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Museums and Resources for K-12 Students

Opportunities abound for learning more about La Salle, La Belle, and Fort St. Louis, whether you choose to visit museums with special exhibits on these topics or explore lessons and other educational materals online or in print sources. In this section we highlight a selection of these materials.

La Salle's Odyssey Trail: A Collaboration of Museums

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Map of museums participating in the La Salle Odyssey Trail
photo of a display at the Corpus Christi Museum of Science and History
The Corpus Christi Museum of Science and History features exhibits on the native peoples encountered by early Europeans, as well as interpretive displays on numerous shipwrecks from the Texas coast, including La Belle. Enlarge image
photo of a display at the Calhoun County Musuem at Port Lavaca
Shipwreck artifacts at the Calhoun County Museum at Port Lavaca. Enlarge image
photo of a display at the Texas Maritime Museum in Rockport
Exhibits at the Texas Maritime Museum in Rockport. Enlarge image

Seven museums along the Texas coast as well as the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum in Austin have joined in a unique partnership to tell the story of La Salle, La Belle, and the French settlement, Fort St. Louis, in 17th-century Texas. Following the trail and visiting the museums provides a special opportunity to see the environmental context—bays and barrier islands, marshes, streams, and prairies—in which these historic events played out.

With the support of the Texas Historical Commission, each museum has showcased different aspects of the La Salle saga accompanied by distinctive historical artifacts and materials. The Odyssey partnership is a continuation of the extraordinary efforts by local volunteers, cities, organizations, foundations, and businesses along the coast who contributed time and funding toward the excavation and analyses of La Belle shipwreck and the Fort St. Louis site.

Visiting hours vary widely at each museum, so it's wise to call ahead before planning your journey (follow the links in the map above to the museums' webpages, which list visitor information, directions, and phone numbers). To learn more, visit the La Salle Odyssey Museums, Bullock Texas State History Museum.

photo of a volunteers of a museum participating in the La Salle Odyssey Trail
Local French and Spanish living history reenactors volunteering at the THC's Fort St. Louis Archeological Project sidewalk fair.Enlarge image
photo of a display at the Museum of the Coastal Bend in Victoria
Cannons from La Salle's Fort St. Louis on display at the Museum of the Coastal Bend in Victoria. Enlarge image
photo of a display at the Texana Museum in Edna
Display on coastal native lifeways at the Texana Museum in Edna. Enlarge image
photo of a display at the Calhoun County Musuem at Port Lavaca
Maps and interpretive exhibits at the Calhoun County Museum at Port Lavaca. Enlarge image
photo of a display at the La Petit Belle, Palacios Area Historical Museum in Palacios
Shipwreck items on display at the Matagorda County Museum. Enlarge image
photo of students at the Museum of Coastal bend
Students listen to a talk on artifacts from La Belle at the Museum of the Coastal Bend. Enlarge image
photo of a display at the Bob Bullock State History Museum
A ghostly image of La Belle appears to float over an exhibit case at the Bob Bullock State History museum in Austin. The museum will display the reconstructed hull of the ship once conservation is completed. Enlarge image
photo of a display at the Bob Bullock State History Museum
Reconstruction of the skeleton found by archeologists in the bow section of La Belle.. Enlarge image

Learning about La Salle, La Belle, and Fort St. Louis: K-12 Resources from other Museums and Websites

In this Section:

Numerous online resources for K-12 teachers and students are available for learning about La Salle, La Belle, and the colony at Fort St. Louis. A selection is these is listed below, as well as links to regional museums that host field trips for students and educational programs based on La Salle.

Online Lessons for Teachers:

THC's Online Lesson Plans for La Salle Projects
The Texas Historical Commission offers twelve lessons correlated to their La Salle Projects. Focused on historical archeology, these lessons build social studies skills and understanding about this significant time in Texas history. Among the topics are "Mapping La Salle's Travels," "Learning from Primary Source Documents: One Day at a Time," and "Examining Events from Different Perspectives."

Voyage of Doom
The companion Web site to the NOVA program "Voyage of Doom," originally broadcast on November 23, 1999 chronicles the discovery and excavation of La Belle. Includes classroom activities, such as "Buoyancy Brainteasers" and "Build a Cofferdam," and a teacher's guide.

The French in Texas
Texas Beyond History's 4th-grade lesson aimed at providing a broad understanding of early French exploration in Texas and building research skills.

Online Activities for Students

Flat Stanley Explores the Shipwreck and Artifacts
Join this globe-trotting character as he visits the Texas A&M University Conservation Laboratory and the Belle shipwreck site in an adventure created by Pat Clabaugh, Curator of Anthropology.

Print Sources and Children's Books

From a Watery Grave: The Discovery and Excavation of La Salle's Shipwreck, La Belle (Texas A&M Press 2005). Written by Belle Principal Investigator James Bruseth and Toni Turner, this beautifully illustrated book provides a wealth of information on La Salle and the wreck of his ship within the context of the times, an era of global expansion and competition for new trade markets. Along with a firsthand account of the ship's recovery and conservation, the book also details the craft of shipbuilding with numerous graphics. Suitable for students 5th and up.

La Salle in Texas: A Teacher's Guide for the Age of Discovery and Exploration by Pam -Wheat Stranahan, educator and former Executive Director of the Texas Archeologocal Society. A companion to From a Watery Grave, this comprehensive resource is divided into four units covering La Salle, cultures and adaptation along the Texas Gulf coast, the recovery of the shipwreck, and the science of archeology. Included with the book is a DVD by Alan Governar on the story of La Belle and Fort St. Louis and the excavation of the shipwreck.

Raising La Belle, by award-winning author and illustrator Mark Mitchell, artfully weaves the story of La Salle's 17th-century journey to the New World with the 20th-century discovery of La Belle into an engaging adventure for children. Mitchell also visits schools to provide presentations on the story incorporating "chalk talk," in which he draws illustrations on the blackboard. The author is not affiliated with the THC. www.markgmitchell.com/

Primary Resources Online

The Portal to Texas History at North Texas State University offers an online version of The Journeys of Rene Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle (two vols.) These accounts, written by La Salle's lieutenant, Henri de Tonty, and other of his companions, were compiled and created by Isaac Joslin Cox in 1905

Vol. 1 http://texashistory.unt.edu/permalink/meta-pth-6104:3

Vol. 2 http://texashistory.unt.edu/permalink/meta-pth-6103:2

 

Other Resources

La Salle Archeology Projects
An overview and findings from the Texas Historical Commission

The Texas A&M University Conservation Research Laboratory

Presidio La Bahía
Website focused on the Spanish presidio originally established in 1721 on the site of Fort St. Louis. This frontier fort was moved to its present location in Goliad to guard the coastal region from encroachments by the French and Spanish.