A Journal Of the Last Voyage Perform'd by Monsr. de la Sale, to the Gulph of Mexico
Item
Joutel, Henri. 1713. “A Journal Of the Last Voyage Perform’d by Monsr. De La Sale, to the Gulph of Mexico”. A. Bell, Terra Incognita, accessed February 10, 2026, https://digitalexhibits.library.wustl.edu/s/terra-incognita/item/18868
- Title
- A Journal Of the Last Voyage Perform'd by Monsr. de la Sale, to the Gulph of Mexico
- Description
-
In 1684 Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, was planning an expedition to establish a French settlement at the mouth of the Mississippi River. Joutel met La Salle in Rouen and signed on as his "intendent" or confidential assistant. After a harrowing ocean crossing of over four months, La Salle and his party reached the Gulf of Mexico. Navigational errors caused them to miss the mouth of the Mississippi, instead making landfall in Matagorda Bay.
La Salle was murdered by his crew during the journey back to the mouth of the Mississippi. Joutel, his nephew, and La Salle's brother escaped a similar fate, making their way to Tonti's fort on the Illinois River, travelling on to Quebec via the Great Lakes, and eventually returning to France in 1688.
Shown here is the first French edition of Joutel's journal. - Creator
- Joutel, Henri
- Publisher
- A. Bell
- Date
- 1714
- Rights
- https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/
- Item sets
- Terra Incognita
- Site pages
- North America
- Media
joutel3.gif
Joutel, Henri. 1713. “A Journal Of the Last Voyage Perform’d by Monsr. De La Sale, to the Gulph of Mexico”. A. Bell, Terra Incognita, accessed February 10, 2026, https://digitalexhibits.library.wustl.edu/s/terra-incognita/item/18868