Exploring the Mississippi River Valley

Prologue: who found it?

Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet: where the river flows (1541)

Rene-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle: France enters its claim (1682)

Pierre le Moyne d'Iberville: where the river ends (1697)

Jean-Baptiste le Moyne de Bienville: the road to New Orleans (1699)

Henry Rowe Schoolcraft: where the river begins (1832)

Epilogue: what did they find?

Important events in the exploration of the Mississippi River Valley

Important sites along the Mississippi River system.