Eric La Salle is an ambulance actor. Expansion of New France
Rene-Robert Cavelier de la Salle was born in Rouen on November 22, 1643. He came from a wealthy merchant family. His student years were spent in a Jesuit college. In 1658 he joined the Order as a novice, and took vows two years later. Beginning in 1665, Cavelier twice submitted petitions to send him as a missionary to China or North America, but these were rejected by the order authorities. After that, La Salle decided to leave the Order. On March 27, 1667, he was released from his vows.
Begin " new life"Cavelier decided overseas, in New France... This choice was supported by the fact that Rouen had been focused on trade with Canada for many years, they were part of the same diocese, and in 1666 his elder brother Jean-Pierre, a member of the congregation of St. Sulpicius in Ville-Marie, moved there. (present-day Montreal). This order immediately allocated a land allotment to La Salue in the vicinity of the city, at the rapids of Lachin. Arriving in Canada in 1667, Cavelier began visiting Indian settlements, studying native dialects, getting acquainted with the customs and customs of local residents. At the same time, he tried to learn as much as possible about rivers and lakes: Cavelier, like many of his contemporaries, dreamed of finding the shortest path from Atlantic Ocean to Quiet. O big rivers south of the Great Lakes, Cavelier learned from the Indians who brought skins and furs to his estate: in addition to farming, the French sold furs.
2 Journey to Lake Ontario
In January 1669, Cavelier sold his plot (but retained the house) to the original owners and set out to explore the land in the southwest. Having the funds and developing a plan for the expedition, Cavelier presented it to the governor of Montreal, Courcelles, who persuaded him to unite with the Sulpician - father Dollier de Casson. Casson also recommended that Deacon Briand de Galine be included in the expedition. On July 6, 1669, 24 French travelers in canoes set off up the St. Lawrence River. They were joined as guides by the Seneca Indians in two canoes. After many days of travel, on August 2, they reached Lake Ontario, and six days later - the borders of the lands of the Seneca Indians (who were part of the union of the "five tribes", which the French called "Iroquois"). Moving along south coast Lake Ontario, the French reached its western end - Burlington Bay. Here the leader of the expedition was struck by a fever.
On October 1, the expedition split up. The Sulpicians set out in search of the "unconverted" natives. Cavelier declared that "for health reasons" he was returning to Ville-Marie. Several of his men did so, but he himself continued his wanderings in the company of the Cheyenne Indian, Nick, a guide and translator. Where exactly they visited is unknown. It is believed that advancing in the south- westward from Lake Ontario, Cavelier discovered the Ohio River, a powerful left tributary of the Mississippi.
3 Journey to the Illinois River
In 1672, Count Frontenac, governor of New France, approached La Salue with a proposal to discuss plans for expanding the colony. First of all, it was necessary to build Fort Katarakui on Lake Ontario - a distant outpost to repel Indian forays and a base for future expeditions. The construction, led by Cavelier, was completed in 1673.
Cavelier shared with Count Frontenac his grandiose plan to trace the entire course of the Mississippi and add its basin to the possessions of the French king. He was able to interest the Governor of Canada and received from him letters of recommendation to the Minister of the Navy and other influential persons. With them he went to France to procure a royal patent for discoveries in the New World. The minister Colbert introduced him to the king, who showered him with favors: he bestowed the nobility on Cavelier and took possession of the fortification built under his leadership.
Returning to Canada, Cavelier again went to Fort Katarakui. In a short time, he was able to turn an unprepossessing structure into a powerful, by colonial standards, fortification of hewn stone. The updated fort was named after the governor. Managing his fort, La Salle grew rich in the fur trade, earning up to 25,000 livres a year, but this did not cool his obsession with unknown lands.
In 1677, La Salle again went to meet the "sun king". His progress report was well received. Cavelier applied for permission to build two structures: one on Lake Erie and the other at the tip of Lake Illinois, Michigan. He also asked permission to become the governor of those countries that he will open in the future. In May 1678, La Salue was granted the right to explore the entire western part of the North American continent within the limits bounded by New France itself and the then possessions of the Spanish crown - Florida and Mexico, permission to build log fortifications at its own expense, as well as a monopoly on the trade in buffalo skins, for a period of for five years.
On July 14, 1678, La Salle sailed from La Rochelle to Canada. About thirty soldiers went with him, the nobles - Dominique de La Motte and Henri de Tonti and the Franciscan monk Louis Annnepen, who was the priest of Fort Frontenac and then accompanied La Salle on all his travels. Anchors, sails and gear were captured from France for the construction of a river vessel. Back in New France, La Salle first sent a small group led by La Motte to the Niagara River to find a suitable location and prepare for the construction of a sailing vessel. On Christmas Day 1678, La Salle arrived at the construction site. By January, the ship was already on the stocks at Lake Erie in a location near present-day Buffalo. Fort Conti, on the site of which Fort Niagara subsequently arose, was supposed to become a transshipment point, its advantageous location made it possible to keep trade routes under control.
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 Fort Conti. At the same time, Henri de Tonti was also engaged in buying furs in other regions. During the absence of La Salle, his people built and equipped a ship for sailing on the Great Lakes and rivers of the Mississippi system: 18 × 4.8 meters, with a displacement of 45 tons and armed with 7 cannons. Returning to Lake Erie in late July, La Salle named it "The Griffin."
On August 7, 1679, the sails were first raised on the ship, and a few days later La Salle and his companions set off from Lake Erie along the Detroit Strait to Lake Huron. After twenty days' journey, they disembarked at Makinako, near the mission of St. Ignatius. The travelers did not stay here, and on September 12, 1679, they anchored off the islet (now Washington Island) at the entrance to Green Bay (Wisconsin). Despite the king's prohibition to "trade with the Indians called Ottawa, and others who bring beaver and other furs to Montreal," La Salle did just that. Then the French detachment split up. La Salle sent the ship with a cargo of furs and other goods to Mackinaco (according to other sources, to Niagara) to pay off creditors and stock up on provisions. Thus, the Griffin became the first merchant sailing vessel to sail the Great Lakes. But on the way back, he disappeared without a trace.
La Salle himself on September 19, 1679, with 14 people in 4 canoes, continued his journey along the western shore of Lake Michigan, where a tribe of friendly Potawotomi Indians lived. The French proceeded by canoe to the southern tip of Lake Michigan and on November 1 reached the mouth of the Miami River (now the St. Joseph River), where, assessing the benefits of the location, La Salle founded a fort of the same name. On December 3, the travelers set off upriver to what is now South Bend, Indiana. Here the French dragged boats to the Kankakee River, along which they reached the Illinois River.
On January 5, 1680, the La Salle detachment reached the Indian settlement of Pimito, near the present city of Peoria. On January 15, he laid on the shore of a lake 30 leagues (about 150 km) from Pimitow Fort Krevker, which was to serve as a base for further research. He also began construction of another ship, which was never completed. After wintering on the coast of Illinois, the detachment split up. Leaving Tonti here at the head of a small garrison (10-15 people), La Salle instructed Father Annnepen with two companions to continue exploring these parts and scout the way to the upper Mississippi. He was able to pass along the course of the Illinois River until it flows into the "father of waters", but here on April 11, 1680, he was captured by a detachment of Sioux Indians, who took their prisoner to the territory of the present state of Minnesota. However, in the autumn they released the captives. After passing the waterfall called Annnepen (an area of present-day Minneapolis), they reached Green Bay along the Wisconsin River, and later a mission to Mackinaco, where they spent the winter.
La Salle itself in early spring, while the snow was still lying, set off with three Indians and one French on the way back. Ice began drifting, and on March 18 they were forced to leave the canoe and go on foot. 6 days later they went to Fort Miami, where La Salle found Chapelle and LeBlanc, who had been sent to him earlier in Makinaco, in search of the Griffin - they went around the whole of Lake Michigan, but did not learn anything. La Salle sent them to Tonti and from here, in a muddy road, set out with his companions to Lake Erie.
La Salle sent two men in a canoe ahead to Mackinaco, and with the other two crossed the Detroit Strait on a raft and reached the shores of Lake Erie at Cape Pili. They built another canoe and reached Fort Conti on April 21, 1680. Here La Salle was waiting for the "reward" for the trials: not only did the Griffin disappear without a trace, but also a ship wrecked carrying La Salue from France many valuable goods worth 22,000 livres. Despite the sad news, La Salle continued on his way, leaving his exhausted comrades, and with three others, on May 6, he returned on foot to Fort Frontenac, which was 2,000 kilometers from Krevker.
On July 22, Henri de Tonti's envoys arrived. They said that the people left in Krevker rebelled against Tonti, stole food and fled. The fugitives followed in the footsteps of La Salle: they plundered the forts of Miami and Conti, and twelve of them sailed to Fort Frontenac to deal with him. After selecting 9 reliable people, La Salle went to Lake Ontario. Here, in Katarakui Bay, he set up an ambush, into which the deserters fell in early August.
On August 10, La Salle, with 25 companions, among whom were carpenters, joiners, masons, and even a surgeon, again went to the Illinois River. They were carrying equipment for the unfinished ship. On the way, he learned from the Potawotomi Indians that the Griffin had apparently sunk during a storm. La Salle went to Lake Michigan, to Mackinaco. From there, leaving some of his people on the mission with Lieutenant La Forest, he with 12 satellites through the Miami fort (where he left five people) on December 1 reached the village of Pimito. The village was burned down by the Iroquois.
In search of Tonti and his companions, La Salle descended through Illinois until its confluence with the Mississippi, everywhere finding traces of the massacre. The river of his dreams lay in front of him, but the pioneer had to turn because of fears for the fate of Tonti. La Salle again occupied the dilapidated Fort Krevker and, entrusting it to a small garrison, returned to Fort Miami. Along the way, he discovered a bark hut that only Tonti and his men could build. Here he, comparing all the facts, came to the conclusion that Tonty was in the canoe that he saw near Makinako (La Salle was looking for him on the east coast of Michigan, and Tonty at that time was on the west). La Salle sent two people there with a letter, and on March 1, 1681, he set out from Fort Miami with La Forest and 19 satellites. They met the Fox Indians, from whom the travelers learned that Tonti had spent the winter at the Potavotomi.
At the end of May, the French left Fort Miami for Canada. La Salle and Tonti met at the St. Ignatius Mission to Mackinaco (where Chicago now stands).
4 Traveling the Mississippi River
In the summer of 1681, La Salle hurried to Montreal, where he was summoned by the governor to equip a new expedition. Despite all the troubles of the previous expedition, La Salle nevertheless decided to try again, because the last time he essentially limited himself to exploring the Canadian water system, crossing with his squad the line separating the great lakes from the Mississippi basin, and reached Illinois. On December 19, La Salle met Tonti at Fort Miami, and a month later the participants new expedition(23 French and 18 Indians) gathered at Fort Krevker.
Leaving Fort Krevker, a detachment of French and Indians led by La Salle descended the ice of the frozen Illinois River in a very original way - on a sleigh with pies tied to them. On February 6, 1682, the travelers reached the Mississippi: huge ice floes were floating along the river, and La Salle decided to wait out the ice drift, but for now he sent two people north to explore the upper section of the river.
A week later, La Salle and his companions sailed down the great river and reached the mouth of the Missouri in the evening, and five days later they felt the stormy current of the Ohio River. So they sailed, stopping to inspect the shores and tributaries. At the site of the current city of Memphis (Tennessee), they had to stay for ten days - the gunsmith Pierre Prudhomme went hunting and disappeared. They feared that he might be taken prisoner: on the sixth day, looking for their comrade, the French stumbled upon two Indians of the Chickasaw tribe and with them handed gifts to the leaders. La Salle took advantage of the delay to establish a small fort named after the hapless hunter. He himself, hungry and wet, was later fished out of the water: he swam downstream, holding on to a log.
However, the adventure did not end there. The hikers set up camp on the 5th of March, and a week later the drumming rang out from the other side. Fortunately, they managed to avoid a collision with the Quapa Indians: they smoked a pipe of peace and exchanged gifts. The natives brought them firewood and for three days in a row they treated them to maize, beans and dried fruits. "In gratitude for the hospitality" the French erected on their land a pillar with the coat of arms of France, thereby declaring it the property of the French king. Taking two guides, La Salle and his companions moved on.
After sailing 15 leagues (85 km), they reached another tributary of the Mississippi - the Arkansas River. On March 22nd the French saw the Tynes Indians. They lived in adobe houses with domed thatched roofs and had poultry. The Indians arranged a magnificent meeting for the travelers, which was prepared by the "master of ceremonies" with six assistants: the chief visited the travelers' camp, dressed in white; two of the escorts carried white fans, and the third a polished bronze disc, symbolizing the sun. The guest was generously presented with trinkets. The next day, there was almost a clash with the Natchez.
Then, on their way, the French met the Koroa Indians. They informed the travelers that they were ten days' journey from the ocean. On Easter, the detachment left the village and on April 6 reached the delta. La Salle swam along the western arm, Henri Tonti - along the central, and Bourdon d'Autre - along the eastern. All three made it safely to the Gulf of Mexico.
The next two days, La Salle himself, Tonti and d'Autray explored the river delta, and on April 9 a cross was erected on the bank and a plate with an engraved inscription: "Louis the Great, King of France and Navarre, April 9, 1682" was buried. La Salle declared the basin of the river he passed the possession of the French crown and gave him the name "Louisiana", that is, "Louis".
The very next day, the travelers set off on their way back. The lack of food was felt more and more. Already on April 29, the French were in the village of Koroa, and on May 3 - at Tynes, where they replenished their food supplies. Then they went upstream to Fort Prudhomme, where they had to make a stop: La Salle fell ill. He sent Tonti to Fort St. Joseph (Miami), instructing him to write from there to the governor about the success of the expedition. On June 15, La Salue got better, and he continued on his way. A month later, he was at Fort Krevker. The rest of the way - through Fort Saint-Joseph to Mackinaco - he did in a canoe. Here, at the mission of St. Ignatius, he met Tonti.
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 journeys for this purpose. He was the first to go down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico (1681-1682). He declared the entire Mississippi River basin the possession of the French king Louis (Louis) XIV and named it Louisiana. Explored Ohio and Great Lakes.
In 1669, moving southwestward from Lake Ontario, La Sal 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 the cartographers of the 17th - first half of the 18th century (mainly French), went deep into the mainland North America in temperate latitudes or even in 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 procure a royal patent for discoveries in the New World. He was introduced to the king, who bestowed on him the nobility, put him in possession of lands in the New World and appointed him governor of those countries that he would open in the future.
On July 14, 1678, La Salle left La Rochelle for Canada. About thirty soldiers went with him, the knight Henri de Tonti, and the Franciscan monk Louis Annnepen, who then accompanied La Salle on all his travels. Anchors, sails and gear were captured from France for the construction of 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 Annnepen preached the Christian faith among the Indians and compiled the first description of Niagara Falls known to us.
In mid-August 1679, on the Griffin ship, La Salle sailed from Lake Erie to Lake Huron, and from there to Lake Michigan. On the way, the "Griffin" withstood a terrible storm that made the trip to the Mississippi postponed. At this time, the creditors sold La Salle's property in Quebec, and now all his hope was on the furs piled in the Niagara Fortress. However, the "Griffin" sent there for furs disappeared without a trace on the way back; whether he was drowned or was plundered by the Indians - it has not been possible to establish. Despite all these troubles, La Salle decided to proceed with his plan.
La Salle built Fort Krevker (Affliction) on the shores of Lake Peoria, named so in memory of the hardships suffered. Fort Krevker was to serve as a base for further research.
After wintering on the coast of Illinois, La Salle with five companions of the early West, in a muddy road, returned on foot to Katharokua.
Best of the day
Sad news awaited him in Katharokua: a ship wrecked carrying many valuable goods from France to La Salue. Enemies, meanwhile, spread a rumor that he had long been dead. The only thing that La Salle managed to do was to refute the rumor about his imaginary death. With great difficulty, he made his way back to Fort Krevker, where, to his surprise, there was not a single Frenchman. It turned out that the people left in Krevker rebelled against Tonti, stole food and fled.
La Salle again occupied the dilapidated Fort Krevker and, entrusting it to a small garrison, went in search of Tonti. La Salle was looking for him on the east coast of Michigan, while Tonti was on the west. It wasn't until May 1681 that they met at Mackinaco, where Chicago now stands.
Having lost fixed assets, La Salle could no longer build a new ship and acquired several ordinary pies. In December 1681, at the head of a squad of fifty-four, he crossed the Great Lakes, descended on a sleigh with pies tied to them across Illinois, and in February of the following year reached the Mississippi. Upon reaching the Mississippi, he dispatched two men north to explore the upper reaches of the river. Himself, when the ice drift ended, 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 the Indians, and entered into an alliance with them; finally, on April 9, having passed three hundred and fifty leagues on the pie, he reached the Gulf of Mexico. So La Salle achieved its goal.
All the lands he discovered, irrigated by the Mississippi and its tributaries, La Salle declared the possession of the French king Louis (Louis) XIV, giving them the name Louisiana.
He then climbed up the Mississippi and returned across the Great Lakes to the St. Lawrence River. The return to Canada took La Salle over a year.
Meanwhile, in Quebec, instead of the recalled Frontenac, the post of governor was taken by Lefebvre de la Barre, who treated La Salue with prejudice and in his report to Louis XIV assessed his discovery: “This traveler with two dozen French and native vagabonds really reached the Gulf of Mexico, where he posed as a monarch and did all sorts of atrocities, covering up violence against peoples with the right, granted to him by your Majesty, to conduct monopoly trade in those countries that he will be able to open. "
To justify himself to the king and restore his reputation, La Salle traveled to France. He brought to his king the news of the annexation of a gigantic country to his possessions, 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 establish a colony. He appointed La Salle governor of Louisiana: a huge territory from Lake Michigan to the Gulf of Mexico was to pass under his rule.
On June 24, 1684, La Salle sailed from the port of La Rochelle in four ships with a crew of four hundred. The naval officer Captain Bozho was appointed as the flotilla commander. The hastily selected soldiers and artisans turned out to be ignorant of their business. From the very beginning, disagreements arose between the two commanders, which soon turned into irreconcilable enmity.
Five months later, the La Salle flotilla reached the Florida Peninsula and entered the Gulf of Mexico. Following in a westerly direction along the coast, La Salle and Beaugeau passed, without noticing, the Mississippi Delta and began to argue where to sail next - to the west or to the east.
La Salle has landed on deserted island Matagorda (off the coast of Texas), set up camp and sent detachments on both sides in search of the Mississippi. But the great river "disappeared". La Salle could not recognize the familiar places, as 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 set off back to France, leaving La Salle with a detachment to fend for itself. In the fall of 1686, La Salle decided to return by dry route to the Great Lakes - in other words, to cross the mainland from the southwest to the northeast. He intended to reach the Mississippi and then climb upstream - to the Indians with whom he once made an alliance.
On January 12, 1687, La Salle, with a handful of exhausted, hungry people, went out on boats to the sea. 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, with only a few hundred inhabitants in the middle of the 18th century. In 1803, New Orleans, along with all of Louisiana, was sold to the United States government, and thus France finally parted with its possessions, which had been acquired thanks to the energy of La Salle.
Lua error in Module: Wikidata on line 170: attempt to index field "wikibase" (a nil value).
Lua error in Module: Wikidata on line 170: attempt to index field "wikibase" (a nil value).
Lua error in Module: Infocards on line 164: attempt to perform arithmetic on local "unixDateOfDeath" (a nil value).
Lua error in Module: Wikidata on line 170: attempt to index field "wikibase" (a nil value).
Lua error in Module: Wikidata on line 170: attempt to index field "wikibase" (a nil value).
Lua error in Module: Wikidata on line 170: attempt to index field "wikibase" (a nil value).
Lua error in Module: Wikidata on line 170: attempt to index field "wikibase" (a nil value).
Lua error in Module: Wikidata on line 170: attempt to index field "wikibase" (a nil value).
Lua error in Module: Wikidata on line 170: attempt to index field "wikibase" (a nil value).
Lua error in Module: Wikidata on line 170: attempt to index field "wikibase" (a nil value).
Lua error in Module: Wikidata on line 170: attempt to index field "wikibase" (a nil value).
Lua error in Module: Wikidata on line 170: attempt to index field "wikibase" (a nil value).
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 of the Europeans to sail the Mississippi River and declare its entire basin the possession of the French king under the name of Louisiana. Thanks to his ebullient activity, France acquired (at least on paper) a huge territory, which Napoleon would give up a century later for a pittance in the Louisiana deal. In honor of La Salle, several cities and counties in the United States are named, the administrative region of Montreal, the Royal Military Academy in Canada and a brand of cars produced from 1927 to 1940 by General Motors.
early years
René-Robert Cavelier was educated at a Jesuit college. By the age of 22, he decided not to be ordained and, having heard about the adventures of Champlain and other Frenchmen in America, went to New France, where he was granted land plot on the island of Montreal near the rapids of Lachine. In addition to farming, Cavelier traded in furs, which were delivered to his estate by Indians from distant corners America. From communication with the natives, he became aware of the large rivers south of the Great Lakes. In 1669, an enterprising Frenchman sold his plot with the intention of moving towards the Ohio River; 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 their sorties by the Iroquois, persuaded Cavelier to build Fort Frontenac on the shores of Lake Ontario, from where it was possible to control the Indian fur trade with the colonists of New England, as well as send reconnaissance expeditions inland.
The plans of Cavelier and Frontenac met with 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, laid the foundation of Fort Frontenac (now Kingston) and began to rule it as a representative of the governor. In gratitude for his diligence, Louis XIV elevated him to the nobility with the title of "Senora de la Sal".
Expansion of New France
While running his fort, La Salle made a fortune in the fur trade, but that did not cool 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", the construction of log fortifications, as well as a monopoly on the trade in buffalo skins.
As the king refused to finance the colonist's ventures, La Salue had to go into large debts in Paris and Montreal. The Jesuits continued to obstruct his activities in every possible way, but in Europe he found a faithful companion 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 sail the waters of Lake Erie. On it they hoped to go down the Mississippi. Moving westward, La Salue discovered the large Illinois River. Fort Krevker (fr. Crèvecœur) and the construction of another ship began.
In preparation for the hike inland, La Salle noticed that the Indians were able to make large overland transitions, feeding on game and a small supply of maize. Thus, in the middle of winter, he traveled from Niagara Falls to Fort Frontenac, which caused genuine admiration of the Jesuit Louis Annnepen, who decided to join his squad. Despite the wreck of the Griffon and the destruction of Fort Krevkor, La Salle in 1680 managed to descend through Illinois until its confluence with the Mississippi. The river of his dreams lay in front of him, but the pioneer had to turn back at the news of the danger threatening the detachment of his comrade Tonti.
Only in the 1681-1682 season, having received additional funds from the lenders, La Salle and Tonti went down the Mississippi by canoe and sailed into the Gulf of Mexico on April 9. There, La Salle solemnly declared the entire basin of the river he crossed 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 in Illinois. At first, the main settlers of this colony were Indians. To keep the colony afloat, La Salle turned to the governor in Quebec for help. The news came disappointing: Frontenac was removed, and his successor, who was very hostile to La Salue, 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 to him favorably and promised his support.
The last trip
To secure Louisiana for France, La Salle considered it necessary to settle at the mouth of the Mississippi and, if possible, take away the northern part of Texas from the Spaniards. He had no more than 200 French at his disposal, but he considered it possible to collect up to 15 thousand Indians under his banner and, in addition, counted on the services of the Caribbean buccaneers. From the outside, this enterprise looked like a gamble, but Louis XIV, who was at war with the Spaniards at the time, felt that it would be useful to divert their attention in the west. He gave La Salue money, ships and people.
On July 24, 1684, the La Salle expedition sailed from France towards the Gulf of Mexico. From the very beginning, she was haunted by failures - disease, pirates, shipwrecks. The captains refused to follow La Salle's orders. Their maps were 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 cherished river, the sailors rebelled and killed La Salle.
Write a review on the article "Cavelier de La Salle, Rene-Robert"
Literature
- Varshavsky A.S. The road leads South (life, travel and adventures of La Salle). M., 1960.
- Anka Muhlstein. ... Arcade Publishing, 1995.
Lua error in Module: External_links on line 245: attempt to index field "wikibase" (a nil value).
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Excerpt from Cavelier de La Salle, René-Robert
Purple eyes studied me very carefully for several seconds, and then an unexpected answer sounded:- I thought so - you are still asleep ... But I cannot wake you up - others will wake you up. And it won't be now.
- And when? And who will these - others? ..
- Your friends ... But you don't know them now.
- And how am I going to know that they are friends, and that it is they? I asked, puzzled.
- You will remember, - Wei smiled.
- Remember ?! How can I remember something that does not exist yet? .. - I stared at her in shock.
- It is, but not here.
She had a very warm smile that made her extraordinarily beautiful. It seemed as if the May sun peeped out from behind a cloud and illuminated everything around.
- Are you all alone here, on Earth? - I could not believe in any way.
- Of course not. There are many of us, only different. And we have been living here for a very long time, if you wanted to ask that.
- What are you doing here? And why did you come here? - I could not stop.
- We help when you need it. And where they came from - I do not remember, I was not there. I just watched you now ... This is my house.
The little girl suddenly became very sad. And I wanted to help her somehow, but, to my great regret, while it was still not in my little power ...
- You really want to go home, right? I asked cautiously.
Wei nodded. Suddenly her fragile figure flashed brightly ... and I was left alone - the "star" girl disappeared. It was very, very dishonest! .. She could not just take it and leave !!! This should not have happened! .. The real resentment of a child, who was suddenly robbed of his favorite toy, was raging in me ... But Wei was not a toy, and, to be honest, I should have been grateful to her already for she came to me at all. But in my "worn out" soul at that moment a real "emotional storm" was crushing the remaining grains of logic, and a complete confusion reigned in my head ... Therefore, about no "logical" thinking in this moment speech could not go, and I, "grief-stricken" at my terrible loss, completely "plunged" into the ocean of "black despair", thinking that my "star" guest would never return to me ... ask her! And she so suddenly took it and disappeared ... And then suddenly I felt very ashamed ... If everyone who wanted to asked her as much as I wanted to ask, she, what good, there would be no time to live! .. This thought somehow immediately reassured me. I should have simply accepted with gratitude all the wonderful things that she managed to show me (even if I still did not understand everything), and not grumble at fate for the insufficiency of the desired "ready-made", instead of simply wiggling her 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 free, because nothing can be worse than a person who is used to taking all the time. In addition, no matter how much he takes, he will never get the joy that he himself has achieved something, and will never experience the feeling of unique satisfaction that he himself has created something.
I sat alone for a long time, slowly "chewing" the food for thought given to me, thinking with gratitude about the amazing violet-eyed "star" girl. And she smiled, knowing that now I would definitely never stop until I found out what kind of friends I do not know, and from what kind of dream they should wake me up ... Then I could not even imagine, that, no matter how hard I try, and no matter how hard I try, it will only happen after many, many years, and my "friends" will really wake me up ... Only it will not be at all what I could ever have even suggest ...
But then everything seemed childishly possible to me, and with all my fervor and "iron" stubbornness I decided to try ...
No matter how much I wanted to listen to the reasonable voice of logic, my disobedient brain believed that, despite the fact that Weya 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 kind of my incomprehensible "bear hibernation". At first I decided to try again to go beyond the Earth, and see who would come to me there ... Nothing stupider, of course, it was impossible to think of, but since I stubbornly believed that I would still achieve something, I had to again with my head plunge into new, possibly even very dangerous "experiments" ...
My kind Stella at that time for some reason almost stopped "walking", and, for some reason, she was "depressed" in her colorful world, not wanting to reveal to me the real reason for her sadness. But I still somehow managed to persuade her this time to go “for a walk” with me, interested in the danger of my planned adventure, and also in the fact that I alone was still a little afraid to try such “far-reaching” experiments.
I warned my grandmother that I was going to try something "very serious", to which she just calmly nodded her head and wished good luck (!) ... Of course, this angered me to the bone, but deciding not to show her my resentment, and pouting like a Christmas turkey, I swore to myself that, whatever the cost, something would happen today! ... And of course - it happened ... just not quite 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 "opened" ... I was carried out by a bullet beyond the mental level of the Earth, and It was then that I realized that I had overdid it a little ... Stella, according to the general agreement, was waiting at the "turn" to insure me if she saw that something went wrong ... But "wrong" went already with from the very beginning, and where I was at the moment, she, to my great regret, could no longer reach me.
Around the cold night breathed a black, ominous space, which I had dreamed of for so many years, and which now frightened with its wild, unique silence ... I was all 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 lonely in this unfamiliar world of distant stars that surrounded me, which looked here not at all as friendly and familiar as from the Earth, and a petty, cowardly squeak of overt horror, panic began to treacherously embrace me ... But since I was still very, very stubborn as a little man, I decided that there was nothing to become limp, and began to look around, where is it all - I got carried away ...
I was hanging in a black, almost physically perceptible emptiness, and only sometimes some "shooting stars" flashed around, leaving dazzling tails for a moment. And right there, as if, very close by, such a dear and familiar Earth flickered 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 just really wanted return home, where everything was so familiar and familiar (to warm grandmother's pies and favorite books!) - or "horrific and irreparable" consequences ... I tried to imagine the only thing that first came to mind - the violet-eyed girl Wei. For some reason, it did not work - she did not appear. Then I tried to unfold its crystal ... And then, everything around sparkled, shone and whirled in a frantic whirlpool of some unprecedented matter, I felt as if I was abruptly, like a large vacuum cleaner, sucked in somewhere, and immediately in front of me “turned "The already familiar, mysterious and beautiful world of Weiying in all its glory .... As I realized too late, the key to which was my open purple crystal ...
“Our expedition ended without loss, not a single French, or Indian, or anyone else was even injured, to which we owe the protection of the Almighty and the great abilities of Monsieur de La Salle” (Father Zenobia Membre's story about La Salle's journey down the Mississippi) ...
Russian Cossacks and industrialists for several decades passed the whole vast Siberia and by the middle of the 17th century. reached the shores of the Pacific Ocean. The development of North America by Europeans was much slower. There are a number of reasons for this. The Urals are still not as serious an 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 became the main road for Russian explorers who conquered Siberia. In general, the number of Russian first settlers 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 met 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 their 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 settled, mainly by Puritans. The Dutch chose the lands a little further north, around the mouth of the Hudson. In 1625 they established a settlement on the island of Manhattan and named it New Amsterdam.
The French, thanks to Jacques Cartier, who occupied even more northern territories near the St. Lawrence River, both lost and won from this. Every winter, the estuary of the river was pinned down by ice, so the sea trade ceased. But French trappers and "forest tramps" were able to move in search of fur farther and farther into the unexplored regions of the continent. 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 entered into an alliance with the Algonquins and Hurons, thereby doomed the French colonists to war with the Iroquois, which was a big mistake. After Champlain, the French colonization was led by ... monks: first the recollets (Augustinians), and then the Jesuits. By founding new missions, the Jesuits extended their influence to Lake Huron.
Meanwhile, the British and Dutch did not doze. They, too, were engaged in the fur trade and sought to prevent the dominance of the French in this lucrative market. The conflict flared up and developed into the so-called beaver wars, which lasted from 1630 to almost the beginning of the 18th century. The Indians also took an active part in them. The Iroquois opposing the Hurons attacked Jesuit missions, tortured and killed priests, and then began raiding Montreal. main center fur trade.
In 1672, Count Louis de Frontenac became the governor of New France, a talented organizer who managed to regain control of previously lost territories and temporarily pacify the Iroquois, many of whom were even baptized. In 1673, on the shores of Ontario, where the St. Lawrence River flows out of the lake, Fort Frontenac (now the city of Kingston) was laid. Cavelier de La Salle was appointed to command the fort. Meanwhile, the French trappers moved deeper into the interior of the continent, and the fur trade gradually spread to the origins of the Mississippi. Where this giant river flows, no one knew. What if the Pacific Ocean? So thought La Salle, who dreamed of opening the way to Asia.
René Robert Cavelier arrived in Canada in the late 1660s. (then he did not yet have a title of nobility). The son of a wealthy merchant from Rouen, he was brought up in a Jesuit school for several years, but did not want to become a monk and went to New France. There he obtained land, traded in furs, and heard from the Indians about the large rivers west of the Great Lakes. In 1669, having sold the land, Cavelier set off on a trip to the southwest of Ontario, discovered the Ohio tributary of the Mississippi and passed along the river for more than 1,500 km. In the fall of 1671, along with the trappers, he proceeded along Erie and Huron to the west coast of Michigan. Having reached southern edge lakes, Cavelier with his companions went 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, did not flow to the southwest, but to the southeast.
However, Cavelier was not one of those who easily give up: even if 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 the 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. Then he received a title of nobility and began to be called Senor de La Salem (perhaps this happened during his second visit to his homeland). However, La Salue had to get the money for the trip himself.
Having laid his property in Quebec, he founded a fort at the mouth of the Niagara that flows into Ontario and began to build the ship "Griffin" for sailing on the lakes and rivers of America. While construction was underway, La Salle and his companions began to explore the surroundings and buy furs. When the Griffin was completed, they went from Lake Erie to Huron, and from there to Michigan. After that, for some reason, the ship turned back - either rumors reached La Salle that creditors were selling his property, and he decided to pay them off with furs that were stored in Niagara Fort, or provisions were urgently needed.
La Salle himself, without waiting for the return of the ship, went to the Illinois River and on the shore of Lake Peoria built Fort Krevker, that is, "Deep Grief." The name speaks: obviously, La Salle's plans were thwarted (although other explanations are possible).
Leaving a small garrison in the fort, La Salle, according to some sources, went to Montreal and Quebec to settle business with creditors, and according to others, took a trip to the upper Mississippi. New troubles lay in wait for him. It turned out that the Griffin, loaded with furs, had disappeared - either it sank during a storm, or it was captured by the Indians or the enemies of La Salle. In addition, the ship sank, sailing from France to Canada with cargo for him. Finally, the Krevkör garrison mutinied. 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 men to the Mississippi. On a sleigh, they reached the mouth of Illinois and waited for the ice drift. After the river was cleared of ice, the detachment set off on a long journey on pies. 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. Having declared the lands around the Mississippi and its tributaries the property of the French crown, La Salle named them Louisiana in honor of the king.
Returning to Canada along the Mississippi and the Great Lakes, the traveler found that Frontenac had been replaced by another governor, who had frank enmity towards La Salue. Moreover, in his report to Louis XIV, the new governor painted the Mississippi expedition in black colors, accusing La Salle of abuse of power, abuse, etc. Tom 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 sea expedition to the mouth of the Mississippi and founding a colony on the shores of the Gulf of Mexico. The king appointed La Salle governor of Louisiana and ordered several expedition ships to be equipped. But here's the trouble: the Jesuits intervened in the matter, who ensured that the command of the flotilla was entrusted to their promoted candidate, Captain Bozho. And La Salle could do nothing about it.
In June 1684 four ships left La Rochelle. La Salle and Beaujot did not hide their mutual hostility, although the matter had not yet come to an open clash. In November, the ships ended up in the Gulf of Mexico. Following along the coast, La Salle and Bozho passed the Mississippi Delta, without noticing it, which, in general, is not surprising, because the coastal strip here is extremely indented, with many bays and straits, and the river itself goes into the bay not in a continuous stream, but in dozens sleeves hiding in the thickets. Finally, the travelers landed on Matagorda Island, 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 Bozho, leaving La Sala with a small detachment. The latter stubbornly searched for the Mississippi, sending scouts west and east. Unsuccessfully…
The colonists plowed and sowed the area, but the rains and torrents washed away the entire crop. And then illnesses came, and a year later only about 30 people remained in the La Salle detachment. He decided to go east and, if he was lucky, reach the Mississippi, and along it ascend to the Great Lakes. Of course, there was a high probability of being captured by the Spaniards, but this is better than starving to death. In February 1687, La Salle set out with several exhausted and angry people. And on March 19, in the area of the Brazos River (now in the state of Texas), satellites 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 vast territory to the Americans for 15 million dollars. He was too busy preparing to conquer Europe.
FIGURES AND FACTS
The main character
René Robert Cavelier de La Salle, French merchant and explorer
Other actors
Louis XIV, King of France; Louis de Frontenac and Lefebvre de la Barre, Governors of New France; Bozho, captain
Time of action
Route
Down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico; France to Gulf of Mexico
Target
Expansion of French possessions in the New World, establishment of a colony on the shores of the Gulf of Mexico
Meaning
First passage of the Mississippi by Europeans; declaring the property of France a huge territory around the river and its tributaries
(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 current and mouth of the Mississippi. In 1667, La Salle arrived in New France (Canada) and settled in Montreal. To study the possibilities of the fur trade, he undertook several trips to the Great Lakes region. In 1669 he visited Lake Erie and the upper Ohio region, and until 1671 he traveled south of the lakes all the way to upper Illinois, south of Lake Michigan. In 1673, on Lake Ontario, he built Fort Frontenac, which he received as a gift while visiting 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 proceeded from the river. Illinois down the river The Mississippi, before it flows into the Gulf of Mexico, 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 hurried to France to obtain funds for her colonial takeover. In 1684 he returned back on four ships and with more than 200 French settlers. La Salle intended to establish a village in the Mississippi Delta, but passed the mouth of the river and landed on the Texas coast near Rio Colorado. Abandoned by ships that, after the landing of La Salle and the settlers, went to sea, he tried again to go to the Mississippi, embarking on an adventurous campaign across the prairies of Texas, where the Indians by that time, following the example of the Spaniards, had already begun to use horses. Frustrated and bitter by the hardships and hardships, the settlers blamed La Sala for all the failures. In 1687, during the strife between them, he was killed. The Louisiana colony later flourished, but in 1763 France was forced to cede it to England.
From the legacy of La Salle, his companion Joutelle published "The Historical Diary of the Last Travel of the Late M. de La Salle", 1723.
Bibliography
- 300 travelers and explorers. Biographical Dictionary. - Moscow: Mysl, 1966 .-- 271 p.