ground in the South-west of the island of Montreal which he names China “'' ''”, in reference to its desire to find a route to go in China.

In 1669, it finances a small forwarding which explores the lakes Ontario and Érié. It reaches then the river Ohio, but not yet the Mississippi, that Louis Jolliet was going to discover in 1672. Its group was composed of five Canoë S and fifteen men, the father Dollier de Casson and seven men travelling with him in three additional canoes.

In 1674, it establishes the Fort Frontenac (now Kingston) on the Lake Ontario as a first element of a company of trade of Fourrure S (skins of Bison). The strong one was baptized name of the governor of News-France, Louis de Buade de Frontenac. It leaves then for France (1674 - 1675), voyage during which it receives, with the support of Frontenac, not only one concession for the trade of furs, with the permission to establish forts of border, but also a title of nobility.

Second voyage

On its return in News-France, it is accompanied by Henri de Tonti, which will join its explorations. The August 7th 1678, the Room installs on Griffon, that him and Tonti built with the Fort Conti, close to the Chutes of the Niagara. Becoming the first to be sailed on the Big lakes, they sail until the Lac Érié and to the Lake Huron then go down again until the Lake Michigan.

November 1st, 1678, the Room founds a fort with the mouth of the Saint-Joseph, today river Michigan, and awaits the return of a team carried out by Tonti, which crossed the Péninsule to foot. Tonti arrives the November 20th, and the December 3rd the whole crew goes up the Saint-Joseph, until reaching a port on the river Kankakee. They follow Kankakee to the river Illinois, where they establish the Fort Crèvecœur close to current the Peoria.

The Room goes then to the fort Frontenac to supply itself. During this time, Louis Hennepin follows Illinois until its junction with the Mississippi, but is captured at the time of a war between Sioux and is transported to the Minnesota. During the absence of the Room, the soldiers of strong Crèvecœur mutinent and banish Tonti, that the Room had left with the direction fort. The Room will capture the mutineers on the Lake Ontario and will find thereafter Tonti with Mackinaw.

Exploration of the Mississippi

The Room gathers then its crew for a new forwarding. Leaving strong Crèvecœur with twenty-three French and eighteen Amerindian, it reaches the south of the Lake Michigan in 1680 and descends the the Mississippi in 1682, until the Gulf of Mexico. The April 9th, it takes possession of these vast territories in the name of France and the name of Louisiana in the honor of the king Louis XIV gives them which, not very grateful, will write to the governor of the Bar that this discovery is “extremely useless and that it is necessary in the continuation to prevent the similar discovered ones”, even if it orders to him to go back there and to establish a colony to with it. With the mouth of the Mississippi, close to current the Venice in Louisiana, the Room buries a engraved dish and a cross asserting the territory for France.

In 1683, on its return voyage, it extremely establishes new with the famished Roche (Starved Rock) on the Illinois river, to replace strong Crèvecœur. Tonti directs the fort while the Room once more turns over to France in order to join together means for a new forwarding, in order to install a counter with the mouth of the Mississippi river and to develop a competitor trade of furs with that of the Jesuits of Quebec.

Third voyage

It is the king of France Louis XIV, with which it Spain has just declared the war in October 1683, which gives its support to him to assemble a forwarding in order to make sure a better control of France on the North America and also to supervise the mines of Argent Mexico which feed the cases of Charles II of Spain. The Room thus leaves the port of La Rochelle on July 24th, 1684 with the title of governor of Louisiana and to the head of a great forwarding made up of four boats and 300 colonists with of which a troop armed. The Sun king granted the warship " to him; Joly" and the long boat - kind of small Frigate - " the Beautiful ". To transport the few 300 colonists, soldiers and men of crew, without counting the loading, the Room must rent two other ships: the frigate " Aimable" and the Ketch " saint-François".

Forwarding will be abused by attacks of Pirate S, Indians hostile, and errors of navigation. Saint-François is lost vis-a-vis the Spanish Corsaire S in the Western Indies, with broad of Hispaniola. Forwarding exceeds the mouth of the Mississippi and continuous during two weeks to skirt the coast towards the west, arrival close to the Baie of Matagorda, to the Texas, the Room realizes of its error and decides to make slackening in bay. During the operation to enter bay the Pleasant one is failed on a sand bank. They establish finally a fort - the Fort Saint-Louis - close to Victoria to the Texas. Jolly returns to France, in March 1685, once his unloaded loading. Forwarding counts then nothing any more but one ship, the Beautiful one.

The Room undertakes then research towards the East to try to find the Mississippi. Unfortunately for him, it is with more than 600 km of the river. At the time of one of these forwardings, its last boat, the Beautiful one, is taken in a storm and is failed in bay of Matagorda in February 1686. During the third pedestrian forwarding, its 36 surviving fellow-members mutinent themselves and he is assassinated the March 19th 1687, close to Navasota.

The colony perdure only until in 1688, when the Indians of Karankawa massacre the 20 remaining adults and take five children like prisoners. Tonti sends missions of research in 1689 when he learns the destiny from forwarding, but no survivor was found, Henri Joutel having collected all those of the colonists who wanted to follow it and having taken them along with him to Quebec, where the major part of them stopped.

Nowadays

The first boat of the Beautiful Room, , was discovered in the mud of Matagorda in 1995 and is today the site of an archaeological excavation (see external Liens ).

The Automobile model of “ LaSalle ” and much of places was named in its honor, like the district of LaSalle of the town of Montreal.

Sources

  • Henri Joutel, historical Newspaper of the last voyage that fire Mr. of Dirty made in the gulf of Mexico, to find the mouth, & the course of the river of the Mississippi, now named the river of Saint Louis, which crosses Louisiana. Where one sees the tragic history of his death, & several things curious about the New world , Paris, E. Robinot, 1713

External bonds

  • the Stray project of the Room of the historical Commission of Texas
  • the covering of Beautiful the

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