THE CONTEST FOR NORTH AMERICA
La Salle
ONE
Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, was the foremost pioneer of the great West of our country; but he failed because his schemes were too large for his resources. La Salle was brilliant, energetic, and courageous; but he could stir neither enthusiasm nor affection in those whom he commanded. Therein lay one reason for his failure. He was a shy, proud, and reserved man, loved by a few intimate friends, and greatly liked and respected by the Indians.
La Salle was born in Rouen (roo´-ohng), France, on November 22, 1643. He came of a good burgher family. He taught in the Jesuit schools during his early life; but in 1666 went to Canada to make his fortune. It was then that La Salle had the first of his great visionary schemes. He planned to discover a way to China across the American continent. That does not sound so impossible now; but it must be remembered that in the seventeenth century the first railroad had not even been dreamed of, and that the American continent, except for a few colonies along the eastern seacoast, was a wilderness of trackless forest and prairie.
La Salle finally saw, however, that he must give up his plan of finding a route to China, and in 1677 he replaced it with one intended to colonize the whole interior of the United States for France. He was convinced that the Mississippi River flowed into the Gulf of Mexico, and he intended to build forts all along its banks, and thus hold it open for French settlers and traders. He believed that he could bring practically one-half of France over to live in the new country.
In 1677 he went to France and laid this scheme before Minister Colbert. He told of the great extent of the West, of its boundless resources, and of the many advantages of opening trade with its numerous peaceful Indians. He received permission from the king to rule over all land that might be colonized within twenty years, so long as it cost the Crown nothing. He raised money for this great plan by help from his friends and relatives, and returned to Canada accompanied by Henry de Tonti and a friar named Louis Hennepin.
The expedition started from Fort Frontenac in November, 1678, and La Salle spent the winter at Niagara, building a small vessel, which he named the Griffin. He had many heartbreaking struggles and misfortunes; but at last, accompanied by Tonti, thirty Frenchmen, and a band of faithful Indians, on February 6, 1682, he set out on the Mississippi. They reached its mouth on April 9, and La Salle took possession of the whole Mississippi Valley in the name of Louis XIV, king of France. He planted a column, bearing the arms of his country.
He then returned to France to obtain an expedition to found a fort at the mouth of the Mississippi. He secured a squadron under the command of an officer named Beaujeu, and sailed in 1684. They could not find the Mississippi, and Beaujeu sailed for France, leaving La Salle and his little band of colonists alone, sick, disconsolate, mutinous, and starved. After two years La Salle resolved to make one last effort to reach the Mississippi, ascend it, and bring back aid to his colonists. But in March, 1687, some of his followers conspired to kill him on a branch of the Trinity River, and hiding in the long grass, they shot him through the brain.
PREPARED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION
ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR, VOL. 1, No. 35, SERIAL No. 35
COPYRIGHT, 1913. BY THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION, INC.
JOHN WESLEY PREACHING TO THE INDIANS