The Wreck of the Belle, the Ruin of La Salle

The Wreck of the Belle, the Ruin of La Salle PDF

Author: Robert S. Weddle

Publisher:

Published: 2001

Total Pages: 360

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

The acclaimed historian Robert Weddle reveals the true story of the explorer La Salle and his ship the Belle. An in depth history of the exploration of La Salle and the archaeological dig of the vessel La Belle.

The Wreck of the Belle, the Ruin of La Salle

The Wreck of the Belle, the Ruin of La Salle PDF

Author: Robert S. Weddle

Publisher:

Published: 2001

Total Pages: 360

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

The acclaimed historian Robert Weddle reveals the true story of the explorer La Salle and his ship the Belle. An in depth history of the exploration of La Salle and the archaeological dig of the vessel La Belle.

The Wrecking of La Salle's Ship Aimable and the Trial of Claude Aigron

The Wrecking of La Salle's Ship Aimable and the Trial of Claude Aigron PDF

Author: Robert S. Weddle

Publisher: University of Texas Press

Published: 2010-01-01

Total Pages: 149

ISBN-13: 029277396X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

When Robert Cavelier, sieur de La Salle, landed on the Texas coast in 1685, bent on founding a French colony, his enterprise was doomed to failure. Not only was he hundreds of miles from his intended landfall—the mouth of the Mississippi—but his supply ship, Aimable, was wrecked at the mouth of Matagorda Bay, leaving the colonists with scant provisions and little protection against local Indian tribes. In anger and disgust, he struck out at the ship's captain, Claude Aigron, accusing him of wrecking the vessel purposely and maliciously. Captain Aigron and his crew escaped the doomed colony by returning to France on the warship that had escorted the expedition on its ocean crossing. Soon after reaching France, Aigron found himself defendant in a civil suit filed by two of his officers seeking recompense for lost salary and personal effects, and then imprisoned on order of King Louis XIV while La Salle's more serious accusations were being investigated. In this book, Robert Weddle meticulously recounts, through court documents, the known history of Aigron and the Aimable, and finds that despite La Salle's fervent accusations, the facts of the case offer no clear indictment. The court documents, deftly translated by François Lagarde, reveal Captain Aigron's successful defense and illuminate the circumstances of the wreck with Aigron's testimony. Much is also revealed about the French legal system and how the sea laws of the period were applied through the French government's L'Ordonnance de la Marine.

La Belle

La Belle PDF

Author: James E. Bruseth

Publisher: Texas A&M University Press

Published: 2017-03-03

Total Pages: 916

ISBN-13: 1623493625

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

In 1995, Texas Historical Commission underwater archaeologists discovered the wreck of La Salle’s La Belle, remnant of an ill-fated French attempt to establish a colony at the mouth of the Mississippi River that landed instead along today’s Matagorda Bay in Texas. During 1996–1997, the Commission uncovered the ship’s remains under the direction of archaeologist James E. Bruseth and employing a team of archaeologists and volunteers. Amid the shallow waters of Matagorda Bay, a steel cofferdam was constructed around the site, creating one of the most complex nautical archaeological excavations ever attempted in North America and allowing the archaeologists to excavate the sunken wreck much as if it were located on dry land. The ship’s hold was discovered full of everything the would-be colonists would need to establish themselves in the New World; more than 1.8 million artifacts were recovered from the site. More than two decades in the making, due to the immensity of the find and the complexity of cataloging and conserving the artifacts, this book thoroughly documents one of the most significant North American archaeological discoveries of the twentieth century.

From a Watery Grave

From a Watery Grave PDF

Author: James E. Bruseth

Publisher: Texas A&M University Press

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 184

ISBN-13: 9781585443475

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

An account of the discovery and excavation of the French ship La Belle, shipwrecked in 1686 in Matagorda Bay, Texas.

La Salle's Ghost

La Salle's Ghost PDF

Author: Miles Arceneaux

Publisher: Texas A&M University Press

Published: 2013-08-08

Total Pages: 318

ISBN-13: 1622880277

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Drifting silently on the water about forty nautical miles off the Texas coast, Charlie Sweetwater sits aboard his boat, alone with his thoughts, when from the darkness he hears a man swimming toward him. But not just any man. His name is Julien Dufay, the wealthy French scion of a family-owned petrochemical dynasty headquartered in Houston. Charlie plucks the exhausted Frenchman from the Gulf of Mexico and delivers him back to his rarified world. But of course, no good deed ever goes unpunished. As Charlie is drawn deeper into Julien’s erratic orbit, he discovers a man possessed. Dufay is consumed by his vision of discovering the site of Fort Saint Louis: the famed—and doomed—17th century settlement of French explorer, Robert Cavelier de La Salle. Thanks to Julien, and his own restless curiosity, Charlie is pulled into a web of obsession, murder and greed. Julien wants to find La Salle’s long-lost colony (and the treasure of artifacts buried with it) as a legacy for himself, his family and the greater glory of France. But the project’s ambitious sponsor, Jean-Marc Dufay, is hell-bent on getting at the rich natural gas resources hidden beneath the site, even if it means using his own brother as a pawn to feed his ambitions. Standing in the way is the stubborn old man on whose South Texas ranch Julien and Jean-Marc are converging, along with his trio of scurrilous sons, who have their own covert agenda—an agenda that can be lethal to outsiders. Charlie struggles to make sense of it all, with the help of the beautiful marine archeologist who is excavating La Salle’s shipwreck La Belle in nearby Matagorda Bay. But as he digs deeper into Julien Dufay’s danger-fraught quest, he discovers that history has a way of repeating itself, and that some ghosts just won't stay buried.

La Salle in Texas

La Salle in Texas PDF

Author: Pam Wheat-Stranahan

Publisher: Texas A&M University Press

Published: 2007-08-15

Total Pages: 150

ISBN-13: 1585446092

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

The excavation of the shipwreck La Belle grabbed public attention in Texas, across the nation, and overseas. Especially enthralled with the discoveries from the ship were schoolchildren. Pam Wheat-Stranahan, named by the Texas Historical Commission to head the educational efforts associated with the excavation’s traveling exhibit, continued her work on this project after leaving the THC. Now, her teacher’s guide, which includes a DVD of acclaimed documentary director Alan Govenar’s films The Shipwreck of La Belle and Dreams of Conquest (about Fort St. Louis and Presidio La Bahia), is available for use in an exploration and discovery unit. Ideal for grades 4–8, the teacher’s guide and films are designed for use with the book From a Watery Grave. Wheat-Stranahan has incorporated the standards for national social studies and the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills. The resulting guide is user-friendly for teachers and provides interactive learning opportunities for students not just about Texas history but also concerning the age of discovery and the precursors to the American nation.

The French in Texas

The French in Texas PDF

Author: François Lagarde

Publisher: Univ of TX + ORM

Published: 2010-01-01

Total Pages: 557

ISBN-13: 029279780X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

A surprising history of explorers, pirates, priests, artists, and more: “The best overall study of the French experience in Texas ever assembled.” —Jack Jackson, editor of Texas by Terán The flag of France is one of the six flags that have flown over Texas, but all that many people know about the French presence in Texas is the ill-fated explorer Cavelier de La Salle, fabled pirate Jean Lafitte, or Cajun music and food. Yet the French have made lasting contributions to Texas history and culture that deserve to be widely known and appreciated. In this book, François Lagarde and thirteen other experts present original articles that explore the French presence and influence on Texas history, arts, education, religion, and business from the arrival of La Salle in 1685 to the dawn of the twenty-first century. Each article covers an important figure or event in the France-Texas story. The historical articles thoroughly investigate early French colonists and explorers; the French pirates and privateers; the Bonapartists of Champ-d’Asile; the French at the Alamo; Dubois de Saligny and French recognition of the Republic of Texas; the nineteenth-century utopists of Icaria and Reunion; and the French Catholic missions. Other articles deal with French immigration in Texas, including the founding of Castroville; Cajuns in Texas; and the French economic presence in Texas today—the first such study ever published. The remaining articles look at painters Théodore and Marie Gentilz; sculptor Raoul Josset; French architecture in Texas; French travelers from Théodore Pavie to Simone de Beauvoir who have written on Texas; and the French heritage in Texas education. Includes more than seventy photos and illustrations

Robert de la Salle

Robert de la Salle PDF

Author: Samuel Willard Crompton

Publisher: Infobase Learning

Published: 2013-10

Total Pages: 123

ISBN-13: 1438148631

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

La Salle is one of the best-known but least-understood explorers of human history. Celebrated for following the Mississippi to its mouth in present-day Louisiana, he was also berated for failing to locate that same area again w.

Historic Texas from the Air

Historic Texas from the Air PDF

Author: David Buisseret

Publisher: University of Texas Press

Published: 2009-06-01

Total Pages: 219

ISBN-13: 0292719272

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

The extremely varied geography of Texas, ranging from lush piney woods to arid, mountainous deserts, has played a major role in the settlement and development of the state. To gain full perspective on the influence of the land on the people of Texas, you really have to take to the air—and the authors of Historic Texas from the Air have done just that. In this beautiful book, dramatic aerial photography provides a complete panorama of seventy-three historic sites from around the state, showing them in extensive geographic context and revealing details unavailable to a ground-based observer. Each site in Historic Texas from the Air appears in a full-page color photograph, accompanied by a concise description of the site's history and importance. Contemporary and historical photographs, vintage postcard images, and maps offer further visual information about the sites. The book opens with images of significant natural landforms, such as the Chisos Mountains and the Big Thicket, then shows the development of Texas history through Indian spiritual sites (including Caddo Mounds and Enchanted Rock), relics from the French and Spanish occupation (such as the wreck of the Belle and the Alamo), Anglo forts and methods of communication (including Fort Davis and Salado's Stagecoach Inn), nineteenth-century settlements and industries (such as Granbury's courthouse square and Kreische Brewery in La Grange), and significant twentieth-century locales, (including Spindletop, the LBJ Ranch, and the Dallas–Fort Worth International Airport). For anyone seeking a visual, vital overview of Texas history, Historic Texas from the Air is the perfect place to begin.