1687 - Exploration, Colonization

Exploration, Colonization

The La Salle expedition on America's Gulf Coast is reduced to a band of 20, having failed utterly (see 1684). La Salle's men kill their leader, now 43, March 19 and leave his body to the buzzards, but they try to keep his death secret lest hostile natives attack them. Like previous explorers, they have left measles and smallpox in their wake.