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Le Salle
Rene Rober Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle, was the French explorer who claimed all of the the Mississippi and the lands drained by it for King Louis XIV. He sailed from France in 1684 to find the mouth of the Mississippi and to claim new lands for his king. Starting out with four ships, the Belle, Le Joly L'Aimable and Saint-Francois, he entered what is now Matagorda Bay with his ship La Belle and lost the Aimable on the shoals of Pass Cavallo. Establishing Fort St. Louis on the Garcitas Creek, he explored much of Texas from the west to the east, looking for his river. Finally, afer losing many of his men to starvation and disease and the loss of his last ship La Belle, La Salle was killed by his own men near what is now known as Navasota, Texas.
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