Era of Exploration (1513-1682)

to come

Caddo Nation

Caddo people began to inhabit the Red River valley approximately 2,500 years ago. Around that time, the ancestors of the southern Caddo began to settle in permanent villages, build the first mounds, cultivate plants, and develop the use of ceramics. Read »

Early Exploration

Before the first colonial settlement in 1682, Spanish and French explorers visited the territory that would become Louisiana. Read »

French Colonial Louisiana

The period of French colonial control of Louisiana dates from 1682 to 1800. Read »

Lépinay, Jean-Michel de

Jean-Michel de Lépinay served as the fifth governor of Louisiana from 1717 to 1718. Read »

La Salle, Renee-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de - Expeditions

Rene-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle led two expeditions in search of the Mississippi River's outlet to the Gulf of Mexico for France under King Louis XIV. Read »

Natchitoches Settlement

The Natchitoches settlement, founded in 1714, is the oldest in the Louisiana Territory. Read »

Native American Literature (Louisiana)

Native American culture has influenced the place we now call Louisiana for at least six thousand years. Today, Louisiana is still rich in Native culture, including being home to four federally-recognized tribes: Chitimacha, Tunica-Biloxi, Coushatta, and Jena Band of Choctaw. Read »