Raising LA Belle

Under the mud below twelve feet of water lay La Belle, the prized ship of famous French explorer Robert Cavelier de La Salle. In 1995 the ship was discovered by the Texas Historical Commission. For the next year, archeologists labored to extract the ship and her amazing cargo. The excavation made headlines worldwide. The Belle was the last hope of escape from Fort St. Louis, a Texas settlement in trouble. When the ship sank, the fort’s inhabitants—including pirates, missionaries, and orphans—confronted an unmapped wilderness and hostile Karankawa Indians. Raising La Belle interweaves highlights of one of America’s most exciting archeological finds with the story of Texas’ lost French colony.