La Salle, René-Robert Cavelier
Syllabification: (La Salle, René-Robert Cavelier)
Pronunciation: /lə ˈsal, lä ˈsäl/
Definition of La Salle, René-Robert Cavelier
- Sieur de (1643–87), French explorer. He sailed from Canada down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to the Gulf of Mexico in 1682, naming the Mississippi basin Louisiana in honor of Louis XIV. In 1684, he led an expedition to establish a French colony on the Gulf of Mexico, but was murdered when his followers mutinied.