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For thousands of years before European explorers reached the Mississippi valley, Native Americans made the shores of the river their home.
They hunted in the dense forests along the riverbanks, and developed complex cultures in riverside settlements. Some welcomed the Europeans, but others did not. Here are some explorers who tried to claim this great river for their countries.
Hernando de Soto was a Spanish conquistador (conqueror) who explored land in today’s Peru and returned to Spain a wealthy man. In 1539, he set out to conquer Florida. While searching for treasure, his group explored much of present-day Georgia, the Carolinas, Tennessee, Alabama, and Oklahoma. In 1541, de Soto became the first European to see the Mississippi River. His expedition faced freezing temperatures, lack of food, and attacks by Native Americans. As they were returning to Florida, de Soto became ill and died. He was buried in the Mississippi River. ▶
◀ Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, a French explorer in North America, was the first European to reach the Ohio River. His dreams, though, centered on the Mississippi. La Salle reached the mouth of the river in 1682 and claimed all lands that drained into the Mississippi for France. The claim was never honored, and La Salle was murdered by some of his own men in 1687.
▲ Louis Jolliet was born in Quebec, Canada. Jacques Marquette was born in France and, after becoming a Jesuit priest, moved to Quebec. Rumors had spread that a large river ran south of Canada. Jolliet believed that it would flow into the Pacific. In 1673, he led an expedition to find and explore the river, with Marquette as his chaplain. The men traveled down the Wisconsin River until it met the Mississippi, which they followed south until they encountered evidence of Spanish explorers and hostile Native Americans. Unwilling to risk capture, they returned north up the Illinois River.
Louis Hennepin, a Franciscan priest, traveled with one of La Salle’s expeditions. Captured by Sioux in 1680, Hennepin was later freed and returned to France. Although his explorations were limited, he wrote book after book boasting of his exploits. Much of what he wrote was copied directly from writings by La Salle. Even though Hennepin was dishonest, his fame lives on in Minnesota and the rest of the upper Mississippi valley. There, bridges, schools, streets, and the county that contains Minneapolis all bear his name. ▶
In 1832, Henry Schoolcraft discovered that Lake Itasca was the actual source of the Mississippi. ▶
◀ Zebulon Pike, a U.S. soldier, was sent in 1805 to the upper Mississippi to explore the river’s headwaters and select fort sites on the way. Pike never found the Mississippi’s actual source. He mistakenly claimed Leech Lake as the source, even though it was miles away.
