This Day in History: French Explorer La Salle Murdered

On March 19, 1687, Robert de La Salle was murdered by Pierre Duhaut during a mutiny while searching for the mouth of the Mississippi River.

La Salle left France in 1864 with four ships and 300 colonists in an attempt to establish a French colony on the Gulf of Mexico, at the mouth of the Mississippi River. However, the journey was ill-fated and plagued by pirates, hostile natives and poor navigation almost from the beginning.

After running one of his final ships aground near Navasota, Tex