|
|
 |
|
| |
Returning to the
New World from France, La Salle planned
to build a settlement at the mouth of the
Mississippi. Things went wrong from the
very start. At the time, Europeans
did not possess accurate navigational
instruments (see the astrolabe on the
right). So, instead of landing at the
mouth of the Mississippi River, La Salle
landed 400 miles to the west in land that
was claimed by Spain. Within four years,
La Salle had been murdered by his own
men, and the colony, Fort Saint Louis,
was destroyed by the Karankawa Indians.
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Bad weather, an
undisciplined crew, unprepared colonists, and
hostile Indians led to the failure of the colony.
Spain, learning of La Salle’s attempt to
settle in “their” territory, sent
explorers, missionaries, and, later, colonists to
Texas to insure that France would never try to
enter the region again. Conflict between the
Karankawas and Europeans continued. The strategic
coastal territory inhabited by the tribe invited
contact, and often conflict was inevitable.
Eventually the Karankawas were overwhelmed
by European settlers. By the 1850s they were
gone, one of the first Texas tribes to disappear.
|
|
|
