René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle
La Salle Street runs east-west in the neighborhoods of Kosciusko, LaSalle Park, Lafayette Square, and Gate District. Named in recognition of René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle an explorer of the Mississippi Valley working for the French government to collect information about developing a French empire in the lands of North America. La Salle traveled down the Mississippi River past the future site of St. Louis in 1682.