Excerpt from Louisiana Statistics and Information Showing the Agricultural and Timber Resources
The annals of Louisiana will always be an interesting chapter in the history of the world. It does not concern merely the area Which is now included within the boundaries of the present State; it embraces the story of the repeated and persistent attempts of France to found an empire in the new world which should extend from the mouth of the St. Lawrence across the Great Lakes to the mouth of the Mississippi.
The Louisiana of the seventeenth century extended from the Alleghanies to the Rocky Mountains, and from the Rio Grande and the Gulf to the dim regions which now constitute British America. It was first visited by Europeans in 1541. De Soto, the Spanish adventurer, with his followers, explored the coast west of Florida to the Mississippi river and beyond, and he visited the country on both sides of the river where now stands the city of New Orleans. In 1542 he was taken sick and died. In order to conceal his body from the Indians, his followers buried him in the Mississippi river, at the point where it is now met by the Red river.
In 1673, Father Marquette and his Canadians, starting from Canada, descended the great river from Illinois to the mouth of the Arkansas. The river was again descended by La Salle in 1682, who took possession of the country in the name of Louis XIV., and for him named the land Louisiana. He explored the river to its mouth, and, returning to France, organized plans for establishing a colony. The ship failed to reach the mouth of the Mississippi, and the colony landed in Texas. It is doubtful whether any colony was established in Louisiana before 1699, when Iberville, with a company, attempted a settlement at Biloxi. This was the chief town until 1702, when Bienville moved the headquarters to the west bank of the Mobile river. The soil of Biloxi is very sterile, and the settlers seem to have depended mainly on supplies from France or San Domingo.
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