page_title: La Belle (ship)
hierarchical_section_title: La Belle (ship)
caption_attribution_description: English: Composite image from three photographs looking down at the excavated wooden hull remains of the Belle shipwreck, excavated by the Texas Historical Commission in 1995. The photos were taken from the roof of the cofferdam which surrounded the ship and kept it in a semi-dry environment. All artifacts had been recovered from inside the hull before these photographs were taken. La Belle was the ship of French explorer La Salle, lost at Matagorda Bay in 1686 and discovered and excavated by the Texas Historical Commission from 1995 to 1997. The photographer was an archaeologist working on the project.
context_page_description: La Belle was one of Robert de La Salle's four ships when he explored the Gulf of Mexico with the ill-fated mission of starting a French colony at the mouth of the Mississippi River in 1685. La Belle was wrecked in present-day Matagorda Bay the following year, dooming La Salle's Texas colony to failure. The wreckage of La Belle lay forgotten until it was discovered by a team of state archaeologists in 1995. The discovery of La Salle's flagship was regarded as one of the most important archaeological finds of the century in Texas, and a major excavation was launched by the state of Texas that, over a period of about a year, recovered the entire shipwreck and over a million artifacts.
context_section_description: La Belle was one of Robert de La Salle's four ships when he explored the Gulf of Mexico with the ill-fated mission of starting a French colony at the mouth of the Mississippi River in 1685.  La Belle was wrecked in present-day Matagorda Bay the following year, dooming La Salle's Texas colony to failure.  The wreckage of La Belle lay forgotten until it was discovered by a team of state archaeologists in 1995.  The discovery of La Salle's flagship was regarded as one of the most important archaeological finds of the century in Texas, and a major excavation was launched by the state of Texas that, over a period of about a year, recovered the entire shipwreck and over a million artifacts.
caption: The excavated hull remains of La Belle
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