Achievements
Robert de La Salle was born in 1643 and was a French explorer. On his first trip to North America, King Loius XIV sent him to travel south from Canada and through the Mississippi River into the Gulf of Mexico in 1682. His mission was to establish and explore fur-trade routes along the Mississippi River. To honor King Loius, Salle named the whole entire Mississippi area Loiusiana and claimed it for France on April 9, 1682. In 1679, La Salle also traveled all of the Great Lakes (Lake Huron, Lake Ontario, Lake Michigan, and Lake Erie).
This determined man traveled from France to Quebec, New France (now known as Canada) and determined to find a passage way to the east through Norht America in late 1667. Robert left Montreal on July, 1669 and passed through Lake Ontario, Lake Erie, and many more undocumented places, and returned to Montreal in late 1670.
La Salle went back to France in 1677 and asked the French King permission to explore between Florida, Mexico, and Canada.
In New France (Canada), Salle constructed a fort on the Niagara River (inbetween Ontario and New York) and built a ship called the "Griffin". They used the Griffin to explore all the great lakes. On August 7, 1679, he and his friend Henri de Tonty, traveled across Lake Erie and Lake Huron, traveled across land to Lake Michigan, but when they returned, they found out that the Griffon was lost and the fort at Niagra was burnt down.
In 1681 when Salle and 40 men went on an expedition down the Mississippi, they built a fort called Fort Prud'homme (what is now madern day Memphis, Tennessee) and later reached the Gulf of Mexico on April 9, 1682, where they built a cross. On the returning ride to France, He and his crew faced two obstacles, illnesses and Indian attacks.
After Robert de La Salle came back to France in 1683, the King wanted him to start a colony in the Rio Grande to take control over Spanish mines, but Salle wanted to start a colony in Mississippi River Valley, so Robert lied to the King saying that the Mississippi was farther north than it is. Instead, they lost a great deal of supplies and mistakenly landed in Matagorda Bay, andlo known as Houston Texas.
They built a fort at the mouth of the Lavaca River and explored the area. Not long after the first ship got wrecked, the second one was destroyed by a drunk pilot in April 1686, that left them stranded in Texas. 20 men traveled the Lavaca River attempting to locate the Mississippi River so they could find the Great Lakes. On this expedition, 12 out of 20 people died, while the 8 survivors returned to the fort in October, 1686. On the second try, La Salle and 17 other men set out on the same expedition as the first group, leaving only 25 people at the fort. A small group of 5 mutineers shot and killed Robert de La Salle near navasota, Texas on March 19, 1687. The rest of the expedition made it to Montreal in 1688 while the ones who satyed at the fort were killed by the Karankawa Indians.
Places Robert de La Salle Traveled
Robert de La Salle and his crewmembers traveled to many different places. He traveled from France, the Great lakes, Montreal, Canada, Mississippi River, Niagara River, Florida, Mexico, Tennessee, Gulf of Mexico, and the Lavaca River. He traveled by foot, canoe, and ship.
Obstacles
Again, like most explorations, many of the obstacles were because of sicknesses and American Indian raids. The Indians attacked Salle on his return to France. They also killed the remaining people at the fort. Finally when it came to his death, he was killed by 5 mutineers.
He had troubles with some Indians trying to steal some of La Salle's supplies, but that was taken care of by shooting them. Another obstacle he faced was getting his crewmen together so they could be successful on colonizing (and stay colonized) different colonies.
One more was illnesses. Many of his crew died from known to unknown sicknesses, many of which could be contagious.
