PRIMARY SOURCE EXPLORERS A JOURNEY WITH SIEUR DE LA SALLE LISA L OWENS LERNER PUBLICATIONS MINNEAPOLIS 1SL BANAMA
INTRODUCTION A LOST HISTORY French explorer Sieur de La Salle lived during the seventeenth century near the end of the Age of Exploration This was a time when Europeans explored and colonized parts of what they called the New World La Salle explored the Great Lakes region the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico He is probably best known for giving the Louisiana territory its name Biographer Francis Parkman wrote that La Salle kept journals and made maps of his expeditions These journals and maps are examples of primary sources information created by those who witnessed an event Historians use primary This engraving of Sieur de La Salle was created in the nineteenth century long after La Salle died It is not considered a primary source I QU
Henri Joutel accompanied La Salle on his final journey before he died in 1687 Joutel wrote this journal about the voyage and about La Salle's death sources to understand and describe historical people places and events Some of La Salle's letters survived But most of his other personal records were lost Other maps and firsthand accounts as well as artworks and objects from his ships still exist though These items fill in some of the blanks in La Salle's life and help us better understand and more accurately report on his role in history SLE
