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ORI-] than two centuries have passed since Robert Cavalier de la Salle—the ablest, most courageous and intrepid French explorer ^iat Per'°d i*1 America, after four years of toil, privation and 7 ^ danger—discovered the mouths of the Mississippi River and took ;:j£ possession of the vast region drained by that mighty stream and its !j tributaries, in the name and by the authority of his august sovereign, Louis XIV. It was La Salle who gave the name of Louisiana to all that immense territory extending from the Great. Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, and stretching eastward and westward with uncertain boundaries, in honor of the illustrious monarch who then sat upon the throne of France. From Fort Frontenac in Canada, La Salle made three unsuccessful efforts to reach the entrance to the sea of northern and western waters which flowed southward. At last, in a fourth attempt, his masterful genius and unyielding persistence conquered all obstacles and crowned him with victory. An outline of the events preceding the first permanent settlement effected by the French in their new possessions in America, would be of interest here, as they relate intimately to the 'Coast, but these events do not come within the scope of this offering. Let it suffice that *La Salle returned to France, and an expedition was placed under his control to plant a colony in the new French domain in America. The sequel to that venture, through no fault of his, was a disunil failure. It i§ a melancholy and painful record. The dauntless discoverer was not to enjoy the honors and emoluments he had so signally earned. His foul assassination is one of the1 darkest and saddest incidents in the history of that period. Says Parkman: “America owes La Salle an enduring memory, for in this masculine figure, cast in an iron mould, she sees the pioneer who guided her to the possession of her richest heritage.’’
Seventeen years after the death of La Salle, the King of France saw from the aggressive policy of England the necessity of securing a firmer