French colonization of Texas

French explorer Robert Cavelier de La Salle established a fort in present-day southeastern Texas in 1685. The colony faced numerous difficulties during its brief existence, including Native American raids, epidemics, and harsh conditions. The site of the French settlement was lost to history until the Spanish discovered the fort in 1689 and built a presidio at the same location.

About French colonization of Texas in brief

French explorer Robert Cavelier de La Salle established a fort in present-day southeastern Texas in 1685. The colony faced numerous difficulties during its brief existence, including Native American raids, epidemics, and harsh conditions. Although the colony lasted only three years, it established France’s claim to possession of the region that is now Texas. The United States later claimed, unsuccessfully, this region as part of the Louisiana Purchase because of the early French colony. In 1995, researchers located the ship La Belle in Matagorda Bay, with several sections of the hull remaining virtually intact. They constructed a cofferdam, the first to be used in North America to excavate the ship as if in dry conditions. In 2000, excavations revealed three of the original structures of the fort, as well as three graves of Frenchmen. The fort was rediscovered by historians and excavated in 1996, and the area is now an archaeological site. The site of the French settlement was lost to history until the Spanish discovered the fort in 1689 and built a presidio at the same location. In 1689, the Spanish finally discovered the remains of theFrench colony at the fort and burned the buildings. After the Spanish declared war on France in October 1667, King Louis agreed to support LaSalle’s plan to return to North America and confirm the crown’s allegiance to the Indians. He claimed the Mississippi River valley for French king Louis XIV, naming the territory Louisiana in his honor.

Although Hernando De Soto had explored and claimed this area for Spain 140-years before, on April 9, 1682, La Sall claimed it for the French Crown. The French feared that their colonies were vulnerable to a potential attack from its neighboring colonies. Unless France established a base at the mouth of the Mississippi, Spain would have an opportunity to control the entire Gulf of Mexico and potentially pose a threat to New France’s southern borders. On his return to France in 1684 he proposed the establishment of a colony on the eastern edge of New Spain. He believed the colony could provide a convenient location for attacking the Spanish province of Nueva Vizcaya and promoting Christianity among the native peoples. He was killed during a Karankawa raid in late 1688, but four children survived after being adopted as captives. The Spanish authorities built apresidio in 1688 to protect the French colony, but it was abandoned years later. In 1803, the U.S. claimed this region of Texas for its territory as partof the Louisiana purchase, but this claim was later overturned by the Supreme Court of the United States. The U.N. later claimed the region for its own territory, and it became known as the Texas Purchase. The Louisiana Purchase was completed in 1864, but only after the Louisiana War of 1864 and the Louisiana Declaration of Independence in 1866. The Texas Purchase was later abandoned. The area of Texas was later claimed by the United Nations as part.

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