And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: Archaeologists ready to dig at La Salle's long-lost fort Texas' earliest French settlement had key role in state's formation 09/07/99 By Christy Hoppe / The Dallas Morning News http://www.dallasnews.com/texas_southwest/0907tsw111fort.htm AUSTIN - State archaeologists are about to dig down two feet, to the origins of Texas. Fort St. Louis, erected by the French explorer La Salle in 1685, has been lost for 300 years. The fort was the first of the historical pieces leading to the formation of Texas: It was the first major European settlement; it was where Indian battles began; it provided impetus for Spanish missions; and it embodied the frontier spirit. It's also the source of one of the Six Flags Over Texas. Now state historians are certain they have found the fort's ruins and are preparing to unlock them from the black clay of the Gulf Coast. "It's tremendously exciting. It's one of the major archaeological discoveries of the last decade," said James E. Bruseth, director of archaeology for the Texas Historical Commission. Thomas Hester, director of the Council of Texas Archaeology, agrees: "I think it's very big. It has the potential of being one of the major discoveries of Texas archaeology." Big enough that PBS' Nova and the History Channel are vying to film the excavation, which begins in January. The twin tales of Fort St. Louis' creation and its rediscovery follow a winding path of endurance, tenacity and false starts, historians say. It begins with Rene-Robert Cavelier Sieur de La Salle, who gained fame and nobility when, starting from the Great Lakes, he followed the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico in 1682. He named the river valley Louisiana. In 1684, he set sail again from France with four ships, this time to settle the Mississippi basin and fortify his nation's land claim. The 400 wayfarers with La Salle included sailors, pioneers, doctors, clergy, women, children, a no-good nephew and more than a few "volunteers" collected on church doorsteps near the dock while sleeping off hangovers. Sailing around the tip of Cuba, La Salle missed the Mississippi by a few longitudinal degrees to the west. Instead of founding New Orleans, he settled Matagorda Bay. His ships had been ravaged by storms. Only 180 survivors came ashore and dragged their belongings - including eight 900-pound cannons - about 20 miles along an inlet. On a high ridge, around a blind bend in the bay, La Salle built Fort St. Louis, thinking he'd found a western outlet to the Mississippi. His mission was beset by problems, said William C. Foster, who has written The La Salle Expedition to Texas, based on the diaries of La Salle's top lieutenant, Henri Joutel. For starters, La Salle sent his nephew to negotiate with native Karankawa Indians for canoes. Instead, the nephew stole two canoes and provoked ongoing battles with the Indians. The La Salle group was besieged by attacks and disease. The last ship, La Belle, sank in a storm in 1686. By January 1687, La Salle realized his mistake and took 17 men on foot to find the Mississippi and travel north for help. But La Salle - so hated by his own men that he carried poison antidote - was unprepared when four conspirators fatally beat him in the East Texas wilderness. Six from the original group continued on, found the Mississippi and eventually returned to France in 1688, Mr. Bruseth said. <<end excerpt Reprinted under the Fair Use http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html doctrine of international copyright law. &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit) Unenh onhwa' Awayaton http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/ UPDATES: CAMP JUSTICE http://shell.webbernet.net/~ishgooda/oglala/ &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
