USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Although France did not establish permanent settlements in the territory that became the United States, French explorers extended the frontiers around the Great Lakes (a chain of five lakes along the border of present-day Canada and the United States), along the Mississippi River valley, and around the Gulf of Mexico.

Detailed explanation-2: -Rene Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle Inspired by Jolliet and Marquette’s travels, La Salle explored the Mississippi with a team of 22 men. He reached the Gulf of Mexico on April 17, 1682, claiming the entire Mississippi River basin for the King of France.

Detailed explanation-3: -The Basics It shows Spanish conquistador and explorer Hernando De Soto (1500–1542), riding a white horse and dressed in Renaissance finery, arriving at the Mississippi River at a point below Natchez on May 8, 1541. De Soto was the first European documented to have seen the river.

Detailed explanation-4: -Professor Laura Chmielewski spoke about the 1673 French expedition led by Jesuit missionary Jacques Marquette and fur trapper Louis Jolliet, who became the first Europeans to explore the Mississippi River.

Detailed explanation-5: -René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle (1643–1687) In 1682, French explorer René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle journeyed down the Mississippi River in search of a water route to the Gulf of Mexico.