Events with tag - French Exploration

September 7, 1535

Discovery of St. Lawrence River

French explorer Jacques Cartier becomes the first European to navigate the St. Lawrence River, establishing a crucial waterway that would shape North American colonial development and connect the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean.

May 17, 1673

Marquette and Joliet Mississippi River Expedition

French explorers Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet led a historic expedition along the Mississippi River, becoming the first Europeans to systematically explore and document the upper Mississippi. Starting from St. Ignace Mission on May 17, 1673, they traveled over 2,500 miles through present-day Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, and Arkansas.

June 15, 1673

Quapaw Tribe Migration

The Quapaw tribe's historic migration from the Ohio Valley to the Lower Mississippi Valley, establishing significant settlements along the Arkansas and Mississippi Rivers. Their arrival marked a crucial period in Native American history, documented by French explorers in 1673.

February 1, 1682

La Salle's Mississippi River Expedition

In February 1682, French explorer René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle led a historic expedition down the Mississippi River, becoming the first European to travel from its upper reaches to the Gulf of Mexico. This journey established French claims to the vast Louisiana Territory and transformed North American colonial development.