Rene-Robert de La Salle

I’m Rene-Robert de La Salle, and I was born in Rouen, France. As a kid, I went to a school run by Jesuit priests. I studied to be a Jesuit, but I left religious training in the year 1665 in search of adventure.

The following year, I sailed to Canada where France had colonized. I had claimed some land near Montreal and became a fur trader. I did much of my trading with the Indians, who told me about two great rivers—the Ohio and the Mississippi. The Indians said they thought the rivers flowed into the ocean. I thought that one or both of the rivers might flow into the Pacific Ocean. This would be the Northwest Passage that many explorers had searched for, but none had found.

In 1667 I had sold my land and started on my journey to find the rivers. From 1669 to 1673, I searched for the rivers in North America, but I did not find them.

In 1674 I returned to France. King Louis IV gave me land that include Fort Fronenac, on the site of present day Kingston, Ontario. I created a trading post and then became one of the most powerful people in Canada.

In 1679 I again sailed back to France and got permission to explore the Mississippi River. I returned to Canada and launched an expedition to take control of all the Great Lakes. Then, I led 20 Frenchmen and 30 Indians down the Illinois River in canoes to the Mississippi River. We started our journey down the Mississippi River on February 13, 1682 and reached the Gulf of Mexico on April 9^th. I claimed all of the land from the Appalachian Mountains to the Rocky Mountains and all the way from the Great Lakes down to the Gulf of Mexico for France.