La Salle and the Conquest of the Mississippi.

To say that René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle was determined is like saying the sun is warm. He had to make his way from Eastern Canada to the Great Lakes, then go by canoe down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico. It was thousands of miles of dense, unexplored wilderness, controlled by the fierce and powerful Iroquois. To make the merely daunting impossible, La Salle was on his own. His King, Louis X1V, would provide neither protection, men nor money.

It took 14 years, filled with incredible hardship and constant danger, but La Salle did what he set out to do. This is the story of an obstinate and courageous man who had dreams as large as the continent and a will to match those dreams.




THE READ-ALONG™ MAP
For both the explorer and the reader, the key element of any voyage of discovery is the map. While the explorer can have the map in front of him, the reader usually cannot. There's nothing more frustrating than having to flip back to read a map in the middle of reading a story. For this book, Mikaya Press has designed a Read-Along™ Map. This gatefold page makes it possible to read about an explorer's travels, and follow them on a map at the same time.

Awards
Nonfiction Honor Book, 2001
VOYA

Reviews
"Goodman presents a memorable portrait of this incurable hustler... McNeely's 19th-century style tableaux adds a vivid sense of the period...this lively biography sits a good cut above standard school assignment fare."

Kirkus Reviews

"...an outstanding resource for homes, classrooms and libraries."

Forward Magazine