La Salle brought 180 colonists here and planted the French flag. But Indian attacks and disease killed them, and La Salle's men assassinated him. 2 Fort St. Louis was slowly swallowed up by the forest. Stephanie Cloutier is an archeology student from Quebec. She found part of the rim of a large pot.
Journals tell of their suffering.
La Salle's failure changed history. The Spanish moved in and built dozens of forts and missions. What is now Texas became part of New Spain and later, Mexico. Out here, in ways, it is still wild. On the coast, cast in stone, La Salle looks out to sea, toward his homeland, a reminder of a voyage destined for doom.