Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 11.djvu/874

* LA SALLE. 790 LA SAUSSAYE. La Salle rcturiietl to Fort Miami. He now exerted liinsclf to form a league Qf the Western Indian tribes, under his own leader- ship, and thus to l<eep the Iroquois in check. The Indians received the idea with favor, and, after spending the spring of 1681 in securing their coiipcration, he returned in May to Michilli- niackinac, where he found Tonty. and thence to Fort Frontenac for supplies. Count Frontenac exerted liis inlluonce in behalf of the discoverer, and another expedition was equipi)ed. In De- cember l.a iSalle crossed the Cliicago portage to the Illinois, followed the frozen river on sledges to Lake Peoria, and from there floated down- stream, reaching the Mississippi on February G, 1(!82. lie kept on down the great river to the mouths of the Arkansas and Red rivers, where he took formal possession of tlic country in the name of liis King. On April (J the party reached the delta. There Ld Salle divided his men into tliree bands, and each took one of the branches which led to the Gulf. On April 9, 1G82. they rinnitcd. and La Salle erected at the month of the river a monument and a cross bearing the arms of France, and proclaimed the river and all the lands drained by it to be by right of dis- covery the dominions of Louis XIV., King of France. To La Salle belongs the glory of tracing the great river for the first time from its upper waters to the sea. and of determining the connec- tion lietween the discoveries of He Soto near its niiaith, and those of Joliet and l^larqnette in the north. La Salle now formulated plans to establish colonies throughout this new-found country. Ascending the river, in December, he built Fort Saint Louis at Starved Kock. on the Illinois, as a rallying-point for the Indians, twenty thousand of wliiini established themselves in villages in the vicinity. It proved, however, impossible to obtain the necessary supplies from Canada. Fron- tenac had been succeeded by De la Barre, and I,a Salle was without a friend at Court. The new Governor was a weak and avaricious man, who looked upon La Salle's monopolies and privi- leges as legitimate sjioil. He seized Fort Fronte- nac, and sent an otncer to supersede La Salle at Fort Saint Louis, ordering him. at the same time, to return to Quebec. La Salle obeyed, and sailed at once for France. In Paris, the dis- coverer and his plans for colonizing the West found favor at Court. Royal letters were sent to De la Rarre. commanding him to make restitu- tion. Four vessels were placed at the disposal of La Salle, that he might make the voyage di- rcctlv from France to the mouth of the ^Xlissis- sippi. The fleet left La Rocbclle .Tuly 24. 1084. The naval oflieer of the fleet. Captain Beaujeu. did not act harmoniously with La Salle, and the vovage was inauspicious from the outset. When at length the shore of the Oulf of Mexico was sighted, the expedition was unable to find the mouth of the ilississippi. amid the confusion of lagoons and inlets. La Salle knew its latitude, but had been unable to take its longitude. Mis- takes were followed by recriminations. La Salle became convinced that Beaujeu was attempting to thwart his designs, and finally estaldished his men on shore, at Matagorda Bay. mistaking its inlets for the mouths of the Mississippi. Beau- jeu sailed away on ]Iarch 12. 168.5. reaching i.a Rochelle about .July I. La Salle realized his mistake, established his colony on Lavaca River, and. leaving his lieutenant, Joutel, in charge, started (October, l(i8o) on a fruitless search for the Mississippi. In March, 1680, he was back again, and in April had started for Canada, but was obliged to turn back. His colony had dwindled from 180 to 45 men. Another at- tempt to reach Canada was made in .Tannary, 11)87. The ])arty wandered about for two months. le])catcd <iuarrels Wd to a mutiny, and La Salle was treacherously shot from ambush. Joutel assumed the leadership of the few men who remained loyal, and succeeded in reaching one of Tonty's posts on the Arkansas River. Little is known of the fate of those who took part in the mutiny, except that most of the men joined the rovinu' trooji-i of Indian*, and two of them even- tually made thcm-^clvcs known to Spanish explor- ing expcilitions and ri'turned to civilization by way of Mexico. Besides Parkman, /-'( Hallr, and the Dinrovery of the (Irent Went (Boston, 1879. revised edi- tion), consult Winsor, Carticr to FroiUenac (Boston. 1894), and Shea, Disrorcrii and Ex- plortilinn of tlir M it.tinsipfii Vallrii (Sew York, ISo2). The original narratives are translated in French. Uixtorlritl f'otlictioiin of Loiiisiafia (Xcw York. ISn:)). and Shea. Karhi Voiiafic.i Up and Doirn Ihr M i.ixixsiiiiii ( .lbany, 1861), and have lieen republished liy the Caxton Club of Chicago. LA SALLE COLLEGE. A Roman Catholic infill lit ion nf liislior learning. iiieor]iorated in 18(i:i as La Salle Colfege in the City of Phila- delphia. It is >mder the management of the Brothers of the Christian Church, and has col- legiate, academic, commercial, and preparatory departments, with a total enrollment in 1903 of 276. of whom 73 were collegiate stuilents. The instructors numbered 24. tlic librar;s* contained 9800 books, ami the value of the college grounds and buildings was .'?2.50.000. The college confers the degrees of B.A., B.S. and M.A., besides hon- orary degrees given at the discretion of the faculty. LASAULX, l!Vz6'. Ebxst von (180.5-61). A German areha-ologist. He was born at Coblentz, Germany. He studied at Bonn and Munich; was a|ipointed jirofessor at Wiirzburg in 1835, and nine years later was made professor of philology and ivsthetics at .Munich. His works have little scientific but some ]>ersonal vnlne: he was a myotic and was continually finding Christian ideas in Hellenic philosophy. ]iarallels between Pionietheus or Socrates and the Christ. Among his liooks are: Ziir (Icsriiiclitr iind I'liilosophie der Elic bei den (Irieehen (18.52) ; Oer Vnteryang des Hellenismus (1854): Xeiier Vernuch einer Philosophie der (lexehichte (1856); and Dr.s Sokratex Lehen (1857). Consult Holland, Erin- nerunijen an Ernft ton Lasaiilx (Munich, 1861). LA SAUSSAYE, la sf/sft', Pierre D. iel CUANTEPIE DE (1848—). A Dutch scholar. He was born at Leeuwarden, and in 1878 became professor of the history of religions in the Uni- versity of Amsterdam;' in 1900 professor of the- ological encyclopa-dia, ethics, symbolics and his- tory of theology' in Leyden. He is the author of Lrhrhueh der kelifiionxr/esehiehte (2 vols.. Frei- burg, 1887-89; 2d ed'. 1897; English trans., Manual of the ficience of Religion. London, 1891) ; The Religion of the Teutons (Eng. trans. Boston, 1902).