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The Montz Family of Louisiana 1721 - Present |
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by Monty Montz |
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Page 4 |
EARLY EXPLORATIONS
EARLY EXPLORERS:
AMERICA AT THIS TIME WAS ONLY A SPROUT OF A NEW LAND. territories were being discovered and given new names.
On the ninth of April, 1682, LaSalle sailed from the Canadian border to reach the mouth of the Mississippi
River. Upon reaching the Gulf of Mexico he thereby named the land on both sides of the river, "Louisiana,"
in honor of the king in France, King Louis XIV. He then returned to Canada from whence he came and sailed to
France to proclaim the discovery. His intentions were to set up communications between Canada and the lower
Mississippi delta via the Mississippi River.5
ANOTHER EXPLORER VENTURING TO THE MOUTH OF THE MISSISSIPPI River was Iberville, a Canadian. In 1698 this venturer
sailed from Brest, France with four ships to the Gulf of Mexico. In 1699, he sailed up the Mississippi River
and ventured as far as "Oumas," a small river area. Later, he ventured into Bayou Manchac, discovered Lake
Maurepas and Pnchatrain Lake, and reached Ship Island. Returning to the mouth of the Mississippi River he
established the first settlement for France in Louisiana This settlement was named, "Fort Maurepas," the present
site of Ocean Springs, Mississippi. This was accomplished on April 8, 1699. However, in 1709 a flood
swamped this little town and the base was moved to "Fort de la Louisiane," the present site of Mobile,
Alabama.6
IT WAS AT THE PRESENT SITE OF DAUPHINE ISLAND AT THE ENTRY of Mobile Bay, Alabama, and Ship Island, that the
original Germans and other immigrants of Louisiana first arrived. In the accompanying figure (2-1) the earlier
names of Dauphine Island and Ship Island were "Fort de la Louisiane," and "Fort Maurepas
(Vieux Biloxi)." The peninsula upwards from Ship Island is "Le Biloxi," the present site of Bioloxi, Mississippi. The old name
was originally, "Fort Louis."?
5 J. Hanno Deiler, The Settlement of The German Coast
of Louisiana and The Creoles of German Descent, Americana
Germanica Press, Philadelphia, Pa., 1909, p7 2
6 Ibid., p. 6.
7 bid., p. 8.