The French come to Texas

1682 La Salle (French) In 1682 René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle was sent to map the Mississippi and claim all land around it for France Names the land Louisiana after King Louis XIV Flag of France in 1682

The French had not explored the Gulf of Mexico like the Spanish.

In La Salle returns to build a fort on the Mississippi. He lands in Texas by mistake He built Fort Saint Louis near Matagorda Bay. This was the first settlement in Texas.

Fort St. Louis on Garcitas Creek Fort St. Louis on Garcitas Creek.

Fort. St. Louis was doomed from the start. Two of the four supply ships La Salle had to start the colony were lost including the Belle. The Karankawa Indians and the French settlers did not get along and would fight constantly.

La Salle tried three times to march to the Mississippi river to get help but failed. On the last trip in 1689 he was killed by his own men. The Karankawa destroyed the colony soon after La Salle’s death. Out of the 400 settlers only 7 made it safely to French Canada A monument to La Salle at Indianola, Texas on Matagorda Bay.

SPANISH RESPONSE The Spanish sent many expeditions to find Ft. St. Louis. They finally found it a few months after the fort was destroyed. The Spanish also found some children that the Karankawa had spared. The children were eventually returned to France. A drawing of Pierre Talon, one of the French Children who lived with the Karankawa

The Spanish buried the French cannons they found. They were discovered in the 1990’s by American archeologists.

In 1995 Texas Archeologist found one of La Salle’s ships the Belle on the ocean floor of Matagorda Bay. The ship had been mired in mud of some 300 years and was a very important discovery.

La Salle and Fort St. Louis caused the Spanish to take a new interest in the Southwest and Texas. Only Spain’s fear of losing the land to the French would force them to come back to Texas They established the first mission in Texas near El Paso named Corpus Christi de la Ysleta.