Customer center

We are a boutique essay service, not a mass production custom writing factory. Let us create a perfect paper for you today!

Example research essay topic: Indian Tribes La Belle - 1,650 words

NOTE: Free essay sample provided on this page should be used for references or sample purposes only. The sample essay is available to anyone, so any direct quoting without mentioning the source will be considered plagiarism by schools, colleges and universities that use plagiarism detection software. To get a completely brand-new, plagiarism-free essay, please use our essay writing service.
One click instant price quote

... xp loring the hinterland of the Lavaca River, still hoping that it was really an outlet of the Mississippi. Finally, conceding that he had settled on the wrong river, he decided to try to find the Mississippi by hiking east along the coast, with the help of the ship La Belle sailing offshore. La Salle selected twenty soldiers to accompany him. On October 31, 1685, the group set off with their weapons, provisions, and Indian trade goods slung from their backs.

Other soldiers, commanded by the veteran Joutel, remained at Fort St. Louis to protect the civilian colonists. La Salle's land party soon lost sight of La Belle and proceeded northeast, following the coast and crossing the lower reaches of the Colorado, Brazos and Trinity rivers of east Texas. The party encountered numerous Indian tribes. The chiefs of the Texas tribes all said that they hated the Spanish and that they were receptive to the idea of a war against the conquistadors.

The group made steady progress, covering about 150 miles on foot, until it reached an area near the Sabine River, the present Texas-Louisiana border. At this point, La Salle, his nephew Moranget and three soldiers all fell violently ill after consuming large amounts of "certain unfamiliar fruits. " (Cox) Still over 100 miles short of the Mississippi, the expedition was forced to encamp for two months while the men recovered. Finally, running low on gunpowder and other supplies, La Salle retreated toward his settlement on the Lavaca River. As the group headed back toward Fort St. Louis, they buried caches of food and other goods along the way, with hopes of making another attempt to reach the Mississippi in the future. Of the twenty soldiers originally in the party, four men deserted to live with Indians, five were lost and were presumed dead, and one, while crossing the Colorado river, was "carried off, with his raft, by a crocodile of prodigious length and bulk. " When La Salle got back to Fort St.

Louis on March 31, 1686, he was informed by Joutel that the last remaining ship, La Belle, had been wrecked by its drunken captain on the far side of the bay, with the loss of nearly all the crew and supplies. Of the nearly 400 souls who had left France two years before, only about 45 now remained to defeat the Spanish, dominate the natives, and colonize greater '"Louisiana. " For the next nine months, according to La Salle's brother, Abbe Cavelier, the soldiers and settlers of Fort St. Louis turned their hopes to "the aid that the King might send us from France. Banished, as it were, to the uttermost parts of the earth. " (Parkman) By the end of 1686, the last chance for the survival of the colony was for La Salle to locate the Mississippi River and to make his way to French fur-trading outposts that he knew lay further north. In early January, 1687, La Salle left Fort St. Louis with a party of the most able-bodied colonists; these included his brother Abbe Cavalier, his two nephews Moranget and Cavelier, the veteran Joutel, Father Douay, and an Indian guide named Nika. (The infirm, the women and the children stayed in the settlement, where they were watched over by three priests, a handful of soldiers, and a surgeon. ) LaSalle's group was slowed by heavy winter rains as it made its way across the prairies of eastern Texas, lodging at the villages of friendly Indian tribes.

Two months after leaving Fort St. Louis, the group began to run low on provisions. La Salle sent some men ahead to locate a buried cache of wheat and beans that he had left behind on his previous journey. This group consisted of the Indian Nika; four Frenchmen named Duhaut, Teissier, L'Archeveque and Liotot; a German buccaneer named Heins, and a servant. After finding the stored food "all rotten and quite spoiled, " (Cox) the Shawnee guide, Nika, succeeded in killing two buffalo.

The servant was sent with this news to La Salle's camp. The next day, La Salle sent his nephew Moranget to retrieve some of the meat. When Moranget reached the hunting party, he found that they had butchered and smoked the buffalo meat, and had set aside some of the bones and scraps for their evening meal. According to Joutel's account, Moranget became incensed at the group's daring to reserve some of the meat for their own consumption. "In a passion, he seized not only the meat that was smoked and dried, but also the bones, without giving the hunters anything. " (Parkman) After having gone for days without food, the hunters were outraged by Moranget's unreasonable action. The group "withdrew and resolved together upon a bloody revenge; and agreed upon the manner of it. " (Parkman) A plan was hatched to kill Moranget, Nika, and La Salle's servant. That night, after the three men had fallen asleep, the conspirators took action.

Liotot, the surgeon, Joutel relates, "was the inhuman executioner; he took an axe and began with Moranget, giving him many strokes on the head; the same he did by the servant and the Indian, killing them on the spot. " (Parkman) With Moranget, Nika and the servant dead, the killers decided that they would now have to murder La Salle and any who were loyal to him. The next morning, according to Joutel, "They consulted about the safest method to effect it, and resolved to go together to La Salle's camp, to knock out the brains of the most resolute immediately, then it would be easier to overcome the rest. " (Parkman) The Death of La Salle and His Dreams The river which lay between the two camps was flooded, however, and so the mutineers remained in their camp for two days, well stocked with buffalo meat. La Salle, who was expecting Moranget's return with the meat, became anxious on the third day, and decided to go in search of the missing party. On the morning of March 20, 1687, La Salle set out with Father Douay to find his nephew and the others. He left Joutel in charge of the base camp, with instructions to patrol the area "to prevent being surprised, and to make smoke signals for him to find his way back. " (Cox) When La Salle reached the hunting camp, he found only a bloodstained shirt. He noticed eagles circling overhead, as if scenting carrion.

Seeing no one, he fired his pistol as a signal. The assassins, hearing the gunshot, prepared their own muzzle-loading weapons in the woods nearby. Three of them-Duhaut, L'Archeveque and Liotot-moved cautiously in the direction of the gunshot. Sighting the explorer and Father Douay in the distance, Duhaut and Liotot hid in some tall grass, stationing L'Archeveque in the open. When La Salle saw L'Archeveque, he called to him, asking where he might find his nephew. L'Archeveque evasively answered that Moranget was "somewhere along the river. " (Cox) As La Salle came closer, Duhaut and Liotot opened fire and "shot La Salle through the head, so that he dropped down on the spot without speaking a word. " (Cox) Father Douay stood petrified with fear, but was quickly assured by Duhaut that he was not in danger.

Joutel wrote, "the shot which had killed La Salle was also a signal for the assassins to draw near. They all came to the place where the wretched corpse lay, which they barbarously stripped to the shirt, and vented their malice in vile and insulting language. The surgeon, Liotot, said several times in scorn and derision, 'There thou list, great bassa, there thou list. ' They dragged the body naked among the bushes and left it there, exposed to ravenous wild beasts. " (Cox) The mutineers returned to La Salle's camp, where Duhaut proclaimed himself the new leader. He led the tattered group of survivors to a nearby Indian village. There they stayed for six weeks, debating their next move, until tensions within the fragmented group led to another episode of violence; Duhaut and Liotot were shot to death by Heins and one of the deserters. The remaining Frenchmen decided to head northeast, and after four months' travel, in September, 1687, they reached a French outpost on the Illinois River.

There they were able to borrow money and supplies in La Salle's name, claiming that the last time they had seen La Salle, he had been alive and well. The six survivors, including Joutel, Abbe Cavelier, and Father Douay, kept the news of La Salle's death a secret for over a year, until they had safely returned to France. Meanwhile, some Spanish ships, alerted by sightings of LaSalle's wrecked ships in the bay, located the ruins of the settlement on the Lavaca River. The Spaniards learned from the Indians that the French colony had been decimated by an epidemic of smallpox, after which the remaining colonists had been slaughtered by the Indians. Unfortunately, we see that La Salles goals all ended in vain.

He didnt set up a successful colony, he didnt even find the Mississippi delta the second time, much less claim the Mississippi watershed for France. He did however, explore further west that any other French explorers, and met groups of Indians which hadnt been in contact with the French before either. Though unsuccessful in his main itinerary, his quest, led with excellent prestige and persistence, proves La Salle one of Frances greatest explorers, one who fought until the bitter end. Bibliography: Bibliography: The Journeys of Rene Robert Cavalier Sir de la Salle. edited by I. J.

Cox. New York. 1922. La Salle and the Discovery of the Great West. by Francis Parkman. New York. 1879. The World Book Encyclopedia.

Scott Fetzer. Chicago, Illinois. 1998 The New Catholic Encyclopedia. John P. Whalen, M. A. , S. T.

D. St. Louis, Missouri. 1967


Free research essays on topics related to: cox, mississippi, louis, indian tribes, la belle

Research essay sample on Indian Tribes La Belle

Writing service prices per page

  • $18.85 - in 14 days
  • $19.95 - in 3 days
  • $23.95 - within 48 hours
  • $26.95 - within 24 hours
  • $29.95 - within 12 hours
  • $34.95 - within 6 hours
  • $39.95 - within 3 hours
  • Calculate total price

Our guarantee

  • 100% money back guarantee
  • plagiarism-free authentic works
  • completely confidential service
  • timely revisions until completely satisfied
  • 24/7 customer support
  • payments protected by PayPal

Secure payment

With EssayChief you get

  • Strict plagiarism detection regulations
  • 300+ words per page
  • Times New Roman font 12 pts, double-spaced
  • FREE abstract, outline, bibliography
  • Money back guarantee for missed deadline
  • Round-the-clock customer support
  • Complete anonymity of all our clients
  • Custom essays
  • Writing service

EssayChief can handle your

  • essays, term papers
  • book and movie reports
  • Power Point presentations
  • annotated bibliographies
  • theses, dissertations
  • exam preparations
  • editing and proofreading of your texts
  • academic ghostwriting of any kind

Free essay samples

Browse essays by topic:

Stay with EssayChief! We offer 10% discount to all our return customers. Once you place your order you will receive an email with the password. You can use this password for unlimited period and you can share it with your friends!

Academic ghostwriting

About us

© 2002-2024 EssayChief.com