La Salle in Indiana
Posted by: 
Special.Ed
N 41° 23.784 W 086° 41.914
16T E 525198 N 4582806
South of US 30 on CR 50 E/ N. Range Road, 0.6 mile east of the La Porte & Starke county line & Kankakee River; Turkey Foot Conservation Area parking lot, Davis Station, Hamlet area
Waymark Code: WMD9E
Location: Indiana, United States
Date Posted: 05/22/2006
Views: 31
Side one:
Rene-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, born Rouen, France 1643; died 1687. Emigrated 1666 to New France (near present Montreal, Quebec, Canada). Led explorations 1679-1682 in search of trade, expanded empire for France, and mouth of Mississippi River. On April 9, 1682 claimed entire Mississippi River basin for France, naming it Louisiana.
Side two:
In 1679, La Salle and his men came to present Indiana traveling on St. Joseph and Kankakee rivers. They canoed down the meandering Kankakee River through vast marsh-swamp-dune ecosystems--which covered over 625 square miles and teemed with game including fish, waterfowl, and mammals. Kankakee River forms part of northern and northwestern boundary of Starke County.