LaSalle, IL
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NorStar
N 41° 19.764 W 089° 06.341
16T E 323788 N 4577463
LaSalle, the City, within LaSalle, the County, is named after the French explorer Robert de LaSalle, who explored the region along the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers, all the way to the Gulf of Mexico.
Waymark Code: WMJRC9
Location: Illinois, United States
Date Posted: 12/23/2013
Views: 4
In north-central Illinois is the city of LaSalle, within the county of LaSalle, both named for the French explorer Robert de LaSalle who came through this area on the way to the Gulf of Mexico.
LaSalle, the City
The city of LaSalle is a small town of about 10,000 people, situated on the north side of the Illinois River, and is a twin city to Peru on the west side. The waymark is at a population sign at this boundary between the two cities. LaSalle is also the western terminus of the old Illinois & Michigan Canal, an important waterway that moved midwestern goods to Chicago and predated the modern Mississipi Waterway system that includes the dams and locks on the Illinois River. LaSalle had several important industries, including zinc mining. Because of the zinc industry dominance in the early 1900s, LaSalle-Peru have the nickname, "Zinc City." Today, the area has lost most of the earlier industries. It was platted in the 1830s and was incorporated in 1852.
LaSalle the Explorer
The explorer, Robert de LaSalle (or René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle - November 21, 1643 – March 19, 1687), explored the great waterways of North America, including the Great Lakes, the Illinois River, the Mississippi River, and even the Gulf of Mexico. He was from a noble family near Normandy, France. Though he took initial vows with the Jesuit Priests order, he later renounced his ties and left the order. He became an explorer and in 1666 he sailed to New France (today's Quebec). He passed through this area in 1680, on the way to establishing a fort near present day Peoria. In 1682, he started to go south from there. On this trip, he made it to modern day Venice, Louisiana, where he claimed the entire watershed of the Mississippi River for France and buried a cross there. He returned and passed through this area again and founded another fort at modern day Starved Rock State Park a few miles east of LaSalle. On an expedition through the West Indies in search of the mouth of the Mississippi River, his crew mutinied and he died on the shore of modern day Texas.
Other Source
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