He came to Canada in the late sixties of the 17th century. La Salle dreamed of opening a short and convenient route from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean and made a number of trips for this purpose. He was the first to descend the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico (1681-1682). Declared the entire Mississippi River basin the possession of the French king Louis (Louis) XIV and named it Louisiana. Explored Ohio and the Great Lakes.
In 1669, moving southwest from Lake Ontario, La Salle discovered the Ohio River, a left tributary of the Mississippi. Then he still thought that the Mississippi flows either directly into the “Western” (Pacific) Ocean, or into a vast bay, which, according to cartographers of the 17th - first half of the 18th centuries (mainly French), jutted deep into the continent of North America in temperate latitudes or even to the “Crimson Sea” (Gulf of California).
La Salle decided to explore the Mississippi and expand French possessions to the Gulf of Mexico. He went to France to obtain a royal patent for discoveries in the New World. He was presented to the king, who granted him nobility, brought him into possession of lands in the New World and appointed him governor of those countries that he would discover in the future.
On July 14, 1678, La Salle left La Rochelle for Canada. About thirty soldiers, the knight Henri de Tonti, and the Franciscan monk Louis Annepen, who then accompanied La Salle on all his travels, went with him. Anchors, sails and gear were captured from France to build a river vessel on Lake Erie.
While the ship was being built, La Salle continued to explore the surrounding areas, studied the life of the Indians and bought furs from them, setting up a large warehouse in the fortress he founded on the banks of Niagara. At the same time, Henri de Tonti was also engaged in buying furs in other areas, and Father Annepen preached the Christian faith among the Indians and compiled the first known description of Niagara Falls.
In mid-August 1679, La Salle sailed on the ship "Griffin" from Lake Erie to Lake Huron, and from there to Lake Michigan. On the way, the Griffin withstood a terrible storm, which forced the trip along the Mississippi to be postponed. At this time, creditors sold off La Salle's property in Quebec, and now all his hope was in the furs stored in the Niagara Fortress. However, the "Griffin", sent there for furs, disappeared without a trace on the way back; Whether it sank or was plundered by the Indians has never been established. Despite all these troubles, La Salle still decided to proceed with his plan.
La Salle built Fort Crevecoeur (Chagrin) on the shores of Lake Peoria, naming it so in memory of the hardships he endured. Fort Crevecoeur was to serve as a base for further research.
After spending the winter on the shores of the Illinois, La Salle and five companions returned to Cataroqua on foot during the muddy season.
Sad news awaited him in Cataroqua: the ship carrying La Salle from France many valuable goods was wrecked. Meanwhile, his enemies spread a rumor that he had been dead for a long time. The only thing La Salle was able to do was to refute the rumor about his imaginary death. With great difficulty he made his way back to Fort Crevecoeur, where, to his surprise, there was not a single Frenchman. It turned out that the people left in Crevecoeur rebelled against Tonti, stole food and fled.
La Salle reoccupied the dilapidated fort of Crevecoeur and, entrusting it with a small garrison, went in search of Tonti. La Salle was looking for him on the eastern shore of Michigan, while Tonti was on the western shore at that time. It was not until May 1681 that they met at Mackinac, in the place where Chicago now stands.
Having lost his main assets, La Salle could no longer build a new ship and acquired several ordinary pirogues. In December 1681, at the head of a detachment of fifty-four men, he passed through the Great Lakes, descended on a sleigh with pirogues tied to them along the Illinois and reached the Mississippi in February of the following year. Having reached the Mississippi, he sent two men north to explore the upper section of the river. When the ice drift ended, he himself swam down the great river, stopping to inspect the banks and tributaries. La Salle explored the mouth of the Missouri, the mouth of the Ohio, where he built a small fort, penetrated Arkansas and declared it the possession of France, went deep into the country inhabited by Indians, and concluded an alliance with them; finally, on April 9, having traveled three hundred and fifty leagues by pirogue, he reached the Gulf of Mexico. So La Salle achieved his goal.
La Salle declared all the lands he discovered, irrigated by the Mississippi and its tributaries, to be the possession of the French king Louis (Louis) XIV, giving them the name Louisiana.
He then traveled up the Mississippi and returned through the Great Lakes to the St. Lawrence River. Returning to Canada took La Salle more than a year.
Meanwhile, in Quebec, instead of the recalled Frontenac, the post of governor was taken by Lefebvre de la Barre, who was prejudiced towards La Salle and in his report to Louis XIV assessed his discovery as follows: “This traveler with two dozen French and native tramps actually reached the Gulf of Mexico, where he pretended to be a monarch and committed all sorts of outrages, covering up violence against peoples with the right granted to him by your Majesty to conduct monopoly trade in those countries that he managed to open.”
To justify himself to the king and restore his reputation, La Salle went to France. He brought his king the news of the addition to his possessions of a gigantic country, many times larger than France (however, he himself did not know the exact size of Louisiana). Louis XIV graciously accepted this news. The king approved the proposal to explore the mouth of the Mississippi from the sea, build a fortress there and found a colony. He appointed La Salle as governor of Louisiana: a huge territory from Lake Michigan to the Gulf of Mexico was to come under his authority.
On June 24, 1684, La Salle sailed from the port of La Rochelle with four ships with a crew of four hundred people. A naval officer, Captain Bozho, was appointed commander of the flotilla. The hastily selected soldiers and artisans turned out to be ignorant of their craft. From the very beginning, disagreements arose between both commanders, which soon turned into irreconcilable hostility.
Five months later, La Salle's flotilla reached the Florida Peninsula and entered the Gulf of Mexico. Following west along the coast, La Salle and Bojo passed without noticing the Mississippi Delta and began to argue where to sail next - west or east.
La Salle landed on the deserted island of Matagorda (off the coast of Texas), set up a camp and sent detachments in both directions in search of the Mississippi. But the great river “disappeared”. La Salle could not recognize the places familiar to him, since he landed west of the Mississippi, on the Texas coast, in Galveston Bay.
The situation was desperate. One ship sank, the second was captured by the Spaniards, and with the last two Bozho went back to France, leaving La Salle and his detachment to the mercy of fate. In the fall of 1686, La Salle decided to return by land to the Great Lakes - in other words, cross the mainland from southwest to northeast. He intended to reach the Mississippi and then go upstream to the Indians with whom he had once made an alliance.
On January 12, 1687, La Salle and a handful of exhausted, hungry people went out to sea in boats. When the French were already close to the target, the companions killed Rene Robert Cavelier de La Salle with a musket shot.
At the end of the 17th century, a French colony was founded at the mouth of the Mississippi. But this village served as a storage point for fur traders and eventually fell into disrepair. In 1718, the city of New Orleans arose in the Mississippi Delta, which in the mid-18th century had only a few hundred inhabitants. In 1803, New Orleans, together with all of Louisiana, was sold to the United States government, and thus France finally parted with its possessions, which had been acquired through the energy of La Salle.
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René-Robert Cavelier de La Salle(fr. René-Robert Cavelier de La Salle ) or simply La Salle (November 22 ( 16431122 ) , Rouen - March 19, Texas) - French explorer of North America, the first European to sail along the Mississippi River and declare its entire basin the possession of the French king under the name of Louisiana. Thanks to his vigorous activity, France acquired (at least on paper) a huge territory, which Napoleon would give up for next to nothing in the Louisiana Treaty a century later. Several cities and counties in the United States, the administrative district of Montreal, the Royal Military Academy in Canada, and a brand of automobiles produced from 1927 to 1940 by General Motors are named after La Salle.
early years
René-Robert Cavelier was educated at a Jesuit college. By the age of 22, he decided not to take orders and, having heard about the adventures of Champlain and other Frenchmen in America, went to New France, where he was granted a plot of land on the island of Montreal near the Lachine rapids. In addition to farming, Cavelier traded in furs, which were delivered to his estate by Indians from distant parts of America. From communication with the natives, he became aware of large rivers south of the Great Lakes. In 1669, an enterprising Frenchman sold his lot with the intention of moving towards the Ohio River; For a long time he was credited with the honor of its discovery.
Cavelier found an ally in the Comte de Frontenac, the most energetic and successful of all the governors of New France. Frontenac, who was bothered by the Iroquois with their forays, convinced Cavelier to build Fort Frontenac on the shores of Lake Ontario, from where it was possible to control the Indian fur trade with the New England colonists, as well as send reconnaissance expeditions into the continent.
The plans of Cavelier and Frontenac encountered opposition from both Montreal merchants, who held on to their monopoly on the fur trade, and the Jesuits, who considered it their duty to be the first to bring the “light of the word of God” to the natives. Cavelier, however, during a trip to France, enlisted the support of the royal court, founded Fort Frontenac (now Kingston) and began to manage it as a representative of the governor. In gratitude for his diligence, Louis XIV elevated him to the nobility with the title “Señora de la Salle.”
Expansion of New France
While running his fort, La Salle became rich in the fur trade, but this did not dampen his obsession with the uncharted lands to the south. In 1677, he again went to meet the “Sun King” and received permission to develop the “western borders of New France”, build log fortifications, as well as a monopoly on the trade in buffalo skins.
Since the king refused to finance the colonist's enterprises, La Salle had to go into large debts in Paris and Montreal. The Jesuits continued to hinder his activities in every possible way, but in Europe he found a faithful ally in the person of the Italian knight Henri de Tonti. Upon their return to Canada in 1679, La Salle and Tonti built the Griffon, the first merchant ship to ply the waters of Lake Erie. On it they hoped to go down the Mississippi. Moving west, La Salle was able to discover the large Illinois River. Fort Crevecoeur was founded there. Crevecour) and construction of another ship began.
Preparing for a campaign inland, La Salle noticed that the Indians were able to make long overland journeys, feeding on game and a small supply of maize. Thus, in the middle of winter, he traveled from Niagara Falls to Fort Frontenac, which aroused the genuine admiration of the Jesuit Louis Annepin, who decided to join his detachment. Despite the wreck of the Griffon and the destruction of Fort Crevecoeur, La Salle managed to descend the Illinois to its confluence with the Mississippi in 1680. The river of his dreams lay before him, but the pioneer was forced to turn back at the news of the danger threatening the detachment of his comrade Tonti.
It was not until the season of 1681-1682, having received additional funds from lenders, that La Salle and Tonti took canoes down the Mississippi and entered the Gulf of Mexico on April 9. There, La Salle solemnly declared the entire basin of the river he passed through the property of the French king and gave these lands, the most fertile on the continent, the name of Louisiana, that is, “Louis.”
La Salle's next activity was the construction of Fort Saint-Louis on the Illinois. The main settlers of this colony at first were Indians. To keep the colony afloat, La Salle turned to the governor of Quebec for help. The news came disappointing: Frontenac was removed, and his successor, who was very hostile towards La Salle, demanded that the latter leave Saint-Louis. The pioneer refused to obey the order and, arriving at Versailles, insisted on an audience with the king, who listened favorably and promised his support.
Last trip
To secure Louisiana for France, La Salle considered it necessary to settle at the mouth of the Mississippi and, if possible, take the northern part of Texas from the Spaniards. He had no more than 200 French at his disposal, but he considered it possible to gather up to 15 thousand Indians under his banners and, in addition, counted on the services of the Caribbean buccaneers. From the outside, this enterprise looked like an adventure, but Louis XIV, who was at war with the Spaniards at that time, considered that diverting their attention to the west would be useful. He provided La Salle with money, ships and people.
On July 24, 1684, La Salle's expedition sailed from France towards the Gulf of Mexico. From the very beginning, she was haunted by misfortunes - illness, pirates, shipwrecks. The captains refused to follow La Salle's orders. Their maps turned out to be so inaccurate that the ships sailed 500 miles west of their destination and mistook Matagorda Bay off the coast of Texas for the mouth of the Mississippi. Desperate to find the treasured river, the sailors rebelled and killed La Salle.
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Literature
- Varshavsky A. S. The Road Leads to the South (life, travels and adventures of La Salle). M., 1960.
- Anka Muhlstein. . Arcade Publishing, 1995.
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Excerpt characterizing Cavelier de La Salle, René-Robert
Violet eyes studied me very carefully for several seconds, and then an unexpected answer came:– I thought so – you’re still sleeping... But I can’t wake you up – others will wake you up. And it won't be now.
- And when? And who will these others be?..
– Your friends... But you don’t know them now.
- How will I know that they are friends, and that it is they? – I asked, puzzled.
“You’ll remember,” Veya smiled.
- Will I remember?! How can I remember something that doesn’t exist yet?..” I stared at her, dumbfounded.
- It exists, just not here.
She had a very warm smile that made her incredibly beautiful. It seemed as if the May sun had peeked out from behind a cloud and illuminated everything around.
– Are you all alone here on Earth? – I couldn’t believe it.
- Of course not. There are many of us, just different. And we've lived here for a very long time, if that's what you wanted to ask.
-What are you doing here? And why did you come here? – I couldn’t stop.
– We help when needed. I don’t remember where they came from, I wasn’t there. I was just watching how you are now... This is my home.
The girl suddenly became very sad. And I wanted to help her somehow, but, to my great regret, it was not yet in my little power...
– You really want to go home, don’t you? – I asked carefully.
Veya nodded. Suddenly her fragile figure flashed brightly... and I was left alone - the “star” girl disappeared. It was very, very dishonest!.. She couldn’t just up and leave!!! This should never have happened!.. The real resentment of a child, whose most favorite toy was suddenly taken away, was raging within me... But Veya was not a toy, and, to be honest, I should have been grateful to her for the fact that she actually came to me. But in my “suffering” soul at that moment a real “emotional storm” was destroying the remaining grains of logic, and complete confusion reigned in my head... Therefore, there was no talk of any “logical” thinking at the moment, and I, “dead,” grief” of her terrible loss, completely “plunged” into the ocean of “black despair”, thinking that my “star” guest would never return to me again... I wanted to ask her so much more! And she suddenly took it and disappeared... And then suddenly I felt very ashamed... If everyone asked her as much as I wanted to ask, she wouldn’t have time to live!.. This thought somehow immediately calmed me down. I should have simply accepted with gratitude all the wonderful things that she managed to show me (even if I didn’t understand everything yet), and not grumble at fate for the insufficiency of the desired “ready”, instead of just moving my lazy “convolutions” and to find the answers to the questions that tormented me. I remembered Stella’s grandmother and thought that she was absolutely right when she spoke about the dangers of receiving something for nothing, because nothing could be worse than a person who is used to only taking things all the time. Moreover, no matter how much he takes, he will never receive the joy of having achieved something himself, and will never experience the unique feeling of satisfaction of having created something himself.
I sat alone for a long time, slowly “chewing” the food for thought given to me, thinking gratefully about the amazing purple-eyed “star” girl. And she smiled, knowing that now I would definitely never stop until I found out who these friends are that I don’t know, and what kind of dream they should wake me up from... Then I couldn’t even imagine, that, no matter how hard I try, and no matter how hard I try, this will happen only after many, many years, and my “friends” will really wake me up... Only this will not be at all what I could ever imagine even guess...
But then everything seemed childishly possible to me, and with all my undying ardor and “iron” perseverance I decided to try...
No matter how much I wanted to listen to the reasonable voice of logic, my naughty brain believed that, despite the fact that Veya apparently knew exactly what she was talking about, I would still achieve my goal and find those people earlier than I was promised (or creatures) who were supposed to help me get rid of some incomprehensible “bear hibernation” of mine. At first, I decided to try again to go beyond the Earth, and see who would come to me there... Naturally, it was impossible to think of anything more stupid, but since I stubbornly believed that I would achieve something after all, I had to go with my head again plunge into new, perhaps even very dangerous “experiments”...
For some reason, my good Stella almost stopped “walking” at that time, and, for some unknown reason, she was “moping” in her colorful world, not wanting to reveal to me the real reason for her sadness. But I somehow managed to persuade her to go for a “walk” with me this time, getting her interested in the danger of the adventure I was planning, and also by the fact that I was still a little afraid to try such “far-reaching” experiments alone.
I warned my grandmother that I was going to try something “very serious”, to which she just calmly nodded her head and wished her good luck (!)... Of course, this outraged me “to the bones”, but having decided not to show her my resentment, and pouting like a Christmas turkey, I swore to myself that, no matter what it cost me, something would happen today!... And of course, it happened... just not exactly what I expected.
Stella was already waiting for me, ready for “the most terrible feats,” and we, together and collected, rushed “beyond the limit”...
This time it turned out much easier for me, maybe because it was not the first time, and maybe also because the same violet crystal was “discovered”... I was carried like a bullet beyond the mental level of the Earth, and It was then that I realized that I had overdone it a little... Stella, according to the general agreement, was waiting at the “borderline” to insure me if she saw that something had gone wrong... But it had already gone “wrong” from the very beginning, and where I was at the moment, she, to my great regret, could no longer reach me.
All around me in the cold of the night was the black, ominous space that I had dreamed of for so many years, and which now frightened me with its wild, unique silence... I was completely alone, without the reliable protection of my “star friends”, and without the warm support of my faithful friend Stella ... And, despite the fact that I saw all this not for the first time, I suddenly felt very small and alone in this unfamiliar world of distant stars surrounding me, which here looked not at all as friendly and familiar as from the Earth, and a petty panic, cowardly squeaking in undisguised horror, gradually began to treacherously engulf me... But since I was still a very, very stubborn little person, I decided that there was no point in getting limp, and began to look around where it was all- I got carried away...
I was hanging in a black, almost physically tangible void, and only occasionally some “shooting stars” flashed around me, leaving dazzling tails for a moment. And right there, seemingly very close, such a dear and familiar Earth shimmered with a blue radiance. But, to my great regret, she only seemed close, but in fact she was very, very far away... And suddenly I wildly wanted to go back!!!.. I no longer wanted to “heroically overcome” unfamiliar obstacles, but I just really wanted to to return home, where everything was so familiar and familiar (to grandma’s warm pies and favorite books!), and not to hang frozen in some kind of black, cold “peacelessness”, not knowing how to get out of all this, and, moreover, preferably without any -or “terrifying and irreparable” consequences... I tried to imagine the only thing that came to mind first - the purple-eyed girl Wei. For some reason it didn’t work - she didn’t appear. Then I tried to unfold her crystal... And then, everything around sparkled, shone and swirled in a frenzied whirlpool of some unprecedented matters, I felt as if I was suddenly, like a big vacuum cleaner, being pulled somewhere, and immediately “unfolded” in front of me "in all its glory, the already familiar, mysterious and beautiful Weiyin world.... As I realized too late - the key to which was my open purple crystal...
Eric La Salle's complete filmography includes a little more than forty roles. His career continues, so this figure is not final. He is better known to viewers in Russia and neighboring countries for his role as a doctor in the medical series “Emergency”. His co-star was the famous George Clooney.
short biography
Eric La Salle was born on July 23, 1962. It happened in Hartford (Connecticut). He spent his childhood there until he entered the Juilliard School. At a New York educational institution, the young man studied art for two years. At twenty-two, he transferred to New York University (School of the Arts). He did not wait to receive his diploma, throwing himself headlong into work.
Eric took part in performances of the Shakespeare in the Park theater group. After that, he began to get roles on Broadway and Off-Broadway.
Beginning of acting
Eric La Salle first appeared on television screens in the soap opera Underworld, which ran for thirty-five seasons starting in 1964. At the same time, he began starring in another soap opera called One Life to Live. Forty-five seasons have been filmed since 1968.
Films with Eric La Salle:
- Coming to America is a 1988 comedy film. It tells about the trip of the African prince Akim to the USA. The main role went to For living, he chooses the Queens area, which (despite the beautiful name) is not famous for its safety and fashionability. The prince awaits many adventures and a meeting with his beloved girl. The actor played Daryl Jenks, a young man who (like Prince Akeem) had strong feelings for the main character.
- “Jacob's Ladder” is a mystical thriller released in 1990. The film barely managed to cover its production costs. The story is about a former Vietnamese soldier who sees demons. The actor played the role of Frank.
- "Color of Night" is a crime drama that appeared in 1994. The main role of the psychologist went to Bruce Willis. The character is investigating the murder of his colleague, which is full of mysteries. The main intrigue is the girl with whom all the patients of the murdered doctor are in love. What is she hiding? Willis' character will have to find out this together with the police. La Salle played the role of Detective Anderson.
- “One Hour Photo” is a psychological thriller, released in 2002. The main role of an elderly photo salon operator who lives the lives of other people by looking at their photographs went to Robin Williams. The actor played Detective Zee.
- “A Gifted Man” - the television series was released in 2011-2012. Only one season was filmed. It tells the story of a talented surgeon who is obsessed with himself. His worldview changes when the spirit of his late wife comes to him. The actor played Edward Morris.
- "Eclipse" - a thriller was released in 2012. It tells the story of a global conspiracy that causes a power outage in one of America's megacities. We're talking about Los Angeles. National security agents take over the case.
Despite his many roles, Eric La Salle is most remembered for his role in the TV series ER. More about this.
Dr. Peter Benton
Eric La Salle began acting in medical drama series in 1994. He played the role of Dr. Benton for all eight seasons. His character was not in all episodes, as producers removed him from the show due to low ratings. However, the actor was sometimes asked to return to the set.
So, in 2009, he took part in the filming of the last two episodes of the fifteenth season. Along with him, George Clooney, who played Dr. Doug Ross for the first five seasons, returned for the fifteenth season. The trio of experienced doctors was completed by Noah Wyle, who played the student and later Doctor John Carter.
According to the contract, Eric received four million dollars a year for playing the role of Peter Benton.
As a filmmaker
In addition to her acting career, La Salle acts as a screenwriter, producer and director. Maybe that's why he can be seen less and less on screens.
Directed by Eric La Salle (films):
- Devilishly Mad is a 2002 thriller about a psychiatrist and his work.
- “Notes from Dad” is a family film released in 2013.
- "Capture" - released in 2014.
- “The Messenger” - filmed in 2015.
In addition, the actor took part in the creation of some episodes of the series in which he starred. We are talking about “ER”, the TV series “Law and Order”, “Without a Trace” and others. His career continues, so we can expect new works.
(1643-1687)
La Salle Robert Cavelier de, French traveler to North America, was born in Rouen on November 22, 1643, died in Louisiana on March 19, 1687. Explored the course and mouth of the Mississippi. In 1667, La Salle arrived in New France (Canada) and settled in Montreal. To explore the possibilities of the fur trade, he made several trips to the Great Lakes region. In 1669 he visited Lake Erie and the upper Ohio region and until 1671 wandered through the lands located south of the lakes as far as the upper Illinois, south of Lake Michigan. In 1673, on Lake Ontario, he built Fort Frontenac, which he received as a gift during a visit to France. In 1678, he began searching for the Mississippi, after he was given the right to explore new areas and build forts there. In 1682, La Salle traveled from the river. Illinois down the river Mississippi before it flows into the Gulf of Mexico and thus was the first to cross the interior of North America from north to south. He named the country on both sides of the mighty river in honor of King Louis XIV Louisiana and hastened to France to obtain funds for its colonial takeover. In 1684, he returned back with four ships and more than 200 French settlers. La Salle intended to establish a settlement in the Mississippi Delta, but passed by the mouth of the river and landed on the Texas coast near the Rio Colorado. Abandoned by the ships, which, after the landing of La Salle and the settlers, went to sea, he tried to reach the Mississippi again, setting off on an adventurous campaign through the prairies of Texas, where the Indians by that time, following the example of the Spaniards, had already begun to use horses. Frustrated and embittered by difficulties and hardships, the settlers blamed all the failures on La Salle. In 1687, during a dispute between them, he was killed. The Louisiana colony later began to prosper, but in 1763 France was forced to cede it to England.
From La Salle’s legacy, his companion Joutel published “Historical Diary of the Last Voyage of the Late M. de La Salle,” 1723.
Bibliography
- 300 travelers and explorers. Biographical Dictionary. – Moscow: Mysl, 1966. – 271 p.
“Our expedition ended without loss, not a single Frenchman or Indian or anyone else was even wounded, for which we owe to the protection of the Almighty and the great abilities of M. de La Salle” (Father Zenobius Membre's account of La Salle's journey down the Mississippi) .
Russian Cossacks and industrialists covered the entire vast Siberia over several decades and by the middle of the 17th century. reached the shores of the Pacific Ocean. The exploration of North America by Europeans proceeded much more slowly. There are a number of reasons for this. The Urals are still not such a serious obstacle as the Atlantic. As for the Arctic seas, there is a paradox: they turned out to be insurmountable for dozens of travelers looking for a northern route to India and China, but they became the main road for Russian explorers who conquered Siberia. In general, the number of Russian pioneers beyond the Urals was much greater than the number of European colonists in North America. And if the Russians, in their advance to the east, encountered resistance only from individual Siberian tribes, then the British, Dutch and French, who experienced opposition from numerous Indians, also competed with each other. First of all, they had to worry not about expanding their own possessions, but about limiting the sphere of influence of competitors.
During the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648), the British abandoned attempts to find the Northwest Passage and concentrated their efforts on strengthening their positions on the Atlantic coast of the mainland. New England in the 1620s actively expanded and was populated, mainly by Puritans. The Dutch chose lands a little to the north, around the mouth of the Hudson. In 1625 they founded a settlement on the island of Manhattan and called it New Amsterdam.
The French, thanks to Jacques Cartier, occupied even more northern territories near the St. Lawrence River, both lost and won from this. Every winter, the river estuary was covered with ice, so maritime trade ceased. But French trappers and “forest tramps” were able to move further and further into unexplored areas of the continent in search of fur. The colonists abandoned their settlements and went into the forests; agriculture did not develop. Back at the beginning of the 16th century. “Father of New France” Samuel Champlain, having concluded an alliance with the Algonquins and Hurons, thereby doomed the French colonists to war with the Iroquois, which was a big mistake. After Champlain, French colonization was led by... monks: first the Recollets (Augustinians), and then the Jesuits. Founding more and more missions, the Jesuits extended their influence to Lake Huron.
Meanwhile, the British and Dutch did not sleep. They were also involved in the fur trade and sought to prevent the French from dominating this lucrative market. The conflict flared up and developed into the so-called beaver wars, which lasted from 1630 almost until the beginning of the 18th century. The Indians also took an active part in them. The Iroquois, pressing against the Hurons, attacked Jesuit missions, tortured and killed priests, and then began raiding Montreal, the main center of the fur trade.
In 1672, Count Louis de Frontenac, a talented organizer who managed to regain control over previously lost territories and temporarily pacify the Iroquois, many of whom even accepted baptism, became the governor of New France. In 1673, Fort Frontenac (now the city of Kingston) was founded on the shores of Ontario, where the St. Lawrence River flows from the lake. Cavelier de La Salle was appointed to command the fort. Meanwhile, French trappers moved further into the continent, and the fur trade gradually spread to the headwaters of the Mississippi. No one knew where this giant river flowed. What if to the Pacific Ocean? This is what La Salle believed, who dreamed of opening the way to Asia.
René Robert Cavelier arrived in Canada in the late 1660s. (at that time he did not yet have a noble title). The son of a rich merchant from Rouen, he was raised in a Jesuit school for several years, but did not want to become a monk and went to New France. There he received a grant of land, traded furs and heard from the Indians about the great rivers west of the Great Lakes. In 1669, having sold the land, Cavelier set off on a journey to the southwest of Ontario, discovered a tributary of the Mississippi Ohio and walked along the river more than 1.5 thousand km. In the fall of 1671, together with trappers, he followed the Erie and Huron to the western shore of Michigan. Having reached the southern edge of the lake, Cavelier and his companions went out to the Illinois River and reached the Mississippi by boat. He did not dare to go down it, especially since the river, contrary to his expectations, flowed not to the southwest, but to the southeast.
However, Cavelier was not one to give up easily: although the Mississippi does not flow into the Pacific Ocean, it certainly flows into the Gulf of Mexico. Finding a new route from Canada to the Antilles was worth a lot! Cavelier shared his plans with Frontenac and found an ally in him. But his idea was met with hostility by merchants from Montreal and the Jesuits (the latter even tried to poison him). Then Cavelier went to France, where he enlisted the support of Louis XIV himself. At the same time, he received a noble title and began to be called Señor de La Salle (perhaps this happened during his second visit to his homeland). However, La Salle had to raise money for the trip himself.
Having mortgaged his property in Quebec, he founded a fort at the mouth of the Niagara flowing into Ontario and began building the ship “Griffin” for sailing the lakes and rivers of America. While construction was underway, La Salle and his companions began exploring the surrounding area and buying furs. When the Griffin was completed, they went from Lake Erie to Huron, and from there to Michigan. After this, for some reason the ship turned back - either La Salle heard rumors that creditors were selling his property, and he decided to pay them with furs that were stored in the Niagara Fort, or he urgently needed provisions.
La Salle himself, without waiting for the ship to return, went to the Illinois River and built Fort Crevecoeur, i.e. “Deep Chagrin,” on the shores of Lake Peoria. The title says it all: obviously, La Salle’s plans were thwarted (although other explanations are possible).
Leaving a small garrison at the fort, La Salle, according to some sources, went to Montreal and Quebec to settle matters with creditors, and according to others, he took a trip to the upper reaches of the Mississippi. New troubles awaited him. It turned out that the Griffin, loaded with furs, was missing - either sank during a storm, or was captured by the Indians or La Salle's enemies. In addition, a ship sailing from France to Canada with cargo for him sank. And finally, the garrison of Crevecoeur rebelled. I had to negotiate with the Indians to recapture the fort from the rebels.
At the end of 1681, La Salle led a detachment of several dozen people to the Mississippi. On a sleigh they reached the mouth of the Illinois and began to wait for the ice drift to pass. After the river was cleared of ice, the detachment set off on a long journey in pirogues. La Salle passed the mouth of the Missouri, Ohio, at the confluence of which he founded a fort, and on April 9, 1682, reached the Gulf of Mexico. Claiming the lands around the Mississippi and its tributaries to be the property of the French crown, La Salle named it Louisiana in honor of the king.
Returning along the Mississippi and the Great Lakes to Canada, the traveler discovered that Frontenac had been replaced by another governor who harbored open enmity towards La Salle. Moreover, in his report to Louis XIV, the new governor painted the Mississippi expedition in black terms, accusing La Salle of abuse of power, abuse, etc. He had to go to France and seek an audience with the king.
He achieved his goal and, having presented the king with a rich gift - Louisiana, which was several times larger than France, managed to interest Louis and the ministers in plans for a naval expedition to the mouth of the Mississippi and the founding of a colony on the Gulf of Mexico. The king appointed La Salle governor of Louisiana and ordered the equipping of several expeditionary ships. But here’s the problem: the Jesuits intervened in the matter, ensuring that the command of the flotilla was entrusted to their nominee, Captain Bozho. And La Salle could not do anything about this.
In June 1684, four ships left La Rochelle. La Salle and Bojo did not hide their mutual hostility, although matters had not yet come to an open clash. In November, the ships found themselves in the Gulf of Mexico. Following along the coast, La Salle and Bojo passed by the Mississippi delta without noticing it, which, in general, is not surprising, for the coastal strip here is extremely rugged, with many bays and straits, and the river itself enters the bay not in a continuous stream, but in dozens sleeves hiding in the thickets. Finally, the travelers landed on the island of Matagorda, located much west of the mouth of the Mississippi, and in the spring they built a fort at the mouth of the Lavaca River. But one of the ships sank, the other was captured by the Spaniards, and the remaining two were taken to France by Bojo, abandoning La Salle with a small detachment. The latter persistently searched for the Mississippi, sending scouts to the west and east. Unsuccessfully…
The colonists plowed and sowed the area, but rainfall and floods washed away all the crops. And then illnesses came, and after a year only about 30 people remained in La Salle’s detachment. He decided to head east and, with luck, reach the Mississippi and follow it up to the Great Lakes. Of course, there was a high probability of being captured by the Spaniards, but it was better than dying of hunger. In February 1687, La Salle set out on the road with several exhausted and angry people. And on March 19, in the area of the Brazos River (now in Texas), his companions killed him.
In the middle of the 18th century. As a result of the Seven Years' War, France ceded the west of Louisiana to the Spaniards and the east to the British. After the formation of the United States, the western part of Louisiana again passed to France. And in 1803, Napoleon sold this huge territory to the Americans for $15 million. He was too busy preparing to conquer Europe.
FIGURES AND FACTS
Main character
René Robert Cavelier de La Salle, French trader and explorer
Other characters
Louis XIV, King of France; Louis de Frontenac and Lefebvre de la Barre, governors of New France; God, captain
Time of action
Route
Down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico; from France to the Gulf of Mexico
Target
Expansion of French possessions in the New World, establishment of a colony on the Gulf of Mexico
Meaning
First passage of the Mississippi by Europeans; declaring the vast territory around the river and its tributaries the property of France
