Birth of French Louisiana Timeline

Thousands of years before “Louisiana” was even a thought, American Indians representing diverse cultures and speaking a variety of languages developed communities all along the Mississippi River.

Yet, the world as they knew it would change dramatically with the arrival of Europeans and Africans who also represented diverse cultures and spoke a variety of languages.

Today, Poverty Point possesses the distinction of being Louisiana’s only UNESCO World Heritage Site. https://www.povertypoint.us

Hernando de Soto explored the area in the 1500s, a new chapter in Louisiana’s history began when the Frenchman Rene’-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, led an expedition from Canada down to the mouth of the Mississippi River.

French Louisiana was born on April 9, 1682, when La Salle and his men erected a large stone pillar claiming all the land along the Mississippi River and its tributaries for France.

They named this vast territory “Louisiana” in honor of King Louis XIV.

Although La Salle had named Louisiana for King Louis XIV, the king was not thrilled. In fact, he called La Salle’s discovery “quite useless” and recommended “prevent[ing] similar undertakings.”

Worried about English settlements that were already popping up along the Mississippi River, as well as the Spanish who controlled Florida, the Southwest, Mexico, and beyond, France began sending colonists to settle Louisiana and maintain control of La Salle’s claim.

Nearly twenty years after La Salle’s expedition, France put thirty-nine-year-old Pierre Le Moyne, Sieur d’Iberville, in charge of roughly 200 settlers and soldiers, including his eighteen-year-old brother Bienville.

The brothers left France on October 28, 1698, and crossed the Atlantic Ocean to establish Louisiana’s first colony.

After a supply stop in the Caribbean, Iberville and Bienville arrived at the mouth of the Mississippi River, about sixty miles south of New Orleans, on March 3, 1699.

Since they landed there on Fat Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday, they named the spot “Mardi Gras Point.”

Born in Montreal, Canada, Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville, “The Father of Louisiana,” joined the French Navy at the age of 12. Six years later, he and his brother Iberville established the colony of Louisiana.

After his brother Iberville, Louisiana’s first governor, died in 1706, 21-year-old Bienville was appointed to take his place. Bienville served as Louisiana’s second, fourth, sixth, and ninth governor.

Established primarily as a military outpost inhabited by men, the fledgling colony desperately needed women to be a success.

The first women arrived aboard Le Pelican in July 1704. By September, most had found husbands.

Although the colony tried to enslave local Indians and imported white indentured servants, the arrival of Africans provided Louisiana with an unprecedented source of forced labor.

The first ship bearing 200 enslaved Africans from the Senegambia region arrived in 1719, only a year after Bienville established the city of New Orleans.

A decade later, over 6,000 Africans found themselves in Louisiana.