Henri de Tonti | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Co-founder of Fort St. Louis, Illinois country | |
| In office Founded 1682[1] | |
| Monarch | Louis XIV of France |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Enrico Tonti c. 1649 Gaeta |
| Died | September 1704 (aged c. 55) Fort Louis, Louisiana (present-day Mobile County, Alabama) |
| Cause of death | Yellow fever |
| Relations |
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| Signature | .png) |
| Nicknames |
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| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  France |
| Years of service | c. 1668–1676 |
| Rank | Captain |
| Battles | Franco-Dutch War |
Henri de Tonti (né Enrico Tonti; c. 1649 – September 1704), also spelled Henri de Tonty, was an Italian-born French military officer, explorer, and voyageur who assisted René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, with North American exploration and colonization from 1678 to 1686.[2] de Tonti was one of the first explorers to navigate and sail the upper Great Lakes. He also sailed the Illinois and the Mississippi, to its mouth and thereupon claimed the length of the Mississippi for Louis XIV of France.[3] He is credited with founding the settlement that would become Peoria, Illinois. De Tonti established the first permanent European settlement in the lower Mississippi valley, known as Poste de Arkansea, making him "The Father of Arkansas".[4][5]
- ^ museum.state.il.us website Home > Archeology > Starved Rock Site
- ^ "A tour of Mobile's first 100 years", staff reporter, The Press-Register, Mobile, AL, February 24, 2002
- ^ "Henri de Tonti". Encyclopædia Britannica. August 28, 2019.
- ^ "Henri de Tonti (1649–1704)". Encyclopedia of Arkansas. 2011. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
- ^ HMdb.org, "Henri de Tonti Historical Marker", Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana. Retrieved August 9, 2009.