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Writer's pictureRobin Cole-Jett

Lost La Salle

Updated: Jun 30, 2021

The map by Jean Baptist Franquelin, printed in Paris (France) in 1684, is a facsimile of the original that has been lost. It now resides at Harvard University (this is an image from the Library of Congress).


The map depicts the area of Louisiana claimed by the French, but Franquelin had to rely on descriptions by those who had traveled and surveyed the areas. Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle, was one of the people who described the New World to Franquelin. It must have been a really bad description, because the Mississippi River (named Colbert on this map, in honor of the French minister of Finance) doesn't even empty into the gulf.


If La Salle relied on these directions for navigation, no wonder he got lost.


Link to map (LOC): https://www.loc.gov/item/2001620469/


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