This presentation will summarize La Salle’s early expertise in trading, fur-trapping, and establishing close working relationships with the native American tribesmen of the Great Lakes region. It will show how he learned their languages and gained their trust as allies in his quest to explore the Mississippi basin. His eventual progress from the Great Lakes down to the Mouth of the Mississippi River and his claiming of the entire Mississippi River basin for France, as “La Louisiane” (Louisiana), in honor of his patron, King Louis XIV of France, will be discussed. Lastly, his ill-fated attempt to find a French colony at the mouth of the Mississippi River and his unfortunate end in an assassination by his own men in the wilds of Texas will be covered. (Limit 40)